2. Boot a Linux USB installation in VirtualBox

Summary

In this tutorial, Vince demonstrates how to boot a Linux installation from a USB drive within VirtualBox. He explains the process of identifying the USB drive in Windows Disk Management and using command prompts to create a symlink for VirtualBox to locate the USB. The video also covers setting up a virtual machine to boot from the USB and adjusting settings for optimal performance. Finally, Vince shows how to achieve the same with a Linux host, guiding viewers through terminal commands and VirtualBox configurations.

Takeaways

• 😀 The video is a tutorial on booting a Linux installation from a USB drive using VirtualBox, which is useful for updating or accessing files.
• 🔍 It addresses a limitation in VirtualBox that does not allow easy booting from a USB drive and provides a workaround.
• 💾 The process involves identifying the USB drive in Windows Disk Management and noting its disk number.
• 📝 Commands are provided to create a symlink in the command prompt to tell VirtualBox where to find the USB drive.
• 🖥️ Users must run the command prompt and VirtualBox as an administrator for the method to work.
• 🔄 After creating the symlink, the user can set up a new virtual machine in VirtualBox to boot from the USB drive.
• ⚙️ The video also covers adjusting settings such as CPU, memory, and display to ensure proper booting.
• 🔑 A reboot into Linux is mentioned, suggesting the process will be demonstrated for a Linux host as well.
• 📁 In Linux, the tutorial involves identifying the USB drive using terminal commands and creating a file for VirtualBox to recognize.
• 🔄 Similar to Windows, the Linux process includes creating a new virtual machine in VirtualBox and selecting the USB drive file.
• 🎉 The video concludes with successfully booting a Linux distribution from a USB drive in VirtualBox, showcasing the final result.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The video is about how to boot back into a Linux installation on a USB drive using VirtualBox.

Why might someone want to boot from a USB drive in VirtualBox?

One might want to boot from a USB drive in VirtualBox to work with the Linux installation without shutting down their machine and rebooting on their hardware, or to update the installation or transfer files between Windows and Linux.

What is a limitation of VirtualBox when it comes to booting from a USB drive?

VirtualBox does not easily allow booting from a USB drive, requiring the user to enter specific commands into the command prompt to enable this feature.

What is the first step to identify the USB drive in Windows before proceeding with the VirtualBox setup?

The first step is to open Disk Management in Windows and identify the USB drive, usually by its size, and note down its disk number.

How do you open a command prompt with administrative privileges in Windows?

You can open a command prompt with administrative privileges by right-clicking on 'CMD' in the Start menu and selecting 'Run as administrator'.

What command is used in the command prompt to create a symlink for VirtualBox to find the USB drive?

The specific command used is not provided in the transcript, but it involves changing into the VirtualBox installation directory and pasting a command that includes the disk number of the USB drive at the end, replacing a hash symbol with the disk number.

What settings should be adjusted in the VirtualBox virtual machine to ensure proper booting from the USB drive?

Settings to adjust include removing the floppy, increasing the number of CPUs to 2, setting the video memory to the maximum of 128 MB, changing the display to Vbox VGA, and enabling 3D acceleration. Also, ensure the USB section is set to USB 3.

How do you determine the location of the USB drive in a Linux system before setting up VirtualBox?

In Linux, you can determine the location of the USB drive by typing 'sudo fdisk -l' or 'lsblk' in the terminal and identifying the drive by its size or other characteristics.

What command is used in Linux to create a file that helps VirtualBox boot from the USB drive?

The command used in Linux is not explicitly provided in the transcript, but it involves replacing '/dev/sdX' with the correct drive letter and executing the command to create a file, which is then saved in the home directory.

What are some of the settings that need to be configured in the VirtualBox virtual machine when using a Linux host?

When using a Linux host, settings to configure include setting the number of processes to 2, changing the USB to USB 3, and using an existing hard disk file that points to the USB drive.

What is the final step shown in the video after setting up the virtual machine in VirtualBox?

The final step is to start the virtual machine, enter the encryption key if prompted, and log in to successfully boot into the USB drive through VirtualBox.

Outlines

00:00

📀 Booting Linux from USB in VirtualBox

In this segment, the presenter, Vince, explains how to boot a Linux installation from a USB drive within VirtualBox. He addresses the common issue of VirtualBox not supporting easy booting from a USB and provides a workaround. The process involves identifying the USB drive in Windows Disk Management, opening a command prompt as an administrator, and entering specific commands to create a symlink that VirtualBox can recognize. This allows the user to boot into the Linux installation on the USB without needing to shut down their machine and reboot from the hardware. The presenter also mentions that the steps will be demonstrated for both Windows and Linux hosts.

05:01

🔧 Configuring VirtualBox for USB Booting

This paragraph details the steps to configure VirtualBox for booting from a USB drive. The presenter instructs the user to open VirtualBox as an administrator, create a new virtual machine named 'boot USB', and select the appropriate settings for the operating system type and memory allocation. The key part of the process is to use an existing virtual hard disk file, which is the symlink created earlier pointing to the USB drive. The presenter also covers additional settings adjustments such as CPU allocation, video memory, and enabling 3D acceleration. The goal is to ensure that the virtual machine can successfully boot from the USB drive within VirtualBox.

10:02

🔄 Rebooting with Linux as the Host

In the final paragraph, the presenter demonstrates how to achieve the same USB booting process but with a Linux host system. The steps include opening a terminal, identifying the USB drive using commands like 'sudo fdisk -l' and 'lsblk', and creating a file that will inform VirtualBox about the location of the USB drive. The presenter then guides the user through creating a new virtual machine in VirtualBox with similar settings as before, but this time without needing administrator or root privileges. The successful booting of the Linux distribution from the USB drive through VirtualBox concludes the tutorial, and the presenter invites viewers to leave questions, comments, or suggestions.

Keywords

💡VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a software virtualization package that allows users to run multiple operating systems on a single physical machine. In the video, the host uses VirtualