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2201

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2014, 09:13 PM »

@ewemoa - see this

That said, the officially supported host OSes are as follows per virtualbox.org:

1.4. Supported host operating systems

Currently, VirtualBox runs on the following host operating systems:

    Windows hosts:

        Windows XP, all service packs (32-bit)

        Windows Server 2003 (32-bit)

        Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit[1]).

        Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit)

        Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)

        Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit)

        Windows Server 2012 (64-bit)

    Mac OS X hosts:[2]

        10.6 (Snow Leopard, 32-bit and 64-bit)

        10.7 (Lion, 32-bit and 64-bit)

        10.8 (Mountain Lion, 64-bit)

        10.9 (Mavericks, 64-bit)

    Intel hardware is required; please see Chapter 14, Known limitations also.

    Linux hosts (32-bit and 64-bit[3]). Among others, this includes:

        10.04 ("Lucid Lynx"), 10.10 ("Maverick Meerkat), 11.04 ("Natty Narwhal"), 11.10 ("Oneiric Oncelot"), 12.04 ("Precise Pangolin"), 12.10 ("Quantal Quetzal"), 13.04 ("Raring Ringtail"), 13.10 ("Saucy Salamander")

        Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 ("squeeze") and 7.0 ("wheezy")

        Oracle Enterprise Linux 5, Oracle Linux 6

        Redhat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6

        Fedora Core 6 to 19

        Gentoo Linux

        openSUSE 11.0, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 12.1, 12.2

        Mandriva 2010 and 2011

    It should be possible to use VirtualBox on most systems based on Linux kernel 2.6 or 3.x using either the VirtualBox installer or by doing a manual installation; see Section 2.3, “Installing on Linux hosts”. However, the formally tested and supported Linux distributions are those for which we offer a dedicated package.

    Note that starting with VirtualBox 2.1, Linux 2.4-based host operating systems are no longer supported.

    Solaris hosts (64-bit only) are supported with the restrictions listed in Chapter 14, Known limitations:

        Solaris 11 including Solaris 11 Express

        Solaris 10 (u8 and higher)

Note that the above list is informal. Oracle support for customers who have a support contract is limited to a subset of the listed host operating systems. Also, any feature which is marked as experimental is not supported. Feedback and suggestions about such features are welcome.

 

2202

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2014, 02:10 PM »

@gwen - Thank you for the reminder.

2203

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2014, 02:02 PM »

(Interestingly, you emphasize a different part every time. Like a woman.)

-Tuxman (March 09, 2014, 01:51 PM)

*YAWN*...

Now how about you contributing something of substance to the discussion by showing us how to install VirtualBox under OpenBSD since it was you who suggested it as the host OS?

I'm sure we're all anxious to benefit and learn from your expertise and experience.

2204

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2014, 01:50 PM »

Guest Additions[/i][2] with the operating system.

-Tuxman (March 09, 2014, 01:47 PM)

I know. Please read the whole sentence:

PC-BSD® 10.0 automatically installs the VirtualBox[1] open source virtualization program and the VirtualBox Guest Additions[2] with the operating system.

RTFM...

I have - and still refer to it regularly whenever I'm working with OpenBSD. It's a lot to memorize otherwise.

I've also found Absolute OpenBSD: Unix for the Practical Paranoid by Michael W. Lucas; and Brandon Palmer's Secure Architectures with OpenBSD to be worthwhile additions to the bookshelf. Highly recommended.

2205

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2014, 01:45 PM »

Your quote is related to using PC-BSD as a guest system.

OpenBSD works as a host (or doesn't, depending on who you ask). - PC-BSD is not exactly "light on resources".

-Tuxman (March 09, 2014, 01:36 PM)

If so, I stand corrected - although that's not the way I read: PC-BSD® 10.0 automatically installs the VirtualBox[1] open source virtualization program and the VirtualBox Guest Additions[2] with the operating system.

That says (to me) that PCBSD is installing (as in hosting) VBox rather than the other way around.


Either way, I'm more familiar with using BSD to create bespoke servers rather than VM hosts, so I'll defer to you to provide instructions or links on how to do it under OpenBSD.  
 

2206

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2014, 01:34 PM »

Not having read the rest of the thread:

OpenBSD.

-Tuxman (March 09, 2014, 10:13 AM)

@ewemoa - re: BSD

This from the PCBSD website:

PC-BSD® 10.0 automatically installs the VirtualBox[1] open source virtualization program and the VirtualBox Guest Additions[2] with the operating system. The guest additions add mouse pointer integration, shared folders between the host and guest, better video support, and a shared clipboard.

