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New vm creation method vagrant optional (#659)
* Move optional steps for testing VMs out of README.md file This may help avoid new users being confused that they must follow those instructions. Signed-off-by: Andy Fingerhut <andy_fingerhut@alum.wustl.edu> * Many changes to vm-ubuntu-24.04 install scripts. The resulting Ubuntu VM will use the Ubuntu default GNOME desktop, instead of the smaller, but harder to find documentation for, Lubuntu desktop formerly installed by the install scripts. Signed-off-by: Andy Fingerhut <andy.fingerhut@gmail.com> * Fix a typo Signed-off-by: Andy Fingerhut <andy.fingerhut@gmail.com> * Use specific versions of p4lang repositories for installation Also add the user to sudoers earlier during the install. Signed-off-by: Andy Fingerhut <andy.fingerhut@gmail.com> --------- Signed-off-by: Andy Fingerhut <andy_fingerhut@alum.wustl.edu> Signed-off-by: Andy Fingerhut <andy.fingerhut@gmail.com>
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‎README.md‎

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### To build a virtual machine with the P4 development tools.
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#### Requirements
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- [Vagrant](https://vagrantup.com)
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- [VirtualBox](https://virtualbox.org)
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- At least 12 GB of free disk space, otherwise the installation can fail in unpredictable ways.
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#### Installation Steps
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1. Install Vagrant and VirtualBox on your system.
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2. Clone the repository
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```
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git clone https://github.com/p4lang/tutorials.git
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```
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3. Navigate to the cloned directory :
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```
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cd vm-ubuntu-24.04
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```
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4. Start the virtual machine using Vagrant:
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```
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vagrant up dev
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```
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*Note* : The time for this step depends on your computer and Internet speed. On a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro with a 1 Gbps download speed, it took approximately 2 hours. Ensure a stable Internet connection throughout the process.
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See the instructions [here](vm-ubuntu-24.04/README.md).
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### Accessing the VM
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- There are two user accounts:
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- Username: vagrant | Password: vagrant (This is the default account)
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- Username: p4 | Password: p4 (Usage of this account is expected)
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*Note*: Before running the `vagrant up` command, make sure you have enabled virtualization in your environment; otherwise you may get a "VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for both all CPU modes" error. Check [this](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33304393/vt-x-is-disabled-in-the-bios-for-both-all-cpu-modes-verr-vmx-msr-all-vmx-disabl) for enabling it in virtualbox and/or BIOS for different system configurations.
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You will need the script to execute to completion before you can see the `p4` login on your virtual machine's GUI. In some cases, the `vagrant up` command brings up only the default `vagrant` login with the password `vagrant`. Dependencies may or may not have been installed for you to proceed with running P4 programs. Please refer the [existing issues](https://github.com/p4lang/tutorials/issues) to help fix your problem or create a new one if your specific problem isn't addressed there.
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+ There are two user accounts:
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+ Username: p4 | Password: p4 (Usage of this account is expected)
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+ Username: vagrant | Password: vagrant (There is no need to use this account)
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### To install P4 development tools on an existing system
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‎utils/Makefile‎

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all: run
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run: build
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sudo python3 $(RUN_SCRIPT) -t $(TOPO) $(run_args)
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sudo PATH=$(PATH) ${P4_EXTRA_SUDO_OPTS} python3 $(RUN_SCRIPT) -t $(TOPO) $(run_args)
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stop:
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sudo mn -c
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sudo PATH=$(PATH) `which mn` -c
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build: dirs $(compiled_json)
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‎vm-ubuntu-24.04/README-create-vm-using-iso-installer-for-ubuntu-desktop.md‎

