Vbox_image

This repo contains the recipe to create a Virtualbox image that can be used with BOINC. Tested with Debian 12.5 netinstall.

How does this work under the hood?

The virtualbox contains a systemd unit /etc/systemd/system/startboincapp.service. This systemd unit launches a shell script located at /root/boinc_launcher. BOINC attempts to mount /root/shared/ (project slot directory), if it can't do so within two minutes, it shuts down. Otherwise, it launches boinc_app from the slot directory (if it exists), it attempts to execute it, then shuts down the vm. Note that the project directory is not mounted by the launcher, that is handled by the vboxwrapper helper script included with vboxwrapper.

My BOINC app needs another version of Debian/Ubuntu/etc, how can I use that?

The setup instructions above should generally work for any version of Debian or Ubuntu. If you hit any snags along the way or find any specific things which must be done for other versions, please let us know.

The virtualbox shuts down in < 3 minutes automatically, how can I get in and diagnose it?

If there is no output from your app and the log doesn't show anything, it's probably because the vm is unable to mount the slot directory. You can login to the vm quickly before the 2 minute shutdown timer kicks in (username root, pwd boinc), run ps -a|grep launcher to find the launcher script, then kill pid with pid being the pid shown by the grep command.

The virtualbox shuts down but my app didn't appear to run?

Your boinc_app probably is not marked executable. Check your shared directory for any logs left by the launcher.

Do I have to use the provided boinc_app shell script?

No, you can use any executable you want as long as it's named boinc_app and placed into the shared directory.

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This repo contains the recipe to create a Virtualbox image that can be used with BOINC. Tested with Debian 12.5 netinstall.

And they also released the new version of Premade Linux VM Image (version 4), based on Debian

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Does this script run cleanup command to reduce file size?

like qemu-img compact --filesystemaware --filename <filename>
Because rosetta needs that.

Does this script run cleanup command to reduce file size?

Maybe.
The Debian netinst is less than 700mb.
The size of premade vdi image is 1.8Gb and the size of rosetta vdi is 5 gb.
I don't the size of the rosetta app/db/libraries

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I think it was 10 gb with new workunits.

I think it was 10 gb with new workunits.

When you download the ".vdi" file, it's 5Gb
When the wu starts it becomes 10/12 gb

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I think it downloads gzip compressed and unpacks after download.

I think it downloads gzip compressed and unpacks after download.

Maybe.
We don't know anything about this app (linux version, libraries, etc)

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If you are curious about the details, you can just watch it yourself.
This is a standard image compatible with Oracle VM VirtualBox and if you start it from VirtualBox Manager (instead of BOINC) you can explore and see everything.
I did this over a year ago when I was trying to optimize work of R@H Python jobs. But I don't remember the details anymore, because no good results came out of this and I just opted-out from this type of task and deleted the downloaded V-box images and the VM VirtualBox itself because no other DC projects in which I participate use it.

But I don't remember the details anymore, because no good results came out of this and I just opted-out from this type of task and deleted the downloaded V-box images and the VM VirtualBox itself because no other DC projects in which I participate use it.

Seems not a problem.
No Rosetta vbox wus since....well, i don't remember.
A dead road??

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