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Today, I am going to show you how to install VirtualBox on Ubuntu. VirtualBox is an open source virtualization product that works very similar to VMware Server. It allows you to run an operating system on top of another operating system. This allows you to have access to multiple operating systems at the same time. For computer technicians, virtualization gives you the flexibility to provide support for different platforms.

I am using Ubuntu 7.10 as my host OS. You can use other Linux, Windows, Macintosh and OpenSolaris operating systems as your host OS. For supported guest operating systems, you may want to check out the list in this link - http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Guest_OSes.

It is quite easy to install VirtualBox on Ubuntu. All you need to do is use the Add/Remove program.

1. Click on Applications in the top bar.
2. Click on Add/Remove…
3. Enter “Virtualbox” in the search bar.
4. You should see “InnoTek VirtualBox” in the search results. Click the check box.
5. Click the “Apply changes” button at the lower right hand corner and wait for the installation to complete.

After the installation, you should find “InnoTek VirtualBox” listed under “System Tools” in the Applications menu. However, if you launch it and start creating a virtual machine, you will soon realize some errors when booting the virtual machine. Before you work with your VirtualBox, you should also complete the following steps.

1. In a terminal, type “gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst” without the quotes. Enter your password. A text editor will open up.
2. Add “nmi_watchdog=0″ to the “kernel” line. Save the change and exit gedit.
3. Reboot your computer.
4. In a terminal, type “sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup” without the quotes. Enter your password and let it build the module.
5. Then go to “System” -> “Administration” -> “Users and Groups”.
6. Click on “Manage Groups”.
7. Select “vboxusers” and click “Properties”.
8. Check your username and click “OK”. Then click “Close”.
9. Logout and login again.

Basically, the steps above were to build the kernel module required by VirtualBox and give your user account the permissions to access the module. You should now be able to use VirtualBox without problems. Next week, I will be show you how to install a guest operating system with VirtualBox. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.