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Setting Up a DevOps Playground Server with Vagrant and VirtualBox

#devops #vagrant #virtualmachine

In today’s cloud-centric world, setting up servers across various platforms is easier than ever. Cloud providers such as AWS, GCP, Linode, and DigitalOcean etc offer powerful infrastructure suitable for production environments and large-scale applications. However, for local development and experimentation in a DevOps context, Vagrant provides a simple, free, and open-source tool for creating and managing virtual machines on your own system. In this guide, we’ll focus on setting up a DevOps playground ubuntu server using Vagrant and VirtualBox, ideal for learning and testing DevOps tools and methodologies.

Vagrant boxes

Vagrant boxes are pre-packaged, reusable base images that define the operating system and environment for your Vagrant virtual machines. They serve as the foundation for your development environment, allowing you to quickly spin up instances with consistent configurations. Vagrant boxes can be customized further through the Vagrantfile, where you can specify software installations, network settings, and other configurations.

Vagrant boxes are stored and shared on platforms like Vagrant Cloud, where you can find a variety of images for different operating systems and use cases.

Choosing a Vagrant Box

For this DevOps playground setup, we recommend using the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) box, known for its stability and wide community support. Alternatively, you can use Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver) if preferred. Both versions are available on Vagrant Cloud.

Box Name: ubuntu/trusty64

Provider: VirtualBox (can be used with other providers as well)

Setting Up a Local Server on Windows with Vagrant and VirtualBox

Step 1: Install Prerequisites

Install VirtualBox: Download and install VirtualBox.

Install Vagrant: Download and install Vagrant.

Step 2: Initialize a Vagrant Project
Create a New Directory: This is where your Vagrant configuration and files will reside.

mkdir devops-playground-vms && cd devops-playground-vms
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Create a directory specific to the vm type: This is where your Vagrant configuration and files will reside.

mkdir ubuntu-bionic && cd ubuntu-trusty64
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Initialize Vagrant: This creates a Vagrantfile in your project directory, specifying the base box and settings for your virtual machine.

vagrant init ubuntu/trusty64
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Start Your VM: Launch your VM with:

vagrant up
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SSH into Your VM: Connect to your virtual machine using:

vagrant ssh
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Install any additional tools as needed for your DevOps tasks

Once your VM is running, you can install DevOps tools such as Docker, Ansible, or any other software relevant to your environment.

Conclusion
You have now completed the setup for a DevOps playground server, either using AWS for cloud-based services or Vagrant and VirtualBox for a local environment. Both setups provide a flexible and powerful platform for exploring DevOps tools and methodologies.

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