Deploying VirtualBox virtual machines with Vagrant. I often use virtual machines for various tasks: from building software packages to testing software products or PoCs for vulnerabilities. Creating a virtual machine in Oracle VirtualBox is a time-consuming and annoying process: set parameters of VM, attach iso, make dozens of clicks in OS installation GUI interface, wait until everything is installed, configure network and install guest additions.

Of course you can create an image of the base machine once and clone it each time you need it. But from time to time you will still need to recreate this image, for example for a new Linux release. It would be much easier, if we could get a fresh and clean Virtual Machine that meets our requirements and with minimal effort. And this is what Vagrant by HashiCorp does.

Installation

Installation is trivial. Vagrant is available in all main Linux distributions and requires ~200 MB for install with all dependencies.

# apt-get install vagrant

Man page

Available commands:

# vagrant -h
Usage: vagrant [options]  []

    -v, --version                    Print the version and exit.
    -h, --help                       Print this help.

Common commands:
     box             manages boxes: installation, removal, etc.
     destroy         stops and deletes all traces of the vagrant machine
     global-status   outputs status Vagrant environments for this user
     halt            stops the vagrant machine
     help            shows the help for a subcommand
     init            initializes a new Vagrant environment by creating a Vagrantfile
     login           log in to HashiCorp's Vagrant Cloud
     package         packages a running vagrant environment into a box
     plugin          manages plugins: install, uninstall, update, etc.
     port            displays information about guest port mappings
     powershell      connects to machine via powershell remoting
     provision       provisions the vagrant machine
     push            deploys code in this environment to a configured destination
     rdp             connects to machine via RDP
     reload          restarts vagrant machine, loads new Vagrantfile configuration
     resume          resume a suspended vagrant machine
     snapshot        manages snapshots: saving, restoring, etc.
     ssh             connects to machine via SSH
     ssh-config      outputs OpenSSH valid configuration to connect to the machine
     status          outputs status of the vagrant machine
     suspend         suspends the machine
     up              starts and provisions the vagrant environment
     validate        validates the Vagrantfile
     version         prints current and latest Vagrant version

For help on any individual command run `vagrant COMMAND -h`

Additional subcommands are available, but are either more advanced
or not commonly used. To see all subcommands, run the command
`vagrant list-commands`.

Creating Ubuntu VM

Then we go to some directory and create a Vagrantfile. To do it we need to know the name of Vagrant Box. You can search them at https://app.vagrantup.com/boxes/search:

So, let’s try most popular init ubuntu/trusty64:

$ vagrant init ubuntu/trusty64
A `Vagrantfile` has been placed in this directory. You are now
ready to `vagrant up` your first virtual environment! Please read
the comments in the Vagrantfile as well as documentation on
`vagrantup.com` for more information on using Vagrant

Without comments and empty strings default Vagrantfile config is pretty small:

cat Vagrantfile | grep -v "#" | grep -v "^$"
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
  config.vm.box = "ubuntu/trusty64"
end

We can add more settings here, for example add second interface for internal network.

Then just launch`vagrant up` command and the magic starts:

$ vagrant up
Bringing machine 'default' up with 'virtualbox' provider...
==> default: Box 'ubuntu/trusty64' could not be found. Attempting to find and install...
    default: Box Provider: virtualbox
    default: Box Version: >= 0
==> default: Loading metadata for box 'ubuntu/trusty64'
    default: URL: https://vagrantcloud.com/ubuntu/trusty64
==> default: Adding box 'ubuntu/trusty64' (v20181022.0.0) for provider: virtualbox
    default: Downloading: https://vagrantcloud.com/ubuntu/boxes/trusty64/versions/20181022.0.0/providers/virtualbox.box
==> default: Successfully added box 'ubuntu/trusty64' (v20181022.0.0) for 'virtualbox'!
==> default: Importing base box 'ubuntu/trusty64'...
==> default: Matching MAC address for NAT networking...
==> default: Checking if box 'ubuntu/trusty64' is up to date...
==> default: Setting the name of the VM: vagrant_default_1540667310624_9586
==> default: Clearing any previously set forwarded ports...
Vagrant is currently configured to create VirtualBox synced folders with
the `SharedFoldersEnableSymlinksCreate` option enabled. If the Vagrant
guest is not trusted, you may want to disable this option. For more
information on this option, please refer to the VirtualBox manual:

  https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04.html#sharedfolders

This option can be disabled globally with an environment variable:

  VAGRANT_DISABLE_VBOXSYMLINKCREATE=1

or on a per folder basis within the Vagrantfile:

  config.vm.synced_folder '/host/path', '/guest/path', SharedFoldersEnableSymlinksCreate: false
==> default: Clearing any previously set network interfaces...
==> default: Preparing network interfaces based on configuration...
    default: Adapter 1: nat
==> default: Forwarding ports...
    default: 22 (guest) => 2222 (host) (adapter 1)
==> default: Booting VM...
==> default: Waiting for machine to boot. This may take a few minutes...
    default: SSH address: 127.0.0.1:2222
    default: SSH username: vagrant
    default: SSH auth method: private key
    default: Warning: Connection reset. Retrying...
    default: Warning: Remote connection disconnect. Retrying...
    default: Warning: Connection reset. Retrying...
    default: Warning: Remote connection disconnect. Retrying...
    default: Warning: Connection reset. Retrying...
    default: Warning: Remote connection disconnect. Retrying...
    default: 
    default: Vagrant insecure key detected. Vagrant will automatically replace
    default: this with a newly generated keypair for better security.
    default: 
    default: Inserting generated public key within guest...
    default: Removing insecure key from the guest if it's present...
    default: Key inserted! Disconnecting and reconnecting using new SSH key...
==> default: Machine booted and ready!
==> default: Checking for guest additions in VM...
    default: The guest additions on this VM do not match the installed version of
    default: VirtualBox! In most cases this is fine, but in rare cases it can
    default: prevent things such as shared folders from working properly. If you see
    default: shared folder errors, please make sure the guest additions within the
    default: virtual machine match the version of VirtualBox you have installed on
    default: your host and reload your VM.
    default: 
    default: Guest Additions Version: 4.3.36
    default: VirtualBox Version: 5.2
==> default: Mounting shared folders...
    default: /vagrant => /home/alexander/vagrant

It really creates a new running virtual machine in VirtualBox:

With just one command we can get ssh access to the host:

$ vagrant ssh
Welcome to Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS (GNU/Linux 3.13.0-161-generic x86_64)

* Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/

System information disabled due to load higher than 1.0

Get cloud support with Ubuntu Advantage Cloud Guest:
http://www.ubuntu.com/business/services/cloud

0 packages can be updated.
0 updates are security updates.

New release '16.04.5 LTS' available.
Run 'do-release-upgrade' to upgrade to it.

vagrant@vagrant-ubuntu-trusty-64:~$ sudo su
root@vagrant-ubuntu-trusty-64:/home/vagrant#

And when we don’t need this virtual machine and ubuntu/trusty64 box we can easily delete them:

$ vagrant destroy
    default: Are you sure you want to destroy the 'default' VM? [y/N] y
==> default: Forcing shutdown of VM...
==> default: Destroying VM and associated drives...
$ vagrant box remove ubuntu/trusty64 -f
Removing box 'ubuntu/trusty64' (v20181022.0.0) with provider 'virtualbox'...
Vagrant-libvirt plugin removed box only from you LOCAL ~/.vagrant/boxes directory
From libvirt storage pool you have to delete image manually(virsh, virt-manager or by any other tool)

In conclusion

Vagrant is a very convenient tool for deploying virtual machines. It’s especially great for testing. However, it’s necessary to understand, that in fact Vagrant boxes are nothing more then images of virtual machines that were created by someone (not you). And, in theory, they may contain something malicious. So, it’s the question of trust. But, it’s possible to make own base boxes using the Packer tool made by the same HashiCorp.