Virtualizing PBX in a flash using Microsoft virtual server 2005 R2 SP1
From time to time I have found it valuable to have a "beater box" to use for testing of new procedures, programs, concepts. While I enjoy having a lot of hardware strewn around my workspace in various stages of various projects as well as any other person, on a recent mission to finding more space on the workbench, I decided to revisit the topic of virtualization.
I have been following with great interest the new virtualization engine, poxmox, being discussed elsewhere in the forum with great interest. With any luck, that platform will turn into a rocksolid option for people needing to host multiple PBXs on the same hardware. If you don't mind devoting hardware to it, I can also see it becoming outstanding test platform as well.
But what you do when that approach is a little bit too much for what you have in mind?
Well, pretty much everyone knows that there are premade versions of PBX in a flash to run under VMWARE.
However, using the free and readily available VM player is only a good solution for one virtualization running at a time. There's no easy way to manage resources between the various running players, nor to assigned priorities over the resources being used.
Another potential solution would be to use Microsoft MS virtual PC. Virtual PC is similar to the VM Ware player, but offers a few extra options and configuration. Also, Virtual PC includes some ability to make changes to the environment which has been preconfigured in the virtualization from within the user interface. There is no way to prioritize the use of resources between various virtual PCs running on a given computer at any given time.
Like other Microsoft server users, we often look for ways to use excess capacity on the existing servers. In this case, the Microsoft entry in the field to facilitate this is called Microsoft virtual server 2005 RC 2 SP1. Microsoft virtual server 2005 runs on any Microsoft server operating systems starting with Microsoft server 2003. It does not run on desktop operating systems.
Step 1: Microsoft virtual server 2005 software is freely available from Microsoft at no cost. Here is the link, go get it.
You must be logged in as the system administrator to install this software. Microsoft virtual server 2005 requires the presence of IIS on the server where it is installed, (IIS stands for Internet Information Server, Microsoft's version of a Web server) so you might as well get that installed before trying to install the virtual server software.
2. Download the zip file attached to this article, and expand it into C:\pbxiaf
(you can actually create the folder anywhere you want, with a slight bit of extra configuration, but it should be named the same.)
3. Download the latest PBX in a flash.ISO file from your traditional download source. Copy the ISO file into the same folder you expanded other data into in step two above. Make sure it is named "pbxinaflash.iso".
4. After installation, to access the Microsoft virtual server configuration and control screens, point your browser at the IP address of the server to which it was installed, and configured for port 1024. (http://server:1024)
If you accepted the default installation parameters at the time you installed the Microsoft virtual server software, the login ID and password to use will be dependent upon your individual computer, or domain. You must login as a computer or network administrative user the first time, after which you may create access credentials for other computer or network IDs.
5. On the left-hand side, under the heading Virtual Server, select Server Properties.
Within the server properties panel, select Search Paths. In the second block down called search paths, add the path to the folder where ever you placed it, (X.:\pbxiaf) and click OK.
6. On the left-hand side, under the heading Virtual Machines, select add.
Open up the "known configuration files" drop-down list box. Locate and select the entry for the folder created in step 2, then click the ADD button.
At this point you will be returned to the main status screen for your new PBX in a flash virtual machine, which will not be running just yet. Before starting it for the very first time, you may wish to make some changes to the default configuration.
First of all, I've configured for a default 256 MB of memory for this virtual machine. If you have more ram to spare on your test machine than 256 MB, by all means feel free to increase it. More RAM generally means a faster installation and smoother operations once installed. Make adjustments to the memory level by clicking on "memory" under “pbxiaf” Configuration section, and entering your desired amount (must be available on the server when you try to run this virtual machine).
Next - you need to associate this virtual machine with a network interface card in the physical server. To do that, in the same configuration screen, locate and click on "network adapters". In the drop down box called "connected to", select the network adapter that the host server uses to connect to the network, and click OK
Also, take this opportunity to become familiar with the configuration settings for the CD ROM device. By default, when we first boot up, we want the system to recognize the PBX a flash ISO file, so it boots from that and begins the installation process; and that's how this virtual machine is configured when you first install it. However, after the first part of the PBX installation is completed, will need to come back here and disable the CD-ROM drive settings so the system boots to the virtual disk and continues the installation process.
