This is it – welcome to the virtual machine world. If you are reading this guide, chances are that you want to delve into Linux or may be you just want to install another OS without changing the one currently used. Then virtual machines are great because they allow you to create separate areas that you can use to experiment, develop or even have two or more operating systems at the same time. In this document’s case, all necessary information to download and install virtual machine software for Linux will be provided.
What is a Virtual Machine?
Before going deep into its introduction and trying to figure it out, let’s first clarify what are virtual machines. To put it in layman’s terms a virtual machine is simulated physical computer that is present as a software program. It performs the same function like any computer in that it has an application operating system etc. but it does this inside an existing one.
In other words, you can put it this way that there is another computer that you may use inside your own computer system. This problem is resolved with the help of VMs; these are contained environments which are exactly what they sound like; they are not connected to your host system, so whatever goes on inside the VM is irrelevant to your host OS. For this reason, they are especially useful for testing new software, getting acquainted with foreign systems or even working with more than one OS on one computer.
Why Do We Have to Use a Linux Virtual Machine?
Linux is an operating system which is widely accepted and used by developers, sysadmins and computer somewhat enthusiast. But changing your OS to Linux may make you feel scared. This is where virtual machines come in handy. A VM enables you to test Linux without having to install it on the machine itself. You can try out many Linux distributions, sharpen your command line skills or even create and uninstall programs here without any risk.
Common Linux Virtual Machine Applications
There are many available software for you on creating a Linux virtual machine. Listed below are some of the most common ones.
VirtualBox: A product of Oracle, VirtualBox is among the leading free open source virtualization software. It’s free and supports many types of guest OS including popular Linux distributions.
VMware Workstation Player: This VMware player comes as a free version called Workstation Player and is ideal for users who want to run a single VM. It has a friendly user interface and delivers good performance.
QEMU: The term QEMU is an acronym for Quick Emulator, which also refers to an open source machine emulator and virtualizer. Get to run OS’s and Programs of one machine on an entirely different one. QEMU is rather a little complicated though very flexible.
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine): When it comes to various virtualization modules on a Linux sibling, KVM has its own place in the kernel that makes it possible for the user to become a hypervisor on their Linux PC.
How to Download and Install VirtualBox
Let’s get ready for the step by step procedure of downloading and installing VirtualBox as further discussed that happens to be one of the most popular and commonly available alternatives to running Linux within the confines of a virtual machine.
Step 1: Download VirtualBox
Visit the Official Website: Open your browser and proceed to the virtualbox official website.
Navigate to Downloads: Together with the home page, after the end of the main introduction click on the “Downloads” link to take you to the download page.
Choose Your Host Operating System: You will be presented with various for different host operating systems. Pick the one that best corresponds to the OS that you are presently using (e.g. Windows, macOS, Linux, Solaris).
Download the Installer: Hit the suitable links in an appropriate manner to initiate downloading of the installer file. Put it in a checkout store.
Step 2: Install VirtualBox
Run the Installer – Locate the installer file that you have downloaded and double click to execute it.
Follow the Installation Wizard: The installation wizard will take you through the set up step c. Stake note of the options that will be provided, but more often than not the suggested ones will be okay for this category of users.
Network Interfaces Warning: While installing, if the network interfaces are up for installation, do not worry. Click click ok. This is normal within the program installation procedure.
Complete the Installation: Now that the installation has been finished, you have the option of either launching VirtualBox now or doing it later.
How to Create a Linux Virtual Machine in VirtualBox
Having installed VirtualBox, it’s now time to configure the Linux virtual machine.
Step 1: Download a Linux ISO
Choose a Linux Distribution: Which Linux distribution would we like to have installed? Thus choose Ubuntu, Fedora, and so on.
Download the ISO File: Go to the official website of the distribution that you wish to use and download its latest’s ISO file. For instance, getting Ubuntu may be done by extinctng ubuntu.com.
Step 2: Create a New Virtual Machine
Launch VirtualBox: VirtualBox can be opened from the application section of the computer.
Click on “New”: While in the VirtualBox Manager, click on the “New” button, so as to commence the process of creating a new virtual machine.
Name Your VM: Type a name for your VM, select type (Linux), and version (e.g Ubuntu 64 bit).
Allocate Memory on the VM: Decide how much RAM you wish to allocate on this VM. 2GB (2048MB) is an average number for most of the Linux distros, however, you can go for more if there is enough memory in the system.
Create a Virtual Hard Disk: Click “Create a virtual hard disk and now” then select “create.” Click the VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) option and select whether you want the disk to be of the type which is dynamics allocated or fixed allocated size. A dynamic allocated disk will increase in use as you will be using it but a fixed allocation will be of the pre determined allocation. Specify the size of the disk (20gb is a good minimum).
Finalize VM Creation: Make the setup complete by clicking “create.”
Step 3: How to install linux on your vm
Start the VM: Make sure the new VM is selected then click “start” in the virtual box manager.
Select the ISO File: On start up, VirtualBox will prompt you to select a startup disk. Find the folder icon and click it, you will browse for the linux iso file that you downloaded. You will add it and click on, “start.”
Begin Installation: The ISO will be booted on the vm and hence the linux installation page will appear. Complete the installation following the instructions onscreen. This is the same way one would install linux on a laptop or computer.
Finish Setting Up the Installation: The first prompt that will appear will request that you remove the installation media (the iso image file). To achieve that, you can un-mount the iso from the virtual box settings or just restart the virtual machine.
Login Into Your New LINUX VM: The VM will restart and you will see the welcome interface displaying the Linux login page. Enter your credentials, and you are in!
Additional Tips & Tricks
Installing Guest Additions: VirtualBox includes feature improvements known as Guest Additions that helps improve the integration of the host and the installed virtual machine. These include enhanced graphics, better mouse usage, and the usage of shared folders. If you want to install them, click on the “Devices” menu in the running VMs and click on “Insert Guest Additions CD image.” You will be prompted to install it.
Snapshots: In virtual technology, snapshots enable users to quickly create an image of the VM from where the user is working on. This feature is of great benefit especially to those who wish to play around with the interface of Linux OS and the possibility of going back in time to a point before one started making changes.
Shared Folders: When click on this option, you may set the up on the Virtual Machine’s Settings of ‘Shared Folders’ if you need to exchange the files between your host operating system and the Virtual Machine.
Repairing Most Common Defects
Performance issues: Performance of VM can be improved by changing the number of processor cores or increasing the quantity of RAM devoted to the VM program within the settings , if it seems to be slow, change those values. Also, check whether VirtualBox uses the host’s CPU virtualization.
Networking Problems: If the VM does not have any internet connection, check the relevant network settings. A possible solution for the connectivity issues is to change the network adapter from the host-only one to the bridged system.
Display Problems: In the case, the screen display settings are not correct, installing the Guest additions often will help to solve the issue.
To Summarize
It is a very good strategy and perfect opportunity to create a virtual machine with the Linux operating system installed in order to explore the Linux operating system without even changing the current working operating system. It does not matter if you are software engineer, IT Specialist or just keen to understand Linux; Vms provide more than enough platform for you to play around in a flexible, safe and efficient way.
It is easy and very simple to create a Linux Virtual Machine using the Virtual box for anyone. You can play around with other distributions, acquire other competencies, construct an environment fit for development amongst many other activities without affecting your main operating system.
So what are you waiting for? Get a jumpstart on your voyage with Linux by setting up your own virtual machine. Happy virtualizing.
