Install Ubuntu LTS in VirtualBox VM
Objective:
The objective of this lab is to install Ubuntu LTS in a VirtualBox VM.
What to do
1: Install VirtualBox for your operating system
Install and start VirtualBox. Next, set storage of VirtualBox VMs.
- Download link for VirtualBox: Windows and Intel-based macOS only. Apple Silicon is unsupported by VirtualBox 7.x.
Screenshots of VirtualBox first run and directory for VM location.
VirtualBox 7.0 installed VirtualBox VM storage preferences
2: Download Ubuntu ISO
- For Intel/AMD64 architectures: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)
3: Setup VM before installation
| New Virtual Machine |
| VM Memory (suggested 4096 MB, minimum 2048 MB) |
| Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Size (suggested 64GB, minimum 25GB) |
| VM Summary |
| Increase display video memory (use maximum supported by graphics card) |
| Verify ISO is in CD drive |
| VirtualBox Ubuntu 24.04 Settings |
4: Installation
| Boot into ISO |
| Choose Language |
| Configure Accessibility (based on personal requirements) |
| US style keyboard (default setup) |
| Configure Internet connection (if needed) |
| Choose Install to begin the installation |
5: Configure Ubuntu during installation
6: Complete installation, remove ISO, and reboot
7: Bring up terminal to login to matrix
| Choose Terminal from Applications |
| ssh to matrix (use your MySeneca username) |
8: Shutdown VM
| Shutdown VM by powering off (IMPORTANT: Always poweroff to avoid reboot problems) |
Practice Questions
What were the main steps in doing the installation after the VirtualBox VM was created?
What is the difference between privileged and unprivileged user? What were the usernames of each (privileged and unprivileged user) during your Ubuntu installation?
What are hard disk partitions? What purpose do they serve? Describe the purpose of each partition created during installation, meaning what purpose does the
/directory serve? Similarly what purpose does/homeandswapserve?
What does GRUB mean? Why is GRUB necessary? What are alternatives to GRUB? Describe a scenario where GRUB would not be required?
What command line confirms that you installed Ubuntu LTS? What is the output that you are looking for when you run that command line?
What are the other releases of Ubuntu? What purpose do each of them serve?
Give some advantages and disadvantages to using Ubuntu. What other Linux distributions (or Unix flavours) would you recommend? What are the downsides of your recommendation?
What machine architecture did you install Ubuntu on? What other hardware architectures does Ubuntu support?
A friend of yours has got stuck setting up her VirtualBox VM? Explain the different parts of the VirtualBox VM that you configure when installing Ubuntu. Which configurations are absolutely necessary otherwise Ubuntu won't install?
- What happens when you attempt to shutdown using your MySeneca user account? What error did you get? Why? How would you resolve the issue?