Re: [Condor-users] Virtual Machine universe: hands-on examples?

[Rob <spamrefuse@xxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----

From: Ian Cottam <Ian.Cottam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Rob <spamrefuse@xxxxxxxxx>; Condor-Users Mail List <condor-users@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> Rob,
> I've used POVB <http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/poolsofvirtualb/>
> successfully, as no doubt have many others.
> the only problem I have is when Windows PCs 'go away' due to PowerMAN
> power saving features.
> Condor 7.8 has changed a little how this is handled, so I may try it again
> when I have time.
> -Ian
> 

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm aware of this solution and I've
seen a PPT on this topic somewhere on the Internet.

The downside of this approach is that the virtual machine in VirtualBox is
always running, even when the owner is using the PC, right?
That is not an acceptable solution for the library IT of the university here;
Condor is only allowed on the PCs, for as long as there is almost zero
impact on the regular usage of the PCs.

The original idea of the VM universe is (correct me if I'm wrong on this),
that Condor only starts the virtual environment (e.g. VirtualBox) when
the pool PC is idle, then feeds it with the virtual machine given in the
submit file, and the virtual environment is only there as long as Condor
is allowed to keep the PC busy.....
This functionality of Condor VM seems to have disappeared when
moving away from VMWare. If not "disappeared" as a feature, then
at least necessary and helpful documentation has disappeared :(.

Regards,
Rob.



On 22/10/2012 07:21, "Rob" <spamrefuse@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
>
>Hi all,
>
>When I started to experiment with Condor some 2 years back,
>VMWare was THE way to go with Condor.
>At the time I did some tests and VM universe kind of worked,
>although VMWare was a pain.....meanwhile VirtualBox and
>others seem to have replaced VMWare, due to their more
>convenient interface. And of course the progress that has been
>made in Virtual Machining......
>
>However, now I'm puzzled what to do with Condor.
>Using Virtual Machines is tricky; 2 years ago it took me a while to
>get an example working with VMWare only after I saw a completely
>worked out example of how to actually do it.
>
>Condor also seems to have moved on and now supports something
>like libvirt. Doesn't it? But then: how does this work?
>Say, I have a Condor master PC (linux with VirtualBox) and a bunch of
>Windows pool PCs with VirtualBox installed. How can I then tell Condor
>to run a VM job? Are there any detailed examples, that tell step-by-step
>how such things should be done?
>
>Thank you!
>
>Rob.
>
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-- 
Ian Cottam
ext. 61851
IT Services -- supporting research
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
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