VirtualBox¶

Although the lab used VMware previously, VirtualBox has become our de-facto standard, usually running a long term support version of Ubuntu.

Tips¶

In the virtual machine's (VM's) configuration on the host computer, turn off "nested paging" (on the System section) to remove a harmless but annoying message about "PXII_smbus not available".

If you cannot get a 64bit virtual machine created on an Intel based machine, check in the BIOS that HyperV is permitted. This will require a reboot to check / change.

Accessing the Virtual Machine From the Network¶

While the typical setup for personal virtual machines (VMs) uses the NAT network setting, that intentionally limits external access to the VM. With your host computer (laptop, desktop, etc.) on a wired ethernet, you can simply change the network setting to bridged and in the VM, turn that connection off and on again to reset it. Your virtual machine is now accessible from other PC's on your network.

If your computer is connected wirelessly, however, the simple "change to bridged" change does not work! A few other things have to be configured as outlined in this article: https://windowsreport.com/wifi-error-virtualbox/. The configuration changes require that the VM be shut down and will then only require a minute. Once the VM is rebooted, it will be available on the network.

The above lets you develop server software on your VM and test it from other computers or use it to interface to IoT devices like the ESP32.