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Forum Discussion
chirpa
Mar 07, 2009Luminary
Running VirtualBox VM host on ReadyNAS Pro
What is VirtualBox?
So, I got bored while laundry was going... and decided to see how well a virtual OS would run on the Pro. My first choice of VM was VirtualBox, just cause I'm familiar with it after using it for ages, plus its open and free :) Eventually, I may look into VMWare as well.
After a bit of messing around, got it installed. Since the system is based off of Debian, was easy to get VirtualBox itself there (deb package). The trickiest part was getting the kernel modules required installed (see end of post).
In the end, I've got Windows 2003 R2 running on my Pro, interacting with it via RDP, and I am happy with the performance. I've added an extra 1GB memory (for a total of 2GB). I assigned 1GB of ram to my virtual OS, which still leaves the default configuration of 1GB for the NAS itself (which is more than enough still, 800MB+ is always cached).
I made a 10GB virtual disk to install the OS on. If I need more space later for extra applications, I can just add another virtual drive to that installation. And since I always like a bit extra security, I went a bit beyond the usual, and also have TrueCrypt running full disk encryption in the virtual OS. So no one can even boot and read the data in that OS without my bootup password.
I don't really have any screenshots to show, just a standard Windows installation. Here is a few of the steps I used while creating the VM on the console:
VirtualBox 3.1 has changed the CLI configuration. Until I update this how-to, please reference this: http://www.uhleeka.com/blog/2009/12/vir ... 9-04-host/
With the OS booted up and just sitting at the desktop, top reports:
Ad-hoc installation of VirtualBox. Should work for RAIDiator 4.2.4. Download links for the kernel modules, for those who don't want to go through the mess of compiling them.
So, I got bored while laundry was going... and decided to see how well a virtual OS would run on the Pro. My first choice of VM was VirtualBox, just cause I'm familiar with it after using it for ages, plus its open and free :) Eventually, I may look into VMWare as well.
After a bit of messing around, got it installed. Since the system is based off of Debian, was easy to get VirtualBox itself there (deb package). The trickiest part was getting the kernel modules required installed (see end of post).
In the end, I've got Windows 2003 R2 running on my Pro, interacting with it via RDP, and I am happy with the performance. I've added an extra 1GB memory (for a total of 2GB). I assigned 1GB of ram to my virtual OS, which still leaves the default configuration of 1GB for the NAS itself (which is more than enough still, 800MB+ is always cached).
I made a 10GB virtual disk to install the OS on. If I need more space later for extra applications, I can just add another virtual drive to that installation. And since I always like a bit extra security, I went a bit beyond the usual, and also have TrueCrypt running full disk encryption in the virtual OS. So no one can even boot and read the data in that OS without my bootup password.
I don't really have any screenshots to show, just a standard Windows installation. Here is a few of the steps I used while creating the VM on the console:
VirtualBox 3.1 has changed the CLI configuration. Until I update this how-to, please reference this: http://www.uhleeka.com/blog/2009/12/vir ... 9-04-host/
# Creating the Virtual Machine.
$ VBoxManage createvm -name "Windows2003" -register
$ VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows2003" -memory "1024MB" -acpi on -boot1 dvd -nic1 nat
$ VBoxManage createvdi -filename "/c/backup/VirtualBox/Windows2003.vdi" -size 10000 -register
$ VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows2003" -hda "/c/backup/VirtualBox/Windows2003.vdi"
$ VBoxManage registerimage dvd /c/backup/VirtualBox/Windows2003Ent.iso
$ VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows2003" -dvd /c/backup/VirtualBox/Windows2003Ent.iso
$ VBoxHeadless -startvm "Windows2003" &
# Connected via Remote Desktop at this point.
# After the installation, first page requires Ctrl-Alt-Del, so I sent the keycodes.
$ VBoxManage controlvm "Windows2003" keyboardputscancode 1d 38 53
# System is up and running, time to install GuestAdditions for better video, etc.
$ wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/2.2.2/VBoxGuestAdditions_2.2.2.iso
$ VBoxManage registerimage dvd /c/backup/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions_2.2.2.iso
$ VBoxManage controlvm "Windows2003" dvdattach /c/backup/VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions_2.2.2.iso
With the OS booted up and just sitting at the desktop, top reports:
top - 16:17:10 up 1 day, 17:58, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.01, 0.00
Tasks: 93 total, 1 running, 92 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
Cpu(s): 0.7%us, 0.2%sy, 0.0%ni, 99.2%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 0.0%st
Mem: 2072432k total, 2020100k used, 52332k free, 6120k buffers
Swap: 1048536k total, 144k used, 1048392k free, 784620k cached
PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
10297 root 20 0 1104m 1.0g 4720 S 4 52.5 57:31.53 VBoxHeadless
12792 root 20 0 46092 9520 1720 S 1 0.5 59:54.51 motion
12196 root 20 0 9196 7688 980 S 0 0.4 0:57.72 wastesrv
1 root 20 0 1948 600 508 S 0 0.0 0:01.30 init
Ad-hoc installation of VirtualBox. Should work for RAIDiator 4.2.4. Download links for the kernel modules, for those who don't want to go through the mess of compiling them.
$ mkdir /lib/modules/`uname -r`/miscOr, if you want to compile the kernel modules yourself:
$ cd /lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc
$ wget http://www.readynas.com/contributed/chirpa/modules/virtualbox/pro/vboxdrv.ko
$ wget http://www.readynas.com/contributed/chirpa/modules/virtualbox/pro/vboxnetflt.ko
$ echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian etch non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
$ wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/sun_vbox.asc -O- | apt-key add -
$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install virtualbox-2.1
$ /etc/init.d/vboxdrv start
envyious:/c/backup# echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian etch non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.listInstall of VirtualBox 2.2.2, before Sun updates the Debian Repository...
envyious:/c/backup# wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/sun_vbox.asc -O- | apt-key add -
envyious:/c/backup# apt-get update && apt-get install build-essential
...
Setting up build-essential (11.3) ...
envyious:/c/backup# wget -q http://www.readynas.com/download/GPL/RNDP6xxx_4.2.4_WW_src.zip
envyious:/c/backup# unzip -q RNDP6xxx_4.2.4_WW_src.zip -d ./GPL
envyious:/c/backup# cd GPL/linux-x86-2.6/
envyious:/c/backup/GPL/linux-x86-2.6# make && make prepare
...
envyious:/c/backup/GPL/linux-x86-2.6# ln -s /c/backup/GPL/linux-x86-2.6/ /usr/src/linux
envyious:/c/backup/GPL/linux-x86-2.6# KERN_DIR=/usr/src/linux
envyious:/c/backup/GPL/linux-x86-2.6# apt-get install virtualbox-2.1
...
Setting up virtualbox-2.1 (2.1.4-42893_Debian_etch) ...
Adding group `vboxusers' (GID 101) ...
Done.
Messages emitted during module compilation will be logged to /var/log/vbox-install.log.
Success!
Starting VirtualBox kernel module: done.
envyious:/c/backup/GPL/linux-x86-2.6# cd
envyious:/c/backup/GPL/linux-x86-2.6# VBoxManage list vms
VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 2.1.4
(C) 2005-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
All rights reserved.
# wget -q http://www.readynas.com/download/GPL/RNDP6xxx_4.2.4_WW_src.zip
# unzip -q RNDP6xxx_4.2.4_WW_src.zip -d ./GPL
# cd GPL/linux-x86-2.6/
# make && make prepare
# ln -s /c/backup/GPL/linux-x86-2.6/ /usr/src/linux
# export KERN_DIR=/usr/src/linux
# apt-get install libfontconfig1 libglib2.0-0 libice6 libsdl1.2debian libsm6 libx11-6 libxcursor1 libxext6 libxi6 libxmu6 libxrandr2 libxrender1 libxslt1.1 libxt6 python2.4
# wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/2.2.2/virtualbox-2.2_2.2.2-46594_Debian_etch_i386.deb
# dpkg -i virtualbox-2.2_2.2.2-46594_Debian_etch_i386.deb
Setting up virtualbox-2.2 (2.2.2-46594_Debian_etch) ...
Recompiling VirtualBox kernel module: done.
Starting VirtualBox kernel module: done.
441 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
- b2thetAspirantHas anyone else experienced this and then was able to resolve it?
- srijanAspirantHi,
I'm a bit of a noob - I'm about to buy a readyNAS RNDU6000 NAS box and I need to know whether it is possible to install DSpace ( dspace.org ) directly on the readyNAS. I was browsing through this thread and it seems you can install an OS directly on these NAS boxes. If that's right, then I should be able to install ubuntu on this NAS box and then install DSpace on it, right? I could then access the DSpace installation from any of the other computers on the network.
Any tips/guides/pointers to more detailed information on if and how this can be done?
Sorry about the digression, but I couldn't find much definite information about this anywhere else. Thanks! - mdgm-ntgrNETGEAR Employee RetiredIf you want to use VirtualBox to run e.g. Ubuntu, you should ideally get a Pro 6 (RNDP6000) or if not that get an Ultra 6 Plus (RNDP600U).
The ReadyNAS runs heavily customised Debian Linux. I don't know if it's possible to run that software directly rather than via a VM. Either way it would be unsupported. - Trying to follow this through on my ReadyNAS Ultra 4 (RAIDiator 4.2.17). Hopefully not trying to be too clever for myself, instead of doing the following:
# wget -q http://www.readynas.com/download/GPL/RNDP6xxx_4.2.4_WW_src.zip
# unzip -q RNDP6xxx_4.2.4_WW_src.zip -d ./GPL
I downloaded RNDP6xxx_4.2.17_WW_src.zip instead, assuming it matched my RAIDiator version and it was the right thing to do. Trouble came when I tried to unzip it. The first half of the unzip looked like it was going well (I didn't use the "quiet" option so I could keep an eye on it), but then it started giving errors around the packages that started with "l":checkdir error: cannot create ./GPL/libidn-0.6.5
unable to process libidn-0.6.5/java/gnu/inet/encoding/CombiningClass.java.
checkdir error: cannot create ./GPL/libidn-0.6.5
unable to process libidn-0.6.5/java/gnu/inet/encoding/Composition.java.
checkdir error: cannot create ./GPL/libidn-0.6.5
unable to process libidn-0.6.5/java/gnu/inet/encoding/DecompositionKeys.java.
checkdir error: cannot create ./GPL/libidn-0.6.5
unable to process libidn-0.6.5/java/gnu/inet/encoding/DecompositionMappings.java.
As a consequence, the# cd GPL/linux-x86-2.6/
dir didn't exist and can't do that step. Any ideas what's going on? Here is the dir listing of what did extract successfully so far:# ls GPL/
acl-2.2.47 findutils-4.2.28
acpid-1.0.4 flac-1.2.1
adduser-3.112+nmu2 freetype-2.2.1
apache2-2.2.6 gcc-4.1-4.1.2
apr-1.2.7 gcc-4.3-4.3.2
apr-util-1.2.7+dfsg gdbm-1.8.3
apt-0.6.46.4 gdisk-0.6.13
at-3.1.10.2.netgear1 glibc-2.7
attr-2.4.43 gnupg-1.4.9
avahi-0.6.23 gnutls26-2.8.6
base-files-4.0.1~bpo40+1 gphoto2-2.2.0
base-passwd-3.5.11 grep-2.5.1.ds2
bash-3.1dfsg gsasl-0.2.26
busybox-1.18.4 gzip-1.3.12
bvi-1.3.2 hdparm-9.32
bzip2-1.0.3 host-20000331
coreutils-5.97 hostname-3.04
cpio-2.6 ifplugd-0.28
cracklib2-2.7 ifupdown-0.6.8
cron-3.0pl1 iptables-1.4.8
cupsys-1.1.14 iputils-20020927
curl-7.19.7 ipwatchd-1.2
cyrus-sasl2-2.1.23.dfsg1 iscsitarget-1.4.20.2+svn396
