Installing VirtualBox

Installing VB on a Windows host

Reboot your computer, enter the BIOS and enable the VT-x setting

download the latest VirtualBox NN.NN.NN for Windows hosts AND the matching VirtualBox NN.NN.NN Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack from the VirtualBox web site
You can also download the User Manual from the same page

Execute the exe installer and accept the default settings, but do NOT choose to start VB at the end. Warning, the host network will very temporarily be stopped during the installation, so be sure not to have anything needing a permanent network (eg connection to an interactivr server) during the installation!

Double click on the Extension_Pack installer, accept the license, etc…

Change some basic Preferences:

If the VB is not already using English, change the language and restart VB if necessary
Fichier → Paramètres → Langue → English

File → Preferences → Update → Once per 2 weeks

Determine where the VB settings, the virtual disk files and the temporary files (when you suspend the execution of the VB) will be stored

Warning, you should be careful to choose a place where you have enough space! You need as much space as the main disk image (eg 30 Gb) plus a few Gb for storing the state of the VB when you suspend it…
File → Preferences → General → Default Machine Folder: X:\some_path\VirtualBox VMs\

We will use the following path in this tutorial: E:\VirtualBox VMs\

Installing the copy of a existing Linux guest

Rather than creating a full Linux installation from scratch, it is convenient to use the copy of an existing (and working!) VB machine

Method 1: copy an existing disk image

Click on New to create a new virtual machine and use the following parameters
Name: Fedora Core 20 JYPclone
Type: Linux
Version: Fedora (64bit)

Choose a Memory size of 4096 MB. The memory size depends on the memory installed on the host and we suggest
Host = 4 Gb → VB = 2 Gb
Host = 8 Gb → VB = 4 Gb

Copy the Fedora_Core_20_JYPclone.vdi disk image file to the E:\VirtualBox VMs\Fedora Core 20 JYPclone directory that has just been created

In the Hard drive panel, select Use an existing virtual hard drive file and select the Fedora_Core_20_JYPclone.vdi disk image file, then click Create

Select the new Fedora Core 20 JYPclone machine by clicking on it only once in the left panel, then click on Settings and update the following settings

General → Advanced:
Shared clipboard: Bidirectional
Drag'n'Drop: Bidirectional

System → Motherboard:
Select only Hard Disk
Check that Enable I/O APIC is selected
Disable Hardware clock in UTC Time

System → Processor: keep Enable PAE/NX disabled

System → Acceleration: check that Enable VT-x/AMD-V (you may also have to check that VT-x is enabled in the BIOS so that we can install a 64-bit version of Linux…) and Enable Nested Paging are selected

Display → Video:
Select 24 MB of Video Memory. Specifying to little video memory may lead to major and random crashes of VB
Select Enable 3D acceleration (this may help getting rid of gnome-shell related errors)

Click OK to save the changes!

You are now ready to start and configure your VB!

Method 2: import an appliance

Creating the appliance on the source host

Start VB

Make sure that the virtual machine is stopped (Powered Off state)

File → Export Appliance

Select the Fedora Core 20 JYPclone machine

In the Storage settings window, select an output directory with enough space to store the exported ova (FedoraCore20JYPclone.ova or a more explicit file name, with the VB version and the export date, e.g. FedoraCore20JYPclone_4.3.26_150210.ova) file

A 30 Gb VM disk seems to produce a 11+ Gb compressed appliance file

OVF 1.0 works reliably, and OVF 2.0 has to be tested (by JYP). The difference between the 2 formats is detailed in the OVF 2.0 FAQ

The appliance can't be stored on a FAT32 disk (where file size is limited to 2 Gb)!

Just click Export in the Appliance settings window… and wait (20-30 minutes)!

Installing the appliance on the target host

Copy the appliance ova file to the target host, or just have it on an external USB disk/stick connected to the host

File → Import Appliance… : specify the ova (e.g. X:\some_path\FedoraCore20JYPclone.ova) file and import it
This will install a Fedora Core 20 JYPclone directory in E:\VirtualBox VMs\ and you will get a Fedora Core 20 JYPclone machine in the left panel of the Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager window, with all the correct predefined settings. You may want to edit the settings to adapt the VM memory based on the memory available on the host!

Basic configuration of the imported Linux guest

Select the Fedora Core 20 JYPclone machine and then click on Start

Login with the root or an existing account

Update VB

Create an account for the final user of this VB

Change the name of the VB?

Configure the shared folders?

Installing a Linux guest from scratch

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