VirtualBox is a virtualization software that is used to run virtual machines (VM) on a computer. The computer that executes VirtualBox is called the host, and the virtual machines are called guests. A guest virtual machine systems has its own installation of an Operating System (OS) that is independent of the host. It’s therefore a very convenient way to to test new products (software or OS) because their installation in the guest VM does not affect the installation of the host operating system (OS). The installation of VirtualBox is rather straightforward and we are going to see how to install it in this page.
VirtualBox is freely available from the official VirtualBox website: https://www.virtualbox.org.
I used a web browser to access the website and I clicked the “Downloads” link of the left side:
My computer was installed with Windows 10, therefore I clicked the “Windows hosts” link to download the Windows installer.
The installer had a size of a bit more than 100MB:
I double-clicked the file to execute it and I was asked by Windows UAC (User Account Control) to authorise the installation of the software: I clicked the “Yes” button to allow the installer to make changes to my computer.
The VirtualBox Setup Wizard window opened and I clicked the “Next” button to navigate to the next screen.
The next step allowed to customise the way the different VirtualBox features would be installed and the installation location on the disk. I used the default settings and I clicked the “Next” button.
The next step allowed to create start menu entries, a shortcut on the desktop, a shortcut on the Quick Launch Bar and to register file associations. Once again I chose the default settings and I clicked the “Next” button.
The next step warned that Installing the VirtualBox Networking feature would reset the network connection and temporarily disconnect the computer from the network and it asked for a confirmation to continue. I clicked the “Yes” button to continue. Watch out, you may have to reconnect to the computer after this step if you are using a Remote Desktop Connection.
The wizard was now ready to perform the installation so I clicked the “Install” button:
The installation started and lasted a few seconds.
The installation was now complete and I had the option to start VirtualBox. I left that option activated and I clicked the “Finish” button.
VirtualBox was now installed on my computer:
I wanted to install the “VirtualBox Extension Pack” before starting to use VirtualBox. The installation of the VirtualBox Extension Pack is not mandatory but it adds support for USB devices, VirtualBox RDP, disk encryption and NVME disks among other things. So it is recommend to install it.
I downloaded the VirtualBox Extension Pack from the “VirtualBox downloads page“:
I double clicked the installer to execute it:
The VirtualBox Extension Pack Installer opened in Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager. There was a warning about the system level software that could be potentially harmful to the system, so be sure to download this pack from the official website. I clicked the “Install” button to proceed with the installation.
I read the VirtualBox Extension Pack license agreement, I scrolled down and I clicked the “I Agree” button.
Windows 10 UAC asked me to allow the “VirtualBox ExtPack Helper” to make changes on my computer, I clicked the “Yes” button to allow it.
The installation went on without issues (It took maybe one or two seconds) and I received the confirmation that the extension pack had been successfully installed.
I was now ready to use VirtualBox and to create a new VM! You can see how to install Oracle Linux in a VM in this tutorial.
Disclaimer
The post How to install VirtualBox appeared first on MyBIJourney
