How to create a UBOS development VM for VirtualBox

/docs/developers/faq/setup-developer-vm-x86_64-virtualbox/

Run the Arch Linux ISO as the virtual machine to create the appliance with

Download an ISO from a mirror listed on https://archlinux.org/download/ (e.g. archlinux-2022.11.01-x86_64.iso)
In VirtualBox, create a new virtual machine:
- Click “New”.
- Enter name: “ubosdev”.
- ISO Image: select the ISO image you downloaded
- Type: select “Linux”
- Version: select “Arch Linux (64 bit)”.
- Ignore section “Unattended install”
- Section “hardware”: base memory 4GB
- 2 CPUs
- Leave “Enable EFI (special OSes only)” unchecked
- Section “Hard Disk”: “Create a Virtual Hard Disk Now”
- with 60 GB
- Disk type: VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)
- “Finish”
Start the virtual machine, accept the defaults in the boot loader (or just wait) and wait until the boot sequence ends and the root shell appears.

Install Arch on the empty disk:

Zero out the first bytes on the disk for extra robustness:

# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1M count=8 conv=notrunc

Clear the partition table:
```
# sgdisk --clear /dev/sda
```

Create the partitions (UEFI, /boot and /) and change them to the right types:

# sgdisk --new=1::+1M /dev/sda
# sgdisk --new=2::+100M /dev/sda
# sgdisk --new=3:: /dev/sda
# sgdisk --typecode=1:EF02 /dev/sda
# sgdisk --typecode=2:EF00 /dev/sda

Make sure changes are in effect:
```
# sync
# partprobe /dev/sda
```
Create filesystems for partitions other than the UEFI partition:
```
# mkfs.vfat  /dev/sda2
# mkfs.btrfs /dev/sda3
```

Mount the partitions so we can install:

# mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
# mkdir /mnt/boot
# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot

Perform the actual install:
```
# pacstrap /mnt base
```
Generate the right fstab:
```
# genfstab -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
```
Chroot into your future root disk and finish the installation:
```
# arch-chroot /mnt
```

Add the UBOS keyring so we can install our own packages:

# curl -O http://depot.ubos.net/green/$(uname -m)/os/ubos-keyring-0.8-1-any.pkg.tar.xz
# pacman -U ubos-keyring-0.8-1-any.pkg.tar.xz
# rm ubos-keyring-0.8-1-any.pkg.tar.xz

Add the UBOS tools repo:

# echo '' >> /etc/pacman.conf
# echo '[ubos-tools-arch]' >> /etc/pacman.conf
# echo 'Server = http://depot.ubos.net/green/$arch/ubos-tools-arch' >> /etc/pacman.conf'

Install more packages:

# pacman -Sy
# pacman -S sudo vim btrfs-progs virtualbox-guest-utils \
  gdm gnome-console gnome-control-center gnome-session gnome-settings-daemon \
  gnome-shell gnome-keyring nautilus \
  ubos-tools-arch

When asked which alternatives to install, choose the defaults.

If there is a warning about a directory below /usr/lib/perl5, ignore that. It needs fixing but doesn’t currently hurt.

Create a ramdisk:
```
# mkinitcpio -p linux
```
Configure the boot loader:
```
# bootctl --path /boot install
```

Install a locale:

# perl -pi -e 's!#en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8!en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8!' /etc/locale.gen
# locale-gen

Set up networking:

# echo '[Match]' > /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo 'Name=en*' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo '' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo '[Network]' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo 'DHCP=ipv4' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo 'IPForward=1' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network

# systemctl enable systemd-networkd systemd-resolved

Create a user:

# useradd -m ubosdev
# chmod 755 ~ubosdev
# passwd -d ubosdev
# echo ubosdev ALL = NOPASSWD: ALL > /etc/sudoers.d/ubosdev
# chmod 600 /etc/sudoers.d/ubosdev

No root password:
```
# passwd -d root
```
Exit from the arch-chroot shell with ^D.

Remainder of networking setup:

# rm /mnt/etc/resolv.conf
# ln -s /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf /mnt/etc/resolv.conf

Configure UEFI:

# echo timeout 4 > /mnt/boot/loader/loader.conf
# echo default arch >> /mnt/boot/loader/loader.conf

# echo title Arch > /mnt/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
# echo linux /vmlinuz-linux >> /mnt/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
# echo initrd /initramfs-linux.img >> /mnt/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
# echo options root=PARTUUID=$(lsblk -o PARTUUID /dev/sda3 | tail -1 ) rw >> /mnt/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

Power off the virtual machine:
```
# systemctl poweroff
```
Remove the ISO file from the VM by clicking on the “[Optical Drive]” in “Storage” and selecting “remove”.

Note

IMPORTANT: Now set Settings / System / “Enable EFI (special OSes only)”, otherwise the newly installed VM won’t boot.

Remaining configuration

Start the VM again.
At the console, log in as ubosdev. There is no password.

Fix the locale (command won’t run earlier)

% sudo localectl set-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Enable Gnome:
```
% sudo systemctl enable gdm
```
Power off the virtual machine:
```
% sudo systemctl poweroff
```

Create a virtual appliance for distribution

In VirtualBox, right-click on the powered-off virtual machine ubosdev, and select “Export to OCI…”.
In “Format settings”, select “Open Virtualization Format 2.0”
Change the file name:
- add the current date into the file name and the processor architecture, e.g. ubosdev-x86_64-20221121.ova.
- Make sure to write into a directory that VirtualBox has access to, such as ~/VirtualBox VMs – VirtualBox may not have access to the ~/Documents folder on the Mac and produce an obscure error message.
In “MAC Address Policy”, select “Strip all network adapter MAC addresses”.
In “Additionally”, select “Write Manifest file” but not “Include ISO image files” and click “Next”.
In the “Appliance settings”, accept the defaults and click “Finish”.
Writing the file will take a bit.
Upload the created ubosdev-xxxx.ova file.

For how to use this VM, go to Developing using Arch Linux on VirtualBox x86_64 with a systemd-nspawn container.