Creating Virtual Appliances with Ubuntu JeOS Part II
Gads! When I posted my previous bit on the virtual GIS appliance I made for a emergency response project, it generated a lot more interest than I had anticipated.* After being battered about by a couple of conferences, I have finally gotten back around to this one. Herein you’ll find a bittorrent link for a template appliance and how I built the virtual machine itself.
First, here’s the torrent link for the project:
It’s a big file (~450mb), so be patient and please keep seeding after you’ve downloaded it.
Note that this is pretty much an empty template - it’s Ubuntu JeOS 8.04 LTS with PostgreSQL/PostGIS, GeoServer, and GeoWebCache set up and ready to go, along with some helper scripts I wrote. The actual project appliance has data that isn’t in the public domain (either purchased or homeland security related), so I can’t give it out without a lenghty visit to Guantanamo. But the default GeoServer and GeoWebCache installs come with some sample data, so you have plenty there to check it out or get going on your own appliance project.
For those that want to build your own, here’s a PDF from our internal wiki on how I did it (I tried reformatting it to post here, a project that ended with no small amount of swearing). I’m a middle-of-the-road Linux user, and that in combination with the fact I’m not very smart means there is probably stuff that could be done better. Please post in the comments if you see something that can be improved.
Ubuntu JeOS + GIS Generic VMWare Image Instructions
Enjoy!
*My level of anticipation generally rests somewhere around null. I have the emotional depth of plankton.