[Oracle RAC 12.1 Installation on Oracle Linux 6.7 (ISCSI + ASM)]: Virtualbox machine configs for cluster nodes installation

# su - vmadm

$ vm=vm_oel_rac1

Create directories for the virtual machine and for snapshots

$ mkdir -p ${VM_HOME}/${vm}/snapshots

Creating and registering the virtual machine:

$ VBoxManage createvm \
--name ${vm} \
--ostype RedHat_64 \
--basefolder ${VM_HOME}/${vm} \
--register

Setting the RAM limit:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} --memory 4608

Connect video card with 32 MB:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} --vram 32

Remove sound card, remove floppy drive:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} --floppy disabled --audio none

Connect hard disk controller (SAS):

$ VBoxManage storagectl ${vm} \
--add sas \
--name "SAS Controller"

Creating and connecting hard disks:

Create virtual hard disks. The size is recommended to be set according to available resources. Otherwise, problems and virtual machine crashes may occur):

$ cd ${VM_HOME}/${vm}/${vm}

$ VBoxManage createhd \
--filename ${vm}_dsk1.vdi \
--size 40960 \
--format VDI \
--variant Standard

$ VBoxManage createhd \
--filename ${vm}_dsk2.vdi \
--size 40960 \
--format VDI \
--variant Standard

Connect disks to the SAS controller:

$ VBoxManage storageattach ${vm} \
--storagectl "SAS Controller" \
--port 0 \
--type hdd \
--medium ${vm}_dsk1.vdi

$ VBoxManage storageattach ${vm} \
--storagectl "SAS Controller" \
--port 1 \
--type hdd \
--medium ${vm}_dsk2.vdi

Connect the IDE controller to which the DVD-ROM will later be connected:

$ VBoxManage storagectl ${vm} \
--add ide \
--name "IDE Controller"

Connect the DVD image of the operating system being installed to the IDE controller:

$ VBoxManage storageattach ${vm} \
--storagectl "IDE Controller" \
--port 0 \
--device 0 \
--type dvddrive \
--medium  /home/marley/Downloads/OracleLinux6U7/x64/OracleLinux-R6-U7-Server-x86_64-dvd.iso

Connecting network interfaces:

Run the command;

$ VBoxManage list bridgedifs

Pay attention to the value:

Name: eth0

I use eth0 as the main physical interface that the virtual machines will use as a bridge.

Connect 3 virtual network “Intel® 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller” interfaces to the virtual machine, operating as bridged (3 adapters are needed for RAC installation):

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--nictype1 82540EM \
--nic1 bridged \
--bridgeadapter1 eth0

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--nictype2 82540EM \
--nic2 bridged \
--bridgeadapter2 eth0

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--nictype3 82540EM \
--nic3 bridged \
--bridgeadapter3 eth0

Determine the boot device order:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--boot1 disk \
--boot2 dvd

Determine the snapshot directory:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--snapshotfolder ${VM_HOME}/${vm}/snapshots

Allow RDP connection to the machine:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm ${vm} \
--vrde on \
--vrdemulticon on \
--vrdeauthtype null \
--vrdeaddress 192.168.1.5 \
--vrdeport 3389

Here we specify:

–vrdeaddress - ip address of the machine where virtualbox is installed
–vrdeauthtype null - authentication not required.
–vrdemulticon on - multiple connections to virtual machines allowed.
–vrdeport the port that can be connected to when the virtual machine starts.

Show the created virtual machine result:

$ VBoxManage showvminfo ${vm}

VIRTUAL MACHINE IS READY FOR OPERATING SYSTEM INSTALLATION

Start the virtual machine with RDP connection capability:

$ VBoxHeadless --startvm ${vm}

I connect via RDP to the virtual machine. In Windows, this is the remote desktop connection console (mstsc I think), in linux remmina or rdesktop.

In the first window, I press tab and add linux text so that the installation proceeds in a convenient mode. The operating system should be installed on the 1st disk. The second will be for Oracle.

There should be 2 such virtual machines. After installation, I suggest cloning.

$ vboxmanage clonevm vm_oel_rac1 --name vm_oel_rac2 --register
$ vm=vm_oel_rac2
$ VBoxHeadless --startvm ${vm}

You need to edit or delete the file contents that explicitly specifies which mac address corresponds to which interface.

 # cat /dev/null > /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules

And reboot.