- The following topic is for advanced users. The majority of Vagrant users will - never have to do this. Therefore, only continue if you want to have custom OS or custom - version setups not currently available. This guide also assumes you know how to install - operating systems and are familiar with various UNIX commands you'll need along the way. + The following topic is for advanced users. The majority of Vagrant users + will never have to do this. Therefore, only continue if you want to create a custom + operating system. People wishing to distribute changes to an existing base box should + see the packaging guide. If you + continue with this guide, you will need a decent knowledge of the command line and + the specific command lines tools available on the system you are installing.
sudo a security risk? What about public/private keys?
- A common question is "Why the password-less sudo?"
- or "What about public/private keys?". Our answer to this is that since Vagrant
- targets development environments, security is not a major concern, and we
- currently value simplicity over it. In the future we may support keys, password
- sudo, etc. but for now this is not possible with Vagrant.
+ Since Vagrant targets development environments, security is not a major concern, and we
+ currently value simplicity over it. However, Vagrant is still young, and in the future we may
+ support keys, password sudo, etc. Right now though, these are not possible.
Having an environment you can send and have others boot up is really neat, - but not very portable if your file is a 5GB download. Even 1GB is pushing - the limits. You should aim for a final Box size of no more than 500mb. In - order to acehive that size, there is a few things you can do. + but not very portable if your file is a 5 GB download. Even 1 GB is pushing + the limits. You should aim for a final Box size of no more than 500 MB. In + order to achieve that size, there is a few things you can do.
+ Also keep in mind that, in order to simplify configurations, Vagrant make + assumptions about the main account login/password. It will assume the text + 'vagrant' for both values. If any of these are changed, you will need to + remember to specify them in the Vagrantfile using the appropriate configuration + methods before packaging the box. +
### Setup Permissions -Once the VM is created, boot it up. Then lets start by making sure the user has proper -permissions. Specifically the main user should have **password-less `sudo` privileges**. -We do this by running `su` and entering the root password you entered during the -installation of the operating system. Once logged in, run `visudo` and and set the admin -group to use no password. +Once the Virtual Machine is created, boot it up if it isn't already. Then lets +start by making sure the default account has proper permissions. Specifically, +the main user should have **password-less `sudo` privileges**. We do this by +running `su` and entering the root password you entered during the installation +of the operating system. Once logged in, run `visudo` and set the admin group +to use no password. -**Note:** Some bare bones systems will not include `sudo` by default. If `visudo` is not an -available command, install the `sudo` package for your operating system. +**Note:** Some bare bones systems will not include `sudo` by default. If `visudo` +is not an available command, install the `sudo` package for your operating system. The line you should add in the `visudo` configuration to do that looks like this: @@ -120,11 +126,10 @@ The line you should add in the `visudo` configuration to do that looks like this %admin ALL=NOPASSWD: ALL {% endhighlight %} -If you unfamiliar with vi, the editor `visudo` uses, press 'i' to start input, ESC to stop -input, CTRL+X to quit, type 'Y' to save, then hit Enter/Return. Once that is setup, you -may need to make the 'admin' group, and you then need to assign the main user to that group -(on Debian and Ubuntu systems, this is done with groupadd and usermod. Consult the documentation -for the commands your operating system uses). +Once that is setup, you may need to make the 'admin' group, and you then need to +assign the main user to that group (on Debian and Ubuntu systems, this is done with +the groupadd and usermod utilities. Consult the documentation for the commands your +operating system uses). Then restart sudo using `/etc/init.d/sudo restart` (command may defer on operating systems). Finally, verify that sudo works without a password, but running `exit` out of the root @@ -132,10 +137,10 @@ account, then `sudo which sudo`. You should get output similar to `/usr/bin/sudo ### Install VirtualBox Guest Additions -Now we have the permissions, lets get the operating system running a bit smoother. - -There are various guides across the internet explaining how to set up the Virtualbox Guest -Additions, but for most unix-based systems, the following will work just fine. +Now we have the permissions, lets gets shared folders and port forwarding working so we +can harness the full power Vagrant has to offer. There are various guides across the +internet explaining how to set up the Virtualbox Guest Additions, but for most unix-based +systems, the following will work just fine. First, build the necessary packages. You may have to look these up for your system, but they should be fairly similar. On Ubuntu and Debian based systems they are as follows: @@ -146,7 +151,7 @@ $ sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential Next, make sure to insert the guest additions image by using the GUI and clicking on "Devices" followed by "Install Guest Additions.". Then run the following to -mount the cdrom: +mount the CD Rom: {% highlight bash %} $ sudo mount /media/cdrom @@ -159,42 +164,48 @@ it is the following: sudo sh /cdrom/VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run {% endhighlight %} -The install will probably warn you about not installing OpenGL or Window System Drivers, -but this is okay. +If you didn't install a Desktop environment when you installed the operating system, +as recommended to reduce size, the install of the VirtualBox additions should warn +you about the lack of OpenGL or Window System Drivers, but you can safely ignore this. ### Boot and Setup Basic Software We need to setup the software Vagrant relies on. The _required_ software is listed below: -* **Ruby** - Use the dev package so mkmf is present for Chef -* **RubyGems** - For Chef -* **Chef** - For provisioning support. +* **Ruby** - Use the dev package so mkmf is present for Chef to compile +* **RubyGems** - To install the Chef gem +* **Chef** gem - For provisioning support (gem install chef) * **SSH** -These are typically straightforward to install the details won't be gone into here. If -promoted, make sure that the SSH uses **basic username/password authentication** and -write down the username/password. +These are typically straightforward to install using the operating systems default package +management tools, so the details won't be gone into here. If promoted, make sure that the +SSH package is set to use **basic username/password authentication** and write down the +username/password for later. ### Copy the MAC Address -Nearly done. When the OS installs, it typically sets up the basic network devices (eth0 and so on) -automatically. This includes setting the MAC address of these devices. Since configuring -these network devices is often very OS-specific, instead of Vagrant dynamically setting -this at runtime, it forces VirtualBox to use a specific MAC address. This requires -little work on your end. Simply run `sudo ifconfig` or the equivalent and copy the -MAC address down somewhere on your host machine. A screenshot of this is shown -below: +When the operating system was installed, it typically sets up the basic network devices +(eth0 and so on) automatically. This includes setting the MAC address of these devices. +Since configuring these network devices is often very OS-specific, instead of Vagrant +dynamically setting this at runtime, it forces VirtualBox to use a specific MAC address. + +This requires little work on your end, but only needs to be done once per base box. +Simply run `sudo ifconfig` or the equivalent and copy the MAC address down somewhere on +your host machine. A screenshot of this is shown below:  -Now go ahead and shutdown the virtual machine before continuing. +This MAC Address will be used soon. Go ahead and shutdown the virtual machine before continuing. ### Export the Virtual Machine Next, export the virtual machine with "File" then "Export Appliance." Export it to any folder, but make sure the filename is set to `box.ovf`, which is the Vagrant default. -You may actually name this ovf file anything you wish, but naming it the default -has no consequence and will make your life easier. +You may actually name this ovf file anything you wish, but naming it the default has +no consequence and will make your life easier. + +The export process can take several minutes. While that is running, you can progress +onto the next step. ### Setup the Vagrantfile @@ -227,10 +238,20 @@ end ### Package and Distribute -With that done, the final step is to package the contents into a "box" file -and distribute it. The format of "box" files is nothing special: they're -simply tar files. The biggest thing is to make sure that all the files in the -archive are top-level, meaning that the files aren't in a subdirectory. +Now that you have the exported virtual machine and the necessary Vagrantfile, +the final step is to package the contents into a "box" file and distribute it. +The format of "box" files is nothing special: they're simply tar files. The +biggest thing is to make sure that all the files in the archive are top-level, +meaning that the files aren't in a subdirectory. + ++ Simple. When you export the virtual machine from VirtualBox, it is + already compressed. Adding additional compression is slower and yields + no smaller box size than just using tar. +
+- Simple. When you export the virtual machine from VirtualBox, it is - already compressed. Adding additional compression is slower and yields - no smaller box size than just using tar. -
-