How to Run a Virtual Machine in Linux

Plus reasons to choose it over dual booting

Running a virtual machine on Linux allows you to use other operating systems and software without dual boot or partitioning your hard drive. It provides a convenient and efficient way to test, develop, and explore different desktop environments without impacting your primary system.

With various virtualization software available, such as VirtualBox, you can easily create and manage virtual machines. These tools create a virtual PC for these operating systems, enabling them to function alongside your Linux distribution.

To run a Linux virtual machine, follow the steps below.

Reasons to Choose a Virtual Machine over Dual Booting

You might be wondering whether or not it’s better to simplydual boot Linux and another operating systemand switch between them. A virtual machine offers several advantages over dual booting for running multiple operating systems on your Linux machine.

Firstly, VMs allow you to run multiple operating systems simultaneously, eliminating the need for constant rebooting when switching between them. It’s more convenient and saves you time. The only bottleneck is your system resources—you’llneed a good enough PCto be able to handle both systems running at the same time.

Secondly, VMs provide better isolation between the host and guest operating systems, reducing potential risks and conflicts. Your primary OS remains safe, even if the secondary one faces issues.

Lastly, you can easily manage and configure VMs, making experimenting with different systems and modifications simpler. They’re isolated into virtual hard drive files, meaning you can create multiple environments to test from.

Choosing an Operating System to Use as a Virtual Machine in Linux

When running a virtual machine in Linux, you have a wide variety of operating systems to choose from. Here are a few popular choices:

This isn’t an exhaustive list—you can run pretty much any operating system in a virtual machine, as long as there’s support for it. Some, like Windows andother Linux distributions, are easy to run. However, others like ChromeOS or macOS lack official support, making them a bit harder to set up.

How to Enable Virtualization on a PC

Before running a virtual machine in Linux, youneed to enable virtualization on your PC. Virtualization allows your computer to run multiple operating systems simultaneously by creating virtual computers within your main system.

To enable virtualization on your PC, follow these steps.

Your computer will restart, and virtualization will now be enabled, allowing you to run virtual machines in Linux.

How to Install VirtualBox on a Linux PC

You can run a Linux virtual machine in a few different ways, but the easiest is to useVirtualBox. VirtualBox is a powerful and popular virtual machine platform that allows you to run multiple operating systems simultaneously. It’s also free and open source, although there is a free add-on extension pack that isn’t open source.

To install VirtualBox on a Linux PC, follow these steps.

How to Create a Virtual Machine Using Virtualbox on a Linux PC

With VirtualBox installed, you can create and run virtual machines on your Linux PC.

Once you’ve first booted up your PC, the installation process will begin for your operating system. You’ll need to follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process—this may take some time to complete.

Once you’ve completed these steps, you should have a fully functional virtual machine running in VirtualBox on your Linux PC.

Running a Linux Virtual Machine

Thanks to software like VirtualBox, running a virtual machine on your Linux PC is easy. If you can’t quite give up Windows, or you want to try out another Linux distribution likeLinux Mint or Ubuntu, this is a good (and faster) alternative to dual booting on your PC.

If VirtualBox isn’t for you, you may find better luck trying analternative like VMWareinstead. You can always stick with VirtualBox and try it in reverse torun Linux on a Windows PCinstead.

Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing.Read Ben’s Full Bio

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