painfully slow in everything

[ianrobertdouglas]

I've been struggling for a few months with horrible performance, including lagging of up to a few minutes on page loads and sometimes total failure. It's also random, with bottlenecks arising for no particular reason, it seems. I hope to resolve this. I have around 25 domains (i.e., Wordpress projects) working under VVV. Vagrant-hostsupdater plugin is installed, along with vvv-site-wizard which I use to create new projects. I also use vagrant-faster to set memory to 4 cores and around 4GB RAM. Maybe it's the number of projects I have archived under VVV, or the size of the resulting VM (around 3GB). Or other VMs I have (I've been trying other boxes too, for performance sake), though I try not to run them at the same time. I'm on a Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM. I've tried several things from advice I could find online on improving Vagrant performance. This is my current VVV Vagrantfile:

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

vagrant_dir = File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__))

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

  # Store the current version of Vagrant for use in conditionals when dealing
  # with possible backward compatible issues.
  vagrant_version = Vagrant::VERSION.sub(/^v/, '')

  # Configurations from 1.0.x can be placed in Vagrant 1.1.x specs like the following.
  config.vm.provider :virtualbox do |v|
    v.customize ["modifyvm", :id, "--memory", 2048]
    v.customize ["modifyvm", :id, "--cpus", 2]
    v.customize ["modifyvm", :id, "--natdnshostresolver1", "on"]
    v.customize ["modifyvm", :id, "--natdnsproxy1", "on"]

    # Set the box name in VirtualBox to match the working directory.
    vvv_pwd = Dir.pwd
    v.name = File.basename(vvv_pwd)
  end

  # Configuration options for the Parallels provider.
  config.vm.provider :parallels do |v|
    v.update_guest_tools = true
    v.optimize_power_consumption = false
    v.memory = 1024
    v.cpus = 1
  end

  # Configuration options for the VMware Fusion provider.
  config.vm.provider :vmware_fusion do |v|
    v.vmx["memsize"] = "1024"
    v.vmx["numvcpus"] = "1"
  end

  # Vagrant provision caching.
  Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
  config.vm.box = 'ubuntu/trusty64'
  if Vagrant.has_plugin?("vagrant-cachier")
    # Configure cached packages to be shared between instances of the same base box.
    # More info on the "Usage" link above
    config.cache.scope = :box

    # OPTIONAL: If you are using VirtualBox, you might want to use that to enable
    # NFS for shared folders. This is also very useful for vagrant-libvirt if you
    # want bi-directional sync
    config.cache.synced_folder_opts = {
      type: :nfs,
      # The nolock option can be useful for an NFSv3 client that wants to avoid the
      # NLM sideband protocol. Without this option, apt-get might hang if it tries
      # to lock files needed for /var/cache/* operations. All of this can be avoided
      # by using NFSv4 everywhere. Please note that the tcp option is not the default.
      mount_options: ['rw', 'vers=3', 'tcp', 'nolock']
    }
  end
end

  # SSH Agent Forwarding
  #
  # Enable agent forwarding on vagrant ssh commands. This allows you to use ssh keys
  # on your host machine inside the guest. See the manual for `ssh-add`.
  config.ssh.forward_agent = true

  # Default Ubuntu Box
  #
  # This box is provided by Ubuntu vagrantcloud.com and is a nicely sized (332MB)
  # box containing the Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty 64 bit release. Once this box is downloaded
  # to your host computer, it is cached for future use under the specified box name.
  config.vm.box = "ubuntu/trusty64"

  # The Parallels Provider uses a different naming scheme.
  config.vm.provider :parallels do |v, override|
    override.vm.box = "parallels/ubuntu-14.04"
  end

  # The VMware Fusion Provider uses a different naming scheme.
  config.vm.provider :vmware_fusion do |v, override|
    override.vm.box = "netsensia/ubuntu-trusty64"
  end

  # VMWare Workstation can use the same package as Fusion
  config.vm.provider :vmware_workstation do |v, override|
    override.vm.box = "netsensia/ubuntu-trusty64"
  end

  config.vm.hostname = "vvv"

