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
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 Read more »
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 Read more »
VMware has released a series, currently 19 videos, in an effort to help educate the masses to the methods and practices of using VMware server virtualization.
Here is a sample video, to give you an idea of the style, pace, and level of content provided:
You can also request to download the high resolution version of these video directly by contacting VMware, more information regarding these are available on their youtube page: YouTube - VMwareELearning’s Channel
With a soft launch VMware just opened a couple of online TV channes (one on YouTube and another on Blip.tv) to host a bunch of training videos. No longer than 10 minutes, each video explains how to complete (very) easy tasks with VMware products (just Server 1.0 at the moment).
Responsibilities: A virtual network administrator oversees virtual computer networks to ensure that they function smoothly. A virtual network consists of a grouping of virtual machines that communicate with each other on a physical computer known as a virtual machine host server, on which computer files, programs, and other information are stored. A network may be as small as two or three virtual machines or as large as hundreds when paravirtualization is used.
Education: A virtual network administrator should have a strong background in math, sciences, and computer science, as well as experience working with virtual machines. Although a college degree in computer science, systems science, math, or engineering is not required to become a virtual network administrator, advancement is difficult without one. Administrators should be familiar with a variety of enterprise virtualization software packages, including Microsoft, VMware, and Sun. Because computer technology changes rapidly, administrators must constantly upgrade their knowledge base.
Working Conditions: Virtual network administrators, like other computer professionals, work in an office environment. Most put in forty hours or more of work per week. Much of the job is performed as part of an enterprise team, along with physical network administrators, and virtual machine managers. Configuring a virtual network can require long hours of work over a short period of time. Maintaining the virtual network can alternate between routine tasks and the more interesting but hectic work of troubleshooting and fixing virtual network problems. If a virtual network crashes, the administrator must work as quickly as possible, regardless of the hour, to solve the problem and restore the network to operation.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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
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.
Just recently it was announced that Sun would be investing over a Billion dollars in mysql, as reported in x86Virtualization post: “Brighter Days for MySQL, The Sun Rises Over MySQL“, now less a few weeks later Sun has struck again, and is purchasing Innotek the makers of the very popular Virtualization product: “Virtualbox“.
x86Virtualization reported on Virtualbox back on April 20, 2007 with the post “VirtualBox, Everything You Need To Know“, I’m happy to announce, under recent testing the mouse issue has been resolved in Windows 3.11 (yeah not a big deal for most people, but I like 3.11 for testing virtualization products.)
If you are curious about what else Sun has purchased in the past check out their complete (but not up to date) history: Sun Facts - Acquisitions History