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# Creating a VM using VirtualBox and an ISO disk image with an Ubuntu Desktop Linux 24.04 installer
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In the initial boot menu, the default choice "Try or Install Ubuntu"
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should be highlighted. Press return to continue.
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Choose your language. Click Next button.
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In "Accessibility", I usually do not change any of the defaults. You
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might want to. Click Next button when ready to continue.
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Select your keyboard layout. Click Next button.
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In "Internet connection" screen, you will likely see the default
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choice as "Use wired connection", and there is a greyed-out
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unselectable choice "No Wi-Fi devices connected". This is the case
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even if the host system has no wired network connection, only Wi-Fi.
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The reason you see these choices is that as far as the VM is
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concerned, it detects only a virtual wired Ethernet adapter, created
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by VirtualBox, and does not see the host system's physical Wi-Fi
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device. This is normal. Click the Next button to proceed.
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In "Try or Install Ubuntu", select "Install Ubuntu". Click the Next
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button.
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In "Type of installation", select "Interactive Installation". At
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least, that is what these instructions are written for. If you want
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to try an Automated installation, feel free to do so, but don't expect
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the steps to be documented here. Click the Next button.
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In "Applications" window, select "Default selection", and click Next.
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In "Optimise your computer" window, I leave the boxes unchecked, and
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click Next.
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In "Disk setup" window, select "Erase disk and install Ubuntu", and
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click Next.
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In "Create your account" window, enter your full name, desired system
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name, user name, and password. I prefer to uncheck the box next to
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"Require my password to log in", as my host system is intended to keep
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the computer secure with requiring a password to log in, with screen
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lock after a timeout if you desire. Repeating that for the guest OS
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is just annoying to me. Click Next button to continue.
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In "Select your timezone" window, click on the map your approximate
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location, or edit the contents of the text boxes labeled "Location" or
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"Timezone". Click Next to continue.
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In "Ready to install" window, click "Install" button.
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Installation can take several minutes. Be patient. Eventually you
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should see a window titled "Installation complete". Click the
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"Restart now" button.
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If in a boot screen you see the message "Please remove this
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installation medium, then press ENTER:", just press return to
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continue.
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Proceed to the section titled [Installing open source P4 development
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tools on the
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VM](README.md#installing-open-source-p4-development-tools-on-the-vm).

‎vm-ubuntu-24.04/README-create-vm-using-iso-installer-for-ubuntu-server.md‎

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# Creating a VM using VirtualBox and an ISO disk image with an Ubuntu Server Linux 24.04 installer
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In the initial boot menu, the default choice "Try or Install Ubuntu"
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should be highlighted. Press return to continue.
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Choose language. See on-screen instructions for moving the choice
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around.
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Choose keyboard language.
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On the page "Choose the type of installation", I leave the default
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choice "Ubuntu Server" selected with an "X" as is. I press return for
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selecting "Done" at the bottom of the screen.
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Network Configuration: press return for Done.
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Proxy address: I do not need one for my home network, so press return
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for Done.
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Ubuntu archive mirror configuration: Wait a few seconds for it to test
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access to the default mirror archive. Press return for Done, assuming
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that it successfully finds a mirror system to connect to.
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Guided storage configuration: This can be nerve-wracking for a new
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user if you are installing multiple OS's on a physical system, but
