I’m using openSUSE 12.1 64 bit on this tutorial but the steps can also be applied to earlier versions (11.x) as well as on SLES 11 SP1. I also use VirtualBox for All distributions binary package, although for openSUSE we can also use an RPM-binary package.

Lets get started :

1. Install openSUSE 12.1 Minimal Server (Text Mode)
2. Installing package for VirtualBox Kernel Modul

   zypper in kernel-source make gcc gcc-c++ pam-devel kernel-syms SDL

3. Download VirtualBox binary package with the Extension Pack from www.virtualbox.org

   cd /opt/
   wget -c http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.1.6/VirtualBox-4.1.6-74727-Linux_amd64.run
   wget -c http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.1.6/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.1.6-74713.vbox-extpack
   

4. Install Virtualbox

   chmod +x VirtualBox-4.1.6-74727-Linux_amd64.run
   ./VirtualBox-4.1.6-74727-Linux_amd64.run
   

5. Install the Extension Pack

   chmod +x Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.1.6-74713.vbox-extpack
   VBoxManage extpack install Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.1.6-74713.vbox-extpack
   

6. Create a user for VirtualBox web access

   useradd vbox
   passwd vbox
   New Password : vbox
   Reenter New Password : vbox
   

7. Create a VirtualBox web configuration on /etc/default/

   vi /etc/default/virtualbox
   

   with the following contents :

   VBOXWEB_USER=vbox
   

8. Install LAMPP server and php5-soap package by using zypper

   zypper in -t pattern 'lamp_server'
   zypper in php5-soap
   

9. Edit /etc/apache2/default-server.conf and replace Options None to Options ALL so Apache will display the contents of the directory index

   vi /etc/apache2/default-server.conf
   

10. Download latest phpvirtualbox package

    cd /opt
    wget http://phpvirtualbox.googlecode.com/files/phpvirtualbox-4.1-5.zip
    unzip phpvirtualbox-4.1-5.zip -d /srv/www/htdocs
    cd /srv/www/htdocs
    mv phpvirtualbox-4.1-5 phpvirtualbox
    cd phpvirtualbox
    

11. Rename config.php-example to config.php and modify the contents to an appropriate configuration

    mv config.php-example config.php
    vi config.php
    

    var $username = 'vbox';
    var $password = 'vbox';
    var $location = 'http://192.168.1.111:18083/';
    var $consoleHost = '192.168.1.111';
    

    Note : 192.168.1.111 is my VBoxHeadless Server

12. Restart web server and run the VirtualBox services

    service apache2 restart
    vboxwebsrv --host 192.168.1.111 -b
    

13. Open a browser and go to http://VBOXHeadLess-Address/phpvirtualbox, login with the default user: admin with password : admin

On the client side, access the VirtualBox VM by using rdesktop or krdc with following examples :

rdesktop 192.168.1.111:3389

Here is the view of VM on VBoxHeadless, running Minimal Server Appliance.

Note :

1. If you encounter an error message: PHP does not have the SOAP extension enabled, install php5-soap package from openSUSE 11.2 OSS repository
2. If the Console does not open or error, power off the virtual OS then click on Settings -> Select Display -> Remote Display -> Checklist on the Enable Server and give the port on the Server Port, for example 3389 -> OK then run again. If you have more than one virtual OS,  do the similar process and change Server Port to 3390 and so on

At first, installing server is an interesting jobs but after similar works on some client, I feel bored with the process, ie :

1. Virtualization Server (VMWare, KVM, OpenVZ, Xen, etc) Installation
2. Server OS installation
3. Application Installation
4. Customizing the configuration

I think I could reduce the time for processing the above task by making an appliance using SUSE Studio. An appliance will contains my default server setup and all of packages required by application. The results are Minimal Server Appliance.

Minimal Server Appliance based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP1 64 bit Just Enough Operating System (JeOS). It has all minimal server package with DRBD+Heartbeat from High Availability Extension (HAE) Addons.

The Appliance was successfully tested to running Zimbra Collaboration Suite 7.×.x (latest testing with Zimbra 7.1.3) on VMWare ESXi, Proxmox VE, VirtualBox and KVM Virtualization. Use the following user name and password credentials to make modification to the appliance configuration :

User Name : root
Password : opensuse

By using this application I can reduce the installation time to just a few minutes only. If you wish to make some modification, feel free to clone the appliance and making your own.

Notes from latest releases :

001 : Change Appliance Size to 50 GB (Dynamic Size)
002 : Add netcat package, required by Zimbra zmconfigd
003 : Add Indonesian Local Mirror for SLES 11 SP1 64 bit
004 : Add imapsync package for mail migration and synchronization
005 : Add nmap package for port tracking
006 : Add opendkim package for Zimbra DKIM signature
007 : Add ntp and yast2-ntp-client for time synchronization
008 : Add sqlite3 package, required by Zimbra 7.×.x

I’m intended and mostly using the appliance for Zimbra mail server deployment on top of SLES 11 SP1 64 bit but the appliance itself could be setting up as web server, database server, proxy server, file server, etc.

Minimal Server Appliance available on ISO LiveCD, Preload ISO for physical server deployment and Virtual Image (OVF and VMX extension) for virtual server deployment.

Please let me know if you found any bugs regarding the appliance.

Installing VirtualBox on openSUSE 11.3 has similar method as on openSUSE 11.2 with only a few changes : VirtualBox on openSUSE 11.3 need openSSL and PNG library as dependencies package.

I’m using VirtualBox 3.2.6 64 bit on openSUSE 11.3 64 bit on this article. You may also use this guide for installing VirtualBox 32 bit, there is no major difference between 2 version.

1. Install required library and package : kernel-source, make, gcc, gcc-c++, pam-devel, kernel-syms by using YAST | Software | Software Management or  Zypper package manager :

   zypper in kernel-source make gcc gcc-c++ pam-devel kernel-syms
   

   `

2. Download VirtualBox binary installer. Choose an appropriate version whether 32 bit or 64 bit depending your processor.
3. Install VirtualBox using Zypper with the following command (I’m using /opt as base folder, adjust with your download folder) :

   cd /opt
   zypper in ./VirtualBox-3.2-3.2.6_63112_openSUSE111-1.x86_64.rpm
   

   `

4. Add your user as VirtualBox group member by using YAST | Security & User | User & Group Management. Choose user name, click Edit and then move to Details tab and give a mark on vboxusers checkbox, cdrom and disk.
5. Logout re-login so new group will be updated to your profile
6. Run  VirtualBox from system menu or by using konsole/terminal  : VirtualBox (case sensitive)

NOTE :

1. Installation process may failed while compiling VirtualBox module for kernel. Check the version of your running kernel and kernel source using uname -r and zypper if kernel-source as below :

   vavai:/home/vavai # zypper if kernel-source
   Loading repository data...
   Reading installed packages...Information for package kernel-source:
   
   Repository: @System
   Name: kernel-source
   Version: 2.6.34-12.3
   Arch: noarch
   Vendor: openSUSE
   Installed: Yes
   Status: up-to-date
   Installed Size: 334.4 MiB
   Summary: The Linux Kernel Sources
   Description:
   Linux kernel sources with many fixes and improvements.
   
   Source Timestamp: 2010-06-29 02:39:08 +0200
   GIT Revision: 7a744773dd7c2539b7757435d0108cb701dd0165
   GIT Branch: openSUSE-11.3
   

   vavai:/home/vavai # uname -r
   2.6.34-12-desktop
   

   See that I’m using same version for both running kernel and kernel-source. If you found different version, try to updating the lower version to be same version as another one.

2. VirtualBox will automatically remove old package if found previous installation without deleting your existing image but it’s highly recommended to create a backup before installing and updating VirtualBox.

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is currently popular terms among the virtualization technology. What makes it popular and become the strong competitor for Xen Hypervisor are the technology behind KVM and Red Hat decision to move focus on KVM instead of Xen for next release Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0. What makes KVM gains an advantage on the technology side are the inclusion KVM module into Linux kernel so we do not need a patch or different kernel as we need for Xen Hypervisor. Beside the two virtualization technology above, those are various virtualization technology running on Linux : VMWare, VirtualBox, OpenVZ etc but Xen and KVM are quite popular among others.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 was added KVM beside Xen Hypervisor on Service Pack 1 release. openSUSE 11.3 released on July 15, 2010 also append  KVM as Virtualization package beside the default Xen Hypervisor. Following article covers KVM installation on openSUSE 11.3 64 bit (the 32 bit installation should be similar).

1. Install KVM module by using YAST or  Zypper.  Install following package : kvm, libvirt, libvirt-python, virt-utils, yast2-vm, virt-manager, virt-viewer, bridge-utils, vm-install. We may also install virtualization stuff by using YAST | Virtualization | Install Hypervisor and Tools and then adds KVM package within  YAST | Software | Software Management, but the second tips will also installing  Xen Hypervisor . SLES 11 SP1 has different way to install KVM by asking which Virtualization technology should be install if we choose second tips. I don’t know why openSUSE take different method to install and not as simple as SLES 11 SP1 has.
2. Activate Virtual Daemon. Open YAST | System | System Services (runlevel) and mark libvirtd as enable services
   `
   
3. Open YAST | Virtualization | Virtual Machine Manager
   `
   
4. If Virtual Machine Manager has no  “localhost (QEMU) option, add the KVM instance by clicking  menu File | Add Connection and choose KVM/QEMU and then click Connect
   `
   
5. After that, we may create a new virtual appliance by click  New and follows the  wizard.
   

Managing KVM on openSUSE/SLES seems to be similar as managing Xen Hypervisor because both virtualization using same front-end application (libvirt) on openSUSE/SLES YAST. KVM need a motherboard supporting virtualization extensions as it’s feature, e.g : Intel VT (Virtualization technology) or AMD-V. To check whether your motherboard supporting virtualization extension, run the following command on konsole/terminal :

Intel VT :

grep --color vmx /proc/cpuinfo

AMD-V

grep --color svm /proc/cpuinfo

Some motherboard disable virtualization extension by default so you must check BIOS setting to see whether virtualization extension has been activated or not.

I’m thinking about a project for a week end. Updating Zimbra Appliance to the latest version seems to be nice but I need a few feedback about the specification of appliance.

On previous version, I’m using Zimbra 5.0.18 on openSUSE 11.1 JeOS. It has minimum specification but it works pretty well (please let me know if you’ve failed on installing the Appliance). My colleagues in Indonesia sent me some feedback whether it’s possible or no to add the minimal GUI environment to manage the administration and give some testing.

Below are my plans for next appliance :

1. Build on openSUSE 11.1 32 bit with KDE3 basis with text editor and browser (FF or Chrome) installed by default. The previous version has no GUI installed and build on JeOS (Just Enough Operating System) basis.
2. Zimbra has installed by default with predefined domain, IP and DNS records but also give you a chance to change domain, IP and DNS. The previous version build with predefined install script to install Zimbra
3. Bundle with predefine setting on Zimbra anti spam improvement. The previous version didn’t have any anti spam improvement and built with standard setup
4. Use Zimbra version 5.0.21. The previous version using version 5.0.18. 5.0.21 is a stable and currently latest version. In other project, I’m also thinking about building Zimbra 6.0.4 64 bit on openSUSE 11.1.

So, which one you agree,

• Minimal JeOS or minimal GUI
• 32 bit or 64 bit
• Pre-installed Zimbra or an install script only
• Predefined anti spam or leave it as is
• Zimbra 5.0.21 or Zimbra 6.0.4
• VMWare VMX format or VirtualBox VDI format (or maybe an ovf format)

Please give the feedback on my comment form. I’ll be starting to update the Zimbra appliance tomorrow and upload the appliance into my host server as soon as possible.

As announced by  VMWare and Zimbra, the acquisition will further VMware’s mission of taking complexity out of the datacenter, desktop, application development and core IT services, and delivering a fundamentally more efficient and new  approach to IT. Steve Herrord has published his blog post regarding the reason why Zimbra decided to acquire Zimbra.

I’ve read a positive response to the acquisition. It may (and should be) better than lets Zimbra acquired by Microsoft. Microsoft has their own product : Microsoft Exchange Server. One of the stronger competitors for their product are Zimbra. The Dual License providing by Zimbra (Network Edition and Open Source Edition) mat not be really appropriate for Microsoft business model.

Beside the positive response, we must wait an update for VMWare strategy to expanding Zimbra popularity and market share. Hope VMWare has better attention for Zimbra than what Yahoo shows off for 2 years.

1. Simplify system backup & restore. We do not need to reinstall everything because we could backup all system in an image. The restore process should be as simple as copying the image into new server
2. Reduces power & electricity consumes. Virtualization need a few physical server as host to run some virtual machine. Less physical server means a lower power and electricity needed
3. Minimal impact while trying to upgrade to better hardware. Moving virtual server into better server will need a few changes than moving physical into physical server.
4. Standard Driver & Management. Virtualization do not need different driver for different model. The driver would same as others because Virtualization will emulate the host driver.
5. Reduce hardware & peripheral cost. We do not need a new server to host different service

Moving physical into virtual better known as  P2V means Physical To Virtual. The popular application to do this are VMWare Converter, that free of charge for open source edition. Anyway, I don’t have the VMWare server (VMWare ESXor VMWare server) to act as destination place for converted image, so I take another way by using CloneZilla Linux with  VMWare Workstation as described below :

Transferring  Physical Disc into Virtual Image

1. Prepare the second physical disk as the destination disk where the converted image will be saved. You may also use network share folder as the destination but in this tutorial I’ll be using physical disk. Please be aware that you must have a bigger disk than the converted disk or you may seen an insufficient disk space error message.
2. Download CloneZilla LiveCD and burn it with your CD burner.
3. Start your server with CloneZilla LiveCD as top priority boots
   `
   
4. Choose  Device-Image Work with disk or Partitions using Images as selected menu after CloneZilla completely started
5. Choose the secondary disk as target to saved the converted image
6. Follow the wizard. CloneZilla will take a moment and ask you some question and confirmation. I need about 30 minutes to convert 250 GB of disk with about 80 GB used space.

Converting Image into Virtual Disk

1. Create a virtual machine with 2 virtual disk. The first virtual disk has 250 GB of size and made as dynamic disk (so the real space would not full 250 GB but depends on how much space would prepare to saved the content of virtual disk). The second virtual disk are a mounted physical disk where the converted image resides. I used VMWare Workstation over VirtualBox because AFAIK (CMIIW) VMWare Workstation has a feature to mount the physical disk or partition as virtual disk. I could not find how to mount the physical disk or partition as virtual disk with VirtualBox
2. Start your virtual machine with CloneZilla LiveCD as top priority boot up
3. Choose Restore image from CloneZilla menu and mount the secondary disk (the mounted physical disk where converted image resides). Choose the mount disk as image source.
4. Restore the image and follows the CloneZilla wizard until finish. The process itself would similar as converting physical disk into converted image.
5. Shut down the virtual machine
6. Remove the CloneZilla LiveCD
7. Remove the physical disk (the mounted physical disk where converted image resides)
8. Start your virtual machine

Note :

1. The above tutorial use physical server with openSUSE 11.1 64 bit contains Samba PDC + OpenLDAP services. I’m converting the system into virtual image and run the virtual machine with openSUSE 11.2 64 bit as host machine
2. I’m currently using VMWare Workstation 6.5.3 64 bit. The vmdk converted image would be run with VirtualBox without problem
3. I haven’t try it with 32 bit processor but I think the process would be similar

I found an error while installing VMWare Workstation 6.5.3 64 bit on openSUSE 11.2 64 bit, both with the rpm or the executable bundle installation file (Actually, the rpm just wrapping the bundle version ). The problem occurred while trying to configure the VMWare Player. It stuck and after waiting for a a hours or more without any progress, I think it would be an installation problem.

Searching for a while, I found the solution as below :

1. Install the bundle version with the following command on konsole/terminal :

   sh VMware-Workstation-6.5.3-185404.x86_64.bundle --custom --console
   

   Note : You may also installing the rpm version with rpm -ivh command.

2. If the installation stop while configuring VMWare Player (about 62% on konsole progress), open a new konsole/terminal tab and run the following command :

   mv /etc/vmware/database /etc/vmware/database_temp
   

   The above command will temporarily moving the database directory and installation should continue without problem

3. After the installation finished successfully, moving back the database folder and run a configuration update :

   mv /etc/vmware/database_temp /etc/vmware/database
   vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
   

   VMWare will updating the configuration and if you haven’t found any error message, the configuration should be updated successfully.

4. Run the VMWare Workstation from your start menu

Below is the step-by-step tutorial covering installation of VirtualBox PUEL Edition version 3.1.2 on openSUSE 11.2

1. Preparing & installing dependencies package, install the following package using YAST | Software | Software Management or by using Zypper : kernel-source, make, gcc, gcc-c++, pam-devel, kernel-syms, SDL
2. Download the VirtualBox binary installer. Choose the binary for openSUSE 11.1 or openSUSE 11.2 and an appropriate processor (32 bit or 64 bit)
3. Install it by using YAST or Zypper or rpm -ivh

   zypper in ./VirtualBox-3.1-3.1.2_56127_openSUSE111-1.i586.rpm
   

   `
   

4. VirtualBox should be automatically execute the compilation module into kernel. If it doesn’t, execute the VirtualBox Script vboxdrv script by using this command :

   /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup
   

5. Go to YAST | Security & User | User & Group Management. Choose your login user (or user who will running VirtualBox), click edit, move to Details tab and give a check on vboxusers group to add your user  as member of VirtualBox group.
6. Logout and re-login
7. Launch VirtualBox from start up menu or by using konsole : VirtualBox (case sensitive)

Note :

1. You should have a correct and appropriate kernel-source and default kernel version. You may failed on compiling module if you have different version between kernel and kernel source. Check it out by using uname and zypper if command as below :

   uname -r
   zypper if kernel-source
   

   `
   

2. If you wish to upgrading the existing version, just remove the old version and then install an update. In normal case, it should not delete any existing image has built on previous version, but backup is a better option to prevent any data loss.

Assertion failed: [!name.isNull()] at ‘/home/vbox/vbox-2.1.0/src/

VBox/Main/NetworkAdapterImpl.cpp’ (1068) in nsresult NetworkAdapter::loadSettings(const settings::Key&). Please contact the product vendor!. Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0×80004005) Component: NetworkAdapter Interface: INetworkAdapter {a876d9b1-68d9-43b1-9c68-ddea0a473663}