====== VirtualBox Linux Lab ====== The mission is this Lab is to create genuine hands-on experience for hands-on learnings who want to learn to use Ansible to create auto-installing Ubuntu ISOs and use them to stand up a server lab in Oracle VirtualBox. Mission: * Install Ansible and other required packages on a new Ubuntu system * Prepare ssh keys for managing the Ansible servers * Install VirtualBox using Ansible * Customize the user-data for unattended installation * Create a custom Ubuntu server ISO that automatically installs * Deploy our first Ubuntu VM to OracleBox * Test our first Ubuntu VM * Delete our first Ubuntu VM * Deploy our first fleet of VMs * Deploy an application to our fleet of VMs Materials: * NUC * Recommend a more powerful NUC with 16GB RAM and 500GB disk space * Most mid-range NUCs have 4 physical CPUs for a total of 8 cores. Most Gen12 and Gen13 NUCs have more cores available. * Yes you can create an VM in VMware and run Oracle Virtualbox... * __IF__ you enable "Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI" under Settings > Processors in VMware * __BUT__ However, I had issues the network connectivity on the Oracle guests, both bridging and NATting. Setting the promiscuous mode settings on the Virtualbox guest didn't solve the issue. References: * [[https://rutgerblom.com/2020/07/27/automated-ubuntu-server-20-04-installation-with-ansible/]] ([[https://github.com/rutgerblom/ubuntu-autoinstall/blob/default/DeployUbuntu.yml|Gitlab]]) * [[https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/hpc/ubuntu-22-04-server-autoinstall-iso/]] ====== Project Overview ====== This Lab was refactored, improved, and moved to GitHub in 2024. https://github.com/doritoes/NUC-Labs/blob/main/VirtualBox_Linux/README.md