CREATE A VIRTUAL MACHINE USING ORACLE VM VIRTUALBOX

How to Install VirtualBox on Windows?

Virtual Machine abstracts the hardware of our personal computers such as CPU, disk drives,
memory, NIC (Network Interface Card), etc, into many different execution environments as per our
requirements, hence giving us a feeling that each execution environment is a single computer. For
example, VirtualBox.
We can create a virtual machine for several reasons, all of which are fundamentally related to the
ability to share the same basic hardware yet can also support different execution environments, i.e.,
different operating systems simultaneously.

Downloading and Installing VirtualBox

To download VirtualBox, go to the official site virtualbox.org and download the latest version for
windows.

• Click windows hosts

Beginning with the Installation:

• Getting Started:
• Select Installation Location:
• Creating Entries and Shortcuts:
• Ready to Install:
 • Installing Files and packages:

• Installing Certificates:
• Finished Installation:
 • When you will open virtualbox it will look like as shown below:

Creating Your First Virtual Machine

Click New in the VirtualBox Manager window. The Create Virtual Machine wizard is shown, to guide
you through the required steps for setting up a new virtual machine (VM).

The Create Virtual Machine wizard pages are described in the following sections.

1.8.1. Create Virtual Machine Wizard: Name and Operating System

Figure 1.7. Creating a Virtual Machine: Name and Operating System

Use this page to specify a name and operating system (OS) for the virtual machine and to change the
storage location used for VMs.
You can also choose to disable the unattended guest operating system install feature. See
also Section 1.8.2, “(Optional) Create Virtual Machine Wizard: Unattended Guest OS Install”.

The following fields are available on this wizard page:

• Name. A name for the new VM. The name you enter is shown in the machine list of
VirtualBox Manager and is also used for the virtual machine's files on disk.

Be sure to assign each VM an informative name that describes the OS and software running on the
VM. For example, a name such as Windows 10 with Visio.

• Folder. The location where VMs are stored on your computer, called the machine folder. The
default folder location is shown.

Ensure that the folder location has enough free space, especially if you intend to use the snapshots
feature. See also Section 10.1.1, “The Machine Folder”.

• ISO Image. Select an ISO image file. The image file can be used to install an OS on the new
virtual machine or it can be attached to a DVD drive on the new virtual machine.

• Type and Version. These fields are used to select the OS that you want to install on the new
virtual machine.

The supported OSes are grouped into types. If you want to install something very unusual that is not
listed, select the Other type. Depending on your selection, Oracle VM VirtualBox will enable or
disable certain VM settings that your guest OS may require. This is particularly important for 64-bit
guests. See Section 3.1.2, “64-bit Guests”. It is therefore recommended to always set this field to the
correct value.

If an ISO image is selected and Oracle VM VirtualBox detects the operating system for the ISO,
the Type and Version fields are populated automatically and are disabled.

• Skip Unattended Installation. Disables unattended guest OS installation, even if an ISO

image is selected that supports unattended installation. In that case, the selected ISO image
is mounted automatically on the DVD drive of the new virtual machine and user interaction
is required to complete the OS installation.

The unattended installation step in the wizard is skipped.

Note

This option is disabled if you do not select an installation medium in the ISO Image field.

Click Next to go to the next wizard page.

1.8.2. (Optional) Create Virtual Machine Wizard: Unattended Guest OS Install

Unattended guest OS installation enables you to install the OS on a virtual machine automatically.

Note

This page is optional. It is not displayed if you have selected the Skip Unattended Installation option
on the initial wizard page.

Use this page to set up the required parameters for unattended guest OS installation and to
configure automatic installation of the Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions. See also Section 1.8.6,
“Some Examples of Unattended Installation” for some typical scenarios when using automated
installation.

Figure 1.8. Creating a Virtual Machine: Unattended Guest OS Installation

The following fields are available on this wizard page:

• Username and Password. Enter the credentials for a default user on the guest OS.

• Guest Additions. Enables automatic installation of the Guest Additions, following installation
of the guest OS. Use the drop-down list to select the location of the ISO image file for the
Guest Additions.

• Additional Options. The following options enable you to perform extra configuration of the
guest OS:

o Product Key. For Windows guests only. Enter the product key required for Windows
installation.

o Hostname. Host name for the guest. By default, this is the same as the VM name.

o Domain Name. Domain name for the guest.

o Install in Background. Enable headless mode for the VM, where a graphical user
interface is not shown.

Click Next to go to the next wizard page.

1.8.3. Create Virtual Machine Wizard: Hardware

Use this page to configure hardware settings for the virtual machine.

Figure 1.9. Creating a Virtual Machine: Hardware

The following fields are available on this wizard page:

• Base Memory. Select the amount of RAM that Oracle VM VirtualBox should allocate every
time the virtual machine is started. The amount of memory selected here will be taken away
from your host machine and presented to the guest OS, which will report this size as the
virtual machines installed RAM.

Caution

Choose this setting carefully. The memory you give to the VM will not be available to your host OS
while the VM is running, so do not specify more than you can spare.

For example, if your host machine has 4 GB of RAM and you enter 2048 MB as the amount of RAM
for a particular virtual machine, you will only have 2 GB left for all the other software on your host
while the VM is running. If you run two VMs at the same time, even more memory will be allocated
for the second VM, which may not even be able to start if that memory is not available.

On the other hand, you should specify as much as your guest OS and your applications will require to
run properly. A guest OS may require at least 1 or 2 GB of memory to install and boot up. For best
performance, more memory than that may be required.

Always ensure that the host OS has enough RAM remaining. If insufficient RAM remains, the system
might excessively swap memory to the hard disk, which effectively brings the host system to a
standstill.

As with other Create Virtual Machine wizard settings, you can change this setting later, after you
have created the VM.

• Processor(s). Select the number of virtual processors to assign to the VM.

It is not advised to assign more than half of the total processor threads from the host machine.

• Enable EFI. Enables Extensible Firware Interface (EFI) booting for the guest OS.

Click Next to go to the next wizard page.

1.8.4. Create Virtual Machine Wizard: Virtual Hard Disk

Use this page to specify a virtual hard disk for the virtual machine.

There are many ways in which Oracle VM VirtualBox can provide hard disk space to a VM,
see Chapter 5, Virtual Storage. The most common way is to use a large image file on your physical
hard disk, whose contents Oracle VM VirtualBox presents to your VM as if it were a complete hard
disk. This file then represents an entire hard disk, so you can even copy it to another host and use it
with another Oracle VM VirtualBox installation.

Figure 1.10. Creating a New Virtual Machine: Virtual Hard Disk

The following fields are available on this wizard page:

• Create a Virtual Hard Disk Now. Creates a new empty virtual hard disk image, located in the
VM's machine folder.

Enter the following settings:

o Disk Size. Use the slider to select a maximum size for the hard disk in the new VM.

o Pre-Allocate Full Size. This setting determines the type of image file used for the disk
image. Select this setting to use a fixed-size file for the disk image. Deselect this
setting to use a dynamically allocated file for the disk image.

The different types of image file behave as follows:

▪ Dynamically allocated file. This type of image file only grows in size when
the guest actually stores data on its virtual hard disk. Therefore, this file is
small initially. As the drive is filled with data, the file grows to the specified
size.

▪ Fixed-size file. This type of image file immediately occupies the file specified,
even if only a fraction of that virtual hard disk space is actually in use. While
occupying much more space, a fixed-size file incurs less overhead and is
therefore slightly faster than a dynamically allocated file.

For more details about the differences, see Section 5.2, “Disk Image Files (VDI, VMDK, VHD, HDD)”.

• Use an Existing Hard Disk File. Enables you to select an existing disk image file to use with
the new VM.

The drop-down list presented in the window lists all disk images which are known by Oracle VM
VirtualBox. These disk images are currently attached to a virtual machine, or have been attached to a
virtual machine.
Alternatively, click on the small folder icon next to the drop-down list. In the Hard Disk
Selector window that is displayed, click Add to select a disk image file on your host disk.

• Do Not Add a Virtual Hard Disk. The new VM is created without a hard disk.

