Installing Ubuntu on a Virtual Machine
Ubuntu is an increasingly popular server OS that can be deployed as virtual machines, providing an efficient and cost-effective means of testing new software without making the commitment of installing it on an entire server.
Installing Ubuntu on a Virtual Machine
There are various virtual machine applications that support Ubuntu as both host and guest operating system, here is a selection of some of them:
Getting Started
Virtualization is a technique for running software-based instances of physical tools. Virtualization reduces server and resource needs while isolating applications on separate machines for easier troubleshooting when issues arise.
For KVM hypervisor use, several essential elements are necessary. First and foremost is a computer capable of virtualization – and secondly is access to internet-based storage space for virtualization applications.
Next, you must install several packages: these include qemu, libvirt-clients and bridge-utils.
Once the required packages have been installed, the next step should be creating a virtual machine (VM). You can do this by running this command in the terminal:
Once complete, this process should only take a few minutes. When finished, you will be able to connect to your virtual console using VNC or remotely from any GUI-based computer on your Local Area Network.
Note: Creating a VM may require entering a password for security purposes, to prevent unauthorized access.
Installing Ubuntu
Installing Ubuntu on a VirtualBox VM is simple, providing an ideal way to explore it without needing physical hardware. Plus, you can even encrypt its disk for added protection!
Within the New Virtual Machine Wizard, select Ubuntu as your operating system of choice and name your virtual machine (VM). When asked for how much memory to allocate for this VM, a maximum allocation of 40G should be selected – this will allow you to experience all features available in Ubuntu.
Once the Virtual Machine Wizard has created your VM, click Start. When prompted for a virtual or physical optical disk file to boot from, choose Ubuntu iso file and click Continue. Ubuntu installation may take several minutes until completed; when done, reboot automatically will take place with IP address displayed for you to SSH into it from host computer.
Configuring Networking
Virtual machines (VM) are computer systems within computers, providing their own operating system and virtualized resources so they are independent from their host computers. VMs provide an ideal way for testing software or deploying multiple applications without installing them on physical machines separately.
The network configuration of a virtual machine (VM) can be tailored to suit its deployment environment in several ways, depending on its needs. By default, its default NAT mode makes the VM accessible from outside networks while restricting them from accessing its services directly.
If the virtual machine will require serial terminal applications like hyperterminal or teraterm, you must configure its host system so as to share a physical serial port with it. You can do this by editing /etc/network/interfaces file on Windows host system; once this step has been taken, test its serial port configuration by connecting an external system to local network.
Configuring Storage
Once you’ve added a virtual machine to a host computer, the Virtual Machine Manager allows you to configure data storage. By specifying an array of storage paths (typically /dev/cdrom) and network interfaces for its Guest VMs as well as assigning each one to existing virtual or physical networks.
On the Memory Size page, you can set how much RAM will be available to the VM Guest. We advise against exceeding 50 percent of host available RAM as this can degrade performance.
Your options for customizing the VM also include installing VMware tools for its functionality such as resizing its screen or enabling cut-and-paste. In addition, you can select from one of three MAC address models (e1000, rtl8139 or virtio) for its network device in order to prevent conflicts with network devices on both sides. Finally, should one become necessary you can delete an entire storage pool along with its associated virtual disks from Virtual Machine Manager if necessary.
