Virtual machines for Linux. Installing Linux on VirtualBox

Today I wanted to write an article (installation technology) for installing the Linux operating system on a virtual machine. If you found this article, then you need it too. Let's get started.

Why is this necessary?

Installing the Linux operating system on a virtual machine is primarily necessary for those who just want to see the capabilities of a free operating system. For example, on your personal computer There is a licensed Windows and demolishing it at once is not a very good decision. The best way is to install a virtual machine on your computer and install Linux on it. In another case, programmers install different operating systems to test their programs.

What do you need to download?

I chose VirtualBox as the virtual machine, and so as not to repeat myself, I advise you to read my article in the Windows section ““. There he explained in detail why he chose VirtualBox and where to download it.

I will be installing a version of Linux called “Ubuntu 16.04”. You can download it on the official website using this link.

Let's start installation

After VirtualBox installations and download the operating system, open the program and click on the “Create” button. In the window that opens, select “Type” Linux, and in the version select Ubuntu (64 bit). And write the OS name.

Create a virtual hard drive:

Type hard drive select default:

We also leave the storage format as default:

After everything is done, go to the settings of the created operating system. Go to the “Display” tab and check the box next to “Enable 3D acceleration” and click OK:

We launch our created OS:

A window will open, select the OS you downloaded for installation and click OK:

A window will open. In this window, select the language “Russian”. To install Linux, click “Install Ubuntu”. If you don’t want to install, you can also click “Launch Ubuntu” and try the new operating system for yourself without any installations.

In the “Installation Type” window that opens, select “Erase disk and install Ubuntu” and click “Install Now”:

A confirmation window will open, click “Continue”:

Select a location and click “Continue”:

Select the keyboard layout:

Enter the data (name, username and password):

Waiting for Linux installation:

When Linux is installed, the virtual machine will ask you to restart your computer, click “Restart”:

Oracle VM VirtualBox- this is a kit application programs, system services and drivers that emulate new computer hardware in the operating system environment where VirtualBox is installed. You can install almost any operating system (guest OS) on a virtual computer (virtual machine) and use it in parallel with the main one. So, for example, on a real Windows computer you can install a virtual machine (VM) with a Linux operating system and use both operating systems simultaneously. In addition, you can configure interaction between these systems via a local network, data exchange via removable media, shared folders etc. Also, the current state of the virtual machine (and the state of the operating system installed on it) can be recorded, and, if necessary, at any time, a full rollback to this state can be performed. In other words, a virtual machine is a very convenient tool for learning new operating systems, debugging software, conducting experiments without disrupting the operation of the main OS, researching viruses, diagnostic and recovery tools, and simply for the parallel operation of several operating systems on one computer.

Installing Oracle VM Virtualbox

The current version of Oracle VM VirtualBox can be downloaded from the project download page, which contains links to download installation packages for Windows x86/x64, Linux, Solaris and OS X.

Installation in a Windows environment must be performed under a user account with administrator rights.

During the further installation of VirtualBox, a warning will be issued:

This means that when installing network drivers VirtualBox, the current ones will be reset network connections and there will be a temporary disconnection from the network. If, for example, in parallel with the installation, data is exchanged with network drive, then it will fail with an error. If you are not working on the network, then briefly disabling the adapters will have no effect, and you should allow the installation to continue by pressing a button Yes. Otherwise, you must first exit with network resources.

After installation is complete, the main software module VirtualBox user - Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager (Oracle VM VirtualBox manager):

Installing Linux Ubuntu on an Oracle VM VirtualBox virtual machine

All actions to create virtual machines, change their settings, import and export configurations, etc. can be performed using the Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager (in Russian software - Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager) or using the command line utility VboxManage.exe. The latter has somewhat greater capabilities for setting up virtual machines, but is more difficult to use.

Installing a guest OS on a virtual machine can be roughly divided into 2 stages:

Creating the required virtual machine using VirtualBox;

The boot source (media with the Linux distribution) is determined by the virtual machine settings. It can be a real or virtual CD/DVD drive, floppy disk, HDD, image boot disk or local network. By default, the boot order is as follows - floppy disk, CD-ROM, hard disk, Network. This order can be changed in the virtual machine settings.

At the first starting VirtualBox the main program window with a welcome message and an activated button is displayed Create to create a new VM:

When creating a new virtual machine, the following parameters are defined:

Virtual machine name. In accordance with it, a directory with virtual machine files will be created. By default this is a subdirectory in C:\Documents and Settings\Username\VirtualBox VMs\ in Windows XP environment and C:\Users\User\VirtualBox VMs\ for Windows 7 and older.

The type of operating system that will be installed on the virtual machine. IN in this case- Linux

OS version. In this case, Ubuntu.

Other parameters can be left as default, since they are already selected based on the hardware configuration of the real machine and in accordance with the type and version of the operating system installed on the virtual one. If necessary, parameters can be determined based on your own preferences, for example, increase the volume allocated to the virtual machine RAM.

Here is an example of allocating 1024 MB of RAM to a virtual machine, instead of the recommended 512 MB. When allocating memory, you need to take into account its actual size and the minimum requirements of the guest OS. If you have difficulty selecting this item, use the values ​​recommended by the program. Improper memory allocation between the real and virtual machines can result in poor performance for both.

A virtual machine's hard disk (virtual hard disk) is a special format file in file system Windows. A virtual disk can be created either dynamic or fixed. A dynamic disk is created not for the entire volume specified by the setting, but for part of it, and increases as needed during the operation of the virtual machine. To obtain maximum performance of the guest operating system, it is better to choose a fixed virtual hard disk, and to save disk space, it is better to choose a dynamic one.

VirtualBox allows you to use multiple various formats virtual disk data:

Most of the parameters defined during the creation of a new virtual machine can, if necessary, be changed at any time.

The button becomes active for the created virtual machine Tune, which allows you to change some of its settings, add or remove virtual devices, change their operating modes, and manage the distribution of resources of the real operating system. To get acquainted with the guest OS Ubuntu Linux is enough initial settings performed when creating the virtual machine. Therefore, you can immediately start launching the VM by pressing the button Launch. After the VM starts, a message about usage is displayed on the screen Automatic keyboard capture

This means that when the cursor is within the VM window, keyboard input will be performed for the virtual machine. By default, to switch keyboard input between real and virtual machine windows, use right Ctrl. The current input state is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the virtual machine window.

The green color of the arrow means that keyboard input will be performed for the virtual machine, gray - for the real one.

To install the operating system on a virtual machine, you will need to boot from installation disk. In the VirtualBox environment, it is possible to boot from not only standard devices(CD/DVD drive, flash drive, network...) but also using a virtual drive created based on the boot disk image. Linux distributions are typically distributed as ISO-9660 image files (files with the extension iso) and VirtualBox allows you to do without burning the image to a CD, but simply connect such a file directly to the virtual machine as a virtual drive with installed media based on the contents of the iso image. When you start a virtual machine for the first time, when there is no guest operating system installed yet, VirtualBox will prompt you to select a boot device

Instead of a physical drive, you can select an image file, for example ubuntu-13.04-desktop-i386.iso, which will be connected as virtual device with Ubuntu 13.04 installation CD/DVD. When you press the button Continue The virtual drive will boot and the installation of the guest operating system (Ubuntu) will begin.

The process of installing a guest OS is no different from installing it on a real machine. You can select the language for the installed system (usually Russian), time zone, keyboard layout, etc. Most parameters can be left by default, including Installation type

During the installation process, you must specify the computer name, user, password and login mode:

The rest of the Ubuntu installation proceeds without any user intervention and ends with prompts to restart the computer. Compared to installing the system on a real computer equipment, installation on a virtual machine is slower, which is to be expected. The degree of performance degradation mainly depends on the speed of the actual computer hardware.

When you first boot a newly installed operating system, VirtualBox Manager will automatically disable virtual drive based on the disk image with the Ubuntu distribution, the boot will be performed with virtual hard disk and upon completion, a login prompt will be displayed on the screen.

Changing Oracle VM VirtualBox Virtual Machine Settings

In some cases, such as when connecting a virtual machine to a real local network as a peer node with the ability external connection to his network services, you will need to change some default settings when creating the VM.

In the VirtualBox environment, it is possible to use 4 virtual Ethernet network adapters, which are configured in the virtual machine properties window on the tab Net

When you press the button Additionally the values ​​of additional parameters of virtual network adapters are revealed, allowing you to select the type of adapter that will be used by the virtual machine driver, promiscuous mode, when the virtual adapter will accept all Ethernet frames Regardless of the MAC address of the receiver, the MAC address value that is assigned to the virtual network card.

For everyone network adapter you can specify in which of the following modes they will operate (field Connection type):

Not connected- In this mode, VirtualBox tells the guest OS that the network adapter is present in the hardware configuration, but it is not connected - as if Ethernet cable was not attached to the card.

NAT (Network Address Translation)- the main connection mode, set by default when creating a virtual machine. Allows for the simplest implementation network access using client software (mail, Web, Skype, etc.)

Network bridge- bridge mode between the virtual and real network adapter, when data exchange between them is carried out directly without any changes in the guest OS environment. This mode allows you to access network services of the guest OS in the same way as for regular real hosts local network. Using this mode, you can easily simulate a local network of real and (or) virtual machines.

Internal network- used to create virtual network accessible from the virtual machine, but inaccessible from real applications.

Virtual Host Adapter- used to create a local network of virtual machines and a real machine where VirtualBox operates (host machines). This mode does not use communication through a physical network adapter, like communication through a loopback interface.

Universal driver(generic network interface) - allows you to include in VirtualBox a user-selectable driver with additional extensions for combining virtual machines running on different hosts.

To include a virtual machine in an existing local network with the ability to access its network services, use the mode Network bridge and setting up the virtual network adapter so that its IP address is included in the local network address range. For example, for a local network 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 needs to be assigned virtual adapter(manually or automatically via DHCP) a free address from the range 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.254.

The first step is in the settings of the newly created virtual machine, in the section Net The VirtualBox manager for the network adapter needs to be changed Connection type NAT on Network bridge. Then, using the guest OS tools (in this case, Ubuntu tools) set a new IP address value. This can be done using System parameters - Net- Select a connection and press the button Options

To change the IP address you need to select the "Manual" mode

In the VirtualBox environment, just like on a real computer with an operating system Linux system, you can use several virtual terminals, to switch between them using a key combination CTRL - ALT + F1...F6(from the first terminal to the 6th). Thus, if necessary, you can simultaneously open several user sessions on different terminals and use them simultaneously. To switch to graphical shell used CTRL-ALT+F7. On different distributions, the key combinations for switching may differ. When changing or viewing system settings that require you to run commands as root, you can, for example, use the first terminal, with registration in the context of a superuser account. The second terminal (as well as a graphical one) can be used under the account regular user.

To switch to account context root you need to run the command su on behalf of the superuser.

sudo su- go to the console with rights root

su allows you to execute a command as another user. If the username is not specified, it is assumed root. Work under an account root It is not recommended because incorrect actions can lead to serious damage or even crash of the system.

To view the current network settings the command is used ifconfig. When executed without parameters, the current settings for all network interfaces are displayed:

Eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr A8:00:97:6E:e9:65 inet addr:192.168.50.8 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0 inet6 addr: fe80::a00:27ff:fe6b:e965/64 Scope: Link UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:124 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:166 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:28340 (28.3 KB) TX bytes:19383 (19.3 KB) lo Link encap:Local Loopback inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0 inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU :65536 Metric:1 RX packets:144 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:144 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 RX bytes:12445 (12.4 KB ) TX bytes:12445 (12.4 KB)

In this case, information about 2 network interfaces is displayed, eth0 And lo. The first one with a name eth0 is the local interface Ethernet networks and created on network card With MAC address A8:00:97:6E:e9:65 And IP address 192.168.50.8. Second - lo is a loopback interface with IP address 127.0.0.1, typically used to emulate data transfer within a given system.

If desired, finished image VirtualBox virtual machine with OS installed Linux Ubuntu can be downloaded on . Typically, the bootable image of the virtual machine reflects its state at the time the Ubuntu installation was completed using the standard settings. The login username and password are provided on the download page.

The Sourceforge project also supports a page for downloading images of VirtualBox virtual machines with installed operating systems Android systems, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris and several dozen varieties of Linux.

For maximum flexibility, starting from version VirtualBox 4.0, a remote control mechanism has been implemented virtual machines via the optional VirtualBox Remote Desktop Extension (VRDE) interface. The VirtualBox base package only provides support for of this interface, and the support itself is implemented in the form of additional external module(plugin) VirtualBox extension package, which can be downloaded and installed as an addition to basic package. Installation of this module is carried out double click by downloaded file with extension vbox-extpack. Material taken from the site:

Today I will tell you how to install a virtual machine in the ubuntu operating system. What is this and why? Virtual machine -- software environment, which is installed into your operating system and allows you to virtually create space for working with different operating systems from under yours. In this case, we have the ubuntu operating system installed. By installing a virtual machine on it, we can install several operating systems on the virtual space within our operating system. Why is this? There are plenty of options. For example, it didn’t install right away under ubuntu. Photoshop. I'm too lazy to remove the tambourine from the wall, so I solved the problem by installing Windows XP to the virtual machine, and installing Photoshop on Windows XP. You can also try to work with various operating systems of the Linux family for informational purposes. With a virtual machine, there is no need to install an operating system on your hard drive next to your main operating system. We install a new operating system in a virtual environment and experiment; a virtual machine will help us with this.

