Patrick Teglia

Here are a couple of pointers on getting VirtualBox OSE running on Kubuntu from my recent install.

Add Yourself to "vboxusers"

First, after you have installed VirtualBox OSE, you will need to add yourself to the vboxusers group. In Kubuntu, you can do this by going into the KDE Control Center -> System Administration -> User Management and clicking on the button to go into Administrative Mode.

Then, once you have entered your password, you will see a list of users on your machine. For me, it was just me :) Select the user that you would like to have access to VirtualBox, and click Modify.

The User Account tab will pop up and on the second tab on the right side, you will scroll down to "vboxusers" and make sure to put a check in the box there. Hit Ok and Ok, then log out and back in again.

VirtualBox Modules

Next, you will need to install VirtualBox OSE Modules, so open up a terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose-modules-generic

Create Your Client Machine

Good. Now you can move forward with installing your client operating system. I used XP Pro. Insert your install CD into the drive, or have an ISO in a handy place.

Run VirtualBox OSE which should be in your KDE menu (if you installed via the Add/Remove Programs) under System.

Next, click on the shiny "New" button. This will launch the New Machine wizard, which is really pretty self explanatory.

NOTE: Be careful when you are creating a new drive if you choose flexible. It will ask you what size, and please understand that the size you choose is the MAXIMUM size your drive can expand to. I had to reinstall because I assumed that it was the size that it started at.

Now, you have your new machine, make sure that you select your CD-ROM drive under CD-ROM drives, or select your ISO image for your CD-ROM if installing from an ISO. Also, Audio is disabled by default, so if you want sound, enable it.

After you have done that, go ahead and start the new machine you just created, and run your install.

Tools and Screen Resolution

After you have run your install, and you are booted into XP, make sure you are not in full-screen mode, and go to the Device menu, and select Install Guest Additions, which is similar to VMWare Tools.

After doing that, you will have more screen resolution options and other goodies.

If you are running a non-standard video mode, like 1280x800, you will need to do the following:

1. Open a terminal window in Linux
2. Switch to full-screen mode (which is your host key+F, for me it was my right CTRL+F) in your VirtualBox OSE client
3. If you don't have keyboard control of your X-Windows, then you will need to hit your host key (for me it is the right CTRL key)
4. Alt-Tab to your terminal window
5. Type the following, replacing the obvious parts with the correct data:

vboxmanage controlvm "YourVirtualMachineName" setvideomodehint 1280 800 32

Obviously replace YourVirtualMachineName with whatever you named your XP install, and replace 1280 800 32 with whatever full-screen resolution you are trying to achieve. Shazaam! You should have full resolution now!

All Set!

Now go get the stand-alone IE7 installer (for web-dev testing), and install Counter-Strike 1.6 (you know, to test your video), and you are all set :)

By the way, Netflix Instant Watch works just peachy on my system with this configuration: 1 Gig of Ram, 6 Gig of HD, and 64mb for Video.