[Oracle DataBase Server 12.2 Installation on Oracle Linux 7.4]: Creating a VirtualBox Virtual Machine for Database Installation


About how I installed virtualbox, variables and directories, see
here


Creating a virtual machine:

# su - vmadm

Set the virtual machine name:

$ vm=vm_oel_7.4_oracle_db_12.2

Create directories for the virtual machine and for snapshots

$ mkdir -p ${VM_HOME}/${vm}/snapshots

Creating and registering the virtual machine:

$ VBoxManage createvm \
--name ${vm} \
--ostype Oracle_64 \
--basefolder ${VM_HOME}/${vm} \
--register

Setting the RAM limit:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} --memory 4096

Connecting a 32 MB video card:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} --vram 32

Removing sound card, removing floppy drive:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} --floppy disabled --audio none

Connecting a hard disk controller (SAS):

$ VBoxManage storagectl ${vm} \
--add sas \
--name "SAS Controller"

Creating and connecting hard disks:

Create virtual hard disks. It is recommended to set the size according to available resources. Otherwise, problems and virtual machine crashes may occur):

$ cd ${VM_HOME}/${vm}/${vm}

Create 8 disks with 1 command:

$ for i in $(seq 1 8 )
do VBoxManage createhd --filename ${vm}_dsk_dsk$i.vdi --size 40960 --format VDI --variant Standard
done

Connecting disks to the SAS controller:

Connect 8 disks with 1 command:

$ for i in $(seq 1 8 )
do let port=$i-1; VBoxManage storageattach ${vm} --storagectl "SAS Controller" --port $port --type hdd --medium ${vm}_dsk_dsk$i.vdi
done

Connecting the IDE controller to which the DVD-ROM will be connected later:

$ VBoxManage storagectl ${vm} \
--add ide \
--name "IDE Controller"

Connecting the DVD image of the operating system being installed to the IDE controller:

$ VBoxManage storageattach ${vm} \
--storagectl "IDE Controller" \
--port 0 \
--device 0 \
--type dvddrive \
--medium  /mnt/dsk1/oracle/OracleLinux/7.4/V921569-01.iso


Connecting network interfaces:

Configuration option when the server will run on my computer and should not be accessible outside of it.

I needed 1 hostonly adapter to connect to the virtual machine via SSH from the host.

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--nictype1 82540EM \
--nic1 hostonly \
--hostonlyadapter1 vboxnet0

And 1 NAT adapter so the computer can access the internet.

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--nictype2 82540EM \
--nic2 nat


ifconfig on the host machine should show vboxnet0.
vboxnet0 - virtual adapter of the host machine.

$ ifconfig vboxnet0

If the virtual adapter is missing, you need to create it manually.

$ VBoxManage hostonlyif create



$ vboxmanage list hostonlyifs
Name:            vboxnet0
GUID:            786f6276-656e-4074-8000-0a0027000000
DHCP:            Disabled
IPAddress:       192.168.56.1
NetworkMask:     255.255.255.0
IPV6Address:
IPV6NetworkMaskPrefixLength: 0
HardwareAddress: 0a:00:27:00:00:00
MediumType:      Ethernet
Status:          Down
VBoxNetworkName: HostInterfaceNetworking-vboxnet0

Assign an ip if it doesn’t have one.

$ VBoxManage hostonlyif ipconfig vboxnet0 --ip 192.168.56.1

Start if needed

$ sudo ifconfig vboxnet0 up



$ ifconfig vboxnet0
vboxnet0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.56.1  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.56.255
        ether 0a:00:27:00:00:00  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0


If something went wrong, you can delete the created interface with the command:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} --nic2 none


Determining the boot order of devices:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--boot1 disk \
--boot2 dvd

Determining the directory for snapshots:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--snapshotfolder ${VM_HOME}/${vm}/snapshots

Enabling RDP connection to the machine:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--vrde on \
--vrdemulticon on \
--vrdeauthtype null \
--vrdeaddress 192.168.1.5 \
--vrdeport 3389

Here we specify:

–vrdeaddress - ip address of the machine where virtualbox is installed
–vrdeauthtype null - no authentication required.
–vrdemulticon on - multiple connections to virtual machines are allowed.
–vrdeport - port to which you can connect when the virtual machine starts.

Display the result of the created virtual machine:

$ VBoxManage showvminfo ${vm}

Creating a snapshot before OS installation

$ VBoxManage snapshot ${vm} take before_os_installation


VIRTUAL MACHINE READY FOR OPERATING SYSTEM INSTALLATION

For a more detailed document on creating snapshots and backups of virtual machines, see here


Starting the virtual machine with RDP connection capability:

$ VBoxHeadless --startvm ${vm}


Connecting via RDP to the virtual machine.

On Windows, this can be the remote desktop connection console (start –> RUN –> mstsc). On Linux - remmina or rdesktop and many others.

Doing on Ubuntu 12.04

$ sudo apt-get install -y rdesktop


In Oracle Linux, the package is not in the standard repos I have connected.

I did it like this:

# rpm --import http://li.nux.ro/download/nux/RPM-GPG-KEY-nux.ro
# rpm -Uvh http://li.nux.ro/download/nux/dextop/el7/x86_64/nux-dextop-release-0-5.el7.nux.noarch.rpm
# yum install rdesktop



$ rdesktop \
-r sound:local \
-k common  \
-g  1600x1024 \
192.168.1.5:3389

In the first window, press tab and add linux text so that the installation proceeds in a convenient mode. The operating system should be installed on 1 disk.