help needed for installing one VM and multiple users

[bigdaddy]

Hello,
I've just installed Virtualbox 1.6.0 and wanted to know (if it is possible) how do we share VDI image and config files.

The sharing of config files ".Virtualbox" is ok I found the answer by reading the manual chapter 9 Advanced topics, page 113. It's a matter of a variable to set

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 export "VBOX_USER_HOME=/path/to/configFile" 

you can insert this in your bashrc file it's not so clean but it works
The problem still in sharing VDI image(s), I'll explain ^^:
My VDI image is in /vsrv/VDI when I put rw rights, the listing of this folder:

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 $ ls -l /vsrv/VDI 
-rw-rw---- 2 admin vboxusers 2562743296 2008-05-30 12:10 ubuntu.vdi

I can access to my virtual machine by one and only user the other users can't acces this VM with the same image it's locked by Virtualbox.
So I wanted to try opening access with read only on the VDI files so now the listing of /vsrv/VDI/ :

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 $ ls -l /vsrv/VDI 
-r--r----- 2 admin vboxusers 2562743296 2008-05-30 12:10 ubuntu.vdi

this way I don't have lock problem so I can startup the VM from 2 different accounts but another problem appears; The VM boot only in text mode the x server fails and crashes.

Do someone have a solution or something that I can do that make it clean please.
Thanks in advance.

[Sasquatch]

What you had with the read and write is ok, that should work just fine as you already found out. But you can't run a VM twice. That is bound to give problems. It's the same as working on the same text file, whoever saved the file last has his version of the file, they aren't merged.

So run them separately, or install two VMs.

[bigdaddy]

thanks for the fastest reply ever ^^
In fact when you say :

So run them separately, or install two VMs.

you mean that I have to make a new VDI, though a new VM; thusfore I'll have to install 25 VM if I want to use it by 25 users or I'll have to let them use the same VM one after another!!
I'm trying to find an alternative to this by letting the system write on an external partition (folder) for every user

[Sasquatch]

Yes, you have to create 25 VMs if all 25 users will use them at the same time. If they however use them all at different times, then one VM would be enough like you have now (or how many are using a VM at the same time).

[bigdaddy]

The max of users that may need and startup the vm at the same time is 16.
with a good srv and a 100M network

thanks for all

[bigdaddy]

Finally the best way to do is to create a user_folder in vsrv so VirtualBox point at for configuration.
and with the clones of the image that I'll put in VDI for each user changing owner.
that will enable a script for updates but take a lot of space ^^.

thanks again, I'll continue searching for a solution to keep one image

[Sasquatch]

How about running the VM headless and let users log on to the running VM? I don't know if they must have a guid or not, but you can do a lot with external connections to Linux. You can even create an external X session.

[bigdaddy]

hello,
I just have a question
I saw the topic about linked clone is there a possibility to do it with virtualbox?