VirtualBox 4.0 on SME Server v8 beta 6

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CompSOS

Support

For questions or comments regarding this HOWTO, contact Shiena of Computing SOS or Sorolo Systems Inc. at this email address.

Description

Below are instructions on how to install VirtualBox version 4.1 on a fresh install SME Server v8 beta 6 and higher. Plus installing and configuring phpVirtualBox to control (create, edit, remove) your virtual machine on its web interface. In addition, scripts to automatically start the vbox service and the virtual machines in case of power failure can be found at the end of this article.

This has been tested using the following:

  1. SME Server Release 8.0
  2. VirtualBox-4.2-4.2.12_84980_el5-1
  3. Kernel is 2.6.18-348.6.1.el5

Requirements

Computer with SME server version 8 and higher installed.

Installation

  1. Setup SME Server v8.
  2. Do a yum update.
    3. yum upgrade
  3. If any updates were applied, update and reboot the server.
    4. signal-event post-upgrade; signal-event reboot
  4. Check your current kernel.
    5. uname -r
  5. Install kernel-devel to get the latest development tree. Latest kernel at the time of writing is 2.6.18-308.13.1.el5.
    Use this command only if you have a PAE kernel installed: 
    yum clean all
yum install kernel-PAE-devel kernel-headers
yum info kernel-headers

    Otherwise, 

    yum install kernel-devel kernel-headers
    6. Note : if you do not want to update your kernel, because of kmdl not available you can search for the right kernel-headers and kernel-devel in http://vault.centos.org/
  6. Check if the compiler (GCC) is installed by issuing this command. 
    rpm -qa | grep gcc

    You will have an output, similar to this: 

    libgcc-4.1.2-54.el5
gcc-4.1.2-54.el5

    If not installed, install it. 

    yum install gcc

    If you will get an error "No package gcc available. Nothing to do" then do this: 

    cd /tmp
wget ftp://ftp.mirrorservice.org/sites/sourceware.org/pub/gcc/releases/gcc-4.7.1/gcc-4.7.1.tar.gz
  7. Update SME, and reboot again.
    8. signal-event post-upgrade; signal-event reboot
  8. Change your kernel boot options.
    Optionally, for best results with SME 8.x and earlier versions, modify /etc/grub.conf, adding divider=10 to the kernel boot options in order to reduce the idle CPU load with VirtualBox. For example, if your kernel boot line is: 
    kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18-348.6.1.el5 ro root=/dev/main/root

    change it to:

    kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18-348.6.1.el5 ro root=/dev/main/root divider=10

    Reminder: if you subsequently update SME Server to use a newer kernel, you may need to change your kernel boot line to reflect the update.

  9. Create a symbolic link.

    NOTE: Be careful if you cut-and-paste the command below. Pay particular attention to the dashes (-) and the backticks (`). There aren't any single quote marks in the command below - they are all supposed to be backticks.

    ln -s /usr/src/kernels/`uname -r`-`uname -m` /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build

    Reminder: if you subsequently update SME Server to use a newer kernel, you may need to recreate the symbolic link.

  10. Check that the symbolic link was properly created by doing a directory listing.

    NOTE: Be careful if you cut-and-paste the command below. In some terminal windows, from some browsers, the parts of the command in bold font do not paste correctly. Pay particular attention to the dashes (-) and the backticks (`). There aren't any single quote marks in the command below - they are all supposed to be backticks.

    ls -la /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build
  11. Install the Fedora Epel repository using the instructions here.
  12. Install Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS)
    13. yum install --enablerepo=epel dkms
  13. Install the VirtualBox repository using the instructions here.
  14. Install VirtualBox (At the time of the last update to these instructions, the latest version was v4.1-4.1.22).
    15. yum install --enablerepo=virtualbox VirtualBox-4.1
  15. Review the VirtualBox installation log to ensure that the installation was successful.
    16. tail /var/log/vbox-install.log
  16. Remove the compiler install (for security best practices)
    17. rpm -e gcc
  17. Update SME, and reboot again
    18. signal-event post-upgrade; signal-event reboot
  18. Setup VirtualBox as a service so it starts automatically after a reboot. Copy the command below on putty console then hit Enter.
    19. for file in $(ls /etc/rc5.d/S??vbox*); do cp "$file" /etc/rc7.d/. ;done
  19. Create a virtualbox file on your /etc/default/.
    20. nano /etc/default/virtualbox

    virtualbox should have this content. 

