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How to provide FriCAS as a VirtualBox VDI file
==============================================

The following describes a procedure that produces a running
FriCAS (based on sbcl and Debian) as a virtual disk image.

* Download Debian NetInstall iso image from here http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/ .
  Choose the latest 32bit version:
  http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/6.0.4/i386/iso-cd/debian-6.0.4-i386-netinst.iso

* Download VirtualBox for your system: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

* Start virtual box and create a new virtual machine "fricas" with a dynamic
  disk attached. (Disk size must be at least about 2 GB, dynamically expanding, Main memory 1GB).

* Attach the debian-6.0.4-i386-netinst.iso image as your CD drive.

* Start the "fricas" machine and install Debian.

  * You can pretty much follow the default setting.

  * Select "Install".

  * Select "root" as the root passwort and great a user "me" with password "me".

  * Deselect the "Graphical desktop environment" if you are asked for it during install.

  * Login as "root". Install GUI (XFCE, GDM) and GNU MP. ::

     apt-get install xfce4 xfce4-terminal gdm libgmp3-dev emacs

* Power off the "fricas" virtual machine.

Now we have a relatively minimal Debian.
We should now compile FriCAS in this environment and install it.

Since we don't want the VDI file to grow too much, we do the compilation
in a cloned VM (let's call it "fricasbuild") and only copy the installed FriCAS
files to the virtual machine with name "fricas".

* In VirtualBox go to File -> Virtual Media Manager select "fricas" and press "Copy" and
  create a dynamic diskimage with name "fricasbuild".
  Close the Virtual Media Manager.

* Create a new VM (Linux/Debian/1GB Memory). Use existing hard disk and select the
  copy "fricasbuild" that you've created above.

* Start the "fricasbuild" VM and install (as root) all software for a build environment of FriCAS. ::

   apt-get install libx11-dev libxt-dev libice-dev libsm-dev libxau-dev libxdmcp-dev libxpm-dev
   apt-get install sbcl noweb gitk

* Get the latest FriCAS sources. ::

   git clone https://github.com/hemmecke/fricas-svn fricas

* Compile FriCAS. ::

   cd fricas
   git checkout KNOWN-GOOD-VERSION
   ./configure --enable-gmp --prefix $HOME
   make -j x > make.log 2>&1 ## replace x by the number of the processors of the VM
   make install

* Shut down "fricasbuild".

* Go to VirtualBox Settings for the "fricas" VM and attach "fricasbuild" as a
  second hard disk.

* Start the "fricas" VM.

  * Mount the second disk (as root). ::

     mkdir -p /media/fricasbuild
     mount -t ext3 /dev/sdb1 /media/fricasbuild

  * Copy installation (as user "me"). ::

     cp /media/fricasbuild/home/me/bin ~
     cp /media/fricasbuild/home/me/lib ~

  * Add the following line to ~/.bashrc. ::

     export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH

  * Create an quick-start icon in the panel in order to launch "efricas".

  * Shut down "fricas".

* The resulting file "fricas.vdi" should now be approximately 1.5GB.

* Upload "fricas.vdi" to some place from where it can be downloaded.


Shrink the size of a .vdi file
------------------------------

I took most information from here:
http://www.bdjl.de/localhost/?p=2135 .

* Attach fricas.vdi to another virtual machine vm.
  Maybe simply clone fricas.vdi inside VirtualBox.

* Start that new machine, become root and install zerofree. ::

    apt-get install zerofree

* Mount fricas.vdi in read-only mode. (If it's the second disk, it's /dev/sdb1.) ::

    mkdir /mnt/tmp
    mount -r /dev/sdb1 /mnt/tmp

* Call zerofree. ::

    zerofree /dev/sdb1

* Close the virtual machine and detach fricas.vdi.

* In the host system run the following command. ::

    VBoxManage modifyhd /path/to/fricas.vdi --compact

Enlarge a VDI disk
------------------

Description is in the VirtualBox Manual.
http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html#vboxmanage-modifyvdi

After that one must attach the .vdi file to another virtual machine.
Start that other VM and run gparted on /dev/sdb1, i.e. move the swap
partition to the end of the free space that has been created with VBoxManage.


Resolve Network problems
------------------------

On reboot the files /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent*
will be created which involve a MAC address that is most probably
invalid if the virtual machine is run on another computer.
That leads to unfunctional network connection.

In the virtual machine remove '/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent*' and reboot.
That should make the network functional again.
Maybe one should rather remove those files before distributing the .vdi file.


**DISCLAIMER**: I've recalled these steps from memory after I have created such
a VDI file. There may be small mistakes in the above procedure. In fact, this
site is just a reminder to myself. (Ralf Hemmecke)