Vagrant is a powerful tool when it comes to virtual machines, here we will look at how to setup and use Vagrant with Virtualbox on Ubuntu to provision reproducible virtual machines.
## Virtual Machines, not all that complex
For years, developers have been using virtual machines as part of their workflow, allowing them to swap and change environments that the software is running in, this is generally to prevent conflicts between projects such as project A needing php 5.3 and project b needing php 5.4.
Also, using Virtual Machines means you only ever need the computer you're working on, you don't need dedicated hardware to mirror the production environment.
It also comes in handy when multiple developers are working on one project, they can all run an environment which contains all of its requirements, but it can be hard maintaining multiple machines and ensuring all have the same versions of all the requirements, this is where Vagrant comes in.
### The benefits of using Virtual Machines
* Your vm is separate from your host environment
* You can have a vm tailor for the requirements of your code
* Anything done in one vm does not effect another VM
* You can run programs in a vm which your host may not be able to run, such as running some windows only software in a - windows vm on top of ubuntu
## What is Vagrant
In short, it's a tool that works with virtual box to allow you to automate the creation and removal of a virtual machines.
It revolves around a Config File Called the VagrantFile, which tells vagrant what version of what os you want to install, and some other options such as the IP and Directory Syncing. You can also add a provisioning script of commands to run on the virtual machine.
By Sharing this VagrantFile around, all developers on a project. You will all be using the exact same virtual machine.
## Installing the Requirements
### Install VirtualBox
VirtualBox is the program which will run the Virtual Machine and is available in the Ubuntu Repos
```
sudo apt-get install virtualbox
```
### Install Vagrant
For vagrant itself, you need to head to <https://www.vagrantup.com/downloads.html> and install the package for your OS.
### Install Guest Additions
If you intend to sharing any folders with virtual machine, you need to install the following plugin.
```
vagrant plugin install vagrant-vbguest
```
## Setting Up Vagrant
### First we need to create an area for vagrant setups.
```
mkdir ~/Vagrant/test-vm
cd ~/Vagrant/test-vm
```
### Create the VagrantFile
```
vagrant init
```
### Start the Virtual Machine
```
vagrant up
```
### Login to the Machine
```
vagrant-ssh
```
By this point you will have the basic vagrant box, and a file called VagrantFile.
## Customising
The VagrantFile created in the steps above will look similar to the following
**VagrantFile**
```
# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# vi: set ft=ruby :
# All Vagrant configuration is done below. The "2" in Vagrant.configure
# configures the configuration version (we support older styles for
# backwards compatibility). Please don't change it unless you know what
# you're doing.
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
# The most common configuration options are documented and commented below.
# For a complete reference, please see the online documentation at
# https://docs.vagrantup.com.
# Every Vagrant development environment requires a box. You can search for
# boxes at https://vagrantcloud.com/search.
config.vm.box = "base"
# Disable automatic box update checking. If you disable this, then
# boxes will only be checked for updates when the user runs
# `vagrant box outdated`. This is not recommended.
# config.vm.box_check_update = false
# Create a forwarded port mapping which allows access to a specific port
# within the machine from a port on the host machine. In the example below,
# accessing "localhost:8080" will access port 80 on the guest machine.
# NOTE: This will enable public access to the opened port
# Provider-specific configuration so you can fine-tune various
# backing providers for Vagrant. These expose provider-specific options.
# Example for VirtualBox:
#
# config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |vb|
# # Display the VirtualBox GUI when booting the machine
# vb.gui = true
#
# # Customize the amount of memory on the VM:
# vb.memory = "1024"
# end
#
# View the documentation for the provider you are using for more
# information on available options.
# Enable provisioning with a shell script. Additional provisioners such as
# Puppet, Chef, Ansible, Salt, and Docker are also available. Please see the
# documentation for more information about their specific syntax and use.
# config.vm.provision "shell", inline: <<-SHELL
# apt-get update
# apt-get install -y apache2
# SHELL
end
```
Now this VagrantFile wll create the basic virtual machine. But the concept behind vagrant is to have the virtual machines set up for our specific tasks. So lets remove the comments and tweak the config.
# Sync Our Projects Directory with the WWW directory
config.vm.synced_folder "~/Projects", "/var/www/"
# Run the following to Provision
config.vm.provision "shell", path: "install.sh"
end
```
Now we have a simple VagrantFile, Which sets the box to debian jessie, sets an IP for us to use, syncs the folders we are interested in, and finally runs an install.sh, which is where our shell commands can go.
