How to install Ubuntu in VirtualBox

Want to learn how to create an Ubuntu Guest in VirtualBox? Well, I decided to learn how to do that today and it was surprisingly easy! I just downloaded Ubuntu 9.04 and created a new virtual machine inside VirtualBox.

In this article, I will go through the steps to setup your own Ubuntu virtual machine.

Step 1: First, start up VirtualBox and click on the New button or click on Machine and then New.

Step 2: Now the wizard will pop up, so click Next to continue. Give your virtual machine a name and choose Linux for Operating System and Ubuntu for Version. Click Next.

Step 3: Now choose the amount of RAM you want to allocate to the virtual machine. The default is 384, which is pretty good, but if you have a lot of free RAM, it might be better to choose something higher like 512 or 784.

Step 4: Now you can choose to either create a new virtual hard disk or use an existing one. It’s recommended to choose a new hard disk.

Step 5: Choose Next and then for hard disk storage type, choose Dynamically expanding storage.

Step 6: Now choose the location and size of your virtual hard disk.

Step 7: Click Next and then click Finish. You’ll get a summary of all the details and then click Finish.

And that’s it! The new OS will now show up as Powered Off. You can start using Ubuntu by selecting it and choosing Start!

In tomorrow’s post, I will go through how to install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Ubuntu for greater integration and higher video resolution. Enjoy!

10 Comments Already

Ltrav3nw00d Said,

June 1st, 2009 @3:52 pm

I tried installing Ubuntu 9.04 (32bit) on a WindowsVistaSP2 host
using VirtualBox 2.2.4r47978 with an Ubuntu 9.04 ISO
(ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso)

I get various errors when I try to install Ubuntu such as..
“The following file did not match its source copy on the CD/DVD:’

I have tried doing a Integrity check (Check disc for defects )
“Checking integrity, this may take some time
Check finished : errors found in 1 files!
Press any key to reboot your system”

I have downloaded the ISO from multiple sites
checked their MD5 checksums and they are
all the same value and matches
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuHashes

Lynda Said,

June 7th, 2009 @12:15 pm

Excellent instructions, followed it easily, thanks.

miles Said,

June 26th, 2009 @11:08 am

I tried installing Ubuntu 9.04 (32bit) on virtualbox 2.2.4r47978 on a windows XP-SP2 machine. I have got the same failure message as the user above: “The following file did not match its source copy on CD/DVD”. I use the same ISO as above and the ISO hash is correct.
I thought it could be some memory/hardware error, however my hardware passes memtest that comes with the version above. I left it overnight and no errors were found.

Mary Said,

November 20th, 2009 @3:29 am

At the “The software you are installing has not passed Windows Logo testing to verify its compatibility with Windows XP.” step, it tells me that the software will NOT be installed and I have to contact the system administrator. Strange, because I’m the only user of this computer and my account is set up as the main account… Any help please?