UNIX web development server for virtual machine PC in Windows - virtualization

I'm planning to build Linux web development server in virtual machine environment on Windows Virtual PC. As I don't have much experience with installing and configuring Linux web servers, I wanted to ask for some advice:
What Linux distribution do you recommend for such server? I want the virtual server to look like real hosting environment.
Do any pre-configured virtual machines for web development exist out there?
Maybe some instruction and tips on configuring?
My requirements for the server are quite standard: latest versions of Apache, MySQL, PHP, probably Python and Postgre.
Thank you.
UPDATE: OK I think I'll go with Ubuntu Server for this.

You can probably go with Ubuntu. It is easy for a beginner and there is plently of documentation on how to install a LAMP stack and later you can move on to other distros.
If you are looking for pre-configured machines, then you can have a look at VMWare Appliances

For the distribution I would recommend Ubuntu - you can add all the server software you want from their repositories.
For a virtual machine I'd recommend Ubuntu Server Edition JeOS, as that won't have any un-needed software on it.

Debian Lenny - rock solid stability & the most package support
I'm sure you can find some
Use prefork-worker apache, MySQL 5/PHP 5, Postgres 8.4.

There are lots of prebuilt vmware images that you can use. You might also consider looking at something like Amazon EC2 for which there are lots of off the shelf images.
I would also suggest Ubuntu server as a base OS.
Incidentally there are other virtualisation options in case Virtual PC doesn't recognise those prebuilt image formats (I think those formats are more standardised and interoperable these days, but not sure)...e.g. there is vmware, and there is virtualbox.org

Does it need to be in Linux straight away? You can run (Apache et al) XAMPP locally and get it up and running in 5 minutes.

Related

how to install operating system on a virtual machine programatically

It may be a duplicate question but i could not find it anywhere.
Anyway, my goal to install operating system(both linux and windows) programatically on a virtual machine running on vmware hosts.
Although my search, I am quite lost about where to start.
Is there a framework or project you can suggest?
You could use templates; i.e. create a VM, install the Linux distribution of your choice and make the VM a template. Then don't create VMs but deploy the template.
Alternatively, google for the Linux distribution of your choice and something like "network installation". You'll need a DHCP server and probably a TFTP and/or web server.
Working with Templates and Clones
Creating VMware Virtual Machine Templates
Try having a look at Vagrant: http://www.vagrantup.com/. It allows you to install/uninstall a predefined VM from the command line.

How to host the OpenStreetMap Locally

I want to host the OSM (OpenStreetMap) locally. I need the basic idea what are required for hosting the OSM and how the task can be done in a step wise manner. I have to host it in Windows7 environment.
Any kind of help will be useful.
switch2osm contains detailed instructions and requirements for setting up a OSM server. If you have a Windows system then better set up a Linux VM inside it.
A bit too old but I will just put it here for someone who is searching for the same thing.
An exact instance of OpenStreetMap can be hosted locally by following the installation guide of OpenStreetMap.
Quoting from the Link:
"These instructions are designed for setting up The Rails Port for development and testing. If you want to deploy the software for your own project, then see the notes at the end.
You can install the software directly on your machine, which is the traditional and probably best-supported approach. However, there is an alternative which may be easier: Vagrant. This installs the software into a virtual machine, which makes it easier to get a consistent development environment and may avoid installation difficulties. For Vagrant instructions, see VAGRANT.md.
These instructions are based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, which is the platform used by the OSMF servers. The instructions also work, with only minor amendments, for all other current Ubuntu releases, Fedora and MacOSX
We don't recommend attempting to develop or deploy this software on Windows. If you need to use Windows, then try developing this software using Ubuntu in a virtual machine, or use Vagrant."

Orchard CMS on Mono

This question might be slightly subjective, but I am unsure where else it would be better suited.
I have used Orchard on a number of projects where the server was Windows Server based - integrating with AD, SQL etc to provide a MVC based portal - like stealing candy from a toddler!
I have been exploring MonoTouch recently, and installed Orchard on OSX under ModMono as per http://docs.orchardproject.net/Documentation/Running-Orchard-on-Mono.
It all seems to run fine, and fast, but I am unsure whether to back this on a commercial venture. I have always used MySQL or MSSQL as the DB, whereas my current install is running PostgreSQL - something new (which is always good).
Does anyone know of any sites which use Orchard running on Mono, with ModMono (Apache2) and PostgreSQL?
I plan to deploy to a cloud server running CentOS and Mono to do further testing before going any further, but think it could be an exciting avenue to explore.
I can't say I know of any sites that run Orchard on Mono commercially but I do know of a lot of sites that use Mono, Postgresql and CentOS. But if it works on a Mac running Modmono and Postgresql then it should work on CentOS.
The only issues that you may face running on Linux is case sensitivity. If you do run in to case sensitivity issues when you are trying out Orchard on Linux then you may want to configure your site to use Mono IOMAP temporarily until you fix an issues with case sensitivity.
This is a very reliable and cost effective stack. It may take a bit of research and problem solving to get up and running initially but once it's running it should be very stable.
I am currently near the end of porting an application that is going to be using Mono, Postgresql and Ubuntu running on Amazon EC2. I believe that Ubuntu is better than CentOS when it comes to Mono as it is much easier to setup and seems to be better supported. You can use the badgerports repositories located here if you want to try out the latest version of Mono on Ubuntu.

How is Github Enterprise hosted?

How exactly does github enterprise (or similar services) allow you to install it and host on your own servers without being open source?
I'm not very familiar with GitHub Enterprise, but it appears it's just a OVF package (commonly used format for packaging an entire virtual machine) that you just import and go.. a full stack including the OS and all. It's not something you just install alongside other things like WordPress (or at least it doesn't appear to be.)
As someone mentioned, it's an Open Virtualisation Format image which you can run in VMWare, VirtualBox or IBM Power. You can read more in the GitHub Enterprise FAQ.
The Virtual Image runs a Linux OS and the GitHub software. Most of the work has been done for you, it's pretty much plug and pay (licence for 40 users runs at $10k/year last time I checked).
GHE is available as appliance and you can import the downloaded ova file to vmware and can configure it from the GUI after installation

How do i create a VM Ware Image of an AIX LPAR?

I want to clone a AIX LPAR and was wondering if the physical machine could be converted into a VM Image?
I have used the VMWare Converter to create a VM Image of a physical windows box and the documentation states that you can do that for Linux Boxes too.
http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/
I don't see information on AIX or the other UNIXes.
If creating an VM Image of an existing physical AIX box is not feasible is there any easy way to clone the AIX image to another AIX machine.
The primary intent is to avoid re-creating the setup that is already performed for the current AIX box and we want a duplicate environment with the same setup.
VMware supports x86 (and x86_64) architectures for host and guest only. IBM AIX runs on the Power architecture, and VMWare does not do architecture emulation, so what you want does not exist.
If you want to back up/clone your AIX instance to another machine, look for information regarding mksysb and AIX Sysback.
You might want to take a look at the following, but there are no guarantees, and I'm fairly certain running AIX on anything but a Power architecture is still not a reality at this time:
Qemu
PearPC
Based on further reading, i understand that VMWare does not support AIX. The guest OS can primarily be Windows, various distros of LINUX and Mac-OSX. I also see Solaris as a supported guest OS, but i don't see AIX. So i don't think this is possible.
I would have to look at the Virtualization features supported from IBM for this activity.
Thanks,
Manglu