Running VirtualBox VM host on ReadyNAS Pro

Hi,
well I'm also new with running the VBox on a Linux Host but this is how i did it (after a lot try and error):

if did the Installation like here: http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=26468&p=296922#p296922

first thing is to change the default machine folder of VBox, it is "~/VirtualBox VMs" otherwise VBox is saving the snapshot there:

VBoxManage setproperty machinefolder "/c/VirtualBox"

than we can start create the vm
the link you have posted is using an old syntax for Vbox 3.x I guess

cd /c/VirtualBox
VBoxManage createvm --name "Kubuntu" --ostype Ubuntu --register
VBoxManage modifyvm "Kubuntu" --memory 1024 --acpi on --boot1 dvd --boot2 disk --boot3 none --nic1 nat
VBoxManage modifyvm "Kubuntu" --pae off --nestedpaging off --vtxvpid off --hwvirtex off --hwvirtexexcl off --ioapic off
VBoxManage modifyvm "Kubuntu" --vram 32 --usb off --usbehci off
VBoxManage createhd --filename "Kubuntu.vdi" --size 10000
VBoxManage storagectl "Kubuntu" --name "IDE Controller" --add ide --controller PIIX4
VBoxManage storageattach "Kubuntu" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 0 --type hdd --medium "Kubuntu.vdi"
VBoxManage storageattach "Kubuntu" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 1 --type dvddrive --medium kubuntu-11.04-desktop-i386.iso

last line only work if the ISO file is in the default machine folder, otherwise use absolute path (e.x. "/c/media/ISO/kubuntu-11.04-desktop-i386.iso")

starting the VM with

VBoxHeadless -startvm "Kubuntu" &

now connect with your rdp client (I use Win7 so) "windows key + R" than enter "mstsc.exe IP-of-your-nas"

after Installation of the Guest system we install the VBox Guest Add-on (much better performance with VRDP) on the Readynas

VBoxManage storageattach "Kubuntu" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 1 --type dvddrive --medium /opt/VirtualBox/additions/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

in guest system run console

sudo su
apt-get install dkms build-essential linux-headers-generic
cd /media/VBOXADDITIONS_4.0.6_71344
sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run
init 6

Port forwarding for Torrent client inside the VM
on the Readynas enter

VBoxManage modifyvm "Kubuntu" --natpf1 "torrent,tcp,,44110,,44110"

Sharedfolders:

on the Readynas

VBoxManage sharedfolder add "Kubuntu" --name media --hostpath /c/media --readonly
VBoxManage sharedfolder add "Kubuntu" --name archiv --hostpath /c/archiv --readonly
VBoxManage sharedfolder add "Kubuntu" --name backup --hostpath /c/backup --readonly
VBoxManage sharedfolder add "Kubuntu" --name transfer-a --hostpath /c/archiv/Transfer
VBoxManage sharedfolder add "Kubuntu" --name transfer-m --hostpath /c/media/Transfer
VBoxManage sharedfolder add "Kubuntu" --name torrent --hostpath /c/media/Torrent

make sure chmod 0777 is set for folders you want to write in.

in the guest system edit the "/etc/fstab" file and add these lines at the end, so it will automount the sharedfolders on boot

archiv /home/xaver/readynas/archiv vboxsf defaults 0 0
media /home/xaver/readynas/media vboxsf defaults 0 0
...

for all folder you want to automount

eject guest add-on iso file
on the Readynas

VBoxManage storageattach "Kubuntu" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 1 --type dvddrive --medium emptydrive

finally we print a summery in a txt file:

VBoxManage showvminfo Kubuntu > Kubuntu.txt

my file look like this:

Name: Kubuntu Guest OS: Ubuntu UUID: 3fe68c7e-341d-45ad-8cbb-1ef0d9ee3f2c Config file: /c/VM/VirtualBox VMs/Kubuntu/Kubuntu.vbox Snapshot folder: /c/VM/VirtualBox VMs/snapshot Log folder: /c/VM/VirtualBox VMs/Kubuntu/Logs Hardware UUID: 3fe68c7e-341d-45ad-8cbb-1ef0d9ee3f2c Memory size: 1024MB Page Fusion: off VRAM size: 32MB HPET: off Chipset: piix3 Firmware: BIOS Number of CPUs: 1 Synthetic Cpu: off CPUID overrides: None Boot menu mode: message and menu Boot Device (1): DVD Boot Device (2): HardDisk Boot Device (3): Not Assigned Boot Device (4): Not Assigned ACPI: on IOAPIC: off PAE: off Time offset: 0 ms RTC: local time Hardw. virt.ext: off Hardw. virt.ext exclusive: off Nested Paging: off Large Pages: off VT-x VPID: off State: running (since 2011-05-12T20:03:29.459000000) Monitor count: 1 3D Acceleration: off 2D Video Acceleration: off Teleporter Enabled: off Teleporter Port: 0 Teleporter Address: Teleporter Password: Storage Controller Name (0): IDE Controller Storage Controller Type (0): PIIX4 Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0 Storage Controller Max Port Count (0): 2 Storage Controller Port Count (0): 2 Storage Controller Bootable (0): on IDE Controller (0, 0): /c/VM/Kubuntu.vdi (UUID: cb3e9d18-64e7-41b3-b725-ef648ccd8b12) IDE Controller (0, 1): Empty NIC 1: MAC: 08002733AF29, Attachment: NAT, Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: 82540EM, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0 NIC 1 Settings: MTU: 0, Socket( send: 64, receive: 64), TCP Window( send:64, receive: 64) NIC 1 Rule(0): name = torrent, protocol = tcp, host ip = , host port = 44110, guest ip = , guest port = 44110 NIC 2: disabled NIC 3: disabled NIC 4: disabled NIC 5: disabled NIC 6: disabled NIC 7: disabled NIC 8: disabled Pointing Device: PS/2 Mouse Keyboard Device: PS/2 Keyboard UART 1: disabled UART 2: disabled Audio: disabled Clipboard Mode: Bidirectional Video mode: 1920x1200x32 VRDE: enabled (Address 0.0.0.0, Ports , MultiConn: off, ReuseSingleConn: off, Authentication type: null) VRDE port: 3389 Video redirection: disabled VRDE property: TCP/Ports = <not set> VRDE property: TCP/Address = <not set> VRDE property: VideoChannel/Enabled = <not set> VRDE property: VideoChannel/Quality = <not set> VRDE property: Client/DisableDisplay = <not set> VRDE property: Client/DisableInput = <not set> VRDE property: Client/DisableAudio = <not set> VRDE property: Client/DisableUSB = <not set> VRDE property: Client/DisableClipboard = <not set> VRDE property: Client/DisableUpstreamAudio = <not set> USB: disabled USB Device Filters: Index: 0 Active: yes Name: remoteUSB VendorId: ProductId: Revision: Manufacturer: Product: Remote: yes Serial Number: Available remote USB devices: <none> Currently Attached USB Devices: <none> Shared folders: Name: 'media', Host path: '/c/media' (machine mapping), readonly Name: 'archiv', Host path: '/c/archiv' (machine mapping), readonly Name: 'backup', Host path: '/c/backup' (machine mapping), readonly Name: 'transfer-a', Host path: '/c/archiv/Transfer' (machine mapping), writable Name: 'transfer-m', Host path: '/c/media/Transfer' (machine mapping), writable Name: 'torrent', Host path: '/c/media/Torrent' (machine mapping), writable VRDE Connection: not active Clients so far: 8 Last started: 2011/05/14 13:59:14 UTC Last ended: 2011/05/14 14:05:14 UTC Sent: 0 Bytes Average speed: 0 B/s Sent total: 0 Bytes Received: 0 Bytes Speed: 0 B/s Received total: 0 Bytes Guest: OS type: Linux26 Additions run level: 2 Configured memory balloon size: 0 MB

ok hope you can use some of this.

if someone has ideas which flag should be turned on to improve the performance of the VM please let me know

VBoxManage modifyvm "Kubuntu" --pae off --nestedpaging off --vtxvpid off --hwvirtex off --hwvirtexexcl off --ioapic off VBoxManage modifyvm "Kubuntu" --vram 32 --usb off --usbehci off

I'm not sure if these really needed but the Pro Pionner has not a CPU with VTX or things like these and VBox turned on these flags on default i guess


edit:
here is a deamon script for the nas so it will save the VM when the NAS will restart or shutdown and auto launch it on powerup:

#!/bin/bash
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          vboxheadless
# Required-Start:    $local_fs $remote_fs $network $syslog
# Required-Stop:     $local_fs $remote_fs $network $syslog
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
### END INIT INFO
#
# vboxheadless          This init.d script is used to start and Stop VM'S.
#  
VBOXNAME="Kubuntu"

VBOXHEADLESS=/usr/bin/VBoxHeadless
VBOXMANAGE=/usr/bin/VBoxManage

test -f $VBOXHEADLESS || exit 0
test -f $VBOXMANAGE || exit 0

. /lib/lsb/init-functions

case "$1" in
start)    log_daemon_msg "Starting virtual machine" "$VBOXNAME"
          sudo -H -u root $VBOXHEADLESS -startvm $VBOXNAME &
          sleep 1
          log_end_msg $?
          exit 0
          ;;
stop)     log_daemon_msg "Stopping virtual machine" "$VBOXNAME"
          sudo -H -u root $VBOXMANAGE -nologo controlvm $VBOXNAME savestate
          log_end_msg $?
          exit 0
          ;;
reset)    log_daemon_msg "Resetting virtual machine" "$VBOXNAME"
          sudo -H -u root $VBOXMANAGE -nologo controlvm $VBOXNAME reset
          log_end_msg $?
          exit 0
          ;;
poweroff) log_daemon_msg "Switching off virtual machine" "$VBOXNAME"
          sudo -H -u root $VBOXMANAGE -nologo controlvm $VBOXNAME poweroff
          log_end_msg $?
          exit 0
          ;;
acpioff)  log_daemon_msg "Sending ACPI-off to virtual machine" "$VBOXNAME"
          sudo -H -u root $VBOXMANAGE -nologo controlvm $VBOXNAME acpipowerbutton
          log_end_msg $?
          exit 0
          ;;
esac
echo No valid option found. Valid options are: start, stop, reset, poweroff, acpioff
exit 0

put this code in a file in "/etc/init.d/"

vi /etc/init.d/vboxheadlessdeamon

make it executable and link it with runlevel 2, 0 and 6

chmod a+x /etc/init.d/vboxheadlessdeamon
ln -s /etc/init.d/vboxheadlessdeamon /etc/rc2.d/S99vboxheadlessdeamon
ln -s /etc/init.d/vboxheadlessdeamon /etc/rc0.d/K99vboxheadlessdeamon
ln -s /etc/init.d/vboxheadlessdeamon /etc/rc6.d/K99vboxheadlessdeamon

from now on you can start your VM also with

/etc/init.d/vboxheadlessdeamon start

the only know issue is that

log_daemon_msg "Starting virtual machine" "$VBOXNAME"

wont work, well it does not make an error or something but it also wont be displayed in the logs (messages, syslog, system, deamon or dmesg) maybe a netgear thing.
could somebody please tell me which command I could use so it will be displayed in the deamon.log or in frontview in the protocol tab or both?