virtualbox.org

I am having a heck of a time trying to figure out why my VMs randomly shut down and I would like a bit of help.

I am running Ubuntu Server 16.04 as the host with the same as a guest. Sometimes the VMs will stay up for a few days while other times they will only stay up for an hour or so. I've gone through every log I can find and haven't been able to find a clue as to what is going on.

I've attached some log files from both the host and the guest but like I said I haven't been able to find anything.

Any help is appreciated... if any additional information is required please let me know.

Thanks.

VirtualBox VM 5.0.24 r108355 linux.amd64 (Jun 28 2016 15:48:13) release log
...
00:00:00.012930   Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack (Version: 5.0.18 r106667; VRDE Module: VBoxVRDP)

Your ExtPack does not match the installed version of the VirtualBox app. They definitely should. Update your ExtPack.

00:00:00.023166 File system of '/mnt/sda3/VMs/graeae/graeae.vmdk' is ext4

Are your VMs stored in an external HD? It seems like they are. Can you make sure that the extHD doesn't go to sleep after some time of inactivity? Check your power saving options, your "put the HD to sleep" options and anything else that might affect the continuous, uninterrupted access to the VMDK.

BTW, why a VMDK? Did you get the VM from somewhere or did you install it from scratch?

Alright I updated the ExtPack and will keep this thread updated with a status. I have the VBox repositories added to apt so it auto-updated and I completely forgot about the ExtPack. I installed the ExtPack as the instructions I first used to set it up instructed me to do so but now I get the impression it only adds a few capabilities and that in my case at least I don't even need. Any idea if that is the case?

My VMs are stored on a separate partition of the same SSD the host runs on... it is not an external drive. This is a headless server so I'm not sure how to check the HD sleep settings. I don't think this is the case as the device is always snappy and active. If the ExtPack update doesn't resolve it I will look into this further.

I installed the VM from scratch. Is the fact it is a VMDK odd in any way? Once again as per instructions I followed when I first set this up I set up a VM as a template... base install with a few basic settings for my environment. This VM was a clone of that template... the instructions I used had me do it like that.

virtual_zero wrote:Any idea if that is the case?

No clue yet. I was simply highlighting the oddities in your setup. If you don't fix the basics, which might be responsible for the VM abort, we can't be sure.

virtual_zero wrote:This is a headless server so I'm not sure how to check the HD sleep settings.

Well, time to hit the books then. I don't have the same setup as you and frankly this is an Ubuntu question, not a VirtualBox one.

virtual_zero wrote:Is the fact it is a VMDK odd in any way?

Yes, it is. It's not the default. You must have had a good reason to deviate from the defaults. Given that you're new in the virtualization arena, I would have stuck with the developer's suggestions, i.e. choose the VDI format, which is native to VirtualBox.

virtual_zero wrote:the instructions I used had me do it like that.

That wouldn't be the User Manual (the ultimate instructions), would it? Again, since you're new into this, don't go wondering around on the web for tutorials and instructions that don't make sense except for the blogger's setup.

Alright the Extpack is up to date and I created a new VM from scratch using the following:

VBoxManage createvm --name graeae --register
VBoxManage createhd --filename graeae.vdi --size 5124
VBoxManage modifyvm graeae --ostype Ubuntu_64
VBoxManage modifyvm graeae --memory 512
VBoxManage storagectl graeae --name "IDE" --add ide
VBoxManage storageattach graeae --storagectl "IDE" --port 0 --device 0 --type hdd --medium graeae.vdi
VBoxManage storageattach graeae --storagectl "IDE" --port 1 --device 0 --type dvddrive --medium /mnt/sdc1/Personal/Dana/ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso
VBoxManage modifyvm graeae --nic1 bridged --bridgeadapter1 br0
VBoxManage modifyvm graeae --vrde on

The above seems fairly basic. I will be away for a few days and I will check how it is doing when I return.

Thanks for the help.

After returning the VM has been up for over 4 days now... much longer than it was able to stay up prior to the rebuild and update of the ExtPack.

Hopefully we can consider this resolved.

Thanks.