Getting Started Testing with Linux virtual machine on Windows host

Boost developers using Windows as their development platform may occasionally wish to run local tests on Linux, too. A Linux virtual machine running on the developer's Windows host machine is an easy and free way to do just that. A Linux or Mac developer could do the reverse, although doing so would require a Windows license be purchased, but this article is limited to the Linux on Windows case because that's what I'm familiar with.

Likewise, the article is limited to ​VirtualBox because that's the virtual machine manager I use. It was free, ease to install and use, and worked better for me than several similar packages. But that was some years ago and your mileage may vary.

Initial downloads and installation

• ​Download the Ubuntu Desktop installer, choosing the 64-bit flavor unless you have less than 2GB of RAM. The .iso file downloaded will be used later.
• ​Download the !VirtualBox installer for Windows hosts.
• Run the VirtualBox installer, selecting the default when offered a choice.

Create a new virtual machine

• Run VirtualBox. Click the New button to create a new virtual machine. My host machine has four cores with hyper-threading and 16GB of main memory, so I give the virtual machine 2GB of main memory. I also give it 20GB maximum of disk space - VirtualBox only allocates that much if actually needed.
• Once the virtual machine has been built, click Settings (gear icon) and set:
  • System: Processor: 2 CPU's.
  • General: Advanced: Shared clipboard: bidirectional
  • General: Advanced: Drag'n'drop: bidirectional