DIY DICE VirtualBox guest install

The following instructions are for setting-up a DIYDICE virtual machine ("the guest") on a real machine running VirtualBox ("the host"). This will typically be used for providing a DICE like environment on a self managed physical machine (eg a Mac or a Windows PC). The instructions assume VirtualBox version 4.2 (or later).

This page describes a configuration where the DIYDICE virtual machine expects the host machine to be connected to a static IP Informatics network wire (eg SM197); this is for DICE authentication and directory services. Further instructions for "roaming" DIYDICE virtual machines will be provided later...

1. Create the virtual machine

Make sure that CPU Virtualisation Extensions (VT-X) are enabled in your machine's BIOS, if available (all 745s and newer). These are crucial for best performance of host and guest; their absence is implicated in some problems experienced on 745s.

VirtualBox is a disk I/O intensive application. If you are using a Linux machine with your home directory mounted using AFS (eg a DICE desktop), you should ensure that your ~/.VirtualBox is a symlink to a directory on a local disk partition. Similarly you should ensure that your virtual disk images are located on a local disk partition.

Run the VirtualBox command. Follow the GUI Wizard to create a new virtual host and virtual disk image.

Once the VM is created, modify the following settings for your new VM :-

Now start the virtual machine; this should attempt to boot off the network. Take note of the CLIENT MAC ADDRESS (6 pairs of hex digits); you will need to provide Computing Support with this address before progressing further.

2. Computing support preparation

Ask Computing Support to configure the environment for your DIY DICE VM. Computing Support will:

• Ensure that your host machine is on a network wire which supports DIY DICE
• Add a dns entry for your machine (in the diy.inf.ed.ac.uk domain)
• Create an lcfg stub profile
• Create a DIY DICE directory for you on the LCFG server.

3. Prepare the LCFG profile for your machine

1. If you haven't already done so, create the directory to store the source files for your DIY DICE machine profiles

   mkdir -p ~/LCFG/source
   

2. Create an LCFG source profile for your machine (in the above directory). This is a text file with the same (shortened) name as your machine; eg for diyvm.diy.inf.ed.ac.uk you would create a text file called diyvm.

   The following is an example source profile :-

   /* diyvm.diy.inf.ed.ac.uk */
   
   #define _AUTH_USER      ascobie
   
   #define FIRST_INSTALL
   
   #include <diydice/os/sl6_64.h>
   #include <dice/hw/virtualbox.h>
   #include <dice/options/desktop.h>
   #include <dice/options/dhcp.h>
   
   /* eof */
   

   From this source profile, we can see that diyvm.diy.inf.ed.ac.uk will be running the 64-bit version of SL6 (Scientific Linux 6) and ascobie will be the user.

3. You will need to change the CPP definition _AUTH_USER to your DICE username.

4. Submit the source profile using the diysubmit command.

5. The profile should compile within a minute or so. Check the profile's status on the LCFG status web page at http://diydice.inf.ed.ac.uk/cgi. Click on the machine's name for further details. A red insect icon against your machine's name means that there are bugs in the LCFG profile. Edit the profile source to eliminate the bugs then diysubmit again, and repeat until all the bugs have been eliminated.

6. Once the profile has compiled successfully, you are ready for the installation to begin.

4. Install your machine

1. From within VirtualBox, start your VM. After 15-30 seconds you should see a menu similar to the following :-

   The following boot options are available
   
   sl5:- boot to the sl5 install system
   sl564:- boot to the sl5_64 install system
   fc6serial - boot to the fc6 install system with serial console
   
   ... other options ...
   
   boot: 
   

2. For a Scientific Linux 6 install choose the sl6_64 option (or sl6 for SL6 32-bit). This will boot the Linux kernel and start the LCFG install system.

   Loading /kernel-pxe-install-sl5/vmlinux...............
   Loading /kernel-pxe-install-sl5/initrd.gz.............
   .......................................
   ........................................
   Ready.
   
   Initializing cgroup subsys cpuset
   Initializing cgroup subsys cpu
   Linux version 2.6.32-279.5.1.el6.i686 (mockbuild@sl6.fnal.gov) (gcc version 4.4.6 20120305 (Red Hat 4.4.6-4) (GCC) ) #1 SMP Tue Aug 14 16:12:17 CDT 2012
   KERNEL supported cpus:
     Intel GenuineIntel
     AMD AuthenticAMD
     NSC Geode by NSC
     Cyrix CyrixInstead
     Centaur CentaurHauls
     Transmeta GenuineTMx86
     Transmeta TransmetaCPU
     UMC UMC UMC UMC
   BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
    BIOS-e820: 0000000000000000 - 000000000009fc00 (usable)
    BIOS-e820: 000000000009fc00 - 00000000000a0000 (reserved)
    BIOS-e820: 00000000000e0000 - 0000000000100000 (reserved)
    BIOS-e820: 0000000000100000 - 000000001f7f0000 (usable)
    BIOS-e820: 000000001f7f0000 - 0000000020000000 (reserved)
    BIOS-e820: 00000000fec00000 - 0000000100000000 (reserved)
   
   ... more kernel output ...
   
   ----------  LCFG installroot  --------------
   Version:               0.102.0
   Date:                  27/08/12 09:05:20
   Starting udev: intel_rng: Firmware space is locked read-only. If you can't or
   intel_rng: don't want to disable this in firmware setup, and if
   intel_rng: you are certain that your system has a functional
   intel_rng: RNG, try using the 'no_fwh_detect' option.
   sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
   [  OK  ]
   [OK] client: install
   
   (I)nstall, (D)ebug, (S)hell, (P)atchup, (R)eboot: 
   
   

   If you don't see output similar to the above or the hostname is incorrect please contact Support.

3. Up until this point, nothing has been installed on your machine. If you are happy for the install to go ahead type i at the above prompt, followed by y to confirm. The install process will now start to install DIY DICE on your machine.

   (I)nstall, (D)ebug, (S)hell, (P)atchup, (R)eboot : i
   Type Y to confirm, S for shell : y
   [INFO] install: Calling %oneshot% setctx install=true
   [INFO] install: Calling %oneshot% echo lcfg:x:980:980:LCFG user:/tmp:/bin/false >> /etc/passwd
   [INFO] install: Calling %oneshot% echo lcfg:x:980: >> /etc/group
   [INFO] install: Calling client install none:
   [OK] client: install
   [INFO] install: Calling %gettime% ntpdate extntp0.inf.ed.ac.uk
   Attempting ntpdate of extntp0.inf.ed.ac.uk (129.215.160.240)
   
   ... more output ...
   

   This process will install sufficient software packages (known as RPMs) for the machine to boot off its local disk. This set of ~350 RPMs is known as the "installbase". Once the "installbase" is installed, the machine will reboot off the local disk and continue installing the remaining ~2500 RPMs. This process will take between 1 and 2hrs depending on the speed of the machine. A final reboot is performed and the machine should then be ready for use.

4. Remove the line #define FIRST_INSTALL from your machine's source profile.

-- AlastairScobie - 16 Apr 2009