About the cisCall VirtualBox Image

Notice: cisCall 201604 Edition is obsolete. Please use the latest version. We finished providing the cisCall VirtualBox image file.

In the Quick Start Guide for cisCall, we explain basic information on how to run cisCall in the cisCall virtual machine.

In this sectioin, we provide 1) additional information on the cisCall virtual machine and 2) how to change the settings of the virtual machine as needed to run cisCall for your data.

1. Information on the cisCall VirtualBox Image

1.1. cisCall Version

• cisCall version: cisCall 201604 Edition

1.2. Specifications

• OS: CentOS-6.8-x86_64-minimal
• Specification: 4 CPU cores, 32 GB memory, 120 GB fixed HDD
  These are the minimum requirements for running cisCall without encountering unexpected halts in operation.
• Network: NAT connection *a Port for VRDP connection: 5017
  You can access the cisCall virtual machine from RDP clients (e.g., Windows Remote Desktop or Linux rdesktop) with the IP address and the VRDE port 5017 of the host OS through the VirtualBox Remote Desktop Extension (VRDE).
• Users:
  • Root user: root
    Password: manager
  • Normal user: cisusr
    Password: cisusrcisusr
    *Note: user cisusr was added to sudo users.
• X-Window is not required for a host OS.

2. Changing the Settings of the cisCall Virtual Machine

After registering the cisCall virtual machine (VM) on your host OS with VBoxManage registervm, the following basic commands can be used:

• Show the list of registered VM names:
  VBoxManage list vms
• Show the settings:
  VBoxManage showvminfo <VM name>
• Change the settings:
  VBoxManage modifyvm <VM name> <setting information>

2.1. Changing the Network Settings

This process is necessary for transporting your data from/to the cisCall virtual machine.

*Note: As another means to transport data, you can use shared folders with the host OS.

2.1.1. Check the Network Status

Log into the cisCall virtual machine and check the network connection to the host OS using the ping command or other similar means.
If the network is unreachable, please take the following steps.

2.1.2. Check the Network Settings of the Virtual Machine

In your host OS, check the following values of the cisCall virtual machine using the VBoxManage showvminfo command:

• MAC address
• UUID

$ VBoxManage list vms
"CentOS6.8-minimal_cisCall_public" {ccf192a2-4e1b-40fe-a9d8-613101c13f9b}
$ VBoxManage showvminfo CentOS6.8-minimal_cisCall_public | grep MAC
NIC 1:           MAC: 080027871BCA, Attachment: NAT, Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: deny, Bandwidth group: none
$ VBoxManage showvminfo CentOS6.8-minimal_cisCall_public | grep -e '^UUID'
UUID:            ccf192a2-4e1b-40fe-a9d8-613101c13f9b
					

The values for MAC and UUID will be requred at the next step.

2.1.3. Change the Network Settings Inside the Virtual Machine

Log into the virtual machine and take the following steps.

1. Change the UUID and HWADDR variables in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 to the values obtained using VBoxManage showvminfo.

    ...
    UUID=ccf192a2-4e1b-40fe-a9d8-613101c13f9b
    ...
    HWADDR=08:00:27:87:1B:CA
    ...
   						

2. Set the values in /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules.
   In the line starting with SUBSYSTEM=="net", set the following values.

   • Set the above MAC address after ATTR{address}== like ATTR{address}=="08:00:27:87:1B:CA".
   • Set "eth0" after NAME= like NAME="eth0".
   • Comment out other SUBSYSTEM=="net" setting lines.

   SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", ...., ATTR{address}=="08:00:27:87:1B:CA", ..., NAME="eth0"
   						

3. Restart the virtual machine.

2.2. Changing the VRDE Port

To change the VRDE port, use the VBoxManage modifyvm command:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm <VM name> --vrdeport <port number>
					

2.3. Changing the Size of Memory and the Number of CPUs

Most settings can be changed using the VBoxManage modifyvm command in the same way as for changing the VRDE port shown above. Here we show how to change the size of memory and the number of CPUs as examples.

• Set the memory size (MB):

  $ VBoxManage modifyvm <VM name> --memory <memory size (MB)>
  					    

• Set the number of CPUs:

  $ VBoxManage modifyvm <VM name> --cpus <number>
  					    

2.4. More Information

See the official VirtualBox Manual for further information.

• VirtualBox Manual: https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/
  Chapter 8 explains VBoxManage commands.