Can Untangle be virtualized?

[mripguru]

Hello,

I was wondering - is it possible to virtualize a copy of Untangle (on VMware or something of that ilk) so I can load it onto my laptop as a virtual image and boot it up when I need to demo it to a customer? Thanks!

-- Jonathan

[dmorris]

We've done it here in Xen and VMWare.

Give it a try!
You'll have to make sure you have enough resources in the virtual machine.
Refer to hardware requirements.

Let us know if you have any luck.

[dmorris]

Hey Jonathan

I just heard from a guy who successfully installed on VMWare. I didnt get the details, but he said it worked fine.

[richard]

I did not have much luck getting Untangle to run in vmware on Windows. It just sat at the opening graphic, Please wait. Also on a test machine. The test machine was only an 800Mhz machine, so well under the specs.

I'm also running Suse 10.1 and Xen. But I am far less familiar with Xen. I have three NICs in this machine, 1.2 Mhz AMD, plenty of RAM and HD. But I don't know how to configure a new VM.

In particular the OS installation settings. What do I put for OS installation type and ISO Type (Xen enabled kernel settings and Installation file (initrd))?

Also, the three NICS are installed just fine, but how do I set up the NICs in the YAST VM Config?

I've been using IPCop for over a year, and would really love to try out Untangle. This is a product I could set up at some of my larger clients.
Thanks,
Richard

[dmorris]

Hey Richard,

Even if it boots (it may take a long while on a 800) - it won't let you install.

I don't believe Xen will work on futher inspection - it requires a special kernel, however we have heard vmware installs fine - you just need to setup a hardware profile that meets the minimum requirements.

We may look to make Xen installs work in later versions

[jmspring]

-----
I don't believe Xen will work on futher inspection - it requires a special kernel, however we have heard vmware installs fine - you just need to setup a hardware profile that meets the minimum requirements.
-----

Under Xen 3.0.3 support for running unmodified kernels is much improved over prior versions. People are even claiming they can get windows going under it. Anyway...

This weekend, I was able to get the latest untangle410.iso up and running under Xen 3.0.3 on Debian Etch (using the default Debian Xen packages). I have not had a chance to configure it, I just got it installed.

I will try and post the actual Xen config files later this evening. But the basic steps were:

1. Set up an appropriately sized empty disk image/partition (I use disk images)
2. Set up a config file with the appropriate device configuration options:
- 512MB minimum memory
- 2 network vards
- disk images must be set to be emulated as IDE drives, untanlge410
did not recognize SCSI/SATA drives under Xen.
3. Configure the config file to use the hvmloader for boot with the qemu device module.
4. Configure the untangle410.iso file as a "cdrom" in the config file. Add the boot="d" parameter -- this tells the hvmloader/qemu to boot from the CD.
5. Create / launch the vm. This will take you through the install process.
6. Once installed / needing to reboot, the only changes that are needed are to change the boot parameter to boot="c" and remove the untangle410.iso as being configured for a cdrom drive.
7. Relaunch the VM, continue config process.

When I say "config file" above, I am referring to the configuration file for Xen guest domain.

I'll try and post my configs a bit later today.

-jim

[dmorris]

I'll have my crow served cold please. :)

I think I'll add a section in the Wiki about VMWare and Xen installs.

[jmspring]

As promised, the configs are attached. If there are any questions, feel free to shoot. I'll probably get around to fully using the thing later this week. I don't have the time during the early part of the week.

