Changes between Version 25 and Version 26 of VboxApps


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Timestamp:
Dec 15, 2011, 9:50:01 AM (13 years ago)
Author:
davea
Comment:

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  • VboxApps

    v25 v26  
    1919   This makes it feasible to deploy untrusted applications.
    2020
    21 BOINC's support for VM apps is based on a program called
    22 '''vboxwrapper''' that interfaces between
    23 the BOINC client and the !VirtualBox system.
    24 
    25 === Licensing issues ===
    26 
    27 Commercial operating systems like Windows and Mac OS X
    28 have a license with a pay-per-use clause,
    29 so in general you can't use them in the VM image.
    30 Similarly, you can't include pay-per-use software such as Matlab
    31 in the VM image.
     21BOINC's support for VM apps is based on a program called '''vboxwrapper'''
     22that interfaces between the BOINC client and the !VirtualBox system.
     23
     24=== Restrictions ===
     25
     26 * Commercial operating systems like Windows and Mac OS X
     27  have a license with a pay-per-use clause,
     28  so in general you can't use them in the VM image.
     29  Similarly, you can't include pay-per-user software such as Matlab
     30  in the VM image.
     31
     32 * !VirtualBox runs only on Intel-compatible processors.
     33  If you want to support other processors (such as ARM, SPARC, etc.),
     34  you'll need to use non-VM-based app versions.
     35
     36 * Currently you can't run GPU applications in !VirtualBox VMs.
     37  This may change in the future.
    3238
    3339=== 32/64 bit issues ===
     
    4955The 32-bit vboxwrapper will generally not work on a 64-bit machine).
    5056
    51 === Non-Intel-compatible and GPU applications ===
    52 
    53 !VirtualBox runs only on Intel-compatible processors.
    54 If you want to support other processors (such as ARM, SPARC, etc.),
    55 you'll need to use non-VM-based app versions.
    56 
    57 Currently you can't run GPU applications in !VirtualBox VMs.
    58 This may change in the future.
    59 
     57=== Packaging options ===
     58
     59There are two ways to package VM apps.
     60NOTE: in the following, we use '''application''' and '''application version'''
     61with their [AppVersion BOINC-specific meanings];
     62we'll use '''executable''' to refer to the program that runs within the VM.
     63
     64 * '''Single-purpose app''':  Include the executable with the application version.
     65  Create a separate application for each executable you want to run.
     66 * '''Multi-purpose app''': Include the executable in each workunit.
     67  This allows you to use a single application for as many executables as you like.
     68  In this case, consider making the executable file
     69  [JobSubmission sticky]; that way, clients will download it only once.
     70 
    6071== Creating app versions ==
    6172
     
    6677
    6778The application versions for a given platform are of plan class "vbox32"
    68 (for 32-bit machines) or "vbox64" (for 64-bit machines),
    69 and include the following files:
     79(for 32-bit machines) or "vbox64" (for 64-bit machines).
     80For single-purpose apps, an app version includes the following files:
    7081
    7182 * The VM image, in !VirtualBox format.
     
    7990 * '''vboxwrapper''', compiled for the platform (executables are available below).
    8091 * All scripts and executables must have the execute permission set.
     92
     93For multi-purpose apps, any of these files except '''vboxwrapper''' may
     94be included in the workunit instead of the app version.
    8195
    8296Include '''<dont_throttle/>''' in the version.xml file; !VirtualBox does its own CPU throttling.