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Virtual machine setup with Vagrant Up and Virtual Box

Four months ago I started to develop software on virtual machines. Hadn't done that before but it took only some hours to get me convinced that using virtual machines for web-based software development is a good idea.


I am using Virtual Box in combination with Vagrant Up here.

Just install them:
$ apt-get install vagrant virtualbox

Note: My preferred operating system is Debian Linux and I'm going to install the current stable version Debian8 Jessie. Oh, and did I mention that we are gonna using PHP7, which is not yet available in debian's default repositories? :)

Here comes the setup

Here we go. After installing Virtualbox and Vagrant perform these steps:
# I am using the Laravel PHP framework.
vagrant box add laravel/homestead

# Init vagrant and install a debian image. This can take up several minutes 
# as the whole package needs to be downloaded.
# Other available systems are:
#    vagrant init hashicorp/precise32
#    vagrant init hashicorp/precise64
vagrant init debian/jessie64

# That's it for the beginning. Your base system should be downloaded and
# stored in a virual box.
# Start the virtual machine (this can take some minutes at first run)
vagrant up --provider virtualbox


# Log in to the virtual machine via SSH. Vagrant's default port
# is 2222 (not 22 as it might be in use by you parent system).
vagrant ssh

# If you want to login into vagrant using PUTTY or Emacs, copy the
# public key file into your .ssh directory:
cd debian8/.vagrant/machines/default/virtualbox
cp vagrant_key ~/.ssh/


# Edit the ~/.ssh/config file (on your parent system):
Host 127.0.0.1
     User vagrant
     Hostname 127.0.0.1
     ForwardX11 yes
     ForwardAgent yes
     IdentityFile /Users/<user>/.ssh/vagrant_key
     DSAAuthentication yes
     PubkeyAuthentication yes

# Configure the VM's network
emacs Vagrantfile

  config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080

  config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.33.10"
# If you want to take a look at my Vagrant file:
# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# vi: set ft=ruby :

# All Vagrant configuration is done below. The "2" in Vagrant.configure
# configures the configuration version (we support older styles for
# backwards compatibility). Please don't change it unless you know what
# you're doing.
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
  # The most common configuration options are documented and commented below.
  # For a complete reference, please see the online documentation at
  # https://docs.vagrantup.com.

  # Every Vagrant development environment requires a box. You can search for
  # boxes at https://atlas.hashicorp.com/search.
  config.vm.box = "debian/jessie64"

  # Disable automatic box update checking. If you disable this, then
  # boxes will only be checked for updates when the user runs
  # `vagrant box outdated`. This is not recommended.
  # config.vm.box_check_update = false

  # Create a forwarded port mapping which allows access to a specific port
  # within the machine from a port on the host machine. In the example below,
  # accessing "localhost:8080" will access port 80 on the guest machine.
  config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080
  config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 9980, host: 9980
  config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 8000, host: 8000
  config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 6379, host: 6379

  # Create a private network, which allows host-only access to the machine
  # using a specific IP.
  config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.33.10"

  # Create a public network, which generally matched to bridged network.
  # Bridged networks make the machine appear as another physical device on
  # your network.
  # config.vm.network "public_network"

  # Share an additional folder to the guest VM. The first argument is
  # the path on the host to the actual folder. The second argument is
  # the path on the guest to mount the folder. And the optional third
  # argument is a set of non-required options.
  # config.vm.synced_folder "~/", "/vagrant/data"
  config.vm.synced_folder "your_project/", "/var/www/html/your_project"

  # Provider-specific configuration so you can fine-tune various
  # backing providers for Vagrant. These expose provider-specific options.
  # Example for VirtualBox:
  #
  # config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |vb|
  #   # Display the VirtualBox GUI when booting the machine
  #   vb.gui = true
  #
  #   # Customize the amount of memory on the VM:
  #   vb.memory = "1024"
  # end
  #
  # View the documentation for the provider you are using for more
  # information on available options.

  # Define a Vagrant Push strategy for pushing to Atlas. Other push strategies
  # such as FTP and Heroku are also available. See the documentation at
  # https://docs.vagrantup.com/v2/push/atlas.html for more information.
  # config.push.define "atlas" do |push|
  #   push.app = "YOUR_ATLAS_USERNAME/YOUR_APPLICATION_NAME"
  # end

  # Enable provisioning with a shell script. Additional provisioners such as
  # Puppet, Chef, Ansible, Salt, and Docker are also available. Please see the
  # documentation for more information about their specific syntax and use.
  # config.vm.provision "shell", inline: <<-SHELL
  #   apt-get update
  #   apt-get install -y apache2
  # SHELL
end
# Exit your virtual machine for a moment exit
# (Back on your parent system)
# If the synced folders do not work ('Guest Additions required') install vagrant-vbguest
# (halt the running machine before)
vagrant plugin install vagrant-vbguest



# Then reload the VM
vagrant reload


# To stop the virtual machine
vagrant halt



# OK. Restart and re-login (later I had an alias for this command)
vagrant up --provider virtualbox
vagrant ssh
# (Install emacs) # (Install git) # (Install apache2) # (Install mysql-server and mysql-client) # Install modes for emacs apt-get install php-elisp mmm-mode # Install PHP7 on Jessie # Found at # https://ansas-meyer.de/programmierung/php/php-7-unter-debian-jessie-installieren/ echo 'deb http://packages.dotdeb.org jessie all' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dotdeb.list # (IF THAT'S NOT WORKING CHANGE root's PASSWORT) sudo passwd root Passwort: su root # Make sure apt accepts https transport apt-get install apt-transport-https # Add key for apt curl http://www.dotdeb.org/dotdeb.gpg | apt-key add - ## get package list from sources incl. new set source dotdeb apt-get update # Install PHP ## upgrade to php 7 apt-get install php7.0 # Install composer (required to install Laravel) curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer # Install PHP7-mbstring (required by the Laravel installer) sudo apt-get install php7.0-mbstring # Install the PHP XML extension (contains PHP extension 'dom' which is required # by the Laravel installer) sudo apt-get install php-xml # Install laravel (installiert Laravel im Verzeichnis 'your_project') cd /var/www/ sudo composer create-project laravel/laravel your_project --prefer-dist # Set write permissions to Laravel's 'storage' and 'cache' directories (important) chmod -R a+w /var/www/html/your_project/storage chmod -R a+w /var/www/html/your_project/bootstrap/cache/ # Set apache's document root to /var/www/html/your-project/public in emacs /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.conf # We are almost done. Restart apache and enjoy your freshly setup # debian8-php7-capable virtual machine. server apache2 restart # Check if everything works by loading apache's default page in your favourite # web browser (firefox, chrome, ie, lynx, ...). lynx http://127.0.0.1:8080

Have fun with your virtual machine(s)!
(~ ̄▽ ̄)~


Enjoy and don't forget to help your friends!