If you add the VBoxManage startvm command directly in your sessions manager you are limited to launching 1 virtual machine. Alternatively enter the commands in a single script, place the script in your home directly, and add the script to start on boot. A simple script would look like this. #!/bin/bash VBoxManage startvm server VBoxManage startvm server2 VBoxManage startvm server3 thunderbird ect…
I have had satisfying results with ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe. The BIOS options are thoroughly configurable, and take full advantage of AM2 socket capable AMD processors. Installed is 4 Gigabytes of DDR2 RAM, and three 160 Gigabyte hard drives (2 PATA and 1 SATA) connected in RAID1. Complete with a suitable DVD burner, the server only requires a respectable case to complete its upgrade. Considering the new status of the server it is capable of running multiple virtual machines; I have a couple of ideas for new services to try 
VirtualBox Host Networking Set Host Static Local IP »« ASUS AMD Motherboard and RAM Upgrade
RAID is really tempting, especially the hot swapping feature of hardware RAID. The obvious deterrent is the high costs of a quality raid controller. The economical alternative is Linux software RAID. This is easily implementable with reference to a variety of easily available online tutorials. Considering the ease of implementation RAID is a viable option. I do not use RAID primarily because I don’t have multiple hard drives nor the capital requirements to purchase them. Sometimes you have to work with what you got. I have a simple backup solution, and since this server environment is Virtual, my entire backup involves the copying of a single .VDI file to a USB hard drive. For redundancy I also transfer via ssh the server .VDI file to my laptop, and the host system. The fourth backup goes to my mail server. Essentially I have a relatively fault resistant server environment. Worst case scenario is the host environment will have to be formatted with a clean OS, and then the virtual server copied form the USB backup. After a quick install of VirtualBox the server environment would be back up in no time. Overall this process would probably take about 35 minutes.
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To automatically start your Virtual Server open the sessions control panel in the administrator menu. Add to the startup programs the following command: VBoxManage startvm servername My Virtual Server is named “server” therefore my session startup command looks like this: VBoxManage startvm server Do the same thing for your tap creation script. I placed the tap creation script in my home folder, then when you add the session startup just navigate to the script and select it. Everything in the sessions configuration will automatically start when the main user logs in, therefore you will have to set the security on your computer to automatically login your main user. Do this in the Login Window administrator menu, under the security tab.
Debian Etch Repos »« VirtualBox Host Networking Multiple Taps
When a virtual server is utilizing the host systems network, and receives an independent local IP via DHCP from your router it appears to be an actual computer form the outside world. If a backup of the VDI is kept regularly it can simply replace a damaged, or hacked system in the time it takes to copy a file. Virtual servers exist as a single VDI file, therefore for blogs that utilize database backends simply copy your backup server VDI image, boot, then use your phpmyadmin to update your mysql databases from your backups; obviously this entails keeping mysql database backups. For more information about mysql backups utilizing automated cron scripts see: http://www.bgevolution.com/blog/index.php/cron-server-backup-scripts/
VirtualBox Host Networking Multiple Taps »« Mysql Set Root Password
Rather than having an entire machine dedicated to a single server operation, a graphical desktop can be installed to administrate the implementation of a single or multiple Virtual Servers. VirtualBox is the Virtual environment of choice, with the main decision being the base OS. Contrary to past experience, Ubuntu Gutsy won’t install Graphically on the new machine that I purchased; I guess is an incompatible graphics card. Not a problem, Fedora 8 is close by. Overall my OS choices typically ranges between Ubuntu and Fedora, and Fedora 8 will be the Desktop environment of choice for my new server. I will be using Debian for the server environment in the Virtual machine. Utilizing a Virtual machine for your web server allows for substantially easier backups. Instead of having to copy multiple files, a single file represents the entirety of the server environment. A single VDI file represents everything, consolidating everything for supremely easy management.
Choice of OS – Available Distributions – How to Choose »« Fedora 8 Ubuntu Gutsy IP Address
