Virtualbox

VirtualBox is a free and open source VM platform. We have had inconsistent results with heavy applications like Magento so haven't used it frequently. Your mileage may vary. This is also cross platform so you can use it on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Installation Instructions

Before you begin, visit VirtualBox Downloads and choose a package based on your platform.

Windows Hosts 

1. Double-click on the executable file, which contains both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. The installation Welcome dialog and enables you to choose where to install Oracle VM VirtualBox, and which components to install. In addition to the Oracle VM VirtualBox application, the following components are available:

2. Navigate through the installation prompts. Do the following:

• Click Next on the first three pages.

• Click Yes when prompted.

• Click Install

• Click Yes when prompted.

     3. Click Install when prompted. Doing so will allow VirtualBox to begin installing on your computer.

     4. Click Finish when prompted. It's in the lower-right side of the window. Doing so will close the installation window and open VirtualBox. Now that you've installed and opened VirtualBox, you can create a virtual machine in order to run any operating system on your PC. Make sure that you don't un-check the "Start" box before doing this.

MAC Hosts

1. Open the "VirtualBox" DMG file. Once the VirtualBox DMG finishes downloading, double-click the file to open it. (on Mac, Oracle VM VirtualBox ships in a dmg disk image file).

2. A window opens, prompting you to double-click on the VirtualBox.pkg installer file displayed in that window.

3. This will start the installer, which enables you to select where to install Oracle VM VirtualBox.

4. Navigate through the installation prompts. Click Continue when prompted.

5. Wait for the installation to complete. Once you're prompted to click Close in the bottom-right corner of the window, you've successfully installed VirtualBox on your Mac.

After installation, you can find an Oracle VM VirtualBox icon in the "Applications" folder in the Finder.

Linux Hosts

There are several ways to install in Ubuntu; below are the two most effective ones.

Installing Using Ubuntu Software Manager

1. On your Ubuntu desktop Activities toolbar, click the Ubuntu Software icon.

2. Click the search icon and enter VirtualBox in the search bar. The search results will list the VirtualBox entry as follows:

      3. Click the VirtualBox entry from the search results. A new dialog will appear.

      4. Then, click the Install button to begin the installation process. The following authentication dialog will display for you to provide the authentication details for a sudo user as only an authorized user can install a software on Ubuntu. Enter your password and click the Authenticate button. After that, the installation process will begin.

      5. You can launch VirtualBox any time you want by entering ‘VirtualBox’ in Ubuntu Dash or access it from the Applications list. You can also create a shortcut in your desktop for convenience.

Installing VirtualBox Through the Command line

1. In order to install the latest VirtualBox, you need to have the Multiverse repository enabled on your system. By default this repository is disabled. Open your Ubuntu Terminal either through system Dash or the Ctrl+Alt+D shortcut. Then enter the following command as root in order to enable the repository and also update your system’s repository index with that on the internet. You may be asked to provide the password for root after which the repository will be enabled on your system.

      2. Now, enter the following command to install VirtualBox:

     3. The system will prompt you with a Y/n option in order to begin the installation procedure. Please enter Y and hit Enter to begin. VirtualBox will then be installed on your system. You can launch VirtualBox directly through the Terminal by entering the following command: