Setup a VirtualBox VM for testing projects under Ubuntu

Tue 27 February 2024 setup setup / ubuntu / virtualbox / vm

How to create a VM Project Test

I use VirtualBox ("vbox") for testing various things. These are instructions to set up a minimal VM for testing an Ubuntu Desktop installation.

Why vbox? Because I can reset to a known state of the OS installation using snapshots. These instructions will create a "base-os" snapshot to get to a base level clean installation.

create VM

• download Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop

• open vbox manager

  • click Machine | New
  • click New
    • name: webserver
    • type: Linux
    • version: Ubuntu (64-bit)
  • memory, select 8192MB, click Next
  • Hard Disk, create virtual hard disk, click Create
  • Hard disk file type, VDI, click Next
  • Storage, Dynamically allocated, click Next
  • File location and size, 30GB (minimum), click Create (Note: it will fail at 20GB.)

• right click, click Settings

  • General:
    • Advanced:
      • shared clipboard: Bidirectional
      • Drag'n'Drop: Bidirectional
    • other defaults are ok
  • System: defaults are ok
  • Display:
    • Screen: Acceleration, check Enable 3D Acceleration
    • other defaults are ok
  • Storage:
    • click Controller: IDE | Empty
    • click Live CD/DVD
    • click blue disk icon
    • choose a disk file: select in Downloads: ubuntu-22.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso
    • click Open
  • Audio: defaults are ok
  • Network
    • Adapter 1:
      • Attached to: Bridged Adapter
      • Name: en01
  • Serial Ports: defaults are ok
  • USB: defaults are ok
  • Shared Folders:
    • on host: open a terminal; mkdir -p ~/vm-shared
    • click Blue Folder+ icon
      • Folder Path:
        • right menu: select Other and then locate and select /home/$host_userid/vm-shared
      • Folder Name: vm-shared
        • click Auto-mount
      • Mount-point: /home/$host_userid/vm-shared (this is on the host)
      • click OK
  • User Interface: defaults are ok
• click OK

Install Ubuntu

• click Start

  • "Try or Install Ubuntu", wait for boot to finish
  • dlgbox "Install", click Install Ubuntu
  • keyboard selection, click Continue
  • Updates and other software:
    • select Minimal Installation
    • select Download updates while installing Ubuntu
    • select Install third-party software
    • click continue
  • Installation type: defaults okay, click Install Now
    • dlgbox: Write the changes to disks? click Continue
  • Where are you? select timezone, click continue
  • Who are you?
    • your name: %host_userid%
    • server name: vm-2
    • username: %host_userid%
    • pwd: yaknow
    • select require my password to log in
    • click Continue
  • takes about 10m

• dlgbox "Installation Complete", click Restart Now

• "Please remove the installation medium"

  • click on Devices in top menu
  • Optical Drive, un-select .iso
  • click inside VM/Gui and press Enter

• reboot finishes

• login screen: select %host_userid%, enter pwd
  • Online Accounts, click skip
  • Ubuntu Pro, click Next
  • Help Improve, select No don't send, click Next
  • Privacy, click Next
  • click Done

Initial setup

• Open a Terminal, add to favorites

# host
cd ~
mkdir -p projects
mkdir -p vm-shared
sudo chown $USER:$USER vm-shared

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt autoremove

sudo apt install build-essential
sudo apt install virtualbox-guest-utils
sudo usermod -aG vboxsf $USER
sudo reboot

# open a terminal
groups
# confirm vboxsf is a group

• power off the guest

• from vbox manager: start it up

• open terminal

# check vm-shared permissions
cd ~
ls -al vm-shared
<snip>
drwxrwx---  1 root    vboxsf  4096 Dec 20 16:25 vm-shared/
# note the "vboxsf" group

check mouse cut-n-paste integration

• cut-n-paste a line from the terminal onto your host machine
  • if it doesn't work, re-install build-essential and virtual-guest-utils (in that order)
  • power off the VM (not just save)
  • power on the VM from vbox manager

check shared folder

• in host terminal: touch ~/vm-shared/x.txt

# host:
echo from host > ~/vm-shared/host.txt
# guest:
ls ~/vm-shared
cat ~/vm-shared/host.txt
# should see host.txt with content "from host"

# check the other direction
# guest:
echo from guest > ~/vm-shared/guest.txt
# host:
ls ~/vm-shared/guest.txt
cat ~/vm-shared/guest.txt
# should see guest.txt with content "from guest"

Take a snapshot

• save VM
• Take a snapshot: base-os
• restart the VM

To restore to "base-os"

• use vbox to power off the VM
• dlgbox "Close Virtual Machine"
  • select Power off the machine.
  • check Restore current snapshot "base-os"
  • click OK