For example, Andy the Android emulator installs VirtualBox along with an Android VM, so you may wish to check your system beforehand in order to save a little time and effort.

In rare cases, you may not need to install VirtualBox.

Why 32-bit? Generally, 32-bit Linux distros are smaller, this helps keep VM size pared down to a minimum.īe sure to download a full DVD ISO if possible, as a full ISO file makes installing Linux on a VM much, much easier as you will shortly see. So, to download the Slackware 14.1 x86 DVD ISO. In Slackware's case, the ISO () can be downloaded either from an official mirror or finding the image on Slackware's BitTorrent page. I chose Slackware Linux, version 14.1 for x86. Obviously, you first need to download VirtualBox, as well as an ISO from the webpage of your favorite Linux distribution. So what are the options available if you wish to run a virtual machine installed with your Linux distro of choice? You can gamble on using a third-party VM, or you can create one yourself with a Linux distro's installation ISO (disk image) file. Other online sources also host downloadable VM's installed with distros other than Oracle's, but there is are no guarantee's these third-party VM's aren't laden with spyware or other nasties. Oracle, the maintainer of VirtualBox, has created a variety of virtual machines you can download for free, each configured with different database and/or web server options, all running Oracle's Linux distro. This is especially attractive for Mac users not wishing to use Boot Camp, or Windows users not wishing to repartition a drive, configure a bootloader, or run Linux from a USB stick.

The app can do this using the magic of virtual machines (VM), because each machine runs its own OS internally.įor example, a Mac or Windows user can use a VM to run a Linux distro without a need to change or modify the underlying host computer in any way. VirtualBox is software that runs on Windows, OS X, Linux, and Solaris, capable of full virtualization. Full virtualization allows VirtualBox to run OSes entirely different than the OS it is running on top of.

Virtualbox linux