Virtualization
Virtualization is the creation of
a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating
system, a server, a storage device or network resources.
What is OS Virtualization?
With operating system virtualization nothing is
pre-installed or permanently loaded on the local device and no hard-disk drive
is needed. Everything is run from the network using a kind of virtual disk.
With the current implementations, this virtual disk is actually a disk image
file stored on a remote server, SAN or NAS. The client will be connected via
the network to this virtual disk and will boot with the operating system
installed on the virtual disk.
Benefits of
Virtualization:
1. Running multiple
operating systems simultaneously.
2. Easier
software installations.
Virtualization
Softwares Available are
1. Virtualbox
2. VMWare
3. Hyper-V
Installation of
Virtualbox:
Virtualbox can be downloaded from (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/virtualbox/downloads).
Please follow the link (http://lifehacker.com/5204434/the-beginners-guide-to-creating-virtual-machines-with-virtualbox) for detailed
installation of virtualbox
Creation of Ubuntu
Virtual Machine in virtualbox.
Download the ubuntu distribution from (). The steps
to follow for creation of ubuntu vm in virtualbox are (http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/virtualbox) .
WHY VAGRANT?
Vagrant provides easy to configure, reproducible, and portable work
environments built on top of industry-standard technology and controlled by a
single consistent workflow to help maximize the productivity and flexibility of
you and your team.
To achieve its magic, Vagrant stands on the shoulders of giants.
Machines are provisioned on top of VirtualBox, VMware, AWS or any other
provider.
HOW VAGRANT BENEFITS YOU
If you are a developer, Vagrant will isolate
dependencies and their configuration within a single disposable, consistent
environment, without sacrificing any of the tools you are used to working with
(editors, browsers, debuggers, etc.). Once you or someone else creates a single
Vagrant file, you just need to vagrant up and everything is installed and configured for you
to work. Other members of your team create their development environments from
the same configuration, so whether you are working on Linux, Mac OS X, or
Windows, all your team members are running code in the same environment,
against the same dependencies, all configured the same way. Say goodbye to
"works on my machine" bugs.
If you are an operations engineer, Vagrant gives you
a disposable environment and consistent workflow for developing and testing
infrastructure management scripts. You can quickly test things like shell
scripts, Chef cookbooks, Puppet modules, and more using local virtualization
such as VirtualBox or VMware. Then, with the same configuration, you can test these scripts on remote clouds
such as AWS or RackSpace with the same
workflow. Ditch your custom scripts to recycle EC2 instances, stop juggling
SSH prompts to various machines, and start using Vagrant to bring sanity to
your life.
If you are a designer, Vagrant will automatically
set everything up that is required for that web app in order for you to focus
on doing what you do best: design. Once a developer configures Vagrant, you do
not need to worry about how to get that app running ever again. No more
bothering other developers to help you fix your environment so you can test
designs. Just check out the code, vagrant up, and start designing.
Head over to the Vagrant
downloads page and get the appropriate installer or package for your platform. Install
the package using standard procedures for your operating system.
The installer will
automatically add vagrant to your system path
so that it is available in terminals. If it is not found, please try logging
out and logging back into your system (this is particularly necessary sometimes
for Windows).
PROJECT SETUP
The first step in
configuring any Vagrant project is to create aVagrantfile. The purpose of the
Vagrantfile is twofold:
1. Mark the root
directory of your project. Many of the configuration options in Vagrant are
relative to this root directory.
2. Describe the kind of
machine and resources you need to run your project, as well as what software to
install and how you want to access it.
Vagrant has a
built-in command for initializing a directory for usage with Vagrant: vagrant init. For the purpose of
this getting started guide, please follow along in your terminal:
$ mkdir
vagrant_getting_started
$ cd vagrant_getting_started
$ vagrant init
$ cd vagrant_getting_started
$ vagrant init
This will place a Vagrantfile in your current
directory. You can take a look at the Vagrantfile if you want; it is filled
with comments and examples.
You can also run vagrant init in a pre-existing
directory to setup Vagrant for an existing project.
The Vagrantfile is
meant to be committed to version control with your project, if you use version
control. This way, every person working with that project can benefit from
Vagrant without any upfront work.
Virtualbox Virtual Ubuntu Instance Creation using
Vagrant on windows:
1. Ensure Vagrant &
Virtualbox are installed on your machine
2. Navigate to any directory (D:\VagrantFiles) u
wish to start from
3. Type the following
commands
a. Vagrant box add hashicorp/precise32
b. Vagrant init
hashicorp/precise32
i.
This command creates vagrantfile in the current directory
c. Vagrant up
i.
This command launches the machine in virtualBox
ii.
Navigate to virtual box to check the new virtual machine added.
