Enable Virtualization in the BIOS. Reboot your computer, enter into the BIOS (F2, Del), go to the Advanced menu. Virtualization is a CPU feature, so you need to go into the CPU Configuration and search for a setting labeled Intel (VMX), Virtualization, AMD-V, or Intel-VT, and set it to Enabled. Finally, select Save Changes & Reset to save these changes in the BIOS and exit.
Installation
If you are a Windows or macOS user, open your web browser and go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads and then download the .exe or .dmg file to your computer, double click on the file and start the installation -sweet and easy! It is not such an easy process in GNU/Linux.
If you are an Ubuntu user, you can find VirtualBox in the Ubuntu Software Manager or type in your terminal: sudo apt install virtualbox. If you are an Arch user, you need to install some packages: sudo pacman -S virtualbox virtualbox-guest-iso
Only ARCH. To use the USB ports of your host machine, add the current user to the vboxusers users group: sudo gpasswd -a $USER vboxusers
Only ARCH. Load the VirtualBox module automatically at boot time: sudo modprobe vboxdrv
Maybe you find the following problem: The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver (vboxdrv) is either not loaded or there is a permission problem with /dev/vboxdrv. Try to install: sudo pacman -S virtualbox-host-dkms linux-headers
Install the VirtualBox Oracle VM Virtual Extension Pack: yay -Syy && yay -S virtualbox-ext-oracle (Arch), sudo apt install virtualbox-ext-pack (Ubuntu) or download it from VirtualBox (Windows, macOS). It provides additional features (it enables USB 2.0 and 3.0 support), but it is released under a non-free license only available for personal use.
ARCH. The Oracle VM VirtualBox web service, vboxwebsrv, is used for controlling Oracle VM VirtualBox remotely. Enable vboxweb to start on boot and start the service: sudo systemctl enable vboxweb.service, sudo systemctl start vboxweb.service
Change Virtual Machine Folder. Virtual machines often involve really big files! File, Preferences. On the General tab, Default Machine Folder.
Install Guest Additions in Arch (i3). user@pc:~$ mkdir /opt/cdrom. user@pc:~$ mount /dev/cdrom /opt/cdrom. user@pc:~$ cd /opt/cdrom. user@pc:~$ ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run
Share Clipboards, enable drag and drop. Settings, General. Open the Advanced tab. Shared Clipboard and Drag’n’Drop: Bidirectional.
Take a snapshot. Machine, Take Snapshot. If there is a failure, it allows you to fall back to a working version quickly and easily.
Enable USB Access. Settings, USB. Click on the + sign to add a new device, e.g., USB SanDisk 3.2 Gen1.
Enable Audio. Settings, Audio, Enable Audio Extended Features: Enable Audio Output.
Shared Folders Settings, Shared Folders, +. Edit Share: Folder Path (this is the actual folder path on the host machine, e.g., ~/Dropbox), Folder Name (it is an arbitrary name you choose to have for your shared folder, e.g., Dropbox), check Auto-mount and Make Permanent.
After that, add your (Virtual Machine -guest-) user to the group “vboxsf”: sudo usermod -a -G vboxsf $USER. Create a directory to mount the shared folder: mkdir ~/myDropbox, and mount it: sudo mount -t vboxsf Dropbox ~/myDropbox/
Increase Disk Size of your existing Virtual Machine: File, Virtual Media Manager… select one of your virtual disks, and use the “Size” slider. Even though you have a larger virtual hard disk, the operating system’s main partition on your virtual hard disk is still the same size. You could use GParted live to resize your virtual machine’s partition: Settings, Storage, and browse to the GParted live ISO file on your computer, boot your virtual machine with GParted, and enlarge your main partition.
The Windows Subsystem for Linux lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment ‐‐ including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications ‐‐ directly on Windows.
Enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux. You must be running Windows 10 version 2004 and higher or Windows 11. You can install everything you need to run Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) by opening an administrator PowerShell or Windows command Prompt, typing wsl ‐‐install, and then restarting your machine. You will be asked to create a user (user name and password) for your Ubuntu. You can always open your Ubuntu, using the Start menu.
Type df -h. Each of Windows letter drives (C, D, E, etc) is treated as a mounted drive from the WSL Linux file system: /mnt/c, /mnt/d, etc.