See Part 2 for the rest of this article.
From time to time I have found it valuable to have a "beater box" to use for testing of new procedures, programs, concepts. While I enjoy having a lot of hardware strewn around my workspace in various stages of various projects as well as any other person, on a recent mission to finding more space on the workbench, I decided to revisit the topic of virtualization.
I have been following with great interest the new virtualization engine, poxmox, being discussed elsewhere in the forum with great interest. With any luck, that platform will turn into a rocksolid option for people needing to host multiple PBXs on the same hardware. If you don't mind devoting hardware to it, I can also see it becoming outstanding test platform as well.
But what you do when that approach is a little bit too much for what you have in mind?
Well, pretty much everyone knows that there are premade versions of PBX in a flash to run under VMWARE.
However, using the free and readily available VM player is only a good solution for one virtualization running at a time. There's no easy way to manage resources between the various running players, nor to assigned priorities over the resources being used.
Another potential solution would be to use Microsoft MS virtual PC. Virtual PC is similar to the VM Ware player, but offers a few extra options and configuration. Also, Virtual PC includes some ability to make changes to the environment which has been preconfigured in the virtualization from within the user interface. There is no way to prioritize the use of resources between various virtual PCs running on a given computer at any given time.
Like other Microsoft server users, we often look for ways to use excess capacity on the existing servers. In this case, the Microsoft entry in the field to facilitate this is called Microsoft virtual server 2005 RC 2 SP1. Microsoft virtual server 2005 runs on any Microsoft server operating systems starting with Microsoft server 2003. It does not run on desktop operating systems.
Step 1: Microsoft virtual server 2005 software is freely available from Microsoft at no cost. Here is the link, go get it.
You must be logged in as the system administrator to install this software. Microsoft virtual server 2005 requires the presence of IIS on the server where it is installed, (IIS stands for Internet Information Server, Microsoft's version of a Web server) so you might as well get that installed before trying to install the virtual server software.
2. Download the zip file attached to this article, and expand it into C:\pbxiaf
(you can actually create the folder anywhere you want, with a slight bit of extra configuration, but it should be named the same.)
3. Download the latest PBX in a flash.ISO file from your traditional download source. Copy the ISO file into the same folder you expanded other data into in step two above. Make sure it is named "pbxinaflash.iso".
4. After installation, to access the Microsoft virtual server configuration and control screens, point your browser at the IP address of the server to which it was installed, and configured for port 1024. (http://server:1024)
If you accepted the default installation parameters at the time you installed the Microsoft virtual server software, the login ID and password to use will be dependent upon your individual computer, or domain. You must login as a computer or network administrative user the first time, after which you may create access credentials for other computer or network IDs.
5. On the left-hand side, under the heading Virtual Server, select Server Properties.
Within the server properties panel, select Search Paths. In the second block down called search paths, add the path to the folder where ever you placed it, (X.:\pbxiaf) and click OK.
6. On the left-hand side, under the heading Virtual Machines, select add.
Open up the "known configuration files" drop-down list box. Locate and select the entry for the folder created in step 2, then click the ADD button.
At this point you will be returned to the main status screen for your new PBX in a flash virtual machine, which will not be running just yet. Before starting it for the very first time, you may wish to make some changes to the default configuration.
First of all, I've configured for a default 256 MB of memory for this virtual machine. If you have more ram to spare on your test machine than 256 MB, by all means feel free to increase it. More RAM generally means a faster installation and smoother operations once installed. Make adjustments to the memory level by clicking on "memory" under “pbxiaf” Configuration section, and entering your desired amount (must be available on the server when you try to run this virtual machine).
Next - you need to associate this virtual machine with a network interface card in the physical server. To do that, in the same configuration screen, locate and click on "network adapters". In the drop down box called "connected to", select the network adapter that the host server uses to connect to the network, and click OK
Also, take this opportunity to become familiar with the configuration settings for the CD ROM device. By default, when we first boot up, we want the system to recognize the PBX a flash ISO file, so it boots from that and begins the installation process; and that's how this virtual machine is configured when you first install it. However, after the first part of the PBX installation is completed, will need to come back here and disable the CD-ROM drive settings so the system boots to the virtual disk and continues the installation process.
See Part 2 for the rest of this article.
Phone System 