After downloading the environment, follow the four steps of the installation wizard. This is the only thing you need to view your desktop in full screen mode, as well as better support all equipment in general. As you can see, there is no need to install any external packages or anything at all.

First of all, obviously we will need to collect necessary tools for the textbook. It's important to leave all the options as default if we're not entirely sure what we're doing. We will specify the machine name and determine which operating system we will install, as shown in the following image. In the next step we will be asked about the hard drive. If we need to install an operating system, that is, no one has gone through our virtual hard disk and we need our computer with hard drive, we will now select the “Create a virtual hard disk” option.

Let's look at an example of using a virtual machine virtualbox

Installing a virtual machine virtualbox-- open Ubuntu Application Center

In the search bar enter

Virtualbox and install the virtual machine virtualbox

At this stage we are given the format that we want to provide to the virtual hard drive. If you want to use this hard drive in other virtualization software, we will choose the option that suits us best. To finish creating the machine, we will assign the virtual hard disk a name and an initial size, we can usually leave both values ​​at their defaults, but if we need to vary the size of the disk, it is advisable to always set the larger one to the smaller one.

You can find all these architectures in the following links. Once you have the file. Once it's launched, you can launch the bootloader, which will display the installation options shown in previous page. Important note. Now we will create a new virtual machine for which we will right-click on the server, from the pop-up menu we will select “New Virtual Machine”.

The launch shortcut will appear in Applications - standard - VirtualBox OSE

Before the first launch, we need to add a user to the group to work with the virtual machine virtualbox. For this we go System -- Administration -- Users and Groups We find ourselves in

User Settings

The New Virtual Machine Wizard will show you your options. Typical: Create a virtual machine with general device and configuration settings. Custom: Create a virtual machine with additional parameters configurations. Select "Custom" and click "Next".

Now we will select the virtual hard disk type, options. We will specify the virtual hard disk size and software type,parameters. The space required for the virtual disk will be allocated during creation. Thin Provisioning: A small virtual hard disk will be created, it will use the minimum space initially required and it will grow to maximum value specified if necessary. Store with virtual machine: This is the normal option, the hard disk will be created in the same folder and data store as the rest of the virtual machine files. Specify Datastore or Datastore Cluster: If we want the VHD files to be stored in the datastore storage down to the virtual machine level, we will be able to select this option. This hard drive will be reset to zero the first time the virtual machine is written to. . Select "Save using a virtual machine" and click "Next".

Click

Managing groups, go to Group Settings

Finding a group vboxusers, go to its properties. We put a tick next to our user name

That's it, now you can start a virtual machine and install various operating systems on it

The default option "Independent" is not set, and we should not check it unless we are clear about its effects. We check the "Edit virtual machine settings before completion" option to change the settings of the virtual machine after it is created. Click Continue to create the virtual machine.

After creating the virtual machine, the wizard will display the virtual machine settings window. We will indicate the installation type and capabilities. This option is recommended for novice users or if we have data on a hard drive or another operating system. Something else: the wizard will allow us to select the splitting options manually, this option is recommended for advanced users. We will be sure that we do not have data on the hard drive because this process will eliminate them, we will click "Install Now".

And enjoy life

If you've dropped your laptop or otherwise broken or cracked your screen, it's not really a big deal. The laptop screen, which is correctly called a matrix, is not at all difficult to change yourself. It is enough to order and buy a matrix for your laptop model, and replace the broken one with a new one. In this case, you do not need to take your laptop for repair and pay money for the work of a third person.

With the text Installation complete. This gives us an advantage in being able to test different systems without having to format our equipment or create backups of information that took time. We install them with the following commands. We install it using the following command. We have two ways to install the application on our computer. The first is to add the repository to our system and perform the installation. This is how we take this step.

Now we move on to loading public key and installing it into the system. We have updated the repositories and installed the application. To install this method we have to go to official page. Now we simply open a terminal and install the downloaded package using the following command.

In one of the previous articles I talked about. Now let's try to make a virtual machine on which we will install Ubuntu.

