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Re: [HTCondor-users] VirtualBox: Guest user vs. Condor account!?!



Thank you very much for your feedback as it helps guide the approach I will
likely take.  If the VM universe does not support anything newer than VMware
Server 1.0 images, then unfortunately, it will not meet my needs either.  In my
case, I may simply abandon Condor and move to Amazon EC2 or similar. :(  Dealing
with XEN or KVM on one of our department workstations is not supported (as far
as I know) so I probably won't pursue those either.

Thanks again for the detailed response.
Regards,
Matt

> -----Original Message-----
> From: htcondor-users-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:htcondor-users-
> bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rob
> Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 11:28 PM
> To: HTCondor-Users Mail List
> Subject: Re: [HTCondor-users] VirtualBox: Guest user vs. Condor account!?!
> 
> Hi Matt,
> 
> I'm not using the VM universe, because there is no direct support for
> VirtualBox. It probably has to do with the Condor pool I have set up here at
> the university and my personal preferences.
> 
> The entire Condor pool here consists of Windows XP PCs; these are the public
> PCs in the university library. The university IT department is in charge of
> the library PCs, whereas I am in charge of the Condor Central Manager, which
> is a linux PC.
> 
> Hence, I need a virtual machine environment that works on Windows PCs. In the
> past it used to be VMware, and Condor kept supporting the old VMware software
> (version 1.0.10), but by now that is far too old and with recent Condor
> updates it even does not work anymore; and I don't think it is worth spending
> time on fixing this. Better get Condor to work with up-to-date virtualization.
> Other supported virtualization environments seem be only working on Unix
> systems (Xen, KVM).
> 
> The key problem at present with virtualization in Condor is that there are no
> 'hands-on' examples that show step-by-step how to actually do it. I wonder
> why. Is it, because the virtualization technologies are changing as we speak,
> so it is impossible to settle down with a specific VM universe method in
> Condor?
> 
> 
> Ever since I abandoned VMware, I never got the VM universe to work and gave up
> on it.....
> 
> I was told Condor can handle libvirt; but I believe libvirt is also still in a
> stage of development and is not as convenient (yet?) as the easy VirtualBox
> interface. Moreover, if libvirt works with Condor, I'd like to see an example
> of how to do it....
> 
> For years I have been using VirtualBox for my personal virtual guest OSes on
> my Linux systems. So I thought it would be neat if I could get VirtualBox to
> work with Condor in the Vanilla environment and run the necessary commands
> myself in a DOS batch script.
> 
> Regards,
> Rob.
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Matt Renzelmann <mjr@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: 'HTCondor-Users Mail List' <htcondor-users@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc:
> Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 9:27 PM
> Subject: Re: [HTCondor-users] VirtualBox: Guest user vs. Condor account!?!
> 
> I was just wondering if you could elaborate briefly on why you prefer not to
> use
> the vm universe?  I'm very new to Condor myself and am considering using it
> for
> running some VMs but have not tried yet.
> 
> Regarding your question, I unfortunately have no suggestions.
> 
> Thanks and regards,
> Matt
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: htcondor-users-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:htcondor-users-
> > bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rob
> > Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 11:15 PM
> > To: HTCondor-Users Mail List
> > Subject: Re: [HTCondor-users] VirtualBox: Guest user vs. Condor account!?!
> >
> > Thanks for explaining some more Windows context here.
> >
> > However, I'm afraid that
> >
> > load_profile = True
> >
> >
> > only works with dedicated users, hence needs users with passwords on the
> > Windows PCs.
> >
> >
> > I'm disappointed that VirtualBox commands apparently require privileges,
> which
> > normal
> > Condor jobs do not have......
> >
> > Or are there other options I could try.....?
> >
> > Rob.
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Ziliang Guo <ziliang@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: HTCondor-Users Mail List <htcondor-users@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Cc:
> > Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 12:46 PM
> > Subject: Re: [HTCondor-users] VirtualBox: Guest user vs. Condor account!?!
> >
> > By default the user accounts used to run Condor jobs do not have a
> > registry loaded. If VBox is dependent on something in the user's hive,
> > then it'll probably fail. I would suggest adding
> >
> > load_profile = True
> >
> > into the submit file and see if that works.
> >
> > On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 6:31 PM, Rob <spamrefuse@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I am trying to by-pass the VM universe, and use VirtualBox commands
> directly
> > > on a Windows XP pool PC, with the Vanilla universe and a DOS batch script
> > that
> > > handles the necessary VirtualBox commands (the WIndows XP pool PC already
> > > has VirtualBox installed)
> > >
> > > As for now, I am only testing this idea and the DOS batch script just
> > creates
> > > a headless virtual machine and then deletes it again.
> > >
> > >
> > > REM Start of DOS batch script
> > > REM create a VM
> > >
> > > "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" createvm --name condor
> -
> > -ostype Other --register
> > > REM remove the VM again
> > >
> > > "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" unregistervm condor --
> > delete
> > > REM End of DOS batch script
> > >
> > >
> > > I walked over to the Windows XP machine and ran this DOS script as the
> > "Guest" user.
> > > It worked just fine, so I assumed that then also Condor was allowed to
> > execute the script.
> > > Here is the submit description file:
> > >
> > > universe = vanilla
> > >
> > > requirements = (target.Arch == "INTEL") && (target.OpSys == "WINDOWS")
> > > # this is the same DOS batch script as above
> > >
> > > executable = virtualbox.bat
> > > when_to_transfer_output = on_exit
> > >
> > > output = virtualbox.out
> > > log      = virtualbox.log
> > > error    = virutalbox.err
> > > notification = complete
> > >
> > > queue
> > >
> > >
> > > When I submit this job description, I get this in the error file:
> > >
> > > VBoxManage.exe: error: Failed to create the VirtualBox object!
> > > VBoxManage.exe: error: Code CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE (0x80080005) - Server
> > execution failed (extended info not available)
> > > VBoxManage.exe: error: Most likely, the VirtualBox COM server is not
> running
> > or failed to start.
> > >
> > > (the output file remains empty).
> > >
> > > Does the error occur because Condor runs the batch script as an
> unprivileged
> > user?
> > > If I can run the batch script as a "Guest" user, then why is it not
> possible
> > for Condor
> > > to run the commands in the batch script?
> > >
> > >
> > > The Condor manual says:
> > >
> > > "Condor executes jobs on Windows using dedicated run accounts
> > > that have minimal access rights and privileges, and which are recreated
> > > for each new job."
> > >
> > > Is there a difference between Condor's "dedicated run account with minimal
> > access rights"
> > > and the "Guest" account?
> > >
> > > I am very much puzzled here!
> > >
> > > Thank you!
> > >
> > > Rob.
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Condor Project Windows Developer
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