I have v6b4 installed and running now, but had to cannibalize my HTPC for its' memory to get unRAID running, so no I have no way to run my Media Center until I get a windows VM up and running.  From the reading I've done, this is more difficult than getting a Linux VM running, so I want to start with a Linux VM to learn the overall process.  Once that's working, I'll move onto getting a Windows VM running.

 

I've read the post from ironicbadger with his Arch image, and it seems like a great place to start.  however, when I was looking around, I recall seeing a post where I think he said that he had 'abandoned' using Arch due to some issues to do with constant updating, and stuff breaking, or something similar.  So, my questions are...

 

1a. Is the Arch preconfigured image still the 'best' place to start for a newbie to all this?

 

1b. How to get started with getting a Linux VM running, and if not using Arch, what to use

 

2. Once I do get a Linux VM running, I'll need to get sickbeard and sabnzbd running, and would love to copy my config from the plugins into the VM setup, to keep my history, and the list of files it was downloading before I made the switch

 

3. How hard would it be to get Plex (or similar) running as a temporary replacement Media Server to use while I work on getting a Windows7 VM up and running, where I can install JRiver Media Center.

 

4. I've read that XEN 4.4 will allow passing thru the IGPU to a VM, which I would like to do for using the HD4600 in the Windows7 VM.  Is this correct, and if so, how would I upgrade XEN to 4.4 to allow this to work?  (I'm not planning on trying this until I have the basics worked out, and have a functional VM first)

 

5. How do I get unRAID to default to installing the XEN/unRAID version on bootup?  It seems that I have to select that every time I reboot currently.

 

6. What special steps might I need to take to allow the Windows VM to have the fastest, most reliable HD/unRAID access possible.  I have always had glitchy playback of movies when unRAID had to spin up a disk, or SABnzbd was unpacking and saving a file.  I'd like to eliminate all this glitchyness, if at all possible.

 

7. Anything I should know before getting started, or anything I don't seem to be considering, or thinking of?

 

Thanks in advance for any/all help!!

look at using the tretflix vm ....

 

I have sabnzbd, plex, couchpotato, nzbdrone and transmission running from it - they are already built in so its easy to setup.

There is a thread in this section and look at http://tretflix.com/

 

tony

Thanks, I saw that post, and will look into it further.  I'm currently going thru IronicBadger's great installation videos, but am waiting for the image to download currently.

 

Sadly, for some reason, I cannot wget anything from within Putty, and upon investigation that problem, I see that I cannot ping google from putty, so I'm trying to figure that out while the image downloads.

 

it's always something

I think you're referring to Badger's comment about moving away from Arch as his base OS on his personal computer, not Arch as a VM for unraid...the ArchVM is alive and well!

 

 

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I think you're referring to Badger's comment about moving away from Arch as his base OS on his personal computer, not Arch as a VM for unraid...the ArchVM is alive and well!

 

That may be.  I can't remember exactly where I saw the comment, so I may have the context wrong.

 

I'm currently going thru his video guide and am attempting to get it installed and running.  It's currently unpacking the zip file.  I've not viewed the whole video yet, but I'm a bit unsure if I should have unzipped to the cache drive, or the cache_only share on the cache drive, but he unzipped to the cache drive, so I'm following along exactly.  I'm sure it will all work out in the end

Ya I created a cache only share and have everything saved there. I called the share Domains to follow with Tom's xen manager tool implemented in 6b4. I think you'll want a cache only share because if I recall any top level cache drive items get individually shared with the network automatically.

 

 

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So, do you suggest that I rename "cache_share" to "Domains", then move the unzippped contents to this folder/share?  Should I do this before I continue following along with his video, or can/should this all be moved later?

It just finished unpacking the zip file, and I see that it created a new folder on the cache drive called ArchVM.  When I looked in unRAID, that is also a new share (because it's top level), and is set to not use the cache drive.  I'm assuming this will all get worked out/resolved as I finish viewing the videos, but I thought I'd mention it now, since we're discussing it now.

... any top level cache drive items get individually shared with the network automatically.

Any top level folder on cache or any array drive is automatically a share. You can set the security for any share in the webGUI. Any share that you do not set security for defaults to Public security.

 

I originally followed Badger's videos on 6b3 before xenManager was released, and then when I went to 6b4 I moved them just to make things more consistent with Tom's instructions. You just need to make sure the <vm>.cfg file has the correct path, and tell xenManager the same thing.

 

You must set that cache folder to Use cache: Only to keep it from being moved to the array.

... any top level cache drive items get individually shared with the network automatically.

Any top level folder on cache or any array drive is automatically a share. You can set the security for any share in the webGUI. Any share that you do not set security for defaults to Public security.

 

I originally followed Badger's videos on 6b3 before xenManager was released, and then when I went to 6b4 I moved them just to make things more consistent with Tom's instructions. You just need to make sure the <vm>.cfg file has the correct path, and tell xenManager the same thing.

 

You must set that cache folder to Use cache: Only to keep it from being moved to the array.

 

I'm still coming to grips with all this.  what is xenManager, and how do I use it in concert with the videos?  I've just finished video 2, which is taking me thru the installation, and show a bit about how to go to the VM console and a few other things.  I just started video 3, which shows how to update the VM, which my machine is currently doing.  The video doesn't cover this, but the update showed me 47 packages and asked if I wanted to "Proceed with installation?", which I agreed to, so it's retrieving those packages now.

 

Before I go any further (once the update is finished), should I move the ArchVM folder to a Domains folder on the cache drive, or something else?

 

Should I research the xenManager thing and continue my installation with that, or continue with the videos?

xenManager is just a new page Tom added to the webGUI. You are OK to ignore it for now. Just make sure your VM is in a cache-only share. You can move things later if you want, but it will still work fine if you don't move anything.