-jim


Here is the config for the initial install:

#
# Kernel + memory size
#
kernel = '/usr/lib/xen-3.0.3-1/boot/hvmloader'

memory = '512'


#
# Disk device(s).
#
root = '/dev/hda1 ro'

disk = [ 'file:/vserver/untangle.img,ioemu:hda,w', 'file:/vserver/untangle-swap.img,ioemu:hdb,w', 'file:/home/jims/untangle410.iso,hdc:cdrom,r' ]
builder='hvm'
sdl=1
vnc=0
vncviewer=0
boot='cda'
device_model='/usr/lib/xen-3.0.3-1/bin/qemu-dm'

#
# Hostname
#
name = 'untangle'


#
# Networking
#
vif = [ 'type=ioemu,bridge=xen-br0', 'type=ioemu,bridge=xen-br1' ]

#
# Behaviour
#
on_poweroff = 'destroy'
on_reboot = 'restart'
on_crash = 'restart'



And post install:

#
# Kernel + memory size
#
kernel = '/usr/lib/xen-3.0.3-1/boot/hvmloader'

memory = '512'


#
# Disk device(s).
#
root = '/dev/hda1 ro'

disk = [ 'file:/vserver/untangle.img,ioemu:hda,w' ]
builder='hvm'
sdl=1
vnc=0
vncviewer=0
boot='c'
device_model='/usr/lib/xen-3.0.3-1/bin/qemu-dm'

#
# Hostname
#
name = 'untangle'


#
# Networking
#
vif = [ 'type=ioemu,bridge=xen-br1', 'type=ioemu,bridge=xen-br0' ]

#
# Behaviour
#
on_poweroff = 'destroy'
on_reboot = 'restart'
on_crash = 'restart'

[mixolydian]

Hello,

I am able to get it installed on VMware Workstation hosted on Windows using the lsilogic controller as the SCSI controller, but I do not know how to install the VMware tools in this virtual machine since there is no command line access to the console.

Any help appreciated.

Thank you,

Brian

[dmorris]

I'm not familiar with VMWare - are there tools that need to be installed on the client machine?

[mixolydian]

The only way to get the tools installed is to access the Virtual Machine at the command line level and have all necessary compilation tools required to build the kernel modules.

[dmorris]

pm sent
:D

[Brainz]

dont bother with the VMWare tools. Don't need them. I got it working in VMWare no problem on my old setup. Trying to get it to work on a temp box which has a Pentium D and a gig of memory in VMWare. Would be nice to have a log that we could check in Untangle to see what the hardware or software errors are for certain hardware. But VMWare does work! Had it running on a Dell server with 3 3com Nics and a Pentium 4, 1.5GB of ram. No problem during testing.

[Brainz]

DMorris.. Can you send me a PM also? Could use whatever password there you got that'll give me command line access to Untangle. What is that "P" option options give us during the bootup choices? Where you can choose Boot Untangle, Untangle Recovery or press 'P'???

[Brainz]

VMware and Untangle are best friends! haha.. Works great on this Pentium D.. Just got it working. I forgot to change the type of hard drive used to an IDE and not SCSI.. Works great now, with both processors as well. Much faster bootup time then my P4 1.6ghz system and 1.5gb of ram. Next test is a Core2Duo system with 4GB of ram. =) Untangle is so fun!! I've never been happier with a piece of software that does this much stuff and so successfully. Its not the best in every category but it more then exceeded my expectations for a all in one product at this price. I'm working on some mini untangles that might make good resell boxes. =)

[mixolydian]

I never had a problem getting the untangle product to load and function in a virtual machine but desire better integration. The VMware tools allow the host to manage the memory that the VM is using by grabbing unused memory with the balloon driver. This is particularly important when running multiple VM's simultaneously. Especially important if running in an ESX environment where you need to manage dedicated VM resources per virtual machine monitor session (CPU, memory, HDD access, etc..)

Also, The virtual network interface driver included with the VMware tools is optimized for the VM. This improves VM performance instead of using the boxed AMD network driver.

I am reluctant to run VM's in production without the supported tools.

Still Smiles,

Brian

[yaseenkriel]

has anyone installed untangle onto virtual box?

http://www.virtualbox.org/

[yaseenkriel]

installs onto virtual box with no issues.

[FL180]

I'm running OSX - I'll try it under Parallels and report back as soon as I can.

-Mark