Chapter 01: Vagrant Setup (Optional)

This optional chapter describes how to create a virtual machine for the installation on a desktop machine running Windows, OSX or GNU/Linux. It exactly matches the one used to test this tutorial.

Install VirtualBox and Vagrant

1. Download VirtualBox from here and install it.
2. Download Vagrant from here and install it.
3. Create a directory for the virtual machine configuration files.
4. Open a command prompt/terminal and navigate to the directory you created above.
5. Run the following command to initialise your VM:

vagrant init thinktainer/centos-6_6-x64

This will create a Vagrant configuration file called Vagrantfile. Open the file in an editor. Between the Vagrant.configure... line and end, add the line:

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

This setting will allow you to access the TopCat web interface at the end of this tutorial.

Now you can start your VM and log in:

vagrant up
vagrant ssh

You will now be connected to an ssh session on your virtual machine.

Warning: Avoid issuing a yum update as it will install a new kernel which is not able to mount the directory shared between the host and virtual machines.

For a more detailed introduction to Vagrant, you could follow the tutorial on the Vagrant website here.