    VBOXWEB_USER='root'
VBOXWEB_HOST=127.0.0.1
VBOXWEB_PORT=18083
VBOXWEB_LOGFILE=/var/log/vboxweb
INSTALL_DIR=/usr/lib/virtualbox

    Note: Without the virtualbox file, vbox services on your rc7.d folder will not start.

  20. Login to the server-manager page and create an iBay for phpvbox. For instructions on how to create and configure an ibay, please see the SME Server Administration manual.
    21. After creating the ibay, do not forget to assign a password.
  21. Before we install phpVirtualBox, make sure you first install SOAP.
    22. yum install php-soap

    As of 2012-09-03 a fresh sme8b6 with updates installed, the above line tries to install php-soap-5.3.3-13.el5.sme.1.x86_64. If yum complains about a missing dependency php-common-5.3.3-13.el5.sme.1, verify whether you have installed php-common-5.3 by issuing this command "rpm -qa | grep php-common". If so, you can obtain php-soap-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.6 by invoking "yum install --enablerepo smedev php-soap-5.3.3-1.el5.sme.6". Integration test passed.

    To avoid this error message “PHP does not have the SOAP extension enabled” especially if you have no plan of restarting the server. 

    svc -t /service/httpd-e-smith/
  22. Install phpVirtualBox
    23. cd /tmp
wget `wget -q -O - http://phpvirtualbox.googlecode.com/files/LATEST.txt` -O phpvirtualbox-latest.zip
unzip phpvirtualbox-latest.zip

    Note: at the time of the last update, the latest version was 4.2-4. Please adjust the following for later versions. 

    cd phpvirtualbox-4.2-4
cp –R * /home/e-smith/files/ibays/phpvbox/html
  23. Create a tmp folder inside the /phpvbox/html folder.
    24. cd /home/e-smith/files/ibays/phpvbox/html
mkdir tmp
chmod 777 tmp/
  24. Create a config file using the example file provided.
    25. cp config.php-example config.php
  25. Open config.php (located on your /phpvbox/html/ folder). Uncomment some lines (by removing the '#' at the beginning of the line). 
    nano /home/e-smith/files/ibays/phpvbox/html/config.php
    /* SOAP URL of vboxwebsrv (not phpVirtualBox's URL) */
var $location = 'http://127.0.0.1:18083/';
    // Disable authentication
var $noAuth = true;

    Set the consoleHost parameter to the hostname of the server running VirtualBox 

    // Host / ip to use for console connections
//var $consoleHost = 'host-name-of-the-server-running-virtualbox';
    /* Enable advanced configuration items (normally hidden in the VirtualBox GUI)
 * Note that some of these items may not be translated to languages other than $
 */
var $enableAdvancedConfig = true;
    // Authentication library.
//var $authLib = 'Builtin';

    Change the tmp location as per below. 

    // Path
var $cachePath = '../tmp';
  26. Disable authentication of vboxwebsrv (this is not recommended, but at this stage, this is the only setup that works). Login to the server’s SSH and type this command.
    27. vboxmanage setproperty websrvauthlibrary null
  27. Install VirtualBox extension pack to enable support for USB 2.0 devices, VirtualBox RDP and PXE boot for Intel cards. Please install the extension pack with the same version as your installed version of VirtualBox!
    28. You can find the extension packs here. The following commands download and install the extension pack for VirtualBox 4.2-4. 
    wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.2.16/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.2.16-86992.vbox-extpack
vboxmanage extpack install Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.2.16-86992.vbox-extpack
  28. Update SME, and reboot again
    29. signal-event post-upgrade; signal-event reboot
  29. Ensure that the extension pack is installed correctly. Open a console window, then 
    vboxmanage list extpacks
    30. At this point, VirtualBox should now be configured and running correctly. To check this, we will now log into the ibay we created for phpVirtualBox and attempt to create a new virtual machine. If you encounter problems, please recheck that you have setup VirtualBox as a service so it starts automatically after a reboot, and that your vbox.cfg file is configured correctly. To manage VirtualBox and any virtual machines, use the command line utility VBoxManage. See VBoxManage --help . For a list of available switches for VBoxManage, see this list. Finally,
  30. Open a terminal window to the SME Server and create a directory to store the virtual machine images.
    31. mkdir -p /opt/VMs
  31. Download the VirtualBox Guest Additions iso for later installation into your virtual machine guests.
    32. mkdir -p /var/lib/VirtualBox/addons
cd /opt/VMs/addons
wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.2.16/VBoxGuestAdditions_4.2.16.iso
  32. Using a web browser, Go to http://yourdomain.com/phpvbox and connect to the phpVirtualBox web application.
    • From the menu provided, go to select File->Preferences.
    • Select the "General" tab.
    • Change the Default Machine Folder to: 
      /opt/VMs

    At this point, VirtualBox should now be configured and running correctly. If you encounter problems, please recheck that you have setup VirtualBox as a service so it starts automatically after a reboot, and that your vbox.cfg file is configured correctly. To manage VirtualBox and any virtual machines, use the command line utility VBoxManage. See VBoxManage --help . For a list of available switches for VBoxManage, see this list.

Creating a Virtual Machine

  1. Using a web browser, go to http://yourdomain.com/phpvbox to create your virtual machine.
    • Create a new virtual machine (e.g. vmXP)
    • Enable network card (either NAT or Bridged) so you can connect to your new VM console.

    PhpVirtualBox-rdp-port.jpg

  2. Even when the extension is installed, the VRDP server is disabled by default. On console:
    3. vboxmanage modifyvm "vmXP" --vrde on
  3. Ensure you are connected to the server's internal network, then open a Remote Desktop client program.
    • On Windows, open an RDP client (run -> mstsc) then type your server’s hostname:port number (e.g. myserver:9000), or your Server's (not your Guest) IP address followed by colon then the port number as shown on above image (Remote Desktop Server Port under Display) (e.g. 192.168.100.1:9000).
      • NOTE: No need to change to port number to 9000 (as per above) in your Windows registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\PortNumber). It will still be using port 3389 even though phpVirtualBox is using port 9000.
  4. Install the VirtualBox Guest Additions ISO into your newly setup VM.
    5. PhpVirtualBox-install-guest-addition.jpg

Access VM outside the Network

  1. On SME Server Manager page, on Port Forwarding left menu, open port 9000 (as per Remote Desktop Server Port under Display) using your desired Source Port:
    2. Protocol: TCP
    Source Ports: 33900
    Destination IP: 192.168.5.1 (which is also the guest IP)
    Destination Port: 9000
    Allow Hosts: <you can leave it blank, or place your Public IP so only your IP can access the VM)
    Rule Comment: <eg. vmXP for SOS>
  2. Now you can access your VM thru RDP using this hostname domain.com:33900

Automatically Start Virtual Machine

  1. Edit your vbox file on /etc/sysconfig/
    2. nano /etc/sysconfig/vbox

    vbox code should look like this: 

    # Virtual box machines to autostart
# Example to start 2 machines
#       VBOX_AUTOSTART = "MachineName1 MachineName2"

VBOX_AUTOSTART="vmXP"
  2. Edit your vbox file located on /etc/init.d/ 
    #!/bin/sh
#
# chkconfig: - 91 35
# description: Starts and stops vbox autostart VMs.

### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: vbox
# Required-Start: $network $named $vboxdrv
# Required-Stop: $network $named
# Default-Start:
# Default-Stop: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
# Short-Description: Autostart some Virtual Box VMs
# Description: Autostart some Virtual Box VMs that are mentioned in /etc/sysconfig/vbox file
# Written by Alex Amiryan
### END INIT INFO

. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions

MANAGE_CMD=vboxmanage

[ -r /etc/sysconfig/vbox ] && . /etc/sysconfig/vbox

prog=$"Virtual Box Machines"

start()
{
        echo -n $"Starting $prog: "
        RETVAL=0

        for vbox_name in ${VBOX_AUTOSTART}
        do
            SERVS=1
            echo -n "${vbox_name} "
            daemon $MANAGE_CMD startvm "${vbox_name}" -type headless >/dev/null 2>&1
            RETVAL=$?
            [ "$RETVAL" -eq 0 ] || break
        done
        if [ -z "$SERVS" ]; then
            echo -n "no virtual machines configured "
            failure
            RETVAL=6
        else
            if [ "$RETVAL" -eq 0 ]; then
                success $"vbox startup"
                touch /var/lock/subsys/vbox
            else
                failure $"vbox start"
            fi
        fi
        echo
        return "$RETVAL"
}

stop()
{
        echo -n $"Shutting down $prog: "
        for vbox_name in ${VBOX_AUTOSTART}
        do
            echo -n "${vbox_name} "
            runuser root -c "$MANAGE_CMD -q controlvm "${vbox_name}" savestate" >/dev/null 2>&1
        done
        RETVAL=$?
        [ "$RETVAL" -eq 0 ] && success $"vbox shutdown" || \
            failure $"vbox shutdown"
        echo
        [ "$RETVAL" -eq 0 ] && rm -f /var/lock/subsys/vbox
        return "$RETVAL"
}

status()
{
        for vbox_name in ${VBOX_AUTOSTART}
        do
            echo -n "${vbox_name} "
            $MANAGE_CMD showvminfo "${vbox_name}"|grep "^State:\s*.*$"
        done
}

case "$1" in
  start)
        start
        ;;
  stop)
        stop
        ;;
  restart|force-reload)
        stop
        start
        ;;
  status)
        status
        ;;
  *)
        echo "Usage: $SCRIPTNAME {start|stop|restart|force-reload|status}" >&2
        exit 3
        ;;
esac

Upgrading VirtualBox

  1. Remove installed VirtualBox. 
    yum remove VirtualBox-4.1
  2. Install the latest VirtualBox, as of this date it is VirtualBox 4.2. 
    yum install --enablerepo=virtualbox VirtualBox-4.2
  3. Create a virtualbox file on your /etc/default/. On Virtualbox 4.1, virtualbox file was originally /etc/vbox/vbox.cfg. 
    nano /etc/default/virtualbox

    virtualbox should have this content.

    VBOXWEB_USER='root'
VBOXWEB_HOST=127.0.0.1
VBOXWEB_PORT=18083
VBOXWEB_LOGFILE=/var/log/vboxweb
INSTALL_DIR=/usr/lib/virtualbox
  4. Install VirtualBox extension pack, you can find the extension packs here. 
    wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.2.0/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.2.0-80737.vbox-extpack
vboxmanage extpack install Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.2.0-80737.vbox-extpack
  5. Test if your VirtualBox upgrade is successful by starting your existing virtual machine. 
    vboxheadless –s vmXP
    OR 
    /etc/init.d/vbox start

Upgrading phpVirtualBox

  1. Make a directory to save your existing phpVirtualBox folder. 
    mkdir –p /tmp/phpvirtualbox-4.1.22
  2. Change directory to your phpvbox ibay then copy all of your phpVirtualBox files. 
    cd /home/e-smith/files/ibays/phpvbox/html/
cp –R * /tmp/phpvirtualbox-4.1.22
  3. Download the latest phpVirtualBox to /tmp/ folder. 
    cd /tmp
wget http://phpvirtualbox.googlecode.com/files/phpvirtualbox-4.2-0b.zip
unzip phpvirtualbox-4.2-0b.zip
cd phpvirtualbox-4.2-0b
yes | cp -R * /home/e-smith/files/ibays/phpvbox/html/
  4. Rename config.php.example to config.php and edit the configuration file as per above. 
    mv config.php-example config.php
  5. Restart vboxwebservice 
    /etc/init.d/vboxweb-service restart
  6. Download the latest VBox Guest Additions and install to your Guest VM. 
    cd /opt/VMs/
wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.2.0/VBoxGuestAdditions_4.2.0.iso

Troubleshooting

  1. PhpVirtualBox throws an error attribute does not exist or method 'getVDENetwork' does not exist in the object.

    Solution: Check config.php file located on /home/e-smith/files/ibays/phpvbox/html/ and comment out the line var $enableVDE = true;

    2. #var $enableVDE = true;

  2. Virtual machine with a guest Windows XP installed takes too long to load.

    Solution: The Windows XP disk you might have used is slipstreamed with Intel ICH9 or ICH10. Uninstall iastor.sys on Safe Mode. Once you restart, it will reinstall it for you. Iastor.sys is an Intel Matrix storage manager, used to access RAID drives system driver file.

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