# VirtualBox and iSCSI connections between host and VM



## big_girl (Apr 5, 2012)

Hello,

I was thinking about a few last ditch efforts to get at a geli encrypted zpool, and thought I might decrypt and try to get at them via iSCSI as suggested to me in another thread.

So... what I think I might do is to install either OpenIndiana or NexentaStor (free version) as a VM guest under FreeBSD 9 as host via the VirtualBox port. I am hoping I can do this all within the same machine using VirtualBox.

I've got everything set with VirtualBox, but have never touched iSCSI before and couldn't find anything to let me know if this is possible. Specifically what I want to do is decrypt my disks with geli from the FreeBSD host, and then access them (the .eli disks) with either the OpenIndiana or NexentaStor VM. (None of these geli'd disks are used for anything else). 

If this is possible, could someone please point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance,
-bg


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## _martin (Apr 13, 2012)

Yes, it is possible. I'm using OpenIndiana (OI) as my iSCSI storage and I'm more than satisfied with it. 

But what is the goal here? Is it just for testing/playing or for some real usage? Because if you plan to use it "for real", I'd suggest to use an actual hardware for OI.

From FreeBSD side, have a look on iscsi_initiator(4).

If you have your OI ready, I can show you some basic configuration from OI/FreeBSD side.


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