There are several ways to install Linux. You can install Linux via USB by using a bootable Linux USB stick to create. However, to get acquainted with Linux it is recommended to install Linux in a virtual machine.
The Linux operating system is used in almost all sectors. Most people may know it from the server environment. In IT, Linux is mainly used as a server platform, but also as an operating system on workstations.
The best-known and most user-friendly Linux operating system for workstations is Ubuntu. Ubuntu is currently used by around 20 million active users every day. As a result, it has been further developed and is very user-friendly.
In this article I will explain step by step how you can install Ubuntu Linux in a virtual machine on a Windows PC. Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 support creating an Ubuntu virtual machine via VirtualBox. Ubuntu and VirtualBox are free software.
Install Linux in a virtual machine on a Windows PC
For starters, you need both Ubuntu as a VirtualBox to download. The recommended system requirements for Ubuntu Linux are:
- 2 GHz dual-core processor or better 4 GB system memory.
- 25 GB of free hard drive space.
- Internet access or a DVD drive or a USB port for the installation media.
We will also apply these Ubuntu system requirements at least to our virtual machine. After downloading Ubuntu and installing VirtualBox, open VirtualBox.
Click on “New” at the top and then enter “Ubuntu” as the name. You will immediately see that the type is changed to Linux and version is changed to “Ubuntu_64”.
Click next.
The memory size is now set. I recommend allocating 2048MB or more of RAM to the Ubuntu Linux virtual machine.
Click next.
You now need to create a virtual hard drive. I would leave the option as in this example “Create new virtual hard drive”.
Click Create.
Choose the file type you want to use for this new virtual disk. If you do not plan to use this virtual hard drive with other types of virtualization software, you can leave this setting unchanged.
Click next.
If you want to grow the virtual hard drive, leave this setting at “Dynamically allocated”. If you want fixed size settings, choose “fixed size”.
In this example I continue with “Dynamically allocated”.
Click next.
Enter a size to start with. This is set to 10GB by default. I would leave this as is.
Click create.
Once you have created the Ubuntu virtual machine, click “Start” in the menu.
You will now be asked to select a boot disk for the installation. This boot disk must contain the operating system. Click the folder icon in the “Select Startup Disk” window and select the newly downloaded Ubuntu Linux ISO file.
After selecting the Ubuntu Linux ISO file, click the “Start” button to begin the installation.
You will now see the “GNU GRUB”. Select “Try or install ubuntu”.
Installing Ubuntu can now begin. Select the desired language and click “Try Ubuntu” or “Install Ubuntu”. If you are going to try it out, you do not need to install anything. Installation is self-explanatory.
Click Install Ubuntu.
Now complete the Ubuntu installation. I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!
why are most people talking about oracle and vmware. Windows itself also has an excellent virtual platform that works fine and securely and on which Linux runs fine.
Hello, that's right. That's “Hyper-V”. However, not everyone has this available due to a possible Home license. A Pro edition is required.