You must first download the Ubuntu installation image. I recommend the LTS (long-term support) distribution of Ubuntu 14.04, which you can download from the official Ubuntu website.

Launch Virtualbox and click the “Create” button:

Finally, the installation is complete, we can find the application in our system menu to launch it and start testing various systems that we find on the web. First, we will briefly outline what it is, besides its advantages and disadvantages, followed by the appropriate installation of the application and creation of a virtual machine. A virtual machine is computer program, which imitates behavior full computer. That is, it is a program that allows us to have several simulated computers on one computer.

You can have several separate operating systems running in parallel. You can use it to do things you wouldn't do on your computer.

• They are easy to create and wash.
• You can enable or disable them at any time and even pause them.
• The virtual machine receives its resources from the host computer.
• Thus, it slows down the underlying operating system.

Enter the name of the virtual machine, select the Linux type, Ubuntu 32bit version (of course, Ubuntu 64bit is also possible):

Specify the allocated amount of RAM. By default, Virtualbox offers 768 megabytes for a virtual machine with Ubuntu, you can allocate more if possible:

The first thing we need to do is create our first virtual machine. When opening the program we will see the following window. To do this, click “Create” and we will start interacting with the creation assistant. When we run the wizard, it presents the program and we give "Next".

The first step is to name the machine to distinguish them from others, and from the operating system that we are going to install. This last part serves as the application's minimum operating system requirements for subsequent steps. But we must take into account the requirements of the operating system.

The next step is to create a hard drive. Select “Create a new virtual hard disk”.

You can leave the virtual hard disk type as “VDI”.

Storage Format: Dynamic Virtual Hard Disk (i.e. hard file the disk will increase as it fills. A fixed hard disk file immediately takes up all the space we allocate to it)

As in the previous section, we must consider the advantages that our computer has. It is enough for installation, but depending on what we provide to the virtual machine, we will adjust it. If we have already created a virtual hard disk, we will simply specify the path.

But in this tutorial we will create a disk from scratch. We select “Create new virtual disk", and clicking "Next" opens another virtual disk creation wizard. Now we need to select the virtual hard disk type. There are several programs for creating virtual machines, each of which uses a different format, viz.

Specify the name and size of the virtual disk (10-20 gigabytes is enough for Ubuntu)

The virtual machine has been created, but we need to configure it a little; in the Virtualbox window, select the created machine and open its settings.

In the “Display” settings, you can increase the size of the allocated video memory and enable 3D acceleration

The next step in creating a virtual disk is choosing how to occupy disk space. Dynamic: the hard disk begins to take up as little space as possible, and since the virtual machine requires more space, it will expand until it reaches the limit we want at the next point. Dual boot allows you to determine at boot time which operating system you want to use. Benefits of a virtual installation.

The virtual machine will set up its own video configuration, so you don't have to worry about installing proprietary ones graphics drivers to get a reasonable screen resolution.

• The size of the installation should not be predetermined.
• This could be a dynamically modified virtual hard disk.

Connect the downloaded Ubuntu image

The sound can be turned off at your discretion:

In the simplest case, we only need one network adapter, the connection type is “NAT” (then the virtual machine will not be “visible” to other devices on the network) or “Network Bridge” (the virtual machine works as a full member of the network which can be accessed from any device online). If you selected “Network Bridge”, then you must also specify the “NAME” of the network adapter of the real computer through which the network connection will go:

In theory, a dynamically expanding virtual hard disk is best because it will only take over what you actually use. Read them and then you will also want to mark them so you don't see them again. We start with a base that has a computer with the OS installed, regardless of the version. With the default settings there is more than enough left. Keep in mind that if you exceed the virtual machine's resources, your computer will suffer. In addition, you always have time to change these settings when the virtual machine is turned off.

You can also connect a shared folder for simple file exchange between the main computer and the virtual machine. We indicate the path in the shared folder and I recommend turning on the “Auto-connect” item

After that, launch the virtual machine and install ubuntu. About how.

Unlike a real installation, we have nothing to worry about. You will find it on virtual optical disk. To do this, simply go to the main window and click “Create a new virtual machine.” In the virtual machine creation wizard, the operating system installer will ask you to virtualize. We will only be prompted for a name and username to create a primary user account. We'll change the settings later if we see that the virtual machine isn't running as fast as we'd like.

“Create a virtual machine” or “Create a virtual machine” appears in the options panel. We can leave the default settings. If something doesn't work, we will only need to change it in the virtual machine configuration until a suitable option is found. However, this ad contains a lot small print. For the average user this option is of little use.

