VirtualBox MD

Introduction

This is a simple howto that explains how to install a VirtualBox MD. The host machine was an Ubuntu 10.04 + Fluxbox installation, built up from a minimal command line install. However this howto really ought to work on any machine running VirtualBox.

Start by installing VirtualBox, and run it (in Linux type "VirtualBox" in the terminal, taking note of the capital letters!)

Create new Virtual Machine

• Name section

Put whatever you want here; I put "MD"

• OS section

Operating Sytem - Linux

Version - Ubuntu (don't choose 64 bit)

Click "Next"

• Memory

I gave 1024 MB (There is 4 GB of RAM on the host machine, and I am able to run XP with 2 GB of RAM in another window simultaneously)

• Virtual Hard Disk

Uncheck

Click "Continue" on the warning, then "Finish"

Settings

With MD highlighed (or right-click on MD), click "Settings"

• Under "System" -> "Motherboard" tab -> "Boot order" section

Uncheck everything except "Network" (and put "Network" first for good measure)

• Under "Display" -> "Video" tab

Set "Video Memory" to maximum (128 MB if possible).

Note: Considering experimenting with "Enable 3D acceleration" under Extended Features, but leave unchecked for now

• Under "Network" -> "Adapter 1" tab

Change "Attached to:" to "Bridged Adapter"

Press the "OK" button.

And away you go

Start the MD! Just go with UI1 to begin with; if you find a way to get UI2 working (perhaps using the "Enable 3D acceleration" option?) then please document it here.

Note: The command to start any specific virtual machine without going through the main VirtualBox menu is "VBoxManage startvm <VMName>" where <VMName> is the name of the virtual machine, so "VBoxManage startvm MD" in this example.