To prevent your physical hard disk on the host OS from filling up, Oracle VM VirtualBox limits the size
of the image file. But the image file must be large enough to hold the contents of the guest OS and
the applications you want to install. For a Windows or Linux guest, you will probably need several
gigabytes for any serious use. The limit of the image file size can be changed later, see Section 8.31,
“VBoxManage modifymedium”.

Note

You can skip attaching a virtual hard disk file to the new virtual machine you are creating. But you will
then need to attach an hard disk later on, in order to install a guest operating system.

After having selected or created your image file, click Next to go to the next wizard page.

1.8.5. Create Virtual Machine Wizard: Summary

This page displays a summary of the configuration for the virtual machine.

If you are not happy with any of the settings, use the Back button to return to the corresponding
page and modify the setting.

Click Finish to create your new virtual machine. The virtual machine is displayed in the machine list
on the left side of the VirtualBox Manager window, with the name that you entered on the first page
of the wizard.

1.8.6. Some Examples of Unattended Installation

To configure unattended installation, you typically just need to specify an ISO image in the Create
Virtual Machine wizard. Oracle VM VirtualBox then detects the OS type and the unattended
installation process is done automatically when the wizard is completed. However, in some situations
the installation may need be completed manually.

The following list describes some common scenarios for unattended installation:

• OS type is detected automatically. The following outcomes are possible:

o If unattended installation is supported for the selected ISO, the guest OS is installed
automatically. No user input is required.

o If unattended installation is not supported for the selected ISO, the ISO image is
inserted automatically into the DVD drive of the new VM. The guest OS installation
must then be completed manually.

• OS type is not detected automatically. You must configure Type and Version settings in the
wizard.

The ISO image is inserted automatically into the DVD drive of the new VM. The guest OS installation
must then be completed manually.

• Unattended Installation is disabled. Users can disable unattended installation, by selecting

the Skip Unattended Installation check box on the initial wizard page.
The ISO image is inserted automatically into the DVD drive of the new VM. The guest OS installation
must then be completed manually.

See also Section 3.2, “Unattended Guest Installation” for details of how to perform unattended
installation from the command line.

1.9. Running Your Virtual Machine

To start a virtual machine, you have the following options:

• Double-click on the VM's entry in the machine list in VirtualBox Manager.

• Select the VM's entry in the machine list in VirtualBox Manager, and click Start in the toolbar
the top of the window.

• Go to the VirtualBox VMs folder in your system user's home directory. Find the subdirectory
of the machine you want to start and double-click on the machine settings file. This file has
a .vbox file extension.

Starting a virtual machine displays a new window, and the virtual machine which you selected will
boot up. Everything which would normally be seen on the virtual system's monitor is shown in the
window. See Figure 1.1, “Windows Server 2016 Virtual Machine, Displayed on a macOS Host”.

In general, you can use the virtual machine as you would use a real computer. The following topics
describe a few points to note when running a VM.

1.9.1. Starting a New VM for the First Time

When you start a VM for the first time the OS installation process is started automatically, using the
ISO image file specified in the Create Virtual Machine wizard.

Follow the onscreen instructions to install your OS.

Saving the State of the Machine

When you click on the Close button of your virtual machine window, at the top right of the window,
just like you would close any other window on your system, Oracle VM VirtualBox asks you whether
you want to save or power off the VM. As a shortcut, you can also press Host key + Q.

Figure 1.12. Closing Down a Virtual Machine

The difference between the three options is crucial. They mean the following:
 • Save the machine state: With this option, Oracle VM VirtualBox freezes the virtual machine
by completely saving its state to your local disk.

When you start the VM again later, you will find that the VM continues exactly where it was left off.
All your programs will still be open, and your computer resumes operation. Saving the state of a
virtual machine is thus in some ways similar to suspending a laptop computer by closing its lid.

• Send the shutdown signal. This will send an ACPI shutdown signal to the virtual machine,
which has the same effect as if you had pressed the power button on a real computer. This
should trigger a proper shutdown mechanism from within the VM.

• Power off the machine: With this option, Oracle VM VirtualBox also stops running the virtual
machine, but without saving its state.

For more details visit the below web page

https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch01.html#create-vm-wizard-name-os