We're working on developing a VM which we'd like to be tightly coordinated with Galaxy, such that VM users can export data from the VM into Galaxy, perform further analyses on that data, and then import the analysis results into the VM for storage (from where it will serve additional applications).  Right now, I'm picturing this as a set of Galaxy tools that launch the VM, manage the data import and export, and shut down the VM at the appropriate time.  Or is there a better approach I didn't consider?

Assuming the answer is "no", then are there any tools in the toolshed that launch background processes?  If so, I'd like to look at them.

And assuming that my VM will be running in the background, I'd like it to shut down when Galaxy shuts down.  Is there a way to configure a process to be run when it's time to quit Galaxy?

Thanks!

Melissa