This is the first in a series of posts outlining the feature, methods and ideas surrounding the tool: Ubuntu-VM-Builder.

Ubuntu-VM-Builder

Caution, security warning:
These are default settings for a new virtual machine, you will want to change them immediately or better idea would be to set them during build, for more information keep reading after the break.
Default fullname: Ubuntu
Default username: ubuntu
Default password: ubuntu

Here is some quick information on what Ubuntu-VM-builder is:

ubuntu-vm-builder provides a method to quickly create a clean testing environment, a way to automate the virtual machine installation process, and for software developers, the ability to integrate the creation of a virtual machine into the build process of an application. If using a local mirror the virtual machine creation process can take less than two minutes from start to finish. (source)

Step 1. To install Ubuntu-VM-Builder on your linux workstation, requires 8.04 or greater

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-vm-builder

ubuntu-vm-builder Depends on:
Depends: debootstrap
Depends: kpartx
Depends: parted
Depends: qemu

These will automatically be installed by apt-get during the installation, no other installation is required.

Step 2. To build a virtual machine, first move into the directory where you will want the vm folder to be created
mkdir ~/virtual-machines
cd ~/virtual-machines

Step 3. Run Ubuntu-vm-builder, with the required flags and options
sudo ubuntu-vm-builder kvm hardy

For more flags, options and some examples keep reading.
Read more »

Open VMware Tools, Installation Instructions Step by Step

What are VMware Tools?

They are a collection of software and drivers which enhance and improve the virtualization experience for the guest operating system. They include shared folders, heartbeat drivers, enhanced network drivers, and mouse and video drivers to allow seemless migration between guest and console operating systems.

Where can I get VMware tools?

Currently there are 2 sources, the first source is with VMware workstation or VMware Server Products (including VMware Server and VMware ESX). If you are running VMware player the expectation is that you are only going to be using prebuilt Virtual Machines which have the tools previously loaded.

What are Open VMware Tools (open-vm-tools)?

The Open Virtual Machine Tools (open-vm-tools) are the open source implementation of VMware Tools. They are a set of guest operating system virtualization components that enhance performance and user experience of virtual machines. As virtualization technology rapidly becomes mainstream, each virtualization solution provider implements their own set of tools and utilities to supplement the guest virtual machine. However, most of the implementations are proprietary and are tied to a specific virtualization platform. (About Open-VM-Tools)

Where can I get Open-VM-Tools?

The open tools are available currently in the source format only currently. For a limited time they where available as part of the Ubuntu repository, but due to their alpha stages they have been removed. More info about the removal can be found here at launchpad bug # 217254 To dowload a copy of the source files or learn more about the project visit the open-vm-tools sourceforge page.

Keep reading to see step by step installation instructions
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Virtualization is starting to make it into the main stream media, slowly. We are seeing it on gaming systems, in the newspaper and now in comic strips.

All comics have been reduced in size, click on them to see them in their original format

These are a few of the comics including Virtualization I have came across recently.

This comic (above) has been released under:

More comics after the break, including xkcd, comic and Virtualman
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First, lets start off by breaking this FAQ down into 2 branches, desktop and enterprise. This is because what do you in a Virtual Machine which may run for 20 minutes a week is very different then a 24/7 system.

Software Evaluation / Desktop Virtualization:

Should you run Antivirus software?
Short answer Always. Long answer is this: evaluate the risk, the potential loss, and loss of performance to decide if it is worthwhile. If you are using a virtual machine to test software or websites where the VM is only powered on for a few minutes a day then it is probably ok to avoid the uneeded overhead. If you are running the VM as the development environment, where you are connected to the physical network and visiting websites then you may want to consider running antivirus software.

Which anti virus software should I run?
There are many out there, but any of the big three: mcafee, nortons, avast would be acceptable. For windows XP or Vista systems you can’t go wrong with grisofts free offering.

What if I’m not running Windows, ie running Linux or Solaris?
Ask yourself this, what are you really trying to protect? There are very few viruses out there for linux and solaris at this point. If you have been good about only using highly trusted repositories for your software then you should be safe. Generally it seems safe to say the biggest problem a linux system will encouter is the actual user deleting the wrong file, not a virus.

Here is a list of solaris antivirus options
Here is a list of Linux antivirus software packages
Here is a directions for installing antivirus on ubuntu
Here is an article “Note to new Linux users: No antivirus needed” from linux.com

Enterprise level virus scanning

What anti virus should I run on my corporate server?
There are a few well known quality enterprise grade antivirus options. But they are almost all for windows server in a windows environment. If you are running a linux backend, then what you really need is just enough protect to prevent the spread of viruses onto the windows portion of the network, as it is unlikely that any linux product will be as effective as a secure linux system with a properly configured firewall and security levels.

