Convert AstLinux install files to VirtualBox

Obsolete info with AstLinux 1.2.5 and later. Use the ISO Installer Image.

You can convert an astlinux-XX.img file to a VirtualBox .vdi file and have a bootable system with a few simple steps.

1. Download an AstLinux 'geni586' .img.gz file
2. Decompress the image using gunzip, yielding a .img file
3. Use the VBoxManage (CLI) utility (VirtualBox) to convert the image to a virtual disk

Example:

gunzip astlinux-1.2.3-asterisk-11.18.0.img.gz

VBoxManage convertfromraw -format VDI astlinux-1.2.3-asterisk-11.18.0.img astlinux-1.2.3.vdi

The formats VDI, VMDK and VHD are supported.

Here is the complete manual of the VBoxManage convertfromraw command.

Then you can then resize the image…

Usage:

VBoxManage modifyhd --resize <new size in MB> <path to image>

Example (let's say 2 GB):

VBoxManage modifyhd --resize 2048 astlinux-1.2.3.vdi

Then simply create a new VirtualBox virtual machine using this .vdi file as the disk (I used a network bridge (en0) and the PCnet-Fast III adapter for the 'geni586' image on a Mac).

Start the AstLinux Virtual Machine…

Finally, configure using the normal setup.