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    Author Topic: GLBSE client VMware appliance  (Read 5071 times)
    error (OP)
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    May 11, 2011, 02:27:12 AM
    Last edit: June 10, 2011, 02:38:44 AM by error
     #1

    This project has been obsoleted. Please go here.

    If you found this virtual appliance helpful, feel free to send lots of bitcoins to 1KAtZFDWYVt6hZPzJjGh7dByq9SmFMjrTi

    Because a lot of people are having trouble running bmc (the GLBSE client software) on Windows I decided to put together a virtual appliance. This has some nice advantages even if you aren't having problems. For instance, you can keep the appliance on an encrypted USB stick for additional security and portability.

    The virtual appliance currently requires 64MB of RAM and about 1.1GB of hard drive space when installed.

    Getting Started

    1. Download and install the free VMware Player. (If you already have another VMware product installed, you can skip this step.) You will need to restart your computer after the installation completes.


    2. Download the virtual appliance (current version: 0.1) zip file and extract its contents somewhere on your hard drive or USB stick.


    3. Double-click the bmc.vmx file to start the virtual appliance.


    4. The first time you run it, VMware Player will ask you if you moved or copied the virtual machine. Choose I copied it. If you install to a USB stick or Truecrypt container and see this message later, choose I moved it.


    5. It will ask you for your keyboard layout and time zone, then the virtual appliance will restart itself.

    6. Login as user bmc with password bmc. You can now use the GLBSE as shown in the tutorial.


    If VMware asks you to install the VMware Tools, you can safely ignore the message by choosing Remind Later or Never Remind. VMware Tools was not used for this machine since it would have dramatically increased the necessary disk space.

    Every time you restart the virtual machine, it will automatically download and install the latest version of bmc from its git repository.

    Note that while using the virtual machine, your keyboard and mouse will be locked to it. This is a restriction imposed by VMware. To unlock the keyboard and mouse so you can switch to other programs, tap the left Ctrl and left Alt keys at the same time. To return to the VMware window, press Ctrl-G or click inside it.

    Some other stuff you might want to do

    passwd - Changes your login password. (This does NOT change your passphrase for accessing GLBSE!)
    sudo halt - Shuts down the virtual machine.
    sudo reboot - Reboots the virtual machine.

    Can I trust this?

    The virtual appliance is built from Debian 6 (squeeze) and the sources are available from the Debian mirrors. Further, debsums is installed and can be used to verify the integrity of the installed packages. All changes I have made are isolated toopt andetc/rc.local with a symlink for bmc inusr/local/bin. These changes allow for the virtual machine to ask users for their time zone and keyboard layout, as well as keeping bmc updated, and are plainly readable.

    To do

    Make it easier to move files into and out of the virtual machine; ssh/scp is available but this isn't particularly easy for Windows users.

    Ensure that the virtual machine clock remains in sync if the virtual machine is left running for a long period of time.

    Implement a GUI if people want it. This would also allow for installation of VMware Tools which would eliminate the clock sync problem and the keyboard/mouse lock issue.

    Enjoy!


    If you found this virtual appliance helpful, feel free to send lots of bitcoins to 1KAtZFDWYVt6hZPzJjGh7dByq9SmFMjrTi  Grin

    3KzNGwzRZ6SimWuFAgh4TnXzHpruHMZmV8
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