Might be worth a look/try.

re:OpenBSD

IIRC, the developers of OpenBSD weren't much interested in having OpenBSD do anything with VirtualBox - either as guest or host. There was a time not so long ago when they seemed rather dismissive and hostile towards both Wine and VirtualBox. But that might have changed. Maybe Tuxman can point you to a how-to or tutorial. I've got nothing on my KB about doing it. And considering OpenBSD has established security as its raison d'être, I could easily understand why they might look askance at something that wishes to create or run in a virtual environment under their carefully secured OS. So I wouldn't be surprised if it were difficult or impossible to do right now. But I'll have tp leave that for others with more OpenBSD experience to say for certain.

2207

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2014, 08:48 AM »

^No real favorites when it comes to that. I'll just use whatever is available that I know works. For imaging, Clonezilla and DD are what I use. DD mostly if it's just for me. Clonezilla for clients and anybody else. Clonezilla can also install GRUB so that's a big plus when performing a disaster recovery. Clonezilla also has some nice features for use with Windows-based systems. (Check out their website for details.) And it's now UEFI (or 'URFU' as I like to think of it) bootable.  So if you straddle multiple OSes, having one tool to learn and standardize on is really nice too.

For what you're doing here, and at your level of experience, DD is probaby the quickest and easiest. Most backup apps (in true Unix tradition) invoke DD when you tell them to make an image anyway.

Ahhh...the beauty of pipes, scripting, and (optionally) a simple GUI toolkit. You can mashup an app so easily now that somebody else did all the hard work and wrote an actual command to do something. That's the beauty of the Unix Philosophy. Code somthing to do one thing extremely well. Don't reinvent the wheel. Combine pieces for convenience and more complex requirements.

2208

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 09, 2014, 06:57 AM »

Seemed to work here.

-ewemoa (March 09, 2014, 06:01 AM)

Bingo! Nice work Mr. E. Let's catalog the above for future use. In the meantime don't neglect to create a disk image backup of the install. It will easily fit on a DVD or a modest USB key too. How convenient!

2209

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 06:58 PM »

Ok. Did some quick research and found somebody else over at the Crunchbang forum who seems to be thinking the way I am. So maybe there's something in it worth trying.

Start with a Debian net install. Skip the desktop environment and widows manager options and only have it install X.

Once you've got that, do an 'apt-get install virtualbox'. If apt works as advertised (and the VBox config was set up correctly for the repositories) it should also install all the dependencies needed.

Disclaimer: I haven't tried this so I don't know if it will work as described. I somehow don't think it will be quite that simple. But at least it's a place to start - and help determine what else probably needs to be done.

--------------------------

Quick note: Did some checking - using TinyCore as the host distro is definitely not gonna work.

2210

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 11 Released!

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 03:38 PM »

@Innuendo - most interesting!

If you block it from accessing the website with your firewall, or disable the relevant process's access to the web via a policy, does DO stop working?

2211

Living Room / Re: What happened?

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 01:27 PM »

Well...it has been said that the French pride themselves on doing things "just a little bit differently."

2212

General Software Discussion / Re: Software longevity

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 01:24 PM »

First, I do acknowledge security risks are introduced with installing old(er) software. However, in the WinAmp v1.91 case, there aren't that many attack vectors as it hardly does anything else than playing MP3's. What is not there...cannot be attacked.

   

-Shades (March 03, 2014, 05:35 AM)

Shades raises an interesting point here. I sometimes suspect the constant upgrade/feature chase is just as big a source of security risk as so-called "outdated" versions of most software. And when some rush-to-get-it-out-new-features-bloated software in turn becomes outdated, the problem only gets further compounded.

2213

Living Room / Re: usa job stats

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 01:17 PM »

What are you planning to do with that information? Sell it? Publish it?

-Ath (March 08, 2014, 11:39 AM)

I want it for personal use

-kalos (March 08, 2014, 11:52 AM)

Fair enough... but why do I keep getting the nagging feeling some of these requests are destined for use in somebody's product, website, or consulting engagement? 

-40hz (March 08, 2014, 01:01 PM)

it's just my professional and methodical approach I have for everything 

-kalos (March 08, 2014, 01:11 PM)

Very cool! We have a few other members here who seem to tackle almost everything they do the exact same way you do.

I'm not one of them. 

2214

General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 11 Released!

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 01:14 PM »

If "check for news and product updates" is enabled it "phones home" to check that once a week (or whatever your setting says).
You can disable it if you want to.

-myarmor (March 08, 2014, 10:03 AM)

Right.  I don't call that "phoning home".  I call that "checking for news and product updates".  Especially since you can easily disable it.