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here we have created a new virtual disk just for this guest OS's full
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use, so we want to allocate all of that virtual disk for this OS's
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purposes. Leave the default "X" checked on "Use an entire disk".
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I usually press tab until the cursor is on the "X" next to "Set up
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this disk as an LLVM group", and press the space key to uncheck that
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box. Press tab a couple more times to select "Done" near bottom of
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screen, then return to proceed.
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Storage configuration: Look over the info on the screen if you are
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curious, but I just press return to proceed.
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A "Confirm destructive action" "window" pops up. Again, this is where
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I get nervious if I am ever installing Linux on a physical system
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where I want another OS to remain on a different disk partition, but
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VirtualBox is restricting this VM so that it can only see the virtual
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disk(s) that VirtualBox created it, and nothing else in the host OS
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file system, so confidently proceed by pressing tab to highlight the
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"Continue" choice, and press return.
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Enter your full name, desired system name, user name, password,
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etc. pressing tab to advance through the different boxes. When ready,
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press tab until "Done" is highlighted at the bottom, then press
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return.
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Here you might see an "Upgrade to Ubuntu Pro" configuration page. I
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always continue without upgrading to Ubuntu Pro.
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SSH Configuration: I do not install an openSSH server, tab to
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highlight Done, and press return to continue.
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Featured server snaps: I press tab until "Done" is highlighted at the
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bottom, then return to proceed, as none of the snaps presented are
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things I typically want to install. Any of them can be installed
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later after the base OS is installed, with appropriate install
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commands.
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Updating system: This can take many minutes to complete. Grab a cup
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of coffee. Work on something else. Check back occasionally. You can
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tell this step is done when the top of the screen says "Installation
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complete!". Press tab to highlight "Reboot Now" near bottom of screen
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and press return to proceed.
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If the screen says "Please remove the installation medium, then press
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ENTER:", just press return/enter key to proceed.
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You will see many boot progress messages appear, and hopefully in
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under 1 minute you will see a login prompt that looks like:
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```
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<your-system-name> login:
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```
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Enter your user name and password to log in.
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Update any of the base OS packages that have newer versions available
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with these commands:
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```bash
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sudo apt update
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sudo apt upgrade
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```
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Press return if prompted to confirm the installation of new packages.
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If you want to install the default Ubuntu GUI desktop:
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```bash
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sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop-minimal
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```
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That downloads hundreds of MBytes of packages and installs them. When
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it is complete, enter the following command to reboot the system:
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```bash
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sudo reboot
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```
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It might "pause" during the boot messages for several minutes, before
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you see a GUI login window. The first command below disables a
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redundant network system service, one that significantly slows down
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the system boot process if you leave it enabled.
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```bash
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sudo systemctl disable systemd-networkd.service
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sudo apt-get install git
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```
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Proceed to the section titled [Installing open source P4 development
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tools on the
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VM](README.md#installing-open-source-p4-development-tools-on-the-vm).