  # Local Machine Hosts
  #
  # If the Vagrant plugin hostsupdater (https://github.com/cogitatio/vagrant-hostsupdater) is
  # installed, the following will automatically configure your local machine's hosts file to
  # be aware of the domains specified below. Watch the provisioning script as you may need to
  # enter a password for Vagrant to access your hosts file.
  #
  # By default, we'll include the domains set up by VVV through the vvv-hosts file
  # located in the www/ directory.
  #
  # Other domains can be automatically added by including a vvv-hosts file containing
  # individual domains separated by whitespace in subdirectories of www/.
  if defined?(VagrantPlugins::HostsUpdater)
    # Recursively fetch the paths to all vvv-hosts files under the www/ directory.
    paths = Dir[File.join(vagrant_dir, 'www', '**', 'vvv-hosts')]

    # Parse the found vvv-hosts files for host names.
    hosts = paths.map do |path|
      # Read line from file and remove line breaks
      lines = File.readlines(path).map(&:chomp)
      # Filter out comments starting with "#"
      lines.grep(/\A[^#]/)
    end.flatten.uniq # Remove duplicate entries

    # Pass the found host names to the hostsupdater plugin so it can perform magic.
    config.hostsupdater.aliases = hosts
    config.hostsupdater.remove_on_suspend = true
  end

  # Private Network (default)
  #
  # A private network is created by default. This is the IP address through which your
  # host machine will communicate to the guest. In this default configuration, the virtual
  # machine will have an IP address of 192.168.50.4 and a virtual network adapter will be
  # created on your host machine with the IP of 192.168.50.1 as a gateway.
  #
  # Access to the guest machine is only available to your local host. To provide access to
  # other devices, a public network should be configured or port forwarding enabled.
  #
  # Note: If your existing network is using the 192.168.50.x subnet, this default IP address
  # should be changed. If more than one VM is running through VirtualBox, including other
  # Vagrant machines, different subnets should be used for each.
  #
  config.vm.network :private_network, ip: "192.168.50.4"

  # Use NFS for shared folders for better performance
  config.vm.synced_folder '.', '/vagrant', nfs: true

  # Public Network (disabled)
  #
  # Using a public network rather than the default private network configuration will allow
  # access to the guest machine from other devices on the network. By default, enabling this
  # line will cause the guest machine to use DHCP to determine its IP address. You will also
  # be prompted to choose a network interface to bridge with during `vagrant up`.
  #
  # Please see VVV and Vagrant documentation for additional details.
  #
  # config.vm.network :public_network

  # Port Forwarding (disabled)
  #
  # This network configuration works alongside any other network configuration in Vagrantfile
  # and forwards any requests to port 8080 on the local host machine to port 80 in the guest.
  #
  # Port forwarding is a first step to allowing access to outside networks, though additional
  # configuration will likely be necessary on our host machine or router so that outside
  # requests will be forwarded from 80 -> 8080 -> 80.
  #
  # Please see VVV and Vagrant documentation for additional details.
  #
  # config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080

  # Drive mapping
  #
  # The following config.vm.synced_folder settings will map directories in your Vagrant
  # virtual machine to directories on your local machine. Once these are mapped, any
  # changes made to the files in these directories will affect both the local and virtual
  # machine versions. Think of it as two different ways to access the same file. When the
  # virtual machine is destroyed with `vagrant destroy`, your files will remain in your local
  # environment.

  # /srv/database/
  #
  # If a database directory exists in the same directory as your Vagrantfile,
  # a mapped directory inside the VM will be created that contains these files.
  # This directory is used to maintain default database scripts as well as backed
  # up mysql dumps (SQL files) that are to be imported automatically on vagrant up
  config.vm.synced_folder "database/", "/srv/database"

  # If the mysql_upgrade_info file from a previous persistent database mapping is detected,
  # we'll continue to map that directory as /var/lib/mysql inside the virtual machine. Once
  # this file is changed or removed, this mapping will no longer occur. A db_backup command
  # is now available inside the virtual machine to backup all databases for future use. This
  # command is automatically issued on halt, suspend, and destroy if the vagrant-triggers
  # plugin is installed.
  if File.exists?(File.join(vagrant_dir,'database/data/mysql_upgrade_info')) then
    if vagrant_version >= "1.3.0"
      config.vm.synced_folder "database/data/", "/var/lib/mysql", :mount_options => [ "dmode=777",     "fmode=777" ]
    else
      config.vm.synced_folder "database/data/", "/var/lib/mysql", :extra => 'dmode=777,fmode=777'
    end