-wraith808 (March 08, 2014, 11:04 AM)

Agree w/Wraith. "Check for news,updates, and offers" is a normal and expected feature in many software packages - and one that a many licensed users appreciate having. And since (in DO at least) it can be easily disabled, I see no fault anywhere in providing such a feature.

I consider "phoning home" to be more something that connects to a server somewhere, but provides no direct benefit to the customer when it does so. And I'll include software that does regular license verifications (like MSGA) on non-subscription based software in that category.

2215

Living Room / Re: company directory

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 01:04 PM »

Doesn't cost a thing to reach out.

-Innuendo (March 08, 2014, 09:28 AM)

Precisely!

Good luck!

2216

Living Room / Re: usa job stats

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 01:01 PM »

What are you planning to do with that information? Sell it? Publish it?

-Ath (March 08, 2014, 11:39 AM)

I want it for personal use

-kalos (March 08, 2014, 11:52 AM)

Fair enough... but why do I keep getting the nagging feeling some of these requests are destined for use in somebody's product, website, or consulting engagement?  

2217

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 12:54 PM »

I know you said "like Aptik", but just to confirm, Aptik doesn't work with Debian, right?

-ewemoa (March 08, 2014, 08:46 AM)

Some people have cobbled it to work with Debian, but I wouldn't advise it. Debian repository software usually slots very nicely into Ubu - but not the other way around with PPAs. And since Aptik is primarily for handling PPAs (which are intended to be exclusive to Ubuntu and its derivatives) there's really no reason to try it anyway.

In any Debian-based (i.e. non-Ubuntu or other VCIW modded) distro you can use the dpkg -- get selections > {some file} command to compile a list of installed software, and then pipe that same list back in via dpkg --set-selections < {some file} and then use dselect to reinstall some or all of it.

If you're less "blood & guts" - or just don't want to dork around with dpkg and dselect (which allows a lot more granular control) just use Synaptic's "Generate package download script" and "Add downloaded packages" feature to dupe the entire works.

Note: I'm guessing you already know about this stuff so I'm mostly including it for any non-Nix user who's reading along in hopes they'll someday give The Penguin a try.

--------------------------------

re CUPS: don't read too much into anything from the perspective of a frustrated CUPS user. It's a mess that's slowly getting worked out. CUPS got so bad (and unmaintained) that a several distros stopped including it in their base install of even desktop releases. Even now it has problems with a lot of HP printers - although that may not be completely CUPS fault since HP can't seem to decide if they really want to support Linux or not.

Most annoying!

--------------------------------

re: Manjaro

I have zero experience with Manjaro, so please keep us updated on what you find out if you do? Thx!

2218

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 07:55 AM »

I've made a number of attempts to get Xen working over the years, but without much success...never quite make it far enough.  Have you had good experiences with it?

-ewemoa (March 08, 2014, 07:35 AM)

Outside of a class lab, no. It seemed to work as advertised although it was a little fiddly to set up. But that was also well over 18 months ago so I'd guess things would have changed for the better on that front.

I'm trying to avoid too many steps during set up (cf. getting Arch and/or Gentoo installed - worth it a few times, but not great if I want to recreate a similar set up from scratch) as well as having VirtualBox or comparable stop working somewhere down the line because of an upgrade...

-ewemoa (March 08, 2014, 07:35 AM)

That's why I'd just go with a vanilla Debian/Ubu server setup as the base. You could always strip out anything you really didn't want afterwards if size is that important. Then install VBox. Dump a copy of installed packages via synaptic - or use a config backup tool like Aptik and it should be a breeze to build a new one (real or virtual) any time you want. The beauty of this approach is it will autoupdate through the repositories once it's built so that hassle goes away.

Hmm...damn...now you've got me thinking...

2219

Living Room / Re: company directory

« Last post by 40hz on March 08, 2014, 07:44 AM »

You won't be able to do what you're asking. Bloomberg/Businessweek (and most other sites that offer subscriptions and enhanced services for a fee) try not to make it too easy to scrape or bulk download data from their public websites.

