Hey Glenn, I have read through the spec - good work ! Please see my comments below.
Thank you, Jan I have couple of general questions - I am not sure if they should be reflected in functional spec or should be captured somewhere else, I think that knowing that information might help to verify if problem statement and project scope have been correctly identified: * what is the main target audience we would like to focus on and satisfy their needs by this project ? * what are other competitive projects (external/internal) that focus on the same target audience, solve the same or similar problem - how they overlap ? - what is the added value of the VMC project ? examples of existing internal/external efforts related to building preconfigured VM images: http://wikis.sun.com/display/Appliance/Virtual+Appliance+Build+Service http://wikis.sun.com/display/Appliance/OpenSolaris+JeOS+Project http://www.vmware.com/appliances/learn/vmware_studio.html http://www.vmxbuilder.com/vmx-builder/ http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/vm/templates.html > 1.2 Scope of Product > While we're primarily targeting VirtualBox for the constructed image we > should be able to support other hypervisors that support the Open Virtual > Machine Format which is what we'll use for the constructed images. Speaking about OVF, it seems it is implicitly assumed that OVF will be created/manipulated by means of VirtualBox APIs. What are the limitations of that approach with respect to the * control over how OVF is actually generated * what type of customization is needed and can be done with respect to needs of another hypervisors which are to supported (XEN, vmWare ?) Were other tools considered which might be used to satisfy requirements identified in that area, for instance http://open-ovf.wiki.sourceforge.net/ http://www.xen.org/files/xensummitboston08/open-ovf-proposal.pdf > 5.2.4 Exporting a Virtual Machine Disk Image > This project will provide a mechanism using VB interfaces to export a VM's > virtual disk into an OVF file ... I think this is not quite correct, as OVF is XML file serving as 'envelope' to bundle virtual machine(s) configuration(s) including information about format of virtual disks used and where to locate them. Speaking about VB approach, it seems that actually following happens when 'export to OVF' is kicked off: * virtual *.VDI drives are converted to compressed *.VMDK ones * VM configuration along with information about virtual drives (format/spec/location) is exported to *.OVF file Glenn Lagasse wrote: > Hi All, > > I've uploaded the functional specification for this project to be > reviewed at: > > http://opensolaris.org/os/project/caiman/VMC > > For anyone who doesn't know, the VM Constructor project is intended to > enhance the distribution constructor to allow it to create preconfigured > and preinstalled virtual machines which can be used by VirtualBox (and > any other hypervisors that support and can consume OVF images). > > Please direct any feedback to this alias/thread. > > Thanks! >
