Using VirtualBox

Important reminder: VB: VirtualBox VM: virtual machine VB host: the machine and operating system where the VB program is running. VB guest: the operating system (or VM) running inside VB.

We assume that you have already installed and updated VB

Starting VB and the VM

Start the Oracle VM VirtualBox application.

The available VM should appear in the upper left part of the Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager and can be in different states

Powered Off: you have finished your previous session by virtually shutting down your VM. When you click on Start, VB will start the VM just as if you had switched on a Linux computer: you will see briefly the Linux bootloader (where you usually don't have to do anything), then the usual Linux boot sequence and then the Linux login screen. Type your login, click on the cogwheel to select your Linux window manager (We recommend using Cinnamon) then type your password and click on Sign In.

Saved: you have finished your previous session by saving the current state of the VM. When you click on Start, VB will restore the VM in exactly the same state it was at the end of the session. This is the fastest way to resume working!

Aborted, etc...: something wrong or unexpected happened when the VM was stopping... It should be OK to click on Start to restart the VM (as if you were in the Powered Off state).

Once the VM is started/restored, it's OK to close the Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager window!

Suspending or stopping the VM

Remember that your Linux VM is a simulated virtual computer running on your host system, and it should logically behave just like a regular Linux computer

Stopping cleanly from Linux

You have not logged in yet, and you just have the Fedora Login screen: there should be a Power button displayed somewhere on the Linux screen (usually the upper right corner). Click on it and follow the instructions

If you have logged in, just use the shutdown button of the running Linux Window manager. If you are using Cinnamon (as suggested...): click on the Menu button at the lower left of the screen, then on the on/off switch icon, then on Shut Down. Do NOT select Suspend or Hibernate! If you want to Hibernate, it's better to use the option detailed in Stopping from VB below

Stopping from VB

Click on the Close ('X') button at the upper left the VB window, or on Machine -> Close...

Choose one of the 3 possible options:

Save the machine state: the recommended option! This will take a snapshot of your Linux session and save it to disk. Next time you start your VM, you will be back in exactly the same state where you left off

Send the shutdown signal: theoretically, VB will tell the Linux system running on the VM to try to stop... and may fail. It's much better to stop cleanly!

If nothing happens (you machine stays in the Running state), try Send the shutdown signal again!

If still nothing happens, use Power off the machine (see below)...

Power off the machine: this is the same as brutally unplugging a real machine and will immediately stop the VB! Avoid doing this if you can (as you would avoid with a real computer)

Emergency stop

See the Power off the machine option above

Basic use of the VB

Some useful things to configure

The following settings can probably be done with any Linux environment, but the precise details below apply to the Cinnamon window manager

Add some useful things to panel bar at the bottom of the screen

Right click on an empty part of the bar -> Add applets to the panel

Add Workspace switcher

Add Window list

Add System Monitor (there are several available, use sysmonitor@orcus). Right-click on it -> Settings -> only keep the CPU and Memory graphs

Right click on the on the Panel Launchers (the part of the panel with the Firefox, Thunderbird, Terminal and Files) -> Add

to add an xterm launcher:
Name: xterm
Command
xterm -ls -sl 1000 -bg black -fg white
Click on the icon in the upper left corner and choose an icon (eg in /usr/share/icons/gnome)

Updating VB

This is detailed in... the Update section

[ PMIP3 Wiki Home ] - [ Help! ] - [ Wiki syntax ]