Initializing Vagrant {box} Machine

{box} can be: trusty64, xenial32, xenial64, ... choices

1- Install Vagrant & VirtualBox:

• Vagrant: The software that configures the VM and lets you share files between your host computer and the VM's filesystem https://www.vagrantup.com/downloads.html
  • Windows: vagrant_2.0.1_x86_64.msi
  • Ubuntu: vagrant_2.0.1_x86_64.deb
• VirtualBox: The software that actually runs the VM: virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads OR virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads
  • Windows: VirtualBox-5.2.0-118431-Win.exe
  • Ubuntu: virtualbox-5.2_5.2.0-118431~Ubuntu~xenial_amd64.deb

2- Download the .box file:

- Manual download (recommended):

Download the box file only once & use it whenever you like on many machines:

Choose ubuntu box (trusty/xenial/...etc.) and version (20170619.0.0, ...etc.)

Some download links (base = atlas.hashicorp.com, check latest versions at base = app.vagrantup.com):

• For ubuntu/xenial64 => Ubuntu Server 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus): latest-daily-build OR /ubuntu/boxes/xenial64/versions/20171028.0.0/providers/virtualbox.box
• For ubuntu/trusty64 => Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr): latest-daily-build OR /ubuntu/boxes/trusty64/versions/20171030.0.1/providers/virtualbox.box
• For bento/ubuntu-16.04-i386: /bento/boxes/ubuntu-16.04-i386/versions/201710.25.0/providers/virtualbox.box
• For laravel-homestead: /laravel/boxes/homestead/versions/4.0.0/providers/virtualbox.box

- [OR] Existing OVA backup (pay attention to UPPER_CASE variables):

If you have .ova backup, run the following commands:

VBoxManage import PATH_TO_OVA_FILE --vsys 0 --vmname "Ubuntu_BOXNAME" --eula accept

VBoxManage list vms

Outputs: "Ubuntu_BOXNAME" {UID_OF_MACHINE}

Copy the UID_OF_MACHINE, then run:

vagrant package --base UID_OF_MACHINE --output PATH_TO_SAVE_BOX_FILE

- [OR] Auto-download by vagrant (not recommended):

At each host a vagrant ubuntu/{box} is initialized, the box file will be downloaded & cached to the temp of local machine.

3- Add the *.box file for ubuntu/{box} machines:

Run command:

vagrant box add PATH_TO_BOX_FILE --name "ubuntu/{box}" --force

(Example for xenial64: vagrant box add ./xenial-server-cloudimg-amd64-vagrant.box --name "ubuntu/xenial64" --force)

4- Get the "vagrantfile" or initialize new one:

In terminal:

• cd the directory containing the vagrantfile
• [OR] cd a new directory & run: vagrant init ubuntu/xenial64
• Example of vagrantfile:

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
  # VM Box
  config.vm.box = "ubuntu/xenial64"
  
  # Forward/map ports
  # https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/networking/forwarded_ports.html
  config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080
  config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 3306, host: 3306
  
  # Custom synced/mapped folder, other than /vagrant
  # https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/synced-folders/basic_usage.html
  config.vm.synced_folder "D:/", "/d"
  
  # Auto run shell scripts on load
  # https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/provisioning/basic_usage.html
  # https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/provisioning/shell.html
  config.vm.provision "shell", path: "config.sh"
  config.vm.provision "shell", inline: <<-SHELL
    apt-get -qqy update
    echo "- This shell command runs once, during the first vagrant up since the last vagrant destroy, unless the --provision flag is set"
    echo "- Or you can set `run: "always"` to the `config.vm.provision` line"
  SHELL
  
  # for NTFS partitions on Ubuntu to avoid errors regarding owner & permissions of ssh private key file
  #config.ssh.insert_key=false
end

5- (for NTFS partitions on Ubuntu):

Add the following line before the end of the vagrant file:

config.ssh.insert_key=false

to avoid errors regarding owner & permissions of ssh private key file

6- Launch/TurnOn the VM, connect via SSH:

To turn on the machine, run:

vagrant up --provision

To turn off / halt, run:

vagrant halt

To check whether it is turned on/off, run:

vagrant status

To connect to the machine via SSH, run:

vagrant ssh

7- Enjoy ;)

Recommendation (for Ubuntu users):

• Use direct EXT-filesystem drive (not symlink from another filesystem) to for flawless & clean usage.

Possible Errors:

- Error 1: Vagrant can not see the provider virtualbox:

No usable default provider could be found for your system.

OR when running: vagrant up --provider=virtualbox

The provider 'virtualbox' that was requested to back the machine 'default' is reporting that it isn't usable on this system. The reason is shown below:

Vagrant has detected that you have a version of VirtualBox installed that is not supported by this version of Vagrant. Please install one of the supported versions listed below to use Vagrant:

Cause: VirtualBox version is not compatible with Vagrant version.

Solution: Make sure you installed latest version of both. (If installing *.deb on Ubuntu, use sudo dpkg -i PATH_OF_DEB)

- Error 2: Can not run any vagrant command:

... 'pwd': No such file or directory - getcwd (Errno::ENOENT)

Cause: Your terminal is cd'ed to a non-existing directory.

Solution: Make sure you cd the directory where vagrantfile exists.

- Error 3: SSH file has invalid permissions => should be 0600:

The private key to connect to this box via SSH has invalid permissions set on it. The permissions of the private key should be set to 0600, otherwise SSH will ignore the key. Vagrant tried to do this automatically for you but failed. Please set the permissions on the following file to 0600 and then try running this command again

Cause:

• The vagrant folder is on NTFS partition mounted in Ubuntu (NTFS filesystem doesn't support chmod).

Solution:

• Move the vagrant folder to ext partition. If problem persists, remove the .vagrant folder.

- Error 4: SSH file is not owned by the current user:

The private key to connect to the machine via SSH must be owned by the user running Vagrant. This is a strict requirement from SSH itself. Please fix the following key to be owned by the user running Vagrant:

Cause:

• User created the machine (first vagrant up) is not the same user trying to vagrant up it.
• {OR} The vagrant folder is on NTFS partition mounted in Ubuntu (on NTFS the owner of files & folders is always root).

Solution:

• Move the vagrant folder to ext partition. If problem persists, remove the .vagrant folder.
• {OR} use sudo with vagrant commands => sudo vagrant up.

- Error 5: Port already in use:

Vagrant cannot forward the specified ports on this VM, since they would collide with some other application that is already listening on these ports. The forwarded port to 8000 is already in use on the host machine.

Cause: Another process is listening to the port assigned in vagrantfile (~ by default: 8000)

Solution:

• Find out which process is using this port (sudo netstat -peant | grep ":8000 ") & kill it: just run port=8000 && sudo kill $(sudo lsof -i :${port} -t).
• {OR} Change the port assigned in the vagrantfile.