Running DEx on VirtualBox

VirtualBox Process

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software (supported by Oracle).

We introduced the use of AWS Workspaces to run a virtual desktop with DEx and several other tools preloaded. I recommend you read that process first to get an idea of the virtual desktop. You will also need to request access to the OTA 2.0 library if you don’t have it already.

Both AWS Workspace and VirtualBox are virtual servers and desktops. The difference is where they run and potential fees. The AWS Workspace and related offerings from Azure, Google and others are cloud based. They run, what would be called serverless, somewhere in the cloud and attached to a desktop app you download to your laptop and/or phone/tablet. Where ever and how ever you attach, it’s the same virtual server in the cloud. Usually fee based on compute and storage used. For some DEx users this allows them to run a sandbox outside any corporate firewall. VirtualBox can run the same collection of apps on Linux but runs on a server the user provides such as a laptop. It is free for use but of course the server costs are yours. This is great for an individual wanting to use the DEx based sandbox and do not have the firewall restrictions like a corporate user.

Install detail

The install instructions can be found here on GitHub.

You will need to download and install Oracle VM VirtualBox but also a rather large server image. This is kept on the OpenTravel S2 servers (AWS). Here are the links to the bucket and disk images.
Bucket ARN: arn:aws:s3:::ota-virtual-desktop

Unzipped: https://ota-virtual-desktop.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ota_1.0.0.vdi

Zipped: https://ota-virtual-desktop.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ota_1.0.0.vdi.zip

These will be updated as needed so check back here now and then to see if there are new versions.

We now have 5 ways to use DEx:

1. Original way, download and install DEx on your desk or laptop, running windows or Linux. This is an issue for many corporate users who are not allowed to use an open source Java program inside the firewall.
2. Use the AWS machine image (AMI) created to run Linux and DEx on an AWS EC2 server (in the cloud). User funds use of their EC2 server. This avoids the firewall issue.
3. Use the AWS workspace image and create your own bundle for workspaces on your AWS account. The workspace image is free. The bundle defines the server and storage hence where the cost is. The user funds the workspace cost. This avoids the firewall issue.
4. Use the OpenTravel supplied AWS workspace image and bundle. This means the bundle use set to the OpenTravel account. This avoids the firewall issue and if the user can’t get permission to use the corporate AWS account or can not create their own AWS account. Please make a recurring donation via Donorbox to help cover costs (we are a non-profit).
5. Install VirtualBox on your own computer and download the disk image described above. This may not avoid the firewall issue but would be useful for non-corporate users.