Building virtual appliances with VMware Studio and SUSE Studio
Appliance Builder

© Peter Galbraith, Fotolia
A virtual appliance combines the benefits of virtualization with the simplicity of a single-service device. We show you how to roll your own virtual appliances with VWware Studio and SUSE Studio.
Appliances are electronic gadgets placed in a server room to do one specific job. In the IT space, hardware-based appliances index documents, provide firewall security, and serve as content management systems. These hardware appliances are easy to deploy and configure, but they still take up space. If you're worried about the complications of adding more iron to your rack, you might be looking for something a little more virtual.
A virtual appliance is a virtual machine (VM) that includes a minimal operating system with only the most essential applications – typically centered around a custom tool designed for a specific business need. Virtual appliances can do almost anything a hardware appliance can do. Virtual appliances are deployed as intrusion detection devices, honeypots, firewalls, mail servers, DNS servers, CMS appliances, and much more.
A virtual appliance has all the advantages of other virtual systems – easy deployment, lower utility cost, minimal hardware expense – and it even offers some advantages over conventional virtual systems, such as a smaller OS footprint and reduced memory requirements. Virtual appliances also provide some security benefits: because the system is pared to absolutely minimal functionality, fewer ports are open to intruders. Many virtual appliances get by with only a single dedicated service plus sshd for administrative access.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.
-
Gnome 48 Alpha Ready for Testing
The latest Gnome desktop alpha is now available with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
Wine 10 Includes Plenty to Excite Users
With its latest release, Wine has the usual crop of bug fixes and improvements, along with some exciting new features.
-
Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.
-
Gnome 48 Debuts New Audio Player
To date, the audio player found within the Gnome desktop has been meh at best, but with the upcoming release that all changes.