Initialize a Project Directory

7min
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Vagrant

The first step to configure any Vagrant project is to create a Vagrantfile. The Vagrantfile allows you to:

Mark the root directory of your project. Many of the configuration options in Vagrant are relative to this root directory.
Describe the kind of machine and resources you need to run your project, as well as what software to install and how you want to access it.

Prerequisites

Complete the Vagrant Install tutorial or follow the links below to install Vagrant and a virtualization product.

Install the latest version of Vagrant.
Install a virtualization product such as; VirtualBox, VMware Fusion, or Hyper-V.

VMware Fusion: There is an additional plugin and configuration required, review the documentation for guidance. Also, note that it is in tech preview for Apple Silicon.

Create a directory

Make a new directory for the project you will work on throughout these tutorials.

$ mkdir vagrant_getting_started

Move into your new directory.

$ cd vagrant_getting_started

Initialize the project

Vagrant has a built-in command for initializing a project, vagrant init, which can take a box name and URL as arguments. Initialize the directory and specify the hashicorp/bionic64 box.

$ vagrant init hashicorp/bionic64

A `Vagrantfile` has been placed in this directory. You are now
ready to `vagrant up` your first virtual environment! Please read
the comments in the Vagrantfile as well as documentation on
`vagrantup.com` for more information on using Vagrant.

You now have a Vagrantfile in your current directory. Open the Vagrantfile, which contains some pre-populated comments and examples. In following tutorials you will modify this file.

Expand the file below to view the entire contents of the example Vagrantfile.

Show Vagrantfile

# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# vi: set ft=ruby :

# All Vagrant configuration is done below. The "2" in Vagrant.configure
# configures the configuration version (we support older styles for
# backwards compatibility). Please don't change it unless you know what
# you're doing.
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
  # The most common configuration options are documented and commented below.
  # For a complete reference, please see the online documentation at
  # https://docs.vagrantup.com.

  # Every Vagrant development environment requires a box. You can search for
  # boxes at https://vagrantcloud.com/search.
  config.vm.box = "hashicorp/bionic64"

  # Disable automatic box update checking. If you disable this, then
  # boxes will only be checked for updates when the user runs
  # `vagrant box outdated`. This is not recommended.
  # config.vm.box_check_update = false

  # Create a forwarded port mapping which allows access to a specific port
  # within the machine from a port on the host machine. In the example below,
  # accessing "localhost:8080" will access port 80 on the guest machine.
  # NOTE: This will enable public access to the opened port
  # config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080

  # Create a forwarded port mapping which allows access to a specific port
  # within the machine from a port on the host machine and only allow access
  # via 127.0.0.1 to disable public access
  # config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080, host_ip: "127.0.0.1"

  # Create a private network, which allows host-only access to the machine
  # using a specific IP.
  # config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.33.10"

  # Create a public network, which generally matched to bridged network.
  # Bridged networks make the machine appear as another physical device on
  # your network.
  # config.vm.network "public_network"

  # Share an additional folder to the guest VM. The first argument is
  # the path on the host to the actual folder. The second argument is
  # the path on the guest to mount the folder. And the optional third
  # argument is a set of non-required options.
  # config.vm.synced_folder "../data", "/vagrant_data"

  # Provider-specific configuration so you can fine-tune various
  # backing providers for Vagrant. These expose provider-specific options.
  # Example for VirtualBox:
  #
  # config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |vb|
  #   # Display the VirtualBox GUI when booting the machine
  #   vb.gui = true
  #
  #   # Customize the amount of memory on the VM:
  #   vb.memory = "1024"
  # end
  #
  # View the documentation for the provider you are using for more
  # information on available options.

  # Enable provisioning with a shell script. Additional provisioners such as
  # Ansible, Chef, Docker, Puppet and Salt are also available. Please see the
  # documentation for more information about their specific syntax and use.
  # config.vm.provision "shell", inline: <<-SHELL
  #   apt-get update
  #   apt-get install -y apache2
  # SHELL
end

Next steps

You should commit your Vagrantfile to version control, this will allow every person on the project to benefit from Vagrant without any upfront configuration work.

You have now initialized your first project directory. Continue to the next tutorial to specify a box for your project.

Install Vagrant

Install a box