Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions For Linux in RHEL 5.0 Server

Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions for Linux in RHEl 5 Server 32-bit x86:

Step1. Preparing guest RHEL system for building external kernel modules.

Mount RHEL DVD under a directory in /mnt and install the packages listed below.
1. kernel-devel-2.6.18-8.el5.i686.rpm
2. libgomp-4.1.1-52.el5.i386.rpm
3. glibc-headers-2.5-12.i386.rpm
4. glibc-devel-2.5-12.i386.rpm
5. gcc-4.11-52.el5.i386.rpm

[root@localhost ~]# mkdir /mnt/rhrepo
[root@localhost ~]# mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/rhrepo
[root@localhost ~]# cd /mnt/rhrepo/Server
[root@localhost ~]# rpm -ivh --aid package_filename...

Note: Package versions are for RHEL 5.0 release, those for current release of RHEL will have different version numbers.

Now unmount the DVD:

[root@localhost ~]# umount /dev/cdrom

Step2. Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions.

Mount VBoxGuestAdditions.iso :
Devices-> Mount CD/DVD-ROM->CD/DVD-ROM Image...->VBoxGuestAdditions.iso->Select

[root@localhost ~]# mkdir /mnt/vbadd
[root@localhost ~]# mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/vbadd
[root@localhost ~]# cd /mnt/vbadd
[root@localhost ~]# sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run
[root@localhost ~]# reboot

Note: Refer the User manual for more information.

Preparing For RHCE? Create Your Own Classroom Network (Virtual) At Home.

I regretted not having looked into virtualization seriously enough while attending classes to get my RHCE certification. It's an invaluable tool to experiment and learn different Operating Systems without messing around with your Computer hardware.

Without wasting any time download Sun xVM VirtualBox for Windows:
http://www.sun.com
http://www.sun.com/software/products/virtualbox/get.jsp
http://www.virtualbox.org

You should go through the bundled User manual (pdf) if you are unable to find your way to install RHEL. It's quite straightforward and simple if you spend some time on it.

After installing RHEL( or any other linux distro) to have multiple guest Operating Systems running you can quickly clone your previous installation to create as many virtual disk images as you like.

1. Open a command console: Start-> Run-> cmd

2. Enter: cd C:\Program Files\Sun\xVM VirtualBox

3. Execute the following command where the file name is the vdi(virtual HDD) file you created when you installed RHEL, by default inside:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\.VirtualBox\VDI\

vboxmanage clonevdi filename output_filename

Note: You can do the rest in the VirtualBox application window (GUI).

4. Enable SATA controller even if you have an IDE HDD and subsequently make sure to enable SATA for all cloned vdi images.

5. Connect the Network cards to Internal Network and use one Network Name for all clones you want to interconnect.

6. After booting up each virtual machine you will have to set the network configuration manually.

system-config-network

Note: Set the gateway to 0.0.0.0 for all virtual machines.

The number of virtual machines you can possibly run at ones is limited mostly by the hardware you have got.
Also checkout Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2: Virtual DHCP, configurable system resource allocation etc.
Supports only RHEL 5.0 and SUSE linux distributions.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/

Running Concurrently

VM Details


Network


system-config-network


ping

Save Step 1

Save Step 2

Middleware! Haven't got the vaguest idea?

Read the article What is middleware? In plain English, please. by Len DiMaggio I recently read in the Red Hat Magazine.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middleware

Rising demand for open source software.

Resent events suggest the demand for quality open source softwares (e.g. Firefox, OpenOffice.org) is going through the roof. Firefox 3 servers crashed soon after it's launch and now the same happens with OpenOffice.org 3.

Related news article on ZDNet: OpenOffice 3.0 release hit by server crash

This is what I get!

Configuring X ! Links to help you out.

To find information regarding support for a particular graphics card/chipset use the following link,

http://xorg.freedesktop.org/wiki/Projects/Drivers?action=show

If you are using intel driver use this direct link to the manual page,

http://xorg.freedesktop.org/archive/X11R7.0/doc/html/i810.4.html

A modeline generation tool at the following link might be helpful while configuring your monitor.

http://www.bohne-lang.de/spec/linux/modeline/

Running Ubuntu 8.04 on Intel 845 chipset board

Yesterday , I installed Ubuntu 8.04 on my three year old PC.
Pentium 4 2.8 GHz
Gigabyte 8I845GVM-RZ
384 MB DDR
On-board graphics
It took some time to configure my monitor ( malfunctioning plug and play ).
The contents of xorg.conf follows,

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by failsafeDexconf, using
# values from the debconf database and some overrides to use vesa mode.
#
# You should use dexconf or another such tool for creating a "real" xorg.conf
# For example:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Boardname "vesa"
Busid "PCI:0:2:0"
Driver "i810"
Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
Vendorname "Generic CRT Display"
Modelname "Monitor 1024x768"
Horizsync 30.0-70.0
Vertrefresh 50.0-160.0


Gamma 1.0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Defaultdepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1024 768
Modes "1024x768@85"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "GLcore"
Load "v4l"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Installing VLC media player in RHEL 5.0

If you are using RHEL 5.0 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0) and want to play various media files you have two methods to install a media player like VLC.

1.Configure YUM repositories providing the packages required for the installation.
2.Download and install VLC package and dependencies manually.

Special packages for Red Hat are not available officially from VideoLAN, you can use the unofficial packages available from Dag Wieers.

To download packages from Dag Wieers visit
http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages.php.

Details for installing VLC via YUM is available at
http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/

Also read this FAQ
http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/FAQ.php

Now, for manually downloading and installing VLC use the following list of packages.

Note:
Server -Refers to packages in the RHEL media CD/DVD.

rpmforge -
http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages.php

epel - EPEL repository for RHEL 5 Server
http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/epel/5Server/

fc5 - Packages for Fedora Core 5
http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/5/i386/os/Fedora/RPMS/
http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/updates/5/i386/
http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/

1. vlc -the core package
http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages/vlc/

Dependencies and source

[Server]

01. SDL
02. libicu

[rpmforge]

01. vlc
02. a52dec
03. aalib
04. faac
05. faad2
06. lame
07. libcaca
08. licddb
09. libdvbpsi
10. libdvdcss
11. libdvdnav
12. libdvdread
13. libebml
14. libmad
15. libmatroska
16. libmp4v2
17. libmpcdec
18. libopendaap
19. lirc
20. mpeg2dec
21. vcdimager
22. wxGTK
23. x264
24. xosd

[epel]

01. SDL_image
02. jack-audio-connection-kit
03. libcdio
04. libid3tag
05. libmodplug
06. libupnp
07. nas

[fc5]

01. qt
02. arts
03. fribidi

[http://rpm.pbone.net]
01. libfreebob

The following RPM search engine can be helpful.
http://rpm.pbone.net

Disclaimer:
The author is not responsible for any damages or losses caused by the use of information provided on this blog.
All brands, logos, products, trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Install Ubuntu 8.04 on USB flash drive

Read the following post by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes.

How to … install Ubuntu 8.04 on a USB flash drive by ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes -- From the Hardware 2.0 mailbag: Can you install Ubuntu on a USB flash drive? Yes, yes you can. Here's how.