I've had really bad experiences with VirtualBox and data loss in the past. So I was really uneasy about using Quickstart with VirtualBox. I tried to convert it to a VMWare image with no luck. So finally I just took a fresh QS ova and started using it with a fresh VirtualBox 4.0.4 (hadn't used it since v.3.)
I spent all day yesterday getting setup, installing AFP, configuring Durpal, setting up SVN. I left the VM running all night and until now. I came back to it an hour ago and was immediately getting mysql errors.
The first error I got was on the site:
PDOException: SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 2006 MySQL server has gone away: SELECT expire, value FROM {semaphore} WHERE name = :name; Array ( [:name] => variable_init ) in lock_may_be_available() (line 165 of /home/quickstart/websites/d7/trunk/includes/lock.inc).
If I reload I also get:
PDOException: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (111) in lock_may_be_available() (line 165 of /home/quickstart/websites/d7/trunk/includes/lock.inc).
I tried to restart mysql but it wouldn't restart - telling me there was a segmentation fault. So I tried to restart the guest OS and that failed. It couldn't find an init, so it wont boot.
I took snapshots as I worked, so I restored from a previously good one. I tried to login to mysql via phpmyadmin and get mixed results (I've done this multiple times.) Once it showed there wasn't any databases, then I got kicked back to the login screen and it wont let me log back in. No error, just wont let me login.
So I restored again. I immediately went to phpmyadmin. It showed the DB but had another error on the screen. Then after a few seconds I was kicked out again, and not able to login. Hmm, well I typed all this out, hit reload and now I'm logged in and the databases are all there. However, Drupal is still giving me the same errors.
I have backups of the files I made custom changes to (themes) but don't have a backup of the entire VM and all it's configurations. It took me ~10hrs to get to this point. Will probably take me 4hrs to get back to where I was.
Is this sort of instability common with Quickstart? Any tips on keeping it running smoothly?
I'm running QS091, Drupal 7, VirtualBox 4.0.4 on Mac OS X 10.6.5.
Comments
Sounds like you're having a hard time!
Hi GDLTD,
Sounds like you're having a hard time of it!
I haven't experienced instability in Virtualbox, except when I've tried to use more than 1 CPU on a Linux host. There are workarounds, but I haven't bothered to figure it out yet.
It sounds like you've had this problem before, and it may be that you're hardware isn't right to run Virtualbox. I'd look for a solution in the context of "Virtualbox Ubuntu guest on my hardware", instead of "Quickstart". Try turning off "Nested Paging" - this was one of the CPU workarounds I think.
Remember, GDTLD, you're in control of your experience with the computer, not the other way around :-)
Mike
Thanks. I read the bit about
Thanks. I read the bit about only one CPU, and so I only have one enabled.
I've since loaded the VMDK into VMWare and while it doesn't seem to be the latest version, it is working not too far from where I left off. I still need to install AFP, update the DB and site files...
I've run Parallels and Fusion for the 1.5yrs I've had this machine, both work well. I'll let QS run in VMW for the next day and see if it does well. If it does, I'll rebuild it to where I had it.
I've used virtualbozx on
I've used virtualbozx on Ubuntu for years. both 32bit ubuntu and 64bit. only real issues I've ever had were related to my mistakes or not understanding virtualbox. in the years since I started using virtualbox, the product has matured substantially and it is much better documented now, too.
I've also used quickstart. its a bit slow on my machine... but I was curious about it. the download was the longest part of the setup.
@GDLTD - I'm not sure exactly where your problems are. however, my biggest tip would be its best to take snapshots when a virtual machine is in powered down state - however, YMMV and snapshots while VM is running may work well for you.
--
mike stewart { twitter: @MediaDoneRight | IRC nick: mike stewart }