howtos rocks virtualbox

These are instructions for installing a virtual Rocks 5.x frontend and compute node on a 2 GB computer running 32-bit Windows XP Professional.

Download Rocks i386 DVD ISO file. In certain situations, with the correct hardware and support for virtualization turned on in the BIOS settings, you can run the 64-bit version of Rocks.

Download and install VirtualBox 2.x

Set up the frontend node

• Machine | New ...
• Name: Rocks-frontend
• OS Type: Linux 2.6
• Base Memory Size: 768 MB
• Boot Hard Disk: New...
• Image Type: Dynamically expanding image
• Image Size: 30 GB
• Network: Adapter 1: Attached to: Internal Network
• Network: Adapter 1: Network Name: RocksLAN
• Network: Adapter 2: Enable Network Adapter
• Network: Adapter 2: Attached to: NAT

Set up the compute node

• Machine | New ...
• Name: Rocks-compute-0-0
• OS Type: Linux 2.6
• Base Memory Size: 768 MB
• Boot Hard Disk: New...
• Image Type: Dynamically expanding image
• Image Size: 30 GB
• General: Advanced: Boot Order: check Network box and move Network to top position
• Network: Adapter 1: Attached to: Internal Network
• Network: Adapter 1: Network Name: RocksLAN

Install the frontend

• Start Rocks-frontend virtual machine
• Media Source: Image File: (Rocks i386 DVD ISO file)
• Quickly type frontend when the Rocks DVD boots
• Install Rocks as normal, using rocks.local for Fully-Qualified Domain Name
• After frontend has finished installing, shut down the virtual machine
• Devices | Unmount CD/DVD-ROM
• Change frontend Base Memory Size to 512 MB

Before proceeding, it's wise to quit all host applications so there's enough memory available for both the frontend to run and the compute node to install.

Install the compute node

• Start frontend
• Run 'insert-ethers' command and select Compute
• Start Rocks-compute-0-0 virtual machine
• The compute node should now install automatically using PXE-first boot
• After compute node has finished installing, shut down the virtual machine
• Change compute node Base Memory Size to 512 MB
• Start the compute node

Now the frontend and compute node can run fairly comfortably together.

Optionally, you can install the Linux Guest Additions on the frontend.

One way I've found to easily transfer files to the guest system from the host system is to use Folder2ISO to make an ISO file from a folder. Then I mount the ISO file as a CD-ROM.

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