Check out this breakdown for a good starting direction Antivirus Tools Underperform When Tested in LinuxWorld ‘Fight Club’

Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition
They do support linux clients, here is the info from their website:
Linux Client

Symantec AntiVirus supports installation on the following Linux distributions:

* Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.x, 4.x, 5.x
* SUSE Linux Enterprise (server/desktop) 9.x, 10.x
* Novell Open Enterprise Server
* VMware EX 2.5.x, 3.x

Note: Symantec AntiVirus Linux clients are unmanaged clients. You cannot use the Symantec management components, such as Symantec System Center, to centrally manage Symantec AntiVirus Linux clients.

What premade Virtual Machines are available for Antivirus tasks?
Check out this page from Trend Micro USA - Virtualization. They offer a variety of solutions for the enterprise customer, ranging from spam protection to full virus scanning. Their virtual machines are available for VMware workstation 5.x, 6.x, VMware Server 1.x, VMware ESX 3.x.
Also search the VMware Appliance Marketplace for antivirus, there are a few helpful premade machines there.

A few general articles about Virtual Machine performance related to antivirus:
virtualization.info: How to improve disk I/O performances with VMware Workstation
virtualization.info: Security by virtualization
The Core Dump of Thought: Anti-virus, virtualization and security paradigm
rentzsch.com: Virtualization as an Antivirus
anti-virus rants: what virtualization can and cannot do in an anti-malware context

If you are running on the cutting edge, with Ubuntu Hardy 8.04, and recently decided to install VMware Server Console on that machine you may have gotten a very strange error message, something along the lines of this:

/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0: no version information available (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0' not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0: no version information available (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0' not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0: no version information available (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0' not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)

This is caused by VMware Server Console being compiled with an older version of those libraries then included in Hardy. To resolve this problem I found a variety of solutions on multiple sites, but the simplest and one which worked for me is the following:

$ sudo cp /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/
$ sudo cp /usr/lib/libpng12.so.0 /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/

The explaniation, in French is:

Il s’agit du bug #189250 is not in libcairo (Ubuntu) recensé sur le launchpad Ubuntu, lié au fait que VMWare Server a été compilée avec une version plus ancienne de GCC que celle intégrée nativement dans Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. Pour fixer ce bug, il faut copier quelques librairies spécifique (on va d’abord sauvegarder les anciennes…) (source)

UPDATE: 64 bit users, there is a second step required to get Server Console Running on Ubuntu 8.04

sudo ln -s /usr/lib32 /usr/l32
sudo sed -i -e 's/usr\/lib/usr\/l32/g' /usr/lib32/gtk-2.0/2.10.0/loader-files.d/libgtk2.0-0.loaders
sudo sed -i -e 's/usr\/lib/usr\/l32/g' /usr/lib32/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0.1200.9

Take from: vmware-server in hardy - Ubuntu Forums and vmware-server-console on Hardy 64-bit - Ubuntu Forums

For information on fixing VMware server on 8.04 or more information on this issue visit these sites:
VMware Server 1.0.5 sur Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron - Taltan.blog.bkp
VMware Server, Ubuntu “Hardy Heron” 8.04 and Linux 2.6.24 « Federkiel
vmware-server in hardy - Page 4 - Ubuntu Forums
Bug #177869 in ia32-libs (Ubuntu): “vmware-server-console broken after 2.2ubuntu2”
Bug #193692 in ia32-libs (Ubuntu): “[hardy] ia32-libs_2.2ubuntu6 failure when running VMWare”

Here is a screenshot of VMware Server Console 1.0.5 running on Hardy:

Have you been following the news surround Ubuntu release of JeOS? Want to try it out, but not sure where to start? Build an Apt-proxy, quick simple and very helpful.

The power behind JeOS, Just Enough Operating System, is that you only get the minimal packages you need to get the job done. Current versions of JeOS, 7.10 and 8.04 are both designed to work on the VMware Server and VMware ESX platform. For help setting up VMware server on Gutsy Gibbon check out this step by step guide, part 1 (Gutsy Server Install) and part 2 (VMware Server Install).

Once you have VMware server setup and running you are ready to build your first virtual machine. There are a ton of great guides out there for all aspects of this process, but since we are working with JeOS, you need to take a few precautions that normally you could skip.

Currently Hardy JeOS doesn’t include (or I couldn’t get it to work) SCSI drivers, so you need to use an IDE drive when you make your virtual machine.

If you need more detailed instructions on how to setup the virtual machine, I’m going to refer you to this article, published by linux-mag.com, Their article “How to Develop Virtual Appliances Using Ubuntu JeOS | Linux Magazine“. Note: this article refers to JeOS 7.10, which is close enough to 8.04 at this level.

Read more »

Ubuntu comes in 3 main sizes, Large, Small, and tiny to meet different needs.

Complete description of each version after the break.
Read more »

Install Ubuntu Server 7.10
If you haven’t read part 1, read part 1 how to install Ubuntu Server 7.10 in 34 Steps, note it isn’t actually 34 steps just a bunch of screenshots it only takes 15 minutes.

Install ssh server:
sudo apt-get install ssh openssh-server

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SSHHowto

[Optional Steps]
Remove CD from repository list:
sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list

Once inside of VI, hit i to be in insert mode, scroll down to deb cdrom:[Ubuntu-Server 7.10 _Gutsy Gibbon_ …. and add # to the beginning of the line. hit esc, then :x to save and exit

sudo aptitude update

sudo aptitude upgrade

Add build tools to Ubuntu
sudo aptitude install linux-headers-`uname -r` build-essential

Ok, problem… ssl on Ubuntu http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=337040
sudo mkdir -p /etc/vmware/ssl/
sudo touch /etc/vmware/ssl/rui.key
sudo touch /etc/vmware/ssl/rui.crt

And if you are on a 64 bit host:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

use wget to get the files from VMware:
wget [URL of the file that shall be downloaded]

Visit http://vmware.com/download/server/ to find download links.
(You must agree to the license agreement to access download urls)

extract the files:
tar -xzf ./VMware-server-1.0.4-56528.tar.gz

goto the new directory containing the VMware files:
cd vmware-server-distrib

run the installer:
sudo ./vmware-install.pl

hit enter to all choices for basic installation. When you get to the license agreement hit space to page through it, then type y and hit enter.

When it gets to the steps about your networking, you need to have an understanding of the difference between the host only networking, NAT, and standard networking. To read more about VMware networking read this: VMWare networking It explains all three, and the differences between them.

Networking issues with Ubuntu and VMware Server:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=478611
http://communities.vmware.com/thread/84170

Re: VMWare VMnet compile error
1. get this - http://npw.net/~phbaer/vmnet.tar
2. copy it into your /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source
3. run vmware-config.pl again

This Worked for me. I found it at http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=84170&start=0&tstart=0

Congrats, you are done installing VMware server. You can now connect to the vmware console with the Windows based client tools or the web interface.I will have more on both of those methods in the next post. Installing VMware Server Part 3.

Sources:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=337040
http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu_vmware_server

NOTE: This method is not for experienced System administrators, who happen to have or are willing to setup a PXE boot Server. If you can boot from a PXE server, no media required, please do so, and don’t follow this method. For more information on why this method may be completely wrong and a waste of your time read this post: How Not to Install Linux by Demetri J. Mouratis

This is a step by step, with screen shots of the Installation of Ubuntu 7.10 Server edition. Installation takes less then 15 minutes, depending on your system, speed of optical drive and amount of time the server spends waiting for you to hit next.

For more information on Ubuntu server, visit their website at http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/serveredition

The hardware used is an entry level Dell PowerEdge Servers, brand new out of the box. The model is SC440, and very pleased to announce no driver issues at this point. The system shipped with an Intel Dual Core Pentium and 512 meg of ram. It is highly recommended to upgrade the ram, and this system will be maxed to out the full 4 gig when the shipment arrives from Crucial.com later this week.

Step 0. Download Ubuntu CD Image,
The CD Image, in ISO format, can be downloaded from http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download Make sure you choose the correct “type computer you have”, in our case it is 64bit installation.

Next, burn ISO to CD, this can vary greatly depending on the operating system you are on, the software you have and the type of cd or dvd you may be burning. I suggest searching Google for a detailed step by step guide just for this portion.

burn cd iso windows xp
burn cd iso windows vista
burn cd iso linux
burn cd iso osx

I used Disc Juggler, which is available as a demo. The demo has a file size cap as well as a speed cap, but it does a fine job burning the ISO image, and doesn’t generate many coasters.

Step 1. Boot the Server from the CD,
Insert the CD into the servers optical drive. Depending on your configuration you may need to hit f11 to enter the boot device option screen. Once the CD has booted this is the first screen you should see:

Go ahead and choose Install to the Hard Disk, by hitting Enter.

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