Enhance Vagrant Box(es) building#356
Merged
Merged
Conversation
… if RunsOn runners.
On slower hosts (e.g. EC2-based self-hosted runners), the VM does not reach the GRUB menu within 10 seconds, so the boot_command keystrokes are partially lost: the initial `e` (edit entry) is eaten, the subsequent `<down><down>` moves the *menu* selection to "Rescue an AlmaLinux system" instead of navigating the entry editor, and the build hangs at the GRUB menu until ssh_timeout. 30s still fits comfortably within the ISO's GRUB menu auto-boot timeout (60s), so the keystrokes land while the menu is up on both fast and slow hosts. The only cost is +20s per ISO build on fast runners.
When the virtualbox-iso packer build hangs (most commonly at "Waiting
for SSH to become available..."), seeing the VM's screen usually
identifies the cause immediately - e.g. the VM parked at the GRUB menu
because the boot_command keystrokes were typed before the menu was up.
Add a "Debugging: watching the VirtualBox VM console" section to
BUILD_VAGRANT.md covering both options:
- One-off screenshot with base VirtualBox
(`VBoxManage controlvm <vm> screenshotpng`) - works only during a
live hang; once packer fails it stops and unregisters the VM, so
there is nothing left to capture afterwards.
- Interactive VRDP - requires the Oracle VirtualBox Extension Pack
on the build host. Documents the silent-Connection-refused symptom
when the pack is missing, the PUEL licensing caveat (personal /
educational use only - which is why the workflows do NOT install
it), the version-matched install recipe, the VM-start timing
gotcha (VRDE only binds for VMs started after the pack is
installed), and the SSH-tunnel + RDP recipe for viewing from a
workstation.
Troubleshooting item 3 (the VirtualBox SSH-timeout hang) now links to
the new section and names the GRUB boot_command timing race as the
common root cause, with the boot_wait override as the mitigation.
andrewlukoshko
approved these changes
Jun 11, 2026
This file contains hidden or bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment
2 participants
Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.This suggestion is invalid because no changes were made to the code.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is closed.Suggestions cannot be applied while viewing a subset of changes.Only one suggestion per line can be applied in a batch.Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.Applying suggestions on deleted lines is not supported.You must change the existing code in this line in order to create a valid suggestion.Outdated suggestions cannot be applied.This suggestion has been applied or marked resolved.Suggestions cannot be applied from pending reviews.Suggestions cannot be applied on multi-line comments.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is queued to merge.Suggestion cannot be applied right now. Please check back later.
boot_waitdefault from 10s to 30s