    # The Parallels Provider does not understand "dmode"/"fmode" in the "mount_options" as
    # those are specific to Virtualbox. The folder is therefore overridden with one that
    # uses corresponding Parallels mount options.
    config.vm.provider :parallels do |v, override|
      override.vm.synced_folder "database/data/", "/var/lib/mysql", :mount_options => []
    end
  end

  # /srv/config/
  #
  # If a server-conf directory exists in the same directory as your Vagrantfile,
  # a mapped directory inside the VM will be created that contains these files.
  # This directory is currently used to maintain various config files for php and
  # nginx as well as any pre-existing database files.
  config.vm.synced_folder "config/", "/srv/config"

  # /srv/log/
  #
  # If a log directory exists in the same directory as your Vagrantfile, a mapped
  # directory inside the VM will be created for some generated log files.
  config.vm.synced_folder "log/", "/srv/log", :owner => "www-data"

  # /srv/www/
  #
  # If a www directory exists in the same directory as your Vagrantfile, a mapped directory
  # inside the VM will be created that acts as the default location for nginx sites. Put all
  # of your project files here that you want to access through the web server
  if vagrant_version >= "1.3.0"
    config.vm.synced_folder "www/", "/srv/www/", :owner => "www-data", :mount_options => [ "dmode=775", "fmode=774" ]
  else
    config.vm.synced_folder "www/", "/srv/www/", :owner => "www-data", :extra => 'dmode=775,fmode=774'
  end

  config.vm.provision "fix-no-tty", type: "shell" do |s|
    s.privileged = false
    s.inline = "sudo sed -i '/tty/!s/mesg n/tty -s \\&\\& mesg n/' /root/.profile"
  end

  # The Parallels Provider does not understand "dmode"/"fmode" in the "mount_options" as
  # those are specific to Virtualbox. The folder is therefore overridden with one that
  # uses corresponding Parallels mount options.
  config.vm.provider :parallels do |v, override|
    override.vm.synced_folder "www/", "/srv/www/", :owner => "www-data", :mount_options => []
  end

  # Customfile - POSSIBLY UNSTABLE
  #
  # Use this to insert your own (and possibly rewrite) Vagrant config lines. Helpful
  # for mapping additional drives. If a file 'Customfile' exists in the same directory
  # as this Vagrantfile, it will be evaluated as ruby inline as it loads.
  #
  # Note that if you find yourself using a Customfile for anything crazy or specifying
  # different provisioning, then you may want to consider a new Vagrantfile entirely.
  if File.exists?(File.join(vagrant_dir,'Customfile')) then
    eval(IO.read(File.join(vagrant_dir,'Customfile')), binding)
  end

  # Provisioning
  #
  # Process one or more provisioning scripts depending on the existence of custom files.
  #
  # provison-pre.sh acts as a pre-hook to our default provisioning script. Anything that
  # should run before the shell commands laid out in provision.sh (or your provision-custom.sh
  # file) should go in this script. If it does not exist, no extra provisioning will run.
  if File.exists?(File.join(vagrant_dir,'provision','provision-pre.sh')) then
    config.vm.provision :shell, :path => File.join( "provision", "provision-pre.sh" )
  end

  # provision.sh or provision-custom.sh
  #
  # By default, Vagrantfile is set to use the provision.sh bash script located in the
  # provision directory. If it is detected that a provision-custom.sh script has been
  # created, that is run as a replacement. This is an opportunity to replace the entirety
  # of the provisioning provided by default.
  if File.exists?(File.join(vagrant_dir,'provision','provision-custom.sh')) then
    config.vm.provision :shell, :path => File.join( "provision", "provision-custom.sh" )
  else
    config.vm.provision :shell, :path => File.join( "provision", "provision.sh" )
  end

  # provision-post.sh acts as a post-hook to the default provisioning. Anything that should
  # run after the shell commands laid out in provision.sh or provision-custom.sh should be
  # put into this file. This provides a good opportunity to install additional packages
  # without having to replace the entire default provisioning script.
  if File.exists?(File.join(vagrant_dir,'provision','provision-post.sh')) then
    config.vm.provision :shell, :path => File.join( "provision", "provision-post.sh" )
  end

  # Always start MySQL on boot, even when not running the full provisioner
  # (run: "always" support added in 1.6.0)
  if vagrant_version >= "1.6.0"
    config.vm.provision :shell, inline: "sudo service mysql restart", run: "always"
    config.vm.provision :shell, inline: "sudo service nginx restart", run: "always"
  end

  # Vagrant Triggers
  #
  # If the vagrant-triggers plugin is installed, we can run various scripts on Vagrant
  # state changes like `vagrant up`, `vagrant halt`, `vagrant suspend`, and `vagrant destroy`
  #
  # These scripts are run on the host machine, so we use `vagrant ssh` to tunnel back
  # into the VM and execute things. By default, each of these scripts calls db_backup
  # to create backups of all current databases. This can be overridden with custom
  # scripting. See the individual files in config/homebin/ for details.
  if defined? VagrantPlugins::Triggers
    config.trigger.before :halt, :stdout => true do
      run "vagrant ssh -c 'vagrant_halt'"
    end
    config.trigger.before :suspend, :stdout => true do
      run "vagrant ssh -c 'vagrant_suspend'"
    end
    config.trigger.before :destroy, :stdout => true do
      run "vagrant ssh -c 'vagrant_destroy'"
    end
  end
end

Can anyone see a problem there, or advise how to troubleshoot this?

[devster31]

Maybe the vagrant-faster plugin is creating conflicts with the modifyvm VirtualBox options? You could try disabling the plugin and editing the Vagrantfile for the same allocated memory and cores.

[jmarceli]

I've got similar performance problems (my www/ dir has around 40GB). I'm currently testing one of possible solutions and it seems to do the job (everything works now as fast as I expect). Try to enable nfs for your www/ dir. Change:

   config.vm.synced_folder "www/", "/srv/www/", :owner => "www-data", :mount_options => [ "dmode=775", "fmode=774" ]

To:

   config.vm.synced_folder "www/", "/srv/www/", nfs: true

This solution may have some drawbacks which I'm not aware of but for now it's really nice change.

[JasonTheAdams]

@jmarceli I believe the only real drawback of this is that it doesn't work on Windows. It's specific to OSX and can be installed on Linux.

[jmarceli]

So it seems to be perfect solution :)

[iandunn]

In addition to the other suggestions here, I found that turning off XDebug saved about 2500ms from each request, which sucks, because I love XDebug.

I was hoping that setting xdebug.remote_autostart or even xdebug.remote_enable to 0 would fix it, but it didn't. None of the other settings helped, either.

[iandunn]

I was hoping that setting xdebug.remote_autostart or even xdebug.remote_enable to 0 would fix it, but it didn't. None of the other settings helped, either.

Er, actually, that may still be it, but I'm having some trouble with it and can't test reliably right now. I'll have to spend some more time to figure out for sure.

[iandunn]

Resetting the following XDebug values to their defaults seemed to help performance.

xdebug.collect_params = 0
xdebug.remote_autostart = 0
xdebug.var_display_max_children = 128
xdebug.var_display_max_data = 512
xdebug.var_display_max_depth = 3

Switching to NFS for the www share also helped. I initially ran into the caching problems alluded to in other VVV issues, but tweaking the mount options seems to have solved that.

rsync is another option for shares, and it's a bit faster than NFS, but it's annoying because you have to manually run vagrant rsync-auto while editing files.

[jeremyfelt]

This is a good related read for when using vagrant commands - https://jaco.by/2016/05/05/slow-vagrant/

[wturrell]

Turning off xdebug.profiler_enable, if you've got it in for any reason, will also make a big difference.

[lock[bot]]

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. Please open a new issue for related bugs.