Installing guest OS add-ons

The next step is to install add-ons for the guest OS; they are necessary so that the guest OS can support usb devices, shared folders, dynamically changing screen resolution, RDP servers, etc.

With something that runs internally, you can use it whenever you need it without having to reboot. On the program launch screen, click the “Create” button. On the first screen of the Create Virtual Machine Wizard, enter a name for the new machine.

On the next screen, select the amount of memory that will be used by the virtual machine, and then click Next. In the Hard Disk section, select the Create a new virtual hard disk now checkbox. In the section "Physical storage on hard drives» check the “Dynamically assigned” checkbox, so the file on the disk will take up little space and grow if necessary.

To install add-ons for the guest OS in the window of a running virtual machine, open the menu item “Devices” - “Mount the Guest OS Add-ons disk image”:

After mounting the “Guest OS Additions” image, the disk will autorun and you will see a proposal to install add-ons, install them:

Next, enter the superuser password and the installation of add-ons for the guest OS will begin. After the installation is complete, press Enter and the console window in which the add-ons for the guest OS were installed will close:

To apply the additions for the guest OS, reboot the virtual machine.

Configuring access to a shared folder between the main and guest OS

The shared folder between the host computer and the guest OS is located in /media/sf_shared_folder_name. But there is no immediate access to it. To access the shared folder in the guest OS, you need to run the following command in the terminal:

Sudo adduser current_username vboxsf

This command adds the current user to the vboxsf group, whose members have access to shared folders for the guest OS. After executing the command, you must reboot the virtual machine to apply the rights.

This completes the article on setting up a virtual machine with Ubuntu. See you again on the pages of our blog!

Good day, dear readers, admirers and all sorts of other personalities. Today we will talk about VirtualBox, as is clear from the title.

More precisely, I will tell you about virtualization and today together we will create, so to speak, a virtual computer inside a physical one, and install a virtual operating system into it that will work inside existing method simple window switching.

This virtual system will be (in a virtual computer you can install Windows, but I think you can do this yourself, following the example of this article and the installation instructions that were once written), articles about which it would be high time to take root in this project.

Why is this necessary at all - all these virtual computers and virtual systems?

Let's figure it out.

Why might this be necessary?

Well, just for reference:

• Firstly, at least just for reference, because I think many will be interested in knowing how the same one looks and operates Linux live. And considering that you don’t have to reinstall anything on the computer itself and that no harm can be done to the system during installation, this idea is completely safe and comparable to going to the zoo, which, as you understand, is convenient and great;
• Secondly, the skill of using virtualization will be required, of which, by the way, there are quite a lot of people visiting this project. Virtualization is now used on servers everywhere and being able to master it will not be superfluous.
• Thirdly, you can come up with quite a lot of different applications for a virtual computer and a virtual OS in it.

Everyone can come up with the rest for themselves.

Virtualization? How it can be applied

Let's see how:

• You can store valuable data there (not everyone will realize that you have a “system within a system” at home, where all the most valuable things are stored);
• Can be used as a testing ground: have you downloaded some strange, unfamiliar program? Scary? You never know, or something that, if used incorrectly, could harm the system? So why ruin your work computer - just install and run suspicious software in a virtual OS, and then you’ll see;
• Install and try different distributions Windows, Linux and other systems, without really affecting anything on the computer and without leaving your favorite already installed system;
• Use it as a shell for traveling across the Internet. You launched a virtual machine with Linux, opened your favorite browser there and you are not afraid of any viruses, unless you manually dragged them into the local system.

More theory and information

First, a few words about virtualization in general. What is it and what is it eaten with, and how does it work.

Everyone, I think, knows that a computer has certain capacities that are not always used to 100% of their capabilities and, in a sense, are idle, i.e. remain free (unused) until a task comes along where these resources can be used.

So, from these unused resources you can, so to speak, bite off a piece in order to imitate the so-called virtual computer (machine). We choose how much we want to use, how much processor power, how much and, voila, using a virtualizer ( special program) we get, so to speak, a computer within a computer with the configuration we set.

The resulting virtual computer turns on, turns off, reboots, boots in exactly the same way, you can install an operating system and programs in it. In short, it has almost all the same properties as a real one - the only difference is that it does not take up space in the apartment and is, in fact, software, not hardware.

We can say that a virtual machine is a resource shell for the guest OS installed in it (in the sense that it (the virtual operating system) is installed inside an already existing one and is therefore called a guest).

