This article explains how to install Ubuntu on VirtualBox.
Oracle VirtualBox is an open-source, powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product. It allows you to install more that one operating system on the same physical hardware. You can install Linux – Ubuntu, Debian, Free-BSD or any other operating system on Windows Operating System.
You can refer What is VirtualBox and How to install on Windows 10 article for further details. Here we are going to install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10 so that you can use both the operating systems at the same time. It is not dual boot, you have both operating systems running at the same time.
Let’s see how to do it.
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a free, open-source Linux operating system. It runs from the desktop to the cloud, to all your internet connected things. This is the most popular operating system across OpenStack and public cloud.
Below are some of the main features,
- Open Source
- Simple and intuitive interface
- Fast and Secure
- Thousands of Apps VLC, Firefox, LibreOffice, Thunderbird, etc.
Install Ubuntu 18.04 on Virtual Box
There are multiple ways to install Ubuntu. Below are the generic steps,
- Download Ubuntu Desktop
- Create a bootable USB or DVD from the downloaded image
- Insert it in the USB drive or DVD Drive
- Start computer with USB/DVD drive as a first bootable drive
- Setup is a wizard-driven installation. Follow on-screen instructions for installation
Here we are using Oracle Virtualbox to install Ubuntu on Windows Machine. Steps are the same irrespective of the method you choose.
Download Ubuntu
Ubuntu is available for desktop, IoT, Server, and Cloud. We are going to use the Desktop. Download the desktop from this link. The current version is Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) at the time of writing this article.
There are alternative methods available to download Ubuntu. Here you will find Network Installer, BitTorrent, Official CD Mirrors for Ubuntu. You can also download past releases of Ubuntu.
For Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Recommended system requirements are given below:
- 2 GHz dual-core processor or better
- 2 GB system memory
- 25 GB of free hard drive space
- Either a DVD drive or a USB port for the installer media
- Internet access is helpful
Refer to release notes for further details.
Some of the features introduced with this version are,
- Linux kernel 4.15
- Default CIFS/SMB protocol version change in CIFS mounts
- Improved UEFI Secure Boot handling for the use of third-party modules
Create a Virtual Machine
Open VirtualBox and create a virtual machine supporting 64-bit Ubuntu. Use this guide to create a virtual machine. Select the OS as Ubuntu as the operating system while creating the virtual machine.
Start Virtual Machine
Virtual Machine is empty container right now. You need to install the operating system in it. Right-click on Ubuntu Image->Start->Normal Start. You can also click the Start button in the toolbar after selecting the respective virtual machine.
Select start-up disk
Next, select the start-up disk. Just browse the downloaded file ubuntu-18.04-desktop-amd64.iso and click the start button.
This starts the installation process. There are 2 options here.
- Try Ubuntu– This option will help you to try Ubuntu without making changes to your computer.
- Install Ubuntu – Click this to start installation on your computer.
Select Keyboard Layout
Select Keyboard Layout. Setup automatically detects defaults, no need to select. If it does not, just click on Detect Keyboard Layout button.
Select Installation type
Normal Installation – This includes most of the software required to run and use it efficiently like Web Browser, Utilities, Office software, Games and Media Player.
Minimal Installation – This only has a web browser and basic utilities.
Check/uncheck checkbox if you would like to download updates while ubuntu is getting installed. This needs a high-speed internet connection, as it downloads the latest files and packages from the server.
For now, just let it be a default and click continue.
Choose default and click on Install Now button.
Confirmation from setup before installation actually starts. Click continue button.
Choose Location
Select the location if not automatically detected.
Enter user information
Create user and click continue.
That’s it. Installation started and will be ready in some time. It copies all file and downloads latest files also. If you would to like to have coffee then go ahead, it takes time.
Post-installation VM restart and Ubuntu starts. Enter the username and password and start leaning Ubuntu Linux Operating System.
Summary
In this article, we covered how to install Ubuntu Linux on the Windows operating system using Oracle VirtualBox. Please share and subscribe.
