Installing VirtualBox On a Personal Device

How do I install VirtualBox on my personal device?

Students may install VirtualBox on their personal device by following the instructions below or may request assistance installing VirtualBox by contacting Information Technology Services (ITS). Both in-person service or remote appointment options are available.

VirtualBox is not supported on Mac computers with Apple silicon (M1 Processors). To check to see if your Mac computer is compatible with VirutalBox, review the list of Mac computers with Apple silicon here.

Installing Virtual Box

1. Install VirtualBox on the host machine (the physical device you will be using). The program can be downloaded for free from: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads.

   • ​​​​​​​Choose the link for the appropriate host machine (located under the VirtualBox X.X.X platform packages header).​​​​​

   • On Big Sur or later you may be prompted to restart your computer.

2. Install the VirtualBox extension pack, located on the same page.

   • This is important in order to utilize USBs on the guest machine (the device you will access from the physical machine) and to allow the resolution to match the side of the VirtualBox window.

Creating the Virtual Machine

1. When VirtualBox has finished installing, open the program and select the New icon to create a virtual machine.
2. Name: "Windows 10 VM".
   1. The correct OS should autofill but if it doesn't, fill it in with the correct OS.
   2. Select Continue.
3. Allocated RAM:    ≥ 2.0 GB.
   1. 2.0 GB is required for both Windows 10 and SAS, 4GB+ is recommended.
   2. If you allocate more than half of the available RAM, the entire system, host and VM, will be slowed down.
   3. Select Continue.
4. You are then given the option to create a new hard disk.
   1. Select Create a virtual hard disk now. 
   2. Select Create.
   3. Select VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)/
   4. Select Continue.
   5. Select dynamically allocated.
   6. Select Continue.
5.  Next is a sliding bar to allocate hard drive space to the virtual machine.
   1. 50 GB minimum is recommended if SAS is going to be installed, .
   2. Select Create.
6. After the Virtual Machine has been created, select Settings.
7. Select Advanced.
8. Enable bidirectional drag and drop and clipboard.
9. If you wish to increase the performance of the VM and have a CPU with at least 4 cores, you can allocate more of these processors to the VM. To do this:
   1. Navigate to Settings.
   2. Select System.
   3. Select Processor.
   4. Slide the Processor(s) slider to no more than half of the total number.
      • Never set the slider in the red (more than half). This will slow down both the Guest and Host machines.
10. The virtual machine (guest) is now created.
    • Use an ISO to install an operating system. 

Adding ISO in the Virtual Machine

1. Download the Windows 10 ISO
   • The ISO can be left in the download folder as it is only needed for the install
2. If you are on Catalina or lower
   1. Start the Windows VM you created.
   2. On the pop-up menu, browse to the flash drive(or downloads folder) and select the .iso file.
   3. Open it.
   4. Select Start.
3. If you are on Big Sur or later
   1. Navigate to Settings.
   2. Select Storage.
   3. Select the empty drive.
   4. Click the CD icon on the right beside Optical Drive.
   5. Hit Choose a Disk File.
   6. browse to the flash drive(or downloads folder) and select the .iso file.
   7. Start the Windows VM

Complete install as normal for Windows 10 Home 64-bit.

1. Select Install Now
2. Enter your Windows 10 Product Key
   1. Windows 10 Education keys are provided to students for free
   2. You do not need a Product Key to install, however you will run into several limitations and therefore it is recommended to obtain a key and enter it before continuing the install.
3. If it asks to select an operating system choose Windows 10 Home regardless of the Product Key entered.
4. Accept the License Terms
5. Choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)
6. Defaults for everything unless otherwise indicated.

Setting up Windows VM

1. After the Installing Windows dialog has finished and the computer restarts, make sure that the computer is either:
   1. Being installed with a Windows 10 Pro or Education license.
      • When the Microsoft Account option comes up select Domain Join in the lower left.
   2. Being installed with a Windows 10 Home license.
      1. Disconnect from the network.
         1. Click the double computer icon at the bottom of the Windows 10 VM window
         2. Un-check Connect Network Adapter
      2. Select I don't have Internet in the lower left.
      3. Select continue with limited setup.
   • If you do not follow these steps then a local account will be unavailable as an option.
2. Create a local user account with no password and the username as the client's first name.
3. Select Not Now to disable Cortana
4. After Windows has installed, install the guest additions.
   1. Navigate to the App Menu on the Mac
   2. Select devices.
   3. Select Insert Guest Additions CD Image.
   4. Navigate to File Explorer, and select This PC
   5. Select VirtualBox Guest Additions CD.
   6. Select VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe
   7. Follow the instructions to install the additions.
5. When the additions are finished installing, restart the virtual machine. 
   • You can now safely delete the downloaded files.
     • VirtualBox-X.X.X-X-OSX.dmg
     • Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-X.X.X.vbox-extpack
     • Windows.iso
6. If you disabled the network when creating a user account, re-enable it now.
7. Type "Update" in the search box and select Check for updates
   1. Repeat until Windows is fully up to date

For additional assistance, please contact Information Technology Services at 419-372-0999 or through chat.