db3-3.2.9+dfsg isns-2.1-01+dfsg
db4.4-4.4.20 kernel-build-tools-x86
db4.8-4.8.30 keyutils-1.2
dbus-1.2.1 krb5-1.6.dfsg.4~beta1
ddrescue-1.10 libapache2-mod-auth-pam-1.1.1
debconf-1.5.36.1 libapache2-mod-perl2-2.0.2
debian-archive-keyring-2007.07.31~etch1 libapreq2-2.08
debian-backports-keyring-2007.06.10 libcap-1.10
debianutils-2.17 libcsv-3.0.0
devmapper-1.02.08 libdaemon-0.12
diffutils-3.0 libdbd-mysql-perl-3.0008
dosfstools-3.0.9 libdbi-perl-1.53
dpkg-1.13.25 libdevel-symdump-perl-2.03
dropbear-0.52 libdvdread-0.9.7
dtach-0.7 libedit-2.9.cvs.20050518
e2fsprogs-1.41.14 libevent-1.1a
e2fsprogs-git.master.20110209 libexif-0.6.16
ethtool-6+20080913 libfile-ncopy-perl-0.34
exim-3.36 libfile-remove-perl-0.31
expat-1.95.8 libgcrypt11-1.4.5
faad2-2.6.1 libgd2-2.0.33
ffmpeg-0.6.1 libgpg-error-1.6
ffmpeg-0.6.1.tgz libgphoto2-2.2.1
file-4.17
In addition to the above, instead of installing VirtualBox 3.1 I found some Etch packages at http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/3.2.8/ so was going to follow the above but use that instead. No problems envisaged with that? - mdgm-ntgrNETGEAR Employee RetiredYou do need to download the version of the GPL relevant for the RAIDiator version you have installed. chirpa made the opening post in this thread a long while ago. On recent pages of this thread you can find more up-to-date instructions on how to install newer versions of VirtualBox on recent firmware.
For example there's instructions for installing VirtualBox on 4.2.16 (pretty much the same as 4.2.17, I should think as there's very few GPL differences between 4.2.16 and 4.2.17 none of which I think is relevant to installing VirtualBox) here: http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=26468&p=296922#p296922
I would follow the recent guide and use a recent version of VirtualBox (much newer than the 3.2.8 you linked to). Each new version of RAIDiator and each new version of VirtualBox can potentially change the steps you need to take. So it's a good idea to read through recent pages of the thread for suggestions to deal with common problems others have experienced. - Thanks once again, mate. Confused by something - that recent "howto" mentions AMD stuff. I understood my (Ultra 4) is Intel x86_64, so downloaded that VirtualBox-4.0.8-71778-Linux_x86.run, but when I run it I get this:
# ./VirtualBox-4.0.8-71778-Linux_x86.run
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox for Linux installation...........
VirtualBox Version 4.0.8 r71778 (2011-05-16T16:58:14Z) installer
Detected unsupported amd64 environment. - mdgm-ntgrNETGEAR Employee RetiredI would try the amd64 version then. Not sure why that needs to be used (I haven't installed VirtualBox personally). Hopefully someone can explain.
- sphardy1Apprentice
mdgm wrote: I would try the amd64 version then. Not sure why that needs to be used (I haven't installed VirtualBox personally). Hopefully someone can explain.
Because the original 64bit instruction set specification for x86 processors was actually created by AMD, not Intel. "AMD64" is just the naming convention used on debian based systems: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... onventions - Hi guys. Sorry, me again, with issues, again.
