Introduction
Today I’m going to running through the steps I took to set up a Virtual Linux Environment running Linux Ubuntu. If you haven’t already installed Oracle Virtual Box you can read my guide here.
I downloaded the latest Long-term release of Ubuntu desktop from https://ubuntu.com. I did this as the long-term release remains in support for a longer period of time than the standard release. At the time of writing the latest long term release for Ubuntu is 20.04.
Setting Up The Virtual Environment For Linux
- Open Virtual Box application and select the New Icon to create an enviroment
![VirtualBox Tools Window](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-9-1024x310.png)
- Select the name, location, and type of Operating System to be installed. I changed the location of the virtual machine to a specific folder in my D: drive as that is my largest disk, but the default setting will be fine in most cases. As Ubuntu is a Linux distribution select Linux and then Ubuntu from the listed Linux distribution.
![Virtual Box initial setup of Virtual Machine](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-10.png)
- Select the amount of physical memory on your computer to assign to the virtual machine. I went with the recommended size. Click Next to Continue
![Virtual Box setting up the ammount of memory available to the Virtual machine](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-11.png)
- Create the Virtual Hard Dive for the Virtual Machine. Which is a file on your computer which simulates a physical hard drive on the virtual machine. Again I will go with the default setting. Select Create to continue
![Virtual Box. Selecting the type of Virtual Drive for the Virtual Machine](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-12.png)
- Defining the Virtual File as I’m only currently using Oracle Virtual Box I have gone with the default setting
![Virtual Box. Defining the file type to use for the Virtual File](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-13.png)
- Dynamic or Fixed Size. I used the Dynamically allocated file size which is the default setting as performance isn’t my biggest consideration. Dynamic files only take up space as required.
![VirtualBox. Is the Virtual Drive file size going to by Dynamic or Fixed](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-14.png)
- Click on create to create the Virtual Hard Drive
![Virtual Box. Final confirmation of Virtual Setup](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-15.png)
Installing Ubuntu On To The Virtual Machine
- Select the Ubuntu Virtual Machine and click on Start
![Virtual Box. The Ubuntu Virtual Machine settings](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-16-1024x581.png)
- Click on Storage and select Optical Drive
![Defining the location of the Ubuntu ISO file to install the Operating System](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-17.png)
- Click on the Add Icon and slect the ISO you downloaded and then click on choose
![VirtualBox. Destination of the ISO file selected](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-18.png)
- Select OK to close the storage settings window
![Virtual Box. ISO file now selected](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-19.png)
- Click Start to run the virtual machine
![Virtual Box Ubuntu is ready to run](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-20-1024x585.png)
- The Virtual Machine starts running in the new Window and the Linux installer will run. Select Install Ubuntu to install Ubuntu on the Virtual Machine
![Ubuntu installation screen running on Virtual Box](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-21.png)
- Select the appopiate keyboard for your country before selecting continue
![Ubuntu select keyboard layout](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-24.png)
- Updates and other software I have gone with the default settings and then clicked continue
![Ubuntu installation type](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-25.png)
- As I’m installing Ubuntu on a virtual machine I’ve selected Erase disk and install Ubuntu and click Install Now
![Ubuntu default partition setup](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-27.png)
- Ubuntu advices you of the changes that will be made. Click continue
![Ubuntu partition confirmation](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-28.png)
- Select your location and click Continue
![Ubuntu location set up](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-29.png)
- Set up your user account and click continue
![Ubuntu user setup](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-30.png)
- Click on restart to restart the virtual machine to complete the installation
![Ubuntu installation completed](https://www.ctnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/image-31.png)
Conclusion
During the Linux setup process, I encountered errors due to hardware virtualisation being turned off in the Bios. So I had to restart the computer to access my Bios to turn on the virtualisation
Now that I have Linux installed on my Virtual Box I need to think about what areas of Linux I want to explore. Please feel free to add any suggestions on what I should explore in the comments below.