With virtualization support coming to unraid 6, I'm curious what app VMs people are already running, or plan to run?

 

I was just thinking of one CentOS and one Win7, for services. I might do one more Win7 gaming VM if I get up the gumption to work on GPU passthrough. I'm wondering though if there's any compelling reason to segregate the apps onto separate VMs.

 

Regarding the Linux VM, does it make sense for the community to start planning one or more standard App VMs? If there's no benefit in separating the apps into separate VMs, perhaps someone could create and share a VM that has all the things people like, preinstalled but perhaps disabled? Then users can just import the VM and enable what they want to use.

Call me stupid I may have misunderstood what unRAID 6 was all about.

 

My understanding of it was a base unRAID 6 with the ability to run VM's. Think win7 with virtualbox install but instead of virtualbox installed its built in.

 

So why would I want to use someone else's App VM when I don't know what the hell they've installed into it, it could be riddled with spyware and god knows what else that I wouldn't know how to detect.

 

Half the fun of this for me is going to be learning and installing an OS of my choice (Ubuntu Server) and then set it up however I want, install all the apps / services I want to use.

 

Like I said though I could be stupid and misunderstood what unRAID 6.0 is about.

Yup, there's the risk of that. You can trust other VM's people created and hope other users are vetting their work (or you can do it yourself) or you can build your own.

I would like to think that if the VMs are being built by core contributors to these forums that the VMs they build wouldn't be loaded with spyware, and am pretty sure that other knowledgeable forum members would highlight this if it were the case, but there is definitely value in having these pre-built VMs.

 

I would like to learn Linux and get a greater comfort level with these options as well, but there is definitely appeal to having something you can quickly get up and running with some of your major apps (SAB,SB, CP etc) while you learn. I may change these VMs out down the road, but I may also just leave it running if it does a good job. I am a Windows guy and a Linux noob.... I'd rather have these apps I rely on pre-built by someone with the expertise to get me off the ground while I slowly work my way through the learning curve.

I would like to think that if the VMs are being built by core contributors to these forums that the VMs they build wouldn't be loaded with spyware, and am pretty sure that other knowledgeable forum members would highlight this if it were the case, but there is definitely value in having these pre-built VMs.

Ideally, these VM's could be "blessed" by Tom, and available on the limetech download page.

 

I'm not going to hold my breath.

i can't see how an off the shelf system of VM's could possibly cater to the diverse needs of the user base on here.

 

I feel a far better alternative would be clear guides on how to setup a linux/win VM and then leave the users to work the rest out for themselves as far as apps go, you don't buy windows and expect to have it come with instructions on how to install sick beard etc....

 

Then perhaps in forums there could be installation info for the major packages that are popular.

i can't see how an off the shelf system of VM's could possibly cater to the diverse needs of the user base on here.

 

I feel a far better alternative would be clear guides on how to setup a linux/win VM and then leave the users to work the rest out for themselves as far as apps go, you don't buy windows and expect to have it come with instructions on how to install sick beard etc....

 

Then perhaps in forums there could be installation info for the major packages that are popular.

 

Pre-built VM's will cater to those less technically inclined and those that don't wish to do it themselves.  That said, there will also be detailed guides on how to setup a VM on unRAID.  It's still early days yet.

One reason to start the thread was to learn what people are planning.

 

For example, I just learned from a SchoolBusDriver post that CentOS repos won't have the packages we care about. So Fedora or Ubuntu would be better. Or (maybe?) people are planning separate VMs so they can dedicate resources. e.g. My PVR VM gets a dedicated NIC, separate from my VM running heavy download software. That way my video recording and streaming bandwidth can't be impacted by downloads.

 

The other reason for the thread is about the prospects for a library of App VMs, much like you can find VM appliance libraries out there. Sure, someone can hide malware in there, but they can do that in plugins today. You have to be able to trust the source, I guess. Maybe this doesn't make any sense because "<favorite package manager> install transmission" isn't all that hard, and because things like configuration will vary so much between people.

i can't see how an off the shelf system of VM's could possibly cater to the diverse needs of the user base on here.

 

Using just VMWare's site alone... They have 1,573 VM Appliances. That isn't including all the various other sites that have them too.

 

I feel a far better alternative would be clear guides on how to setup a linux/win VM and then leave the users to work the rest out for themselves as far as apps go, you don't buy windows and expect to have it come with instructions on how to install sick beard etc....

 

Now that EVERYONE can create "plugins" (VM Appliances) in minutes without programming experience. I suspect there will be plenty of people here who don't mind sharing their VM Appliances with the community.  Where as before, you only had maybe 10 people who could write / develop plugins.

 

Some will create their own VMs, some with use VM Appliances and graduate to making their own, some will just stick with a VM Appliances and some will just use plugins.

 

I don't see why we need to regulate or forbid VM Appliances since there are 10,000+ of them out on the web.

One reason to start the thread was to learn what people are planning.

 

For example, I just learned from a SchoolBusDriver post that CentOS repos won't have the packages we care about.

 

Right. Where you might want to use a CentOS VM (which you isolate / hardened / separate from your internal network / firewall / etc.)... To stick your CentOS VM outside of your firewall and run a Blog, Website, Email Server, Plex, Music Streamer, Forum, CRM, Wiki, etc. 

 

If you run an Arch VM you can use my shiny new repo here...

 

http://unraidrepo.ktz.me/

If you run an Arch VM you can use my shiny new repo here...

 

http://unraidrepo.ktz.me/

 

Very nice. So this would allow me to just load up an Arch VM and then use your repo to install any of these programs? I'm still learning this whole VM thing but how would this differ from just apt-getting on Ubuntu or such?

