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HOWTO Run VirtualBox Virtual Machines on IGEL OS

Content based on post by Fredrik Brattstig @virtualbrat

Living Remote – Eating dogfood, Part 2 – Running VM’s in a “Thin Client” operating system. What??!? and WHY??!?

Overview of steps to setup on IGEL OS 11.06.210 or later

  • X86 PC (minimum configuration: 8GB RAM, 100GB Disk)
  • Add NTFS partition to disk using GParted Live iso
  • Configure the IGEL Setup (or UMS Profile), to enable Storage Hotplug at Devices->Storage Devices->Storage Hotplug
  • Configure VirtualBox on IGEL OS
  • Setup VirtualBox profile in UMS and deploy

Use GParted Live iso to add NTFS partition

Steps to be done on PC:

Steps to be done on IGEL OS:

  • Configure the IGEL Setup (or UMS Profile), to enable Storage Hotplug at Devices->Storage Devices->Storage Hotplug
  • Plug in USB device created on PC
  • Make USB device bootable (open a terminal window as root)

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cd /media/USB_Device_Name/utils/linux
bash makeboot.sh /dev/device_mount_point (for example from dmesg: /dev/sda1)
- Reboot PC from USB created GParted - Create a new partition from free space remaining on PC - Format the new partition as NTFS - Reboot into IGEL OS and remove USB device

Configure VirtualBox on IGEL OS

LINK to Sample VirtualBox UMS Profile

Steps to be done on IGEL OS:

  • The following command can be added to a profile to start VirtualBox as root:
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pkexec -u root env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY XAUTHORITY=$XAUTHORITY /usr/bin/virtualbox
  • The following script can be added to profile
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 #!/bin/bash
 #set -x
 #trap read debug

 # Configure IGEL OS for VirtualBox VMs
MOUNTPOINT=$(ls /media)
NEWMP="/media/VBoxMachines"
VB_Config1="/media/VBoxMachines/config/VirtualBox"
VB_Config2="/root/.config/VirtualBox"
VB_ExtPack="/media/VBoxMachines/download/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.22.vbox-extpack"

if [ "${MOUNTPOINT}" != "VBoxMachines" ]; then
 MOUNTDEV=$(df -H | grep media | cut -d " " -f 1)
 umount ${MOUNTDEV}
 if [ ! -e ${NEWMP} ]; then
   mkdir -p "${NEWMP}"
 fi
 mount ${MOUNTDEV} ${NEWMP}
fi

if [ ! -e "${VB_Config1}" ]; then
 mkdir -p "${VB_Config1}"
fi

if [ -d "${VB_Config2}" ]; then
 rm -rf "${VB_Config2}"
fi

if [ -L "${VB_Config2}" ]; then
 unlink "${VB_Config2}"
fi

ln -sf "${VB_Config1}" "${VB_Config2}"

if [ ! -e "${VB_ExtPack}" ]; then
  mkdir -p $(dirname "${VB_ExtPack}")
  wget -O "${VB_ExtPack}" https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/6.1.22/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.22.vbox-extpack
fi

modprobe vboxdrv
modprobe vboxnetflt
echo "y" | vboxmanage extpack install "${VB_ExtPack}"