• Registered: 2012-03-04

Topic: Cannot install virtual appliance

This my third or fourth time asking for help with the same problem. In each case Robert Kaye has been very patient with me, and I owe him a debt of gratitude.

I've never installed a virtual machine or appliance before and I was excited to see the detailed instruction on the MusicBrainz_Server/Setup site. However, they don't seem to be working for me.

I am following the step-by-step instructions on "http://musicbrainz.org/doc/MusicBrainz_Server/Setup" for setting up the MusicBrainz server, but I cannot get past the step of installing the virtual appliance. I keep getting the same error:
--------------------------------------------------
Failed to import appliance / Volumes/Data
Files 1/ Johns_Lion_ VM / MuslcBralnz_Appliance/MusicBrainz
NGS 2012- 0 1-12.ova.
Could not find a valid medium format for the target disk
'/Users /johnschuster / VirtuaiBox VMs/vm//musicbrainz-
server-20 12-01-12-disk1.vmdk.gz'

Details:
Result Code: VBOX_E_NOT_SUPPORT£0 (0x80BB0009)
Component: Appliance
Interface: lAppliance {305 9cf9e- 2Sc7 -4f0b-9fa5-3c42e4416 70b}
---------------------------------------------------------------

My understanding is that the appliance should have the extension ".ovf" but my download from the MusicBrainz FTP sit has the extension ".ova"

Robert Kaye suggested that rather than using Oracle's VirtualBox I should use VMware's . I downloaded the 30-day free trial but It doesn't seem to have the ability to import an appliance.

I am doing all of this using Mac OS 10.7.3 on Mac with these specifications;
Model Name:    Mac mini
  Model Identifier:    Macmini3,1
  Processor Name:    Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed:    2 GHz
  Number of Processors:    1
  Total Number of Cores:    2
  L2 Cache:    3 MB
  Memory:    4 GB
  Bus Speed:    1.07 GHz
  Boot ROM Version:    MM31.0081.B06
  SMC Version (system):    1.35f0
  Serial Number (system):    YM9062WQ19Y
  Hardware UUID:    567C89AE-7BCE-55C9-BAEE-F97D9008573E

My reason for wanting to install the MusicBrainz database locally is to aid me in my hobby of digitizing my vinyl LP collection. However, i seem to be spending all my time trying to get the MusicBrainz DB installed. Ironically, it doesn't leave me with much time to digitize music.

Any help from anyone on this forum would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again to the help already given by Robert Kaye.

  • From: Singapore
  • Registered: 2007-02-13

Re: Cannot install virtual appliance

I believe the problem is some compatibility issue between the gzipped/compressed VMWare-created disk, and VirtualBox. Perhaps you can try the instructions at http://sharingtechknowledge.blogspot.co … edium.html to unpack the OVA and manually decompress the disk - then try using it unpacked in VirtualBox, perhaps.

Stepping back a step, why do you feel you need a local full MusicBrainz server and database in order to digitize music? What's the problem with using the normal MB site? It's worth noting that even if you get the server set up from the virtual image, it doesn't come with a configured search engine, so still relies on the main MB website search (or direct DB search), and that's a lot more technical to set up than the main server.

voiceinsideyou's Website

  • Registered: 2012-03-04

Re: Cannot install virtual appliance

I'm embarrassed to say that I'm a computer geek and just thought it would be fun! If you don't think it's worth the effort, I'll go back to using the normal MB site.
Thank you for your assussment of my situation.

  • From: Singapore
  • Registered: 2007-02-13

Re: Cannot install virtual appliance

In that case, whether it's worth your effort depends on what you want to do with it, and how much joy you get out of navigating issues like the above :D

Feel free to try the workaround though.

voiceinsideyou's Website

  • Registered: 2012-03-04

Re: Cannot install virtual appliance

Dear voiceinsideyou,

I really appreciate the time you took to address my question. I've decided not to give up, so I'm going to try the workaround you suggested.

I realize having the MusicBrainz DB won't in any way help me digitize my music. My hope is that if I can get it to run locally, I'll have better response times to searches. Also, I might be able to modify the database to better serve the specifics of my collection. I guess I won't really know what benefit it will have being local until I get it working.

Another reason is that I hope to pick up some good hands-on experience with virtual machines and appliances.

Wish me luck. Thanks again.

  • From: Singapore
  • Registered: 2007-02-13

Re: Cannot install virtual appliance

You'll have better response time to direct DB searches; but not "indexed" searches (the default) as the virtual server does not include its own search engine deployment, nor the schedules for updating the indexes. I guess this should be very clearly highlighted in the docs somewhere if it isn't already.

voiceinsideyou's Website

  • From: Singapore
  • Registered: 2007-02-13

Re: Cannot install virtual appliance

You may be interesting in my post here. There is a new updated VM available for you to play with that is a bit easier to set up and should not require the workaround with VirtualBox. The same issues still apply with respect to the search server though.

voiceinsideyou's Website

8 Reply by benoobie (edited by benoobie 2012-12-03 22:04:52)

  • Registered: 2012-12-03

Re: Cannot install virtual appliance

jasustar or anyone else,

I am having the exact same problem but with Windows 7 64-bit and virtualbox.

Failed to import appliance E:\Data\OS\MusicBrainz NGS 2012-11-15.ova.


I have tried a whole bunch of things like extracting and then using just the vmdk with another vm but nothing works

does anyone have anything else i can try?

-----------------------------------------------------
Failed to import appliance E:\Data\OS\MusicBrainz NGS 2012-11-15\MusicBrainz 2012-10-15.ovf.

Could not create the clone medium 'E:\VirtualBox\vm\MusicBrainz_2012-10-15-disk1.vmdk' (VERR_ZIP_ERROR).

Result Code: VBOX_E_FILE_ERROR (0x80BB0004)
Component: Appliance
Interface: IAppliance {3059cf9e-25c7-4f0b-9fa5-3c42e441670b}

----------------------------------------------------------
Failed to open the hard disk E:\Data\OS\MusicBrainz NGS 2012-11-15\MusicBrainz_2012-10-15-disk1.vmdk.

Could not get the storage format of the medium 'E:\Data\OS\MusicBrainz NGS 2012-11-15\MusicBrainz_2012-10-15-disk1.vmdk' (VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED).

Result Code: VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR (0x80BB0005)
Component: Medium
Interface: IMedium {29989373-b111-4654-8493-2e1176cba890}
Callee: IVirtualBox {3b2f08eb-b810-4715-bee0-bb06b9880ad2}
Callee RC: VBOX_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND (0x80BB0001)

  • Registered: 2012-12-03

Re: Cannot install virtual appliance

for anyone else getting this problem try VMware Player, it worked for me when virtualbox did not.