Managing Cluster of Unix Machines Part3: Speed setup

Setting up a bunch of Linux machines is easier now, thank to company like http://turnkeylinux.org/

At Gioorgi.com we have the need to setup a tiny box with PHP Mysql and a bunch of unix utilities, to automate common tasks.

We took one of the TurnKey iso, and then we customized it via the apt-* utilities. Let's see the steps

Step1: download your preferred turneky VM

We chosed a LAMP-based VM, but you can choose a simpler one if you like. Also consider the last Ubuntu 9, which spots cloud kernel  in it.

Step2: hack vmx to fast add a shared folder

One the vmx file and add the following lines (Windows example)

isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "FALSE"
sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"
sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"
sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"
sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"
sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "TRUE"
sharedFolder0.hostPath = "C:\"
sharedFolder0.guestName = "DataOnC"
sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"

Be carefully because usually the isolation.tools.hgfs.disable property is already present.

Step 3: proxy Setup: Apt and webdav

One of the small problem of managing a cluster of linux machines, is to configure the Linux package manager apt to run throw a proxy.

To do it try this:

In the file /etc/apt/apt.conf, add the following code:

Acquire::http::Proxy "http://MYDOMAIN\\MYNAME:MYPASS@MY.PROXY.COM:MYPORT"

For webdav (via davfs2 utility) proxy should be configured in /home/filomena/.davfs2/davfs2.conf: proxy proxy.mycompany.com:8080

All it's all folks!