Virtualization 2.0 - VirtualBox

In this chapter, we will understand what a VirtualBox is and discuss in detail the various components it has.

Installing VirtualBox

To start with, we will download VirtualBox and install it. We should follow the steps given below for the installation.

Step 1 − To download VirtualBox, click on the following link https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads Now, depending on your OS, select which version to install. In our case, it will be the first one (Windows host).

Step 2 − Once the option is selected, click on “Next”.

Step 3 − You have the option asking where to install the application. We can leave it as default and click on “Next”.

Step 4 − Once the options are selected as shown in the following screenshot, click on Next.

Step 5 − A dialog box will come up asking whether to proceed with the installation. Click “Yes”.

Step 6 − In the next step, click on “Install”.

Step 7 − Tick the start VirtualBox check box and click on “Finish”.

Step 8 − VirtualBox application will now open as shown in the following screenshot. Now, we are ready to install the virtual machines.

Creating a VM with VirtualBox

To create a virtual machine with Oracle VirtualBox, we should follow the steps given below.

Step 1 − To begin with, click on the “Oracle VM VirtualBox” icon on the desktop as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 2 − The next step is to click on “New” button, which is in the top left hand side of the screen.

Step 3 − A table will pop-up requesting you the parameters for the virtual machine. These will be −

Name − We have to put a friendly name for this Virtual Machine.
Type − Enter the OS that is going to be installed on it.
Version − Enter the specific version for that OS, which we have selected earlier.

Once all the above parameters are filled, click on “Next”.

Step 4 − Select the amount of memory that you need to allocate in this VM → Click on “Next”.

Step 5 − Check one of the three options for the HDD and click on “Create”.

Step 6 − Select a file extension for your virtual HDD (It is recommended to use a common file extension that most of the hypervisors use like VHD) → click on “Next”.

Step 7 − Choose whether you want the Virtual HDD as dynamic or fixed. This is based on your needs → Click on “Next”.

Step 8 − Put a name for your virtual HDD file and select the disk size for your VM → Click on “Create”.

All the above steps can be done in one shot by selecting the “Expert mode”.

The virtual machine created will be as shown in the screenshot below.

Setting up Networking with VirtualBox

There are two types of networking modes in VirtualBox, which are −

Nat Networks and
Host-only Networks.

Both of these are explained in detail below.

Nat Networks

For setting up Nat Networks, we should follow the steps given below.

Step 1 − Go to Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager → Click on “Preferences…”

Step 2 − Click on “Network” and then on the left panel click on the “NAT Networks” tab.

Step 3 − Click on the “+” button, which is highlighted in the screenshot below.

Step 4 − Here, we have to put the “Network Name” and the IP range for this network that will be NAT-ed, in order to have access to internet and to other networks.

Host-only Networks

For setting up Host-only Networks, we should follow the steps given below.

Step 1 − If you click on the “Host-only Networks” tab, you can create networks that are isolated from the other networks. However, VM hosts communicate with each other and the Hypervisor machine. Click on the “+” sign.

Step 2 − The host interface will continue to be created as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 3 − If you click on VirtualBox Host button, you can edit the settings.

Step 4 − If you want your host machines to take “DHCP IP”, click on the “DHCP Server” tab and check the box “Enable Server” → Click “OK”.

Step 5 − In the “Adapter” tab, put the IP of the hypervisor.

After all these preparations for setting up the network modes is complete. It is now time to assign a network to our VMs.

To do this, Click on the VMs on the left side of the panel, then right click on the “Network” option and a table will be open.

You can have up to four Ethernet adaptors per machine. The following image has four sections highlighted, which are explained below.

Check the box “Enable Network Adapter” to enable the vNIC on the VM and attach it to one network.
You can have many networks created, so we have to select one of them in the “Name” dropdown box.
In the adapter type dropdown-box, we have to select a physical NIC that the hypervisor has.
Promiscuous Mode: Here, we can select “Deny”, if we do not want the VMs to communicate with each other.

Once all the above parameters are completed. Click on “OK”.

Allocating Processors & Memory to a VM

To allocate processors and memory to a virtual machine using VirtualBox, we should follow the steps given below.

Step 1 − To allocate a processor and memory, you have to click on “Settings” after you have selected the VM.

Step 2 − Click on “System” on the left side tab, then click on the “Motherboard” tab. Move the arrow left or right to allocate the memory as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 3 − To allocate processors, click on the “Processor” tab. Move the arrow left or right to allocate the number of processors as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 4 − After all those changes are done → click on “OK”.

Duplicating a VM Using VirtualBox

To duplicate a virtual machine using VirtualBox, we should follow the steps given below.

Step 1 − To duplicate a VM that we created before, right click on the VM and select “Clone”. A wizard will open.

Step 2 − Write the name of the cloning machine and click on “Next”.

Step 3 − Select one of the options and Click on “Clone”.

Step 4 − The newly created VM will be as shown in the following screenshot.

Deleting a VM on VirtualBox

To delete a virtual machine on VirtualBox, we should follow the steps given below.

Step 1 − To start with, we have to right click on the VM that we want to delete and then click on “Remove”.

Step 2 − To delete a virtual machine completely, select “Delete all files”.