Install Parallels Tools in Ubuntu

Every time Parallels Tools needs to be updated for my Ubuntu virtual machines, I have to remember exactly how to do it, which usually involves a few clumsy Google searches.

So, for the sake of posterity, and to help anyone else in the same situation, here’s how I upgrade Parallels Tools on Ubuntu:

1. Open your Ubuntu virtual machine in Parallels.
2. In the Parallels menu, click on Virtual Machine/Reinstall Parallels Tools.  You should see a disc image (looks like a CD) appear on your Ubuntu desktop.
3. Open a Terminal and navigate to this (virtual) CD by typing: cd /media/Parallels\ Tools or cd /media/"Parallels Tools" and hit enter.
4. In your terminal window, type sudo sh install – Parallels will open the Parallels Tools Installer, which will guide you through the setup.
5. Click Next
6. Select Upgrade and click Next
7. Parallels will warn that you’re about to install and that it’s probably a good idea to save data and close open applications.  After you’ve done so, click Next.
8. Hold on while Parallels works its magic and, when it’s done, it’ll thoughtfully congratulate you and ask you to reboot.
9. Restart Ubuntu and you’re done!

I use VirtualBox to run Windows XP as a virtual machine within Ubuntu Linux and periodically like to compact the virtual drive (VDI) file.

Being a bit boneheaded, every time I do this, I spend ten minutes searching for instructions, so I thought I’d post them here both for myself, and for anyone else it may help.

Steps to Compact a VirtualBox WinXP Guest in Linux

1. While in your Windows XP virtual machine, download the sdelete program and save it to your c: drive in Windows.  This program allows you to ‘zero out’ the free space on the drive by writing zeros to the unused sectors.
2. In WinXP go to Start/Run and type ‘cmd‘ to open a command prompt.
3. Change directory (cd) to the location where you saved the sdelete.exe file.
4. Enter ‘sdelete -c c:/’ to execute the program.
5. Once sdelete is finished, shut down the Windows virtual machine.
6. Open a terminal in Linux and cd to the directory that contains the VDI you’d like to compact.
7. Type ‘VBoxManage modifyvdi xxxxx.vdi’ compact where xxxxx.vdi represents the filename of the virtual disk you’d like to compact.
8. After the command is runs, your VDI will be reduced in size.

There’s a ton of information on Sun’s VirtualBox site and forum.  Here’s a forum thread that I found especially helpful.

I needed a better way to track the time I spend on web design, development and maintenance projects, and several months ago, a friend recommended Hamster.

Tracking Time with Hamster

Hamster is a Gnome application that sits in a panel so you can access it easily. It’s available in the repositories of several Linux distributions and, if you’re an Ubuntu user, there are APT sources you can add to install via Synaptic.

After tracking my time for several months, I’m consistently surprised at the blatant discrepancy between how much time I thought I spent on a project and the actual amount of time I actually worked.

If you’re looking for a way to better understand and influence where your time goes, give Hamster a try.

Ubuntu Linux 8.04 (codenamed ‘Hardy Heron’) was released today and is available for download here.

If you don’t have broadband, you can also request free CDs.

Linux Fest Northwest 2008 is April 26 & 27 at Bellingham Technical College in Bellingham, Washington!

I had a great time last year and even won a Silicon Mechanics server.

I’ll be making the geek pilgrimage again this year and hope to see you there. 🙂