Deployment: Hosted EaaSI service
EaaSI Version: 2021.07
Browser: The name and version of the browser you are using to access the EaaSI UI, if applicable
Description: *Stanford University Press has a large 15 GB disk image that Jasmine Mulliken would like to test load. Is there a method for loading a large disk image without having to use the service GUI?
Urgency: Not urgent
Just a bit more background on this disk image–the vmdk file was built by Karen Hanson at Portico last year for the NYU-led Mellon project for preserving new forms of scholarship. It was created based on a previous disk image I created for one of the SUP digital publications Filming Revolution. I believe Karen communicated with the EAASI team at points during her testing of this environment+content. She shared her final results with me, which I was also able to successfully load in the Stanford node. Since we’ve been able to successfully import, load, and run this environment before, we’re hopeful it can be done here in the hosted version too. It’s more a question now of how to load an entire environment, which is neither just software nor content. (Or is it?) And how and from where to load such a huge file? FWIW, the package Karen provided includes an EEASI config file and other metadata.
Hi @mgolson and @jmulliken - yes, I recall when Karen was working on getting that disk image working with a local EaaSI deployment!
You’re correct that bootable disk images (or VMs from another platform, like a VMDK) don’t quite fall under either Software or Content resource definitions (and it wouldn’t work as you would wish even if you did import as one of those types). The “Import Environment” workflow that was present in EaaSI versions prior to the hosted service would be the appropriate one here, but we made the decision to launch the hosted service without that functionality until EaaS updates to the “Import” and “Create Environment” workflows could get merged with the Emulation Project design in the updated EaaSI UI. That latter work is still ongoing, but we do expect it to be tested in the next month or so and merged into the hosted service in the fall.
You are further correct that such a large file could potentially cause import problems through a browser upload - but this would actually be a rather good stress test for us, since this would not be an uncommon size for an existing, relatively recent VM. Would you be willing to share the vmdk (and config file) with me privately? (e.g. send me a download link here or via email) so that I could use it as a sample? It’s possible I could also get it running as an Environment for you all manually in the hosted service.
Thank you, Ethan. I’ve emailed you directly with the file link.