VirtualBox

Overview

Oracle VirtualBox is a powerful, free, open-source virtualisation platform. It allows you to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single machine, making it ideal for testing configurations, learning networking, and practising OS installation and repair without affecting your host system.

Key Features

• Run Windows, Linux, macOS, and other OS instances simultaneously
• Snapshot functionality to save and restore VM states instantly
• Shared folders and clipboard between host and guest OS
• Virtual networking modes: NAT, Bridged, Host-only, Internal
• USB and PCI device pass-through support
• Cross-platform host: runs on Windows, macOS, Linux

Documentation

Full documentation is at virtualbox.org/wiki/Documentation. The VirtualBox User Manual covers installation, VM creation, networking, snapshots, and shared folders in detail.

How to Install & Use

1. Download VirtualBox from virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads — select your host OS.
2. Run the installer and accept the default settings.
3. Also download the VirtualBox Extension Pack from the same page for USB 2.0/3.0 support.
4. Create a new VM: click New, name it, select the OS type, and allocate RAM and disk space.
5. Attach an ISO of your guest OS and follow the on-screen installation.

Limitations & Notes

• Virtualisation requires hardware virtualisation support (VT-x/AMD-V) enabled in BIOS.
• Guest OS performance is lower than native installation — suitable for learning, not production.
• macOS guests are only supported on Apple hardware.
• Nested virtualisation (VMs inside VMs) has limited performance.