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Introduction

VirtualBox is a hypervisor developed by Sun Microsystems (now Oracle) that is designed for desktop virtualization. VirtualBox is a desktop solution for building new VM templates for use in Abiquo. This document describes how to create a new OVF virtual appliance with VirtualBox.

Choose an operating system distribution

You may find the operating system distribution you need in our public repository available by default in the Abiquo platform, but if this is not the case you can build your own VM template.

This tutorial will show how to install an OS distributed as an ISO image. In this example we will use a very simple Linux distribution, ArchLinux. This distribution is perfect for cloud environments because of its minimalist approach. You can download the ISO image from the download page.

Create a New Virtual Machine

This VM will mount the ISO or other install disk. It must also be configured using the specified virtual devices if you wish to guarantee compatibility across different hypervisors.

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The Create New Virtual Machine Wizard will open.

Enter the VM Name and OS Type

Enter a name for the virtual machine, archlinux, for example. You must also choose Linux as the Operating System and Arch Linux as the Version in the combo boxes. Click Next to continue.

Assign Memory to the VM

Now select the amount of memory needed by the operating system. 512 MB should be enough. Click Next to continue.

Hard drive

Select "Create a virtual hard drive now" and click Create.

Select the Hard Disk Format

Select a format that is compatible with your hypervisors. See Template Compatibility Table.
For example, for KVM hypervisors, you could select QCOW; for VMware hypervisors, you could select VMDK; and for Hyper-V, you could select VHD. 

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A VM summary may display. If required, click Create to continue.

Modify the VM for maximum hypervisor compatibility

The virtual machine we have just created must be modified and such a way that it will work for several hypervisors. To modify the virtual machine, follow these steps:

Select the archlinux virtual machine from the list in the left pane and click Settings.

Disable the Floppy

Now in the left pane click System. In Boot Order, disable Floppy and Network.

Enable the SCSI Controller

In the left pane click on Hard Disks. Check Enable Additional Controller and select SCSI (LsiLogic).

Mount the ISO

Below Hard Disks in the left pane click on CD/DVD ROM. Mark the Mount CD/DVD Drive checkbox and select ISO Image File. Select the ISO image downloaded at the beginning of the process in the combo box.

Optionally Disable Audio

If you do not require audio, click Audio and uncheck Enable Audio

Add Bridged Adapter

Click Network and then the Adapter 1 tab:

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Now go to Adapter 2 tab and REPEAT the same steps. You can choose the same Name for the Network Adapter Type.

Optionally disable USB

Optionally go to USB and uncheck Enable USB Controller. For valid settings choose a non-USB pointing device on the System tab.

Click OK to finish.

Install the operating system

Now install the operating system. To ensure the best performance in Abiquo:

• Configure the network to get all the configuration from DHCP. Remember to remove the MAC address from network scripts.
• Install openssh daemons. Users will probably not have console access to the OS.
• Do not install XWindows. Install the OS to run in text mode.

Template Upload Methods

You can upload your template to Abiquo:

• Using the UI:
  
  • supplying a virtual machine disk, and completing the template details, such as CPU, RAM and disk capacity
  • supplying an OVA file
  • uploading an ISO file and reinstalling your virtual machine with the operating system from the ISO
• Manually, as a virtual machine disk with an OVF file containing the template details required by Abiquo

Export the OVF file or OVA file

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Now you can choose where VirtualBox will store the OVF descriptor and the compressed Virtual Disk.

Export OVF

For manual upload to Abiquo, we will use a separate OVF descriptor.

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Click Export to start the conversion. The process can take several minutes, so please be patient.

Edit the OVF File

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    <ProductSection>
    	<Info>Abiquo - server machine</Info>
        <Product>Abiquo - server machine</Product>
        <Icon ovf:fileRef="https://rs.bcn.abiquo.com:443/public/icons/q.png" ovf:mimeType="image/jpeg" ovf:width="32" ovf:height="32" />        
    </ProductSection>

Add the VM Template to the Appliance Library or Template Repository

See Adding VM Templates to the Appliance Library
To add the VM template to a Template Repository, see Template-Repository Documentation