Table of Contents
As already mentioned in Sectioná1.1, “Virtualization basics”, VirtualBox allows you to run each of your guest operating systems on its own virtual computer system. The guest system will run in its virtual machine (VM) as if it were installed on a real computer, according to the settings of the virtual system you have created for it. All software running on the guest system does so as it would on a real machine.
You have considerable latitude in deciding what virtual hardware will be provided to the guest. The virtual hardware can be used for communicating with the host system or with other guests. For instance, if you provide VirtualBox with the image of a CD-ROM in an ISO file, VirtualBox can present this image to a guest system as if it were a physical CD-ROM. Similarly, you can give a guest system access to the real network via its virtual network card, and, if you choose, give the host system, other guests, or computers on the internet access to the guest system.
VirtualBox comes with many advanced interfaces, which will be described later in this manual:
Sectioná7.3, “VBoxSDL, the simplified VM displayer” explains how to run a single VM at a time with a reduced graphical interface;
Sectioná7.4.1, “VBoxHeadless, the VRDP-only server” shows how to run virtual machines remotely;
Chapterá8, VBoxManage reference explains how to use create, configure, and control virtual machines completely from the command line.
The following introductory sections, however, describe
VirtualBox, the graphical user interface,
which is the simplest way to get started.
After installing VirtualBox as described in Chapterá2, Installation, on Windows, you can start VirtualBox as follows:
On a Windows host, in the standard "Programs" menu, click on the item in the "VirtualBox" group.
On a Mac OS X host, in the Finder, double-click on the "VirtualBox" item in the "Applications" folder. (You may want to drag this item onto your Dock.)
On a Linux or Solaris host, depending on your desktop environment, a "VirtualBox" item may have been placed in either the "System" or "System Tools" group of your "Applications" menu. Alternatively, you can type
VirtualBoxin a terminal.
A window like the following should come up:
 |
On the left, you can see a pane that lists all the virtual machines you have created so far (three in the example above). A row of buttons above it allows you to create new VMs and work on existing VMs. The pane on the right displays the properties of the virtual machine currently selected, if any.
When you start VirtualBox for the first time, as there is no virtual machine yet, everything will be empty.