Virtualization: Getting started with Oracle VM VirtualBox and VMware Workstation Part 1
What is virtualization? Virtualization uses software to create hardware components of a physical computer such as hard drive, memory, video, network card, etc. to be divided into multiple virtual systems.
This is where virtualization software such as Oracle's Virtual Box or VMWare Workstation comes to play. We could utilize our hardware components and build multiple VMs as long as our hardware can support them.
For example, if you want to learn operating systems such as Windows Server 2016 or the latest version of CentOS, you will find asking yourself, where do I start? Would you consider buying another laptop or desktop to support this? Or would you risk installing and learning a new operating system using your current laptop or desktop where you use it for work or personal use?
This is where you can take advantage of virtualization technology. Before we deep dive into installation and configurations, here are some lists of popular virtualization applications that you can install in Windows or MacOSX operating systems.
Virtualbox runs on Windows and MacOSX Intel-based processors and it is completely free.
VMWare Workstation is for Windows OS and Fusion is for MacOSX Intel-based processor. Both Workstation and Fusion are not free but the VMware Player is free. The VMware Player is great if you are just getting started with virtual machines and highly recommend this first before investing in Workstation or Fusion as you can get going with basic features.
There are others such as Parallels and QEMU but I have not had the experience using them.
Getting Started with Oracle VM Virtualbox
For this example, we will create and install Kali Linux as a VM. Kali Linux is a well-known distro for Pentesters, Incident Responders, and Security Researchers.
First, download the latest version of Kali Linux https://www.kali.org/get-kali/
We could simply use the VM pre-built images, however, I want to have full control over how I would define the hardware specification of my Kali Linux VM, so I picked the “Bare Metal” option. I have a laptop with an Intel-based CPU and 64-bit architecture.
I downloaded the recommended one (Installer 64 with customization). Once the download has been completed, you will have the Kali Linux ISO file. An ISO file is an exact replica of an entire disk, except you have it as a file instead of a DVD, CD, or Blue-ray disc.
Next step, load Oracle Virtual Box.
I do have several VMs already installed, and since this is your first time loading a VM, you will have an empty VM library.
Now let’s create our Kali VM by choosing Machine -> New on our Menu Bar
Define the Name and Operating System
Define the Memory Size
I do have 16 GB of memory at the time of writing this. However, with Kali with graphical based installation, 2 GB of memory should be sufficient as recommended per Kali documentation.
Define the Hard Disk
Hard Disk File Type
Hard disk file types vary per virtualization software. VirtualBox Disk Image VDI) is the default disk format for Oracle’s Virtual Box. Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) is by Microsoft while Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK) is VMWare’s virtual disk file format.
Choosing the right disk format is critical if you intend to migrate your VMs to a different virtualization platform. As for our example, we will use VDI (VirtualBox).
Create Virtual Hard Disk
There are two types of hard disks that we could pick from. One is Dynamically allocated, which will only use space on your physical hard disk as it fills up while the Fixed-size is automatically allocated and reserved.
For example, if we pick 50 GB dynamically allocated, VirtualBox will allocate 50 GB of space but would not use the entire size, until 50 GB has been reached by our Kali VM instance. If we choose a Fixed-size, VirtualBox will automatically allocate 50GB from your physical disk regardless.
Define File Location and Size
I allocated 50 GB as the size of the Kali Linux VM. Once set, create and complete.
Few more settings before we get started
Now that we have our Kali Linux created, we have to change a few settings before we could hit the Start button.
Right-click on Kali Linux VM and choose Settings
Settings Menu
This is where we define specific settings for a VM. In this section, we could set the System, Display, additional Storage, Audio, Networking, and much more.
Change System Setting
Motherboard Tab
- Boot order — uncheck Floppy
Processor Tab
- Adjust the CPU from 1 to at least 2 CPU
Storage Settings
This is where we have to define and set our Kali ISO file.
Storage Devices
- Controller: IDE -> Choose the ‘Empty” Blue disk under the Controller:IDE and on the right hand pane under attributes, Click on the Blue disk again. From this menu, we could find our kali ISO by choosing the “Choose a disk file” option.
The last option is to browse where we saved our ISO file.
Network Settings
This is where we define how our Kali Linux or our VMs will communicate to other devices within our network.
- NAT — Network Address Translation (NAT) is the simplest way of accessing an external network from a virtual machine. Usually, it does not require any configuration on the host network and guest system. This is the default networking mode in Oracle VM VirtualBox.
- Bridge — With bridged networking, Oracle VM VirtualBox uses a device driver on your host system that filters data from your physical network adapter. This option will place your VM as you have an additional device in your network.
- Internal — Internal networks are created automatically as needed. There is no central configuration. Every internal network is identified simply by its name. This option is one of the safest ways to isolate your VMs to other computers within your network. However, you have to configure the operating system’s networking configuration manually.
For our example and to make is simple, we will choose NAT. Then click OK.
Now, we are finally ready to click the “Start” button and load our Kali Linux.
You can follow the Kali installation here https://www.kali.org/docs/installation/hard-disk-install/ as this does not cover within this article.
Hint: Within your VM, while using the mouse and keyboard, you may find yourself stuck within the VM console. The default shortcut key to get out from the console is by pressing the right ‘ctrl’ key from your keyboard.
Conclusion
This completes the part for the Oracle Virtual Box configuration and loading our first VM — Kali Linux. In Part II, we will go through in configuring and loading Kali Linux in VMWare Workstation.
References
