Wednesday, January 9, 2013

MineOS Turnkey on ProxMox VM server

MineOS on ProxMox VM server

Using MineOS Turnkey!
Will, the developer of MineOS and MineOS Crux is at it again with the upcoming release of MineOS Turnkey.  The great news here is stable, kept up to date OS core behind Will's great Minecraft front end.   https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!topic/mineos/zGloo4J0vnc

I had been using MineOS Crux, MineOS+, and MineOS at times before, but on reinstalling a server found the 64 bit versions buggy at best and not working at worst.  Plus the install procedures were difficult.

On the VM architecture I had previously used Ubuntu based KVM, Oracle VirtualBox and VMWare Vsphere.  This is my first OS install on ProxMox VM server, so thought I would take time and document both ProxMox utilization as well as my MineOS install and preferred settings.

Resources:
  1. My ProxMox Setup Blog: http://techtips-tom.blogspot.com/2012/12/proxmox-21-my-first-trial.html
  2. Pull the latest Mineos_turnkey.iso from Will's MineOS download page: http://minecraft.codeemo.com/crux/ 
  3. see other links below

PROXMOX

Upload ISO OS image
  • Pull the latest Mineos_turnkey.iso from Will's MineOS download page: http://minecraft.codeemo.com/crux/ 
  • Select a storage device by clicking on it (e.g. "local") in the left column
  • Choose the "content" tab in in the main (right) window
  • Click on the "Upload" link on the top of the main content window
  • Select the MineOS Crux iso from the local hard drive

Setup VM Characteristics
  • In the ProxMox Web Interface, select the Desired Server, then in upper right hand corner click on the "Create VM" button.
  • VM settings
    • General: 
      • select the server node and leave the default VMID of 100
      • Name it "MineOSCruxTurnkey"
      • leave the Resource Pool Blank as I have none defined yet
    • OS: Select LInux 3.x/2.6 Kernel
    • CD/DVD: Use image file, and select the iso image I had uploaded
    • Hard Disk:  IDE 8 to 16 GB raw disk image
    • CPU: 1 socket, 2 core, qemu64 type
    • Memory: 3072 MB
    • Network: Bridged Mode with all defaults
    • Confirm and finish
Install MineOS Turnkey
  • Pull the latest Mineos_turnkey.iso from Will's MineOS download page: http://minecraft.codeemo.com/crux/ 
  • Follow the install screen, self explanitory
  • I had problems with MineOS web GUI username not being accepted, but understand this is not a normal problem... If by chance you get the same error see my problem and resolution here
MineOS Additions
  • Added Bukketbeta by "create new profile" button on Overview screen.  This added entries to the mineos.config file as follows 
    • [downloads] 
      • bukkitbeta_jar=http://dl.bukkit.org/latest-beta/craftbukkit-beta.jar
    • [bukkitbeta]
      • ignore =
      • jar_file = craftbukkit-beta.jar
      • jar_args =

Webmin Tweaks
  • Change timezone, so my cronjobs work when expected
    • http://www.turnkeylinux.org/blog/configuring-timezone
    • Log into webmin https://[serverip]:12321
    • Navigate to system/software packages
    • select Package from APT, type in webmin-time and click install
    • Navigate to system/system time, click on change timezone, select your and apply


(Update: this section no longer needed as Turnkey MineOS now is complete)
Install Missing things Using Will's Ubuntu Guide

PLUGIN MODS



OTHER INFO
Minecraft Server Problems
  • I had significant problems with the 64 bit versions of MineOS Crux and MineOS +, so abandoned trying to get them to work for now.

Java Problems:
I updated java on my local computer to get proxmox server functionality working, but now am having problems with Minecraft and other java programs on my computer.

  • Right click the new VM located under the server in the left pane, then select start
  • Next select Console... and find out we have a java problem
  • follow this advice: http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1091
  • Now java works after I tell it to trust the content... and I can start the install


MineOS Crux can be found here: http://minecraft.codeemo.com/
ProxMox can be found here: http://www.proxmox.com/
ProxMox Installation tips here: http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Installation
ProxMox HOW TOs: http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Category:HOWTO



Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Getting Java working in Linux Mint 14 XFCE and Cinnamon for ProxMox and other apps


Linux Mint 14 XFCE and Cinnamon
The following are the Steps which I took to install Oracle Java 7, which I needed for ProxMox functionality, then reverting back to openJDK so other apps I have (don't work on Oracle Java 7) still work.

What I Actually Did
  • Followed the advice here: http://www.webupd8.org/2012/01/install-oracle-java-jdk-7-in-ubuntu-via.html
    • sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
    • sudo apt-get update
    • sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer
  • This installed Java 7, but not all my java stuff works with Java 7 yet, so for now I switch back to the default Openjdk.  This leaves the new functionality of java 7 needed for ProxMox intact, namely the embedded vncviewer functions.  So after we are left with a mixed setup,  but it works for now, and I can switch back and forth between java versions using the command given below.
    • switch back to the openjdk java
      • java -version
        • this verifies the oracle java 7 is installed (if not link to tutorial)
      • update-java-alternatives -l
        • this lists the installed alternatives
        • note the openjdk java listed
      • sudo update-java-alternatives -s [name of openjdk]
        • this switches back to primary java use of openjdk, but keeps links to Oracle Java 7 intact for functions not supported in openjdk
        • will show some errors because of the missing alternatives in openjdk
      • java -version
        • this should show the openjdk java
  • Various command options:
    • Check the java version installed
      • java -version
    • help on the update-java-alternatives
      • man update-java-alternatives
    • Remove the Oracle Java 7
      • sudo apt-get remove oracle-java7-installer


How this is setup on Linux Mint 14 XFCE and Cinnamon
  • update-java-alternatives: this is the program setup for 
  • jinfo files: java info files are used to inform the update-java-alternatives program, which is the program that is used to change java alternatives
    • hidden file located in /usr/lib/jvm/ ... example /usr/lib/jvm/.java-1.7.0-openjdk-amd64.jinfo
    • contains information on where to access java sub-programs and plugins
  • Sim links from /usr/bin/[file] to /etc/alternatives/[file] for the following
    • java --> java
    • javaws --> javaws
    • jexec --> jexec
    • missing is a jar link that some help sites reference
  • Sim link from /etc/alternatives/[file] to /usr/lib/jvm/[dir/file] for the following (thus a link of a link is formed)
    • java --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java
    • javaws --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/javaws
    • jexec --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/lib/jexec
    • keytool --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/keytool
    • itweb-settings --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/itweb-settings
    • Plus the sim links for .1.gz files from and to same directories as above for the following
      • java.1.gz  --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/man/man1/java.1.gz
      • javaws.1.gz --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/man/man1/javaws.1.gz
      • jexec-binfmt --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/lib/jar.binfmt
      • keytool.1.gz --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/man/man1/keytool.1.gz
      • itweb-settings.1.gz --> java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/itweb-settings.1.gz

Links to other help resources:

I had started out on this path, but abandoned it when seeing the easier install method I used above:
  • Download the latest Java from Oracle's Java.com website
  • Open a terminal and do the following
  • Move this file into the right directory for Linux Mint
    • sudo mv ~/Downloads/jre-7* /usr/lib/jvm
  • Unpack in place, then delete the original file.  You will now have a directory in place with the new java runtime file in it. /usr/lib/jvm/jre1.7.0_10
    • cd /usr/lib/jvm
    • sudo tar zxvf jre-7u10-linux-x64.tar.gz
    • sudo rm jre -7u*
  • Create links to new java programs
    (this will be a LOT of work)