In my previous post I discussed installing Virtual Box in Ubuntu, in this post I will explain how to install a new OS within Virtual Box. There are several methods for installing a new OS on Virtual box. You can find a .vdi file from various sources or searching Google, www.virtualboximages.com has a pretty wide selection, but you have to pay for them. I prefer to download an ISO file and install it myself rather than using a pre-created vdi image. The process may take a little longer to download and go through the install process, but I am more comfortable downloading the distribution directly. You can use a site like www.distrowatch.com to see what is new and popular and visit the site to download it.
In this post I used Linux Mint, but the installation kept freezing at the end, I learned that I needed to add more RAM in order to complete the installation and will note that in the post. If you choose to use another distribution, just substitute the version you are using where I indicate Linux Mint.
First you need to open Virtual Box, in Ubuntu go to Applicaions -> System Tools -> Sun Virtual Box.
Click on New to start the New Virtual Machine Wizard.
Click Next, enter the Name you want to call the OS and change the drop down boxes to Linux and Other Linux since there isn’t a choice for Mint. Once you have the information entered click on next.
Next it will ask for the recommended base memory, i left it at the default of 256 mb but this is where I later learned that it should be higher. I ended up using around 2,000 since I have plenty of RAM available on my system with 6 GB of RAM installed. Make any changes if you desire and select next.
Now we will create a new virtual hard disk since we are using an ISO that will be installed on the virtual hard drive. If you are using a vdi image, you would add it here, since I am not I was able to leave the default information and click next.
The Wizard for Creating a New Virtual Disk has started. Nothing to do on the this page, just click next again.
On the next page, I always leave the default so you can start with a small amount of space for the hard drive and expand as needed. After you make your choice click next again.
Since we are using a dynamic hard drive there is no need to make any changes on this page, select Next.
The next page will provide the information regarding you new virtual hard drive, if everything looks alright click Finish.
Now you will go back to the Virtual Machine Wizard to create your new Virtual Machine.
Now you will be back at the Virtual Box Dashboard.
Double click on the Linux Mint OS or click the green start arrow above to start the virtual machine to begin the installation process. The box below will open up regarding the keyboard and capture methods. The main thing to remember is that the Right Ctrl key will be used to activate the mouse inside the window on the guest OS and again to go back to your desktop. I find the message a bit annoying so I clicked the box to not show the message again before hitting OK.
Now the First Run Wizard will start to help you install the software, we will be using the iso image that we downloaded. Click next to begin.
We will be using a CD/DVD-Rom Device, at the bottom of this screen click the folder to locate the iso image on the hard drive.
When you click the folder, you will see the Virutal Media Manager Below. Click on the add button and locate the Linux Mint image on your hard drive.
When you select Open on the iso image it will be added to the Virtual Media Manager.
Make sure the iso is included and highlighted and click on Select.
Now you will be back at the First Run Wizard with the iso added to the Image File source, click on Next.
You will see a summary of the installation, once you verify the information click on Finish to start the installation. Take not of the information regarding unmounting, if the CD remains mounted after the installation it will restart the installation process when you run the OS, we will discuss this after installation.
Now the installation begins. You may get some messages regarding the colors being 16 bit and that you should update to 32 bit, this should be done after the installation is complete.
Depending on the size of the installation it will take a little time, with Lunux Mint you will be running the Live CD and can use that to test as much as you want. If you want to actually install it so you no longer need the iso, select the Install Icon and follow the Installation Wizard to complete the questions and begin the installation. After the installation completes, you should unmount the CD/DVD before restarting and your OS is ready to run.
If you are using another Linux distribution such as OpenSuse or Fedora you can start with the Install process without starting the Live CD.
After the installation completes there are a couple things to check before re-starting in the Virtual Box Settings for the OS. Click the Settings button with Linux Mint highliighted.
Under Display I increased my Video to 128 mb and enabled the 3D Acceleration.
Under CD/DVD-ROM make sure that the LinuxMint iso is no longer mounted and that the Guest Additions iso is.
Now the OS is installed and you can run it directly by clicking start in the Virtual Box dashboard, go ahead and add as many as you like and test them out.
