Ubuntu Vagrant Shell

Simple foundation for App development

Requirements:

• VirtualBox
• Vagrant

Usage

This is intended to be a simple Ubuntu 16.04LTS server with Node 8 installed during provisioning. This can easily be extended to include other services like MySql, Mongo, React CLI, etc.

Spin up the VM

After cloning the repository, change into the project directory (where vagrantfile is located) and issue the following command:

vagrant up

Note: The first boot of your new VM will take a while, especially if this is ALSO the first time you're using the "box" that's configured in vagrantfile since it will need to be downloaded. After that, the provisioner will run a lot of scripts. Don't panic if you see red during the provisioning.

Access the VM's terminal console

After the VM is finished booting and is provisioned, you can access the VM terminal with:

vagrant ssh

File Mapping

The local /code folder in this project is automatically mapped to /var/code in the VM by default.

Getting out of the VM

To exit the VM console, like any other SSH session, use the exit command.

Turning VM off

vagrant halt

Completely wipe the VM and start over

vagrant destroy -> vagrant up

Note: mounted files are unaffected by this operation)

Windows & Virtualization

Important: Windows machines will need to enable Virtualization if it has been disabled in the BIOS.

Virtualization must be enabled for Vagrant, and some Windows machines will disable this by default. To check this, open Task Manager then click Performance. Near bottom right Virtualization should be enabled. If it is not, this will need to be enabled in the BIOS before Vagrant will function correctly.

Note on NPM - Windows users may need to use the --no-bin-links option of npm when installing/updating modules since Windows has some default permission settings that cause errors when creating symlinks. Running Gitbash explicitly as an Adminstrator may also help (shift-right click, "Run as Administrator"), but if not you can also open the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and enabled symlinks for all users under Computer Config -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> User Rights Assignment -> Create Symbolic Links

Custom Host Name

In order to access your VM outside the console, like in a web browser or database management tool, it's easiest to give your VM's ip address a host entry on your development machine.

Host Format:

000.000.000.000 hostname.local

Where the first part is a valid local IP Address, and the second is the name of the host. .local is common for development.

Add this line to your hosts file. Like many things, this depends on your Operating System

• Mac / Linux : sudo nano /etc/hosts
• Windows : Open C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts in Text Editor (with Admin permission!)

You can test your Custom Host name (local) resolution with this command in a terminal:

$ ping hostname.local

Expected result is that the hostname.local resolves to the IP address you put in the hosts file. It does not matter if it times out, just that it resolves to the correct IP.