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In general, my words may not look entirely clear, and therefore I suggest you move on to practice and, I think, everything will immediately become obvious to you;)

What will we use?

For all of the above, we will need, in fact, a computer, a virtualizer program, as well as a downloaded image (if you still have CD/DVD, then of course he will do too) with installation distribution Linux or Windows.

If we talk about virtualizers:

• In fact, there are a great many virtualization programs, both paid and free. It just so happened that my (and many) choice fell on VirtualBox, which I have been using almost all my life, and therefore in this article we will talk about it;

If we talk about distributions Linux:

• In general, the choice of distribution is a matter of taste for everyone. There are a lot of debates on this topic on the Internet, even though all Linux users represent a kind of anti-Windows community;
• In my case, the choice fell on Linux Mint . Beginners can try Ubuntu. There are many options for every taste - choose yours and go ahead.

That is, on at the moment You must have downloaded the distribution kit, virtualizer VirtualBox and the computer, in fact, is in front of your eyes.

First, which is logical, we need to install a virtualizer; to do this, run the downloaded .exe file, after unpacking the archive. The installation is typical and simple and I will not dwell on it, fortunately it consists of points " Next-next"and again" Next" (Next).

It is possible that at one stage you will be asked to install network interface or some other driver. Agree:

After launch, it would be very logical to launch the virtualizer VirtualBox using the appropriate shortcut. The program at the time of updating the article will look something like this:

Now let’s move on to the initial setup and use of this wonderful miracle, but first of all I must tell you something that you must understand here and further.

A little warning about virtualization and VirtualBox

Now we will create a virtual machine and do all the things for which this article was written.

But before that I want to notify you that received in program computer virtual, but he uses it completely real(physical) resources (they are not taken out of thin air, but “bitten off” from the current system).

So do not turn the sliders to maximum, because the local system may “suffocate” if you take away all its power :)

Creating a virtual machine in VirtualBox

You have already seen the main window of the program, so now we need to click the button " Create":

The next window will prompt you to select the operating system, its type and name (at your discretion):

In order not to suffer too much (remember that we are biting off real resources?), I recommend sticking to about a quarter (give or take) of the total computer memory:

The next stage, which will undoubtedly appear after you press the button " Create", he will ask you, what kind of virtual hard disk would you like to have? Here and now I will not describe the types and nuances, I simply recommend, for starters, making the disk a fixed size (if space allows) of, say, 64 GB and format VDI:

If you are interested in learning about other formats, as well as why you chose this particular size, format (fixed) and other nuances, then feel free to ask them in the comments.

On the right top corner you will be able to choose the place where the disk of this very disk will be located, so I recommend placing it where you have enough space, resource, speed and everything else, i.e. the virtual disk, as you remember, occupies a completely physical space:

The machine itself, formally, has been created for the sim, but it still needs to be configured and, as in the case of a real computer, an operating system must be installed on it, which, in our case, Linux Mint.

From now on I will only show right side settings, naming the tab to constantly make it huge and clickable (like the last one). For example, on the tab " System"First of all, it's worth checking the box" Net":

And, secondly, on the subtab " CPU"check the box" Enable PAE/NX"and set (at your discretion the number of processors (cores), as well as the load limit. Again, I would recommend sticking to a quarter of shared resources, at least in this case:

On the display tab, it may make sense to increase (I usually increase to the maximum) the amount of available video memory, as well as 3D And 2D-acceleration (which is usually not relevant for Linux):

Regarding the section " Carriers", then switch to the second line, then select the disk icon and point to the distribution Linux or Windows, which you probably downloaded in advance. If you are using a real CD/DVD, then insert the disk into it and check the appropriate box:

The audio tab is responsible for audio transmission and playback. The checkboxes, I think, are logical for everyone:

The network tab usually allows you to transfer (emulate) a network interface or several, as well as NAT, port forwarding and many other tails. Usually you don't need to touch anything if you have previously checked the " Net":

The remaining tabs, except perhaps the section " General Tabs" touching, in our case, is usually not required. Unless using the plus sign, in fact, create a shared folder (it will be needed to exchange files between the virtual and real machines:

Then create a folder somewhere convenient for you (preferably a new and empty one) and indicate the path to it. It would also be extremely and completely useful to check the box " Auto-connection":

This completes the initial setup and (previously) creation of a virtual machine in VirtualBox can be considered complete, which means you can try to launch it and proceed to the installation.