I (think I) have installed VB successfully, but am having trouble installing Ubuntu Lucid on it. I have a ReadyNAS Ultra 4 (RAIDiator 4.2.17), and have installed the latest RNDP6xxx_4.2.17_WW_src.zip GPL, and installed VB using VirtualBox-4.0.8-71778-Linux_amd64.run following the instructions here: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=26468&p=296922#p296922
So that got VB onto my system. Can't find the reference URL now for how I followed instructions, but this is how I set up VB ready to install Lucid:
# VBoxManage setproperty machinefolder "`pwd`"
# VBoxManage createvm --name "Lucid" --ostype Ubuntu --register
# VBoxManage modifyvm "Lucid" --memory 1024 --acpi on --boot1 dvd --boot2 disk --boot3 none --nic1 nat
# VBoxManage modifyvm "Lucid" --pae off --nestedpaging off --vtxvpid off --hwvirtex off --hwvirtexexcl off --ioapic off
# VBoxManage modifyvm "Lucid" --vram 32 --usb off --usbehci off
# VBoxManage createhd --filename "Lucid.vdi" --size 10000
# VBoxManage storagectl "Lucid" --name "IDE Controller" --add ide --controller PIIX4
# VBoxManage storageattach "Lucid" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 0 --type hdd --medium "Lucid.vdi"
# VBoxManage storageattach "Lucid" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 1 --type dvddrive --medium "../downloads/ubuntu-10.04.2-server-i386.iso"
# VBoxHeadless -startvm "Lucid"
After that last command, the VB "boots up" and starts going through the Ubuntu install process. Everything looks ok (viewing progress through RDP viewer), and gets up to the stage where packages are being installed. That gets to about 83% where it's trying to installed the kernel image, then it just hangs for ages, then the VB headless process exits or times out after a while.
Any ideas from here? I must be close, but something to do with the new kernel?... Hang on... Should that Ubuntu version I'm installing be "i386" or "AMD64"? Could that be it? - jmalmlundAspirant
troypiggo wrote: Hi guys. Sorry, me again, with issues, again.
I (think I) have installed VB successfully, but am having trouble installing Ubuntu Lucid on it. I have a ReadyNAS Ultra 4 (RAIDiator 4.2.17), and have installed the latest RNDP6xxx_4.2.17_WW_src.zip GPL, and installed VB using VirtualBox-4.0.8-71778-Linux_amd64.run following the instructions here: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=26468&p=296922#p296922
So that got VB onto my system. Can't find the reference URL now for how I followed instructions, but this is how I set up VB ready to install Lucid:
# VBoxManage setproperty machinefolder "`pwd`"
# VBoxManage createvm --name "Lucid" --ostype Ubuntu --register
# VBoxManage modifyvm "Lucid" --memory 1024 --acpi on --boot1 dvd --boot2 disk --boot3 none --nic1 nat
# VBoxManage modifyvm "Lucid" --pae off --nestedpaging off --vtxvpid off --hwvirtex off --hwvirtexexcl off --ioapic off
# VBoxManage modifyvm "Lucid" --vram 32 --usb off --usbehci off
# VBoxManage createhd --filename "Lucid.vdi" --size 10000
# VBoxManage storagectl "Lucid" --name "IDE Controller" --add ide --controller PIIX4
# VBoxManage storageattach "Lucid" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 0 --type hdd --medium "Lucid.vdi"
# VBoxManage storageattach "Lucid" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 1 --type dvddrive --medium "../downloads/ubuntu-10.04.2-server-i386.iso"
# VBoxHeadless -startvm "Lucid"
After that last command, the VB "boots up" and starts going through the Ubuntu install process. Everything looks ok (viewing progress through RDP viewer), and gets up to the stage where packages are being installed. That gets to about 83% where it's trying to installed the kernel image, then it just hangs for ages, then the VB headless process exits or times out after a while.
Any ideas from here? I must be close, but something to do with the new kernel?... Hang on... Should that Ubuntu version I'm installing be "i386" or "AMD64"? Could that be it?
You've created a 32bit vm so it should be a i386 os to install.. But your problem, I guess by your previous post about how you were unable to extract the source, you are logging in as root and then just try to work in the root user home directory. Root home is stored on the small 4GB system partition and that's why you failed before and most likely the same problem now, if you just make sure to always work in say "/c/VirtualBox/" the space won't be a limitation in the nearest future assuming your array is reasonably big.
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