‎vm-ubuntu-24.04/README-create-vm-using-iso-installer.md‎

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# Create VM using ISO installer
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## Finding the Linux installer image you want
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Download the `.iso` file that installs the version of Linux that you
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are interested in. An Internet search for terms like these works for
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me. Use "amd64" for a host system with 64-bit Intel/AMD CPU, or
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"arm64" for an Apple Silicon Mac.
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Example search terms:
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+ If your system has a 64-bit Intel or AMD CPU
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+ Ubuntu 24.04 amd64
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+ If you have an Apple Silicon Mac:
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+ Ubuntu 24.04 arm64
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An installer for Desktop Linux leads to fewer steps you need to do in
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order to get a GUI Desktop. As of 2024, I have only been able to find
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Server Linux installers for arm64 systems. It is not difficult to
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install that, and then later install the GUI Desktop.
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## Creating a new VM
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Start VirtualBox. While there are command line ways to do all of this
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with VirtualBox (I believe), I have never used those. The VirtualBox
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GUI takes a few minutes to use when creating a new VM, and installing
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the VM takes the computer a while longer. I estimate around 30 to 45
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minutes total time to create a new VM where you install Linux from an
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`.iso` file.
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A nice thing about VirtualBox is that once you create a VM for the
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operating system you want, if you have enough free disk space to keep
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around that original VM, it is very quick (30 seconds or less) to
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create a copy of that VM, and then install a bunch of software on that
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copy. As long as you leave the original VM there, it will not change,
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and you can create copies of it whenever you want to try experimenting
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with it. Did you accidentally mess up the state of that VM's
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system-wide configuration files, or install some weird combination of
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software that seems to conflict with each other? You can abandon that
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VM image, deleting it whenever you no longer find its contents useful,
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and create more clones of the original base OS for further
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experiments.
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In the VirtualBox GUI window:
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+ Click the button "New"
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+ In the window that appears, give a unique name to your VM,
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e.g. "Ubuntu 24.04 base OS".
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+ Select the location of the `.iso` installer file that you
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downloaded.
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+ I prefer to check the box "Skip Unattended Installation", and these
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instructions will assume you are doing so, too.
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+ Under "Hardware" choose the amount of RAM, number of virtual CPUs,
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and hard disk space you want.
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+ In 2024, I rarely want to create a VM with less than 4 GBytes
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(4096 MBytes) of RAM. I typically select 4 processors, and 60
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GBytes of disk space. I do _not_ click the "Pre-allocate Full
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Size" check box, since then it would immediately create a file
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that was 60 GBytes in size. If you do not check that box,
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VirtualBox creates a disk image file that is only as large as it
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needs to be to store the files currently existing within the VM's
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file system, not the full size it might grow to later.
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+ With VirtualBox, changing the RAM available to a VM after you
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create it is quick and easy, either increasing it, or decreasing
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it. Simply shut down the VM, select the VM in the GUI, click
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"Settings", change the RAM setting, and start the VM image again.
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As long as your host OS has enough free RAM, VirtualBox can use it
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for the running VM image. Thus, you do not need to think too hard
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when choosing the initial RAM size while creating the VM image.
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+ I believe it is possible to increase the disk space allocated to
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the VM later, but I have not personally done so, and you will not
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find instructions to do so here. It is definitely more steps than
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changing the RAM size later. It also might be possible to
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decrease it later, but only if you can find and run the proper
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utility programs in the guest VM to shrink its files into a subset
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of the available physical disk space. It is thus more important
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to think of the maximum disk space you expect to use within the
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VM, _or_ copy files out of it to another system to free up disk
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space during the lifetime of that VM. Fortunately you can pick a
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large size, and choose the option not to preallocate it all when
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the VM is created. It might be easier to create a new VM and copy
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files from the old one to the new one vs. increasing the disk
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space available to an old one.
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+ Click the "Finish" button. This closes the window you were working
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on, and a new VM image with the name you gave it has now been
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created. It does not have the OS installed yet.
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+ Select that new image and click on the button "Settings".
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+ Click "General".
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+ Under the "Advanced" tab, change "Shared Clipboard" to
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"Bidirectional".
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+ Click "Display".
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+ Under the "Screen" tab, change "Video Memory" from 16 MB to 32 MB.
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+ If you want to create a shared folder on your host OS that is
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readable and writable from the guest OS, too, click "Shared Folder".
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+ Click on the icon that looks like a folder with a "+" symbol on it.
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+ Change "Folder Path" to choose the host OS folder you want to share.
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+ Check the box for "Auto-mount".
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+ If you want the guest OS to only be able to read this folder, but
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not write to it, check the box for "Read-only".
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+ Click "OK" button.
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+ Back in the main settings window for the VM image, click the OK
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button.
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# Common steps for starting any VM image, including a new installer one
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+ Select the VM image and click the "Start" button.
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+ If the text is uncomfortably small for reading, select the
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VirtualBox menu item View -> Virtual Screen 1 -> Scale to 200%.
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Adjust the scale choice to your reading comfort.
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# Creating a VM using VirtualBox and an ISO disk image with an Ubuntu Desktop Linux installer
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Follow the steps
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[here](README-create-vm-using-iso-installer-for-ubuntu-desktop.md).
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# Creating a VM using VirtualBox and an ISO disk image with an Ubuntu Server Linux installer
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Follow the steps
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[here](README-create-vm-using-iso-installer-for-ubuntu-server.md).

‎vm-ubuntu-24.04/README-create-vm-using-vagrant.md‎

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## Creating the VM using VirtualBox and Vagrant
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+ Install
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[Vagrant](https://developer.hashicorp.com/vagrant/docs/installation)
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on your system if it is not already installed.
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+ Create a clone of the https://github.com/p4lang/tutorials
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repository.
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+ In a terminal window, change to this `vm-ubuntu-24.04` directory
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inside the `tutorials` directory.
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+ Run the command below:
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```bash
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vagrant up
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```
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Proceed to the section titled [Installing open source P4 development
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tools on the
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VM](README.md#installing-open-source-p4-development-tools-on-the-vm).

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