Installing Linux or Windows using VirtualBox

Actually, now you just need to start the machine to begin the process of installing the content:

If you did everything correctly, the image you downloaded will start and you will see it in the window of the virtual computer that you just created:

When you click on the area (window) of the virtual machine, you will be warned and told how the transfer of the mouse, keyboard and everything else occurs. I recommend that you read this message carefully. In short, it comes down to the fact that by clicking into the virtual machine area, you transfer control to it, and if you want to return the mouse and keyboard to their native space, then you will need the host key " Right Ctrl":

Then, in fact, all that remains is to do the installation and use the machine to your health. How to install Linux, Windows or anything else, we have already talked about in the relevant articles. For Linux this is approximately, but for

Turning on/off and managing the virtual machine is controlled by the corresponding items at the top of the screen.

Preface to Afterword

Congratulations, you have just completed a full installation Linux or Windows, and even in virtual system. This is not given to everyone;)

By the way, the installation is really, so to speak, “real” and, if you decided to install Linux Mint not to a virtual computer, but to a local one and, previously recorded on disk, but to BIOS set to load from CD, then everything would be exactly the same (except that the disks would be formatted a little differently and not in a file, but live). So, here’s another use for a virtualizer - training to install systems - here format or don’t format, twist or turn, but it’s almost impossible to break something. But gaining experience is easy.

I will only add that the virtual computer can be paused, turned off and rebooted using the first tab (Machine) or (which is better) the functions of the system itself (Start button), as well as create shared folders between the virtual and local system using the second tab (Devices). In general, there are a lot of applications and we provide them on.

I repeat that you can install any operating system in a virtual machine, including everyone’s favorite Windows.

Afterword

I just gave you most powerful tool, which will allow, if desired, to learn many aspects computer literacy, - from self-learning to install and use various operating systems and to, if you have imagination and literacy, the deployment of system-in-system security systems. Enjoy it for your health.

By the way, as promised, a visual video format of the article (though this is an old version, but still):

As always, if you have any questions, additions, or suggestions, ask and I will always be happy to answer them in the comments.

PS: I will write a number of articles later on how to use virtualization, especially in terms of security.

Installing Linux Mint in Virtualbox

Today we will talk about installing LinuxMint on virtual Virtualbox machine . In the last issue I talked about how to install Windows Xp, 7, 8 in Virtualbox
This article will affect torrents, so I recommend subscribing to the newsletter. There you will learn more about torrents and learn how to work with them
She is no different from Windows installations Xp so if you decide install LinuxMint OS in Virtualbox, then with my help you will learn how to do this.
If you don’t know what Virtualbox is, then go to the Virualbox section and see from the very beginning what Virtualbox is, why it is needed and how to install it.
First, we need an ISO image; I suggest installing the linuxMint image. For two years now, the distribution has been ranked 1st in the popularity rating due to its simplicity, etc.
Download LinuxMint-17.1-XFCE

We will choose a 32-bit OS. If you need it, then choose 64. I just need a 32-bit OS.
After downloading LinuxMint 17 (I downloaded it to my desktop), you will have a file called linuxmint-16-kde-dvd-32bit.iso- that’s what we need!

Now let's open our Virtualbox and make some settings. First - Let's create a new car. Set the parameters regarding your configuration. I recommend setting the RAM to at least 1042. Better than 2048. Winchester 8GB and > .








Now we wait 5-7 minutes while our fixed disk is created. After that, go to the LinuxMint settings, we need to set a couple more settings before installing it on Virtualbox.


Set in processors - Enable PAE/NX.


In the graphics, set support for 3D acceleration and put the video in MB as desired. The more, of course, the better.


Now all that remains is to add the image so that the installation of LinuxMint begins when our machine boots. To do this, go to Media. Where is IDE Controller, right click, select Add drive optical disks - Select image, select ISO image our LinuxMint





If you get something like the one below in the picture, then everything is correct

Now we launch our just created system

After appearing, Automatic boot... press Enter and select the first option




Now we wait 2-7 minutes before appearing GUI. After downloading it, select Install Linux Mint

After that, set your parameters. I set mine up like this.










Now we wait 20-30 minutes for our LinuxMint to install. This is your time, which you can spend drinking a cup of coffee, hugging mom or telling dad a joke =)


After the installation complete window appears. Select the cross on top and close the machine


After that, delete in settings iso disk, so that our LinuxMint does not constantly start loading from it.


All. Our Linux is ready! Use it and be sure to comment to raise my morale =)