From the Terms of Service:

User may not:

•   use Businessweek.com for any purpose that is prohibited by any law or regulation, or to facilitate the violation of any law or regulation;[/li]
  
  •   use or attempt to use any "scraper," "robot," "bot," "spider," "data mining," "computer code" or any other automated device, program, tool, algorithm, process or methodology to access, acquire, copy, or monitor any portion of Businessweek.com, any data or content found on or accessed through Businessweek.com, or any other Businessweek.com information without prior express written consent of Businessweek;
  •    obtain or attempt to obtain through any means any materials or information on Businessweek.com that has not been intentionally made publicly available either by public display on Businessweek.com or through accessibility by a visible link on Businessweek.com;
  •   violate any measure employed to limit or prevent access to Businessweek.com or its content;
  •    violate the security of Businessweek.com or attempt to gain unauthorized access to Businessweek.com, data, materials, information, computer systems or networks connected to any server associated with Businessweek.com, through hacking, password mining or any other means;
  •    impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise represent an affiliation with a person or entity;
  •    interfere with, attempt to interfere with or otherwise disrupt the proper working of Businessweek.com, any activities conducted on or through Businessweek.com or any servers or networks connected to Businessweek.com, including accessing any data, content or other information prior to the time that it is intended to be available to the public on Businessweek.com;
  •    take or attempt any action that, in the sole discretion of Businessweek.com, imposes or may impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load or burden on Businessweek.com or the infrastructure of Businessweek.com.

So from the above, I don't think what you're asking is something you're allowed to do. Or if so, certainly not free of charge. Sorry!
[/list]

2220

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 07, 2014, 06:45 PM »

To use a type-2 hypervisor ( VirtualBox et al) in minimal configuration, the easiest would be to start with a distro's server version. You probably could get a smaller one (TinyCore etc.) to work. But you'd also likely have headaches identifying and installing all the dependencies when you went to install VirtualBox. Starting with the distro's text-based (i .e. non-GUI) server should already include everything you needed without being to bulky since it's the desktop environment and productivity packages that take up most of the space in a distro. A plain old server setup is pretty small.

2221

Non-Windows Software / Re: *NIX: Relatively Minimal Host OS for VirtualBox Use

« Last post by 40hz on March 07, 2014, 06:34 PM »

Might it make more sense to go up a level of abstraction and use a FOSS type-1 hypervisor like Xen, then install whatever you want (including your distro) under that? Bare-metal hypervisors are as minimal a host footprint as you can get for virtual machines.

2222

Living Room / Re: good Videos [short films] here :)

« Last post by 40hz on March 06, 2014, 06:34 PM »

@panzer: ^^ Thanks! Another great short video for me to enjoy with my son Brian (age 3½).
EDIT 2014-03-07 1205hrs (NZT): Looks like I downloaded it just in time. The link now says:

"Mr Hublot Oscar Aw..." This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by MrHUBLOTofficial.

-IainB (March 06, 2014, 04:32 PM)

It can still be found here. Don't delay. 

2223

General Software Discussion / Re: Why I consider file managers inferior tothe file M solution you'd ideally expect

« Last post by 40hz on March 06, 2014, 06:16 PM »

So your estimation of the usefulness is based on your opinion- which is quite valid for you, but not valid for everyone else.  Which is exactly what I say at the end of the iteration of those features, i.e. each person should evaluate the benefits rather than just the feature list.  Which is also the reason that I am still in the evaluation mode, rather than just being a 'fanboy' and purchasing.

-wraith808 (March 06, 2014, 04:28 PM)

+1 w/Wraith here...

In the end it really doesn't matter what anybody else uses as long as it works for them and fits their workflow. One program, many programs, no program at all...in the end it's just trifling details. They're just tools. About as significant a factor in the larger picture as one's favorite brand of toothpaste or choice of beer. Because, in the end, nobody really cares (or should care) about the scaffolding once the building is completed and it all gets cleared away.

What is important that we all become aware of choices, techniques, and available tools. And if a user of some program gets enthusiastic enough about it to want to share their impressions and successes with it, it's no bad thing. And certainly not cause to go referring to them as fanboys.
 

2224

General Software Discussion / Re: Slickedit prevails againt patent troll

« Last post by 40hz on March 06, 2014, 12:40 PM »

A public service announcement to the management and legal team of Uniloc USA:

 

2225

Community Giveaways / Re: Scrivener at 50% off

« Last post by 40hz on March 06, 2014, 12:27 PM »

I've semi-seriously played with an eval copy of Scrivener (did a quick very-short story in it), and it looked promising. Nice interface and easy on the eyes. I've seen worse writer's software. And there's nothing I found I couldn't live with in Scrivener. It's multi-platform support was also a real big plus for me since I so often straddle operating systems.

BTW - if you're a Linux user, there's a public beta available (with a license that expires December 1, 2014) here. The DEB package installs in Mint 16 like a charm. Appears to be solid - but the usual caveats with any beta apply...



"It's an interesting app if it's the sort of app you'd be interested in" to paraphrase Lincoln.