How to install the Fermi Virtual Machine on a Mac using Virtual Box

- A tutorial for the Fermi Solar Workshop 2012. v2

Introduction

The Fermi Virtual Machine is an image of a fully functional Operating System. It comes with pre-installed copies of all the software that will be demonstrated at the Fermi Solar Workshop 2012. The FermiVM is distributed as a single ISO image file that you will install into a Virtualization Platform. These instructions will guide users through the process of installing Oracle Virtual Box, the chosen Virtualization platform for OSX machines at this Workshop. If you have another Virtualization platform such as a VMWare product then your setup process will be similar, but is not explicitly supported by this tutorial. Good Luck.

On a more technical note the FermiVM is an ISO image of the 32 or 64 bit variant of the Scientific Linux 6.2 operating system. SL6 is a variant of Red Hat Enterprises Linux (RHEL) and is the primary Operating System supported by the Fermi Science Support Center. FermiVM comes with the basic software packages you will need to conduct your analysis of astrophysical phenomenon including IDL, SSW, HEAsoft 12.6, and the Fermi ScienceTools.

Minimum System Requirements

Obtaining Virtual Box

We have set up a download of Oracle Virtual Box for both Windows and Mac. The installation executables are available on the FERMI FTP site: ftp://legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/glast/software/fermi_solar_workshop_2012/ You can Click Here to download the OSX version.

Installing Virtual Box

The installation wizard is very straightforward and easy to use. Simply install the full version of the player and choose directory trees you feel are appropriate.

Obtaining the FermiVM ISO image

The FermiVM is distributed by the FSSC through it's FTP server: ftp://legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/glast/software/fermi_solar_workshop_2012/
Here you will find 2 versions of FermiVM, one optimized for 32-bit machines and one for 64-bit machines. The two are identical in all other respects. For 64-bit machines download "FermiVM-64-1-7.iso" and for 32-bit machines download "FermiVM-32-1-7.iso".

If you do not know what your system type is see below.

Determining System Type (32 vs 64 bit) MAC OSX

  1. Click the Apple menu
  2. Click "About this Mac"
  3. You should see a window with your system information. Underneath "Mac OS X" you will see version information. Versions 10.5 and greater are 64-bit operating systems. Anything below 10.5 will be 32-bit.

For 64-bit machines download "FermiVM-64-1-7.iso" and for 32-bit machines download "FermiVM-32-1-7.iso".

Creating a new Fermi Virtual Machine

Note that this installation tutorial was created using version 1-6 of the Fermi-VM, and the current version is 1-7. There are no differences between the installation process for v1-6 and v1-7 other than the filename and label.

  1. Launch Virtual Box if you have not already done so. Click "New".


  2. "New Virtual Machine Wizard" Click "Next" (On Macs this might read "Continue")


  3. "VM Name and OS Type" Choose a name for your VM. We suggest using the full name of the ISO you downloaded as it is descriptive and will allow the organizers of the workshop to quickly identify type and version should any bugs arise. "FermiVM-32-1-5" and "FermiVM-64-1-5" are descriptive enough. Now identify the OS and version. For "Operating System" select "Linux." (Do not select MAC OS.) For "Version" select "Red Hat" or "Red Hat (64bit) if you are using the 64 bit ISO. Click "Next".


  4. "Memory" Allocate a minimum of 2048MB of "Base Memory Size." Feel free to allocate more if you wish. Click "Next"


  5. "Virtual Hard Disk" Check the "Start-up Disk" box and select "Create new hard disk." Click "Next"


  6. "Welcome to the virtual disk creation wizard" Select "VDI" as your File type. Click "Next"


  7. "Virtual disk storage details" Select "Dynamically allocated". Click "Next"


  8. "Virtual disk file location and size" Under "Size" allocate a minimum of 20 GB. No change to Location is necessary. Click "Next"


  9. "Summary" Click "Create", Click "Create" again


  10. "Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager" You have created the Virtual Machine, now you must install the FermiVM. Click "Settings" at the top left


  11. "Settings" In the left hand column click "Storage." In the "Storage Tree" area you should see "IDE Controller". Under that you will see an icon of a disk named "Empty". Click "Empty".


  12. "Settings" In the Right hand column under "Attributes" click the disk icon (the circle to the right). Select "Choose a virtual cd/disk file". Navigate to and select the FermiVM ISO You dowloaded earlier. Click "Open". Click "OK".


    ###################### A special note about Mouse Capture ########################
    Interacting with Virtual Box will cause the program to "Capture" your mouse and keyboard. That is, each action done by these devices will only affect the Virtual Machine until you "release" them through a special command. When you wish to interact with your Host Operating System again press the "Right Ctrl" button on Windows keyboards or the "Command" button on Mac Keyboards. These are default and can be changed by the user. The current release button is always indicated in the bottom right corner of the VM Window. ############################################################################

  13. Click "Start" You are now installing the FermiVM. You will see a number of pop-ups from VirtualBox. These are informative and worth reading, but often repeat themselves so you may select "Don't show this message again".  Click "OK"

  14. "Clonezilla" Hit "return". When prompted enter "y" and hit return. When prompted again enter "y" and hit return again. Do not be afraid when prompted to allow overwriting the drive (Host operating system will not be affected by this, in this one very limited and particular case you do not  need to heed the warnings about losing all your data). The unpacking and first  boot process could take a large amount of time on slower machines.


  15. When unpacking and installation is finished you will be prompted to enter 0, 1, 2, 3 for various options. Enter "1" [Reboot] and hit return. Hit enter when prompted about disc tray.


  16. When you see the login screen you have successfully installed the FermiVM. You should login to Fermi User with the password fermipw. Enjoy.