If you run an Arch VM you can use my shiny new repo here...

 

http://unraidrepo.ktz.me/

 

Very nice. So this would allow me to just load up an Arch VM and then use your repo to install any of these programs? I'm still learning this whole VM thing but how would this differ from just apt-getting on Ubuntu or such?

 

Bingo.

 

The only difference is instead of typing apt-get install you type

 

pacman -S plexmediaserver

I think what they mean is why download from your rep when they are already on Arch repo or the AUR repo?

AUR isn't a repo.

 

I'm not trying to replace the default repos, merely extend apps that aren't in them.

 

You still have to compile it yourself from there, which requires 550mb or so worth of dev packages to be installed and can require some significant CPU usage. Whereas using my repo is as simple as a one line command.

 

It's aimed at making it as n00b friendly as possible.

AUR isn't a repo.

 

I'm not trying to replace the default repos, merely extend apps that aren't in them.

 

You still have to compile it yourself from there, which requires 550mb or so worth of dev packages to be installed and can require some significant CPU usage. Whereas using my repo is as simple as a one line command.

 

It's aimed at making it as n00b friendly as possible.

 

Thanks for the clarification!

AUR isn't a repo.

 

I'm not trying to replace the default repos, merely extend apps that aren't in them.

 

You still have to compile it yourself from there, which requires 550mb or so worth of dev packages to be installed and can require some significant CPU usage. Whereas using my repo is as simple as a one line command.

 

It's aimed at making it as n00b friendly as possible.

 

I like n00b friendly! Thanks

Hey badger, what's your take on distros and repos for the stuff we want? I see for example that for a lot of the add-on packages Debian-based distros seem to be supported:

 

- nzbdrone: Ubuntu/Debian

- couchpotato: Ubuntu/Debian

- flexget: Ubuntu/Debian, Arch

- transmission: Ubuntu/Debian (but broken?)

- xbmc: pretty much every distro

- plex: Ubuntu/Debian (but broken)

 

This would make me lean towards Ubuntu, using the official packages. What do you think?

Hey badger, what's your take on distros and repos for the stuff we want? I see for example that for a lot of the add-on packages Debian-based distros seem to be supported:

 

- nzbdrone: Ubuntu/Debian

- couchpotato: Ubuntu/Debian

- flexget: Ubuntu/Debian, Arch

- transmission: Ubuntu/Debian (but broken?)

- xbmc: pretty much every distro

- plex: Ubuntu/Debian (but broken)

 

This would make me lean towards Ubuntu, using the official packages. What do you think?

 

If you like Ubuntu... go for it.

 

Every single app you listed above you can load in any Linux Distro. Most of the Popular Linux Distros have those apps in their package manager or you add third party repos.

 

You aren't going to be doing a lot in your VM aside from updating it and the apps. All of that is done with one command or through a webgui if you install one.

I'm doing an Arch repo, as I'll use it and it doesn't exactly what I want. I'm not doing it for other distros. All of those pkgs are in my repo already I think.

 

As grumpy said, if you want to Ubuntu go nuts!

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Hi all!

 

I'm going to create a VM , but need some guidlines ;-) ( in KVM it was easy) and I suppose it's a cake walk even in xen, but .....

 

1: How to create a image to install OS on ?

2: How to install guest?

3: How to create a config file for xen to start guest?

4: how to connect (VNC ?)

 

Thanks

 

//Peter

I'm doing an Arch repo, as I'll use it and it doesn't exactly what I want. I'm not doing it for other distros. All of those pkgs are in my repo already I think.

 

As grumpy said, if you want to Ubuntu go nuts!

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

First off badger, your videos rock!  I had 2 questions for you though. 

1.  What are the advantages of using your repo vs Yaourt.  Is it just the convenience of not having to use the resources involved in compiling?

2.  I've been working on rolling my own ArchLinux VM.  Wanted to learn to do it from scratch.  How would I add your repo to my ArchLinuxVM pacman, if I decided to go that way.  Do I just add your repo to the mirrorlist for pacman?

 

Thanks again for all your contributions!

Hi all!

 

I'm going to create a VM , but need some guidlines ;-) ( in KVM it was easy) and I suppose it's a cake walk even in xen, but .....

 

1: How to create a image to install OS on ?

2: How to install guest?

3: How to create a config file for xen to start guest?

4: how to connect (VNC ?)

 

Thanks

 

//Peter

 

1. well a vm in xen is merly a config file, and optionaly a storageDevice (name.cfg and name.img)

2. You boot it from a install medium, and install like normal

3. manually.

4. Depends Linux you can use xl console or ssh clients (like putty), for a grapichal installation use vnc yes

 

(If you will, i made a script that helps you though the process from start to finnish. her: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=33132.0 )

 

 

I'm doing an Arch repo, as I'll use it and it doesn't exactly what I want. I'm not doing it for other distros. All of those pkgs are in my repo already I think.

 

As grumpy said, if you want to Ubuntu go nuts!

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

First off badger, your videos rock!  I had 2 questions for you though. 

1.  What are the advantages of using your repo vs Yaourt.  Is it just the convenience of not having to use the resources involved in compiling?

2.  I've been working on rolling my own ArchLinux VM.  Wanted to learn to do it from scratch.  How would I add your repo to my ArchLinuxVM pacman, if I decided to go that way.  Do I just add your repo to the mirrorlist for pacman?

 

Thanks again for all your contributions!

 

1. Yes

2. Yes

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk