| Scripted creation of VMs in VirtualBox | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Part I. Miscellaneous subjects (and those still to be sorted) |  |
| Scripted creation of VMs in VirtualBox | ||
|---|---|---|
| | Part I. Miscellaneous subjects (and those still to be sorted) | |
Whereas VMWare has a rather unwieldy installer that needs to be run when an Ubuntu PC is installed, VirtualBox is neatly packaged for Ubuntu. It is possible to control VirtualBox from the command line, and we do so to install Windows machine using an ISO image of a CD that does a complete installation, including some applications like virus scanners and the like:
Set a few variables
user@host:~$ VMPATH=/mnt/scratch/virtualbox
user@host:~$ VMNAME=VirtualBox-Windows
user@host:~$ VMFILE=${VMPATH}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}.xml
user@host:~$ VDISK=${VMPATH}/${VMNAME}/${VMNAME}-disk
user@host:~$ INSTALLISO=/opt/iso/windows/unattend.ISO
user@host:~$ install -d ${VMPATH}
Create the VM and register it to VirtualBox
user@host:~$ VBoxManage createvm \
--name ${VMNAME} \
--ostype WindowsXP \
--basefolder ${VMPATH} \
--register
Adjust the VM a bit
Give the VM 512 MB of memory, and one CPU:
user@host:~$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${VMNAME} \
--memory 512 \
--cpus 1
Add an IDE controller to the VM
user@host:~$ VBoxManage storagectl ${VMNAME} \
--name "IDE Controller" \
--add ide
Create a virtual disk, and register it
user@host:~$ VBoxManage createhd --filename ${VDISK} \
--size 30000 \
--variant Split2G \
--remember
![[Warning]](http://jurjenbokma.com/ApprenticesNotes/images/admon/warning.png) | Warning |
|---|---|
The “Split2G” doesn't seem to have any effect. |
Register the virtual DVD with VirtualBox
user@host:~$ VBoxManage openmedium \
dvd ${INSTALLISO}
Fetch the machine's UUI from its description XML file
user@host:~$ eval $(grep '<Machine uuid=[{0-9a-f}]*' ${VMFILE}|tr -d '{}'|grep -o 'uuid=[^\ ]*')
user@host:~$ UUID=${uuid}
Attach the virtual disk to the virtual machine
user@host:~$ VBoxManage showvminfo ${VMNAME}|fgrep '${VDISK}.vdi' \
|| VBoxManage storageattach ${VMNAME} \
--storagectl "IDE Controller" \
--port 0 \
--device 0 \
--type hdd \
--medium ${VDISK}.vdi
Attach the installation DVD to the virtual machine
user@host:~$ VBoxManage showvminfo ${VMNAME}|fgrep '${INSTALLISO}' \
|| VBoxManage storageattach ${VMNAME} \
--storagectl "IDE Controller" \
--port 1 \
--device 0 \
--type dvddrive \
--medium ${INSTALLISO}
Start the VM
user@host:~$ VBoxManage startvm ${UUID} \
--type gui
| |  | |
| The Intel Fortran Compiler on 64-bit Ubuntu Lucid |  | Creating RAIDs |