There are various VM software options available online that can be utilised for virtualization. VirtualBox is one of the most commonly used virtualization software that allows you to create and run multiple operating systems (like Windows, Linux, macOS) simultaneously on a single physical computer (host). Developed by Oracle, it's free, open-source, and runs on various host systems (Windows, macOS, Linux) to run guest operating systems within virtual environments, making it great for testing, development, and running different OSes.

Installation Process

A) Download VirtualBox from the Web

Visit the VirtualBox home page here and click any of the suggested links to go to the downloads page.

On the downloads page, click on the Linux distributions link.

From there, review the available Ubuntu options and click the one that matches the version of your Ubuntu System. If unsure which version is installed on your system, verify by running hostnamectl, cat /etc/os-release, or lsb_release -a. Below is an output from lsb_release -a.

For my case, I will click Ubuntu 24.04 to download the latest .deb package, VirtualBox 7.2.4.

B) Commandline Processing

Navigate to the terminal on the path where you've installed the .deb package and run sudo apt install [package name] and the preceding commands as illustrated below (copy the commands and change the package name to match the one you've installed).

cd ~/Downloads

sudo apt install ./virtualbox-7.2_7.2.4-170995~Ubuntu~noble_amd64.deb # change package name

sudo /sbin/vboxconfig # Builds VirtualBox kernel modules

sudo reboot

virtualbox

You might receive a warning after a successful installation, but it does not affect the process.

C) Install VirtualBox Extension Pack (Optional)

After rebooting the system, open a terminal and run:

virtualbox

Or search for VirtualBox in the app menu.

If you are using VirtualBox and want to unlock advanced functionality and improve hardware compatibility, you should install the Extension Pack. For example, it enables recognizing and using physical USB flash drives, hard disks, and other USB devices connected to the host computer at higher speeds and with better compatibility than the default USB 1.1 support. Thus, return to the downloads page and click on the Accept and download button on the left side of the page.

Open the file manager, navigate to the installation location, right-click the file, and open it with VirtualBox. It will open VirtualBox and prompt you to install. If it's the first time, you'll see the install and not reinstall buttons, as shown in the image below.

After clicking the install button, scroll to the bottom of the license window to enable the Agree button and complete the install.

You now have a fully functional VirtualBox ready for use.