VirtualBox
VirtualBox is a free means to create and manage VirtualMachines.
It's compatible with Windows, Linux, and Mac systems.
Installing VirtualBox
Windows
Follow the steps on the VirtualBox Downloads page.
Ubuntu
Ubuntu comes with a repository of VirtualBox included, but the version it pulls is generally fairly outdated. It can be installed with:
sudo apt install virtualbox virtualbox-ext-pack
To use a repository that uses current versions of VirtualBox, run the commands:
wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -cs) contrib"sudo apt update && sudo apt install virtualbox-<version>- Where <version> is the latest version of VirtualBox available. You should be able to just tab complete in the terminal to see versions available.
Using VirtualBox
- Download the iso for your desired operating system.
- Setup a new VM and run through the standard OS setup process.
- Remember to proper memory, processors, and vram, otherwise it may run poorly/incorrectly.
- For example, VMs running Ubuntu18 may black screen if only allocated the default 16 MB vram.
- Once installed, launch the VM and:
- Install the Guest Editions CD through the menu with Devices > Insert Guest Editions CD Image...
- Run normal system updates on your VM.
- Finally, restart the VM to be ready for normal use.
Ubuntu Quirks
To make use of Guest Editions in ubuntu a few additional steps might be needed.
- Install additional apt dependencies on the VM:
sudo apt install build-essential dkms
- Add the logged in user to the VirtualBox group:
sudo usermod -a -G vboxsf <user_name>
Sidenote: Unattended Upgrades
For any Ubuntu VMs, it's probably worth disabling "unattended upgrades". You should be regularly running manual updates anyways. See Apt-Get Automatic Updates & Notifications.
Possible Errors
Ubuntu VM Going to Black Screen During Install or Updates
This is most likely a video memory issue. Close the VM, go into its settings, and increase video memory to maximum possible. This should hopefully fix it.
Updated Ubuntu and Now it's Giving Nonsensical "Wrong Kernel" Errors
Try the steps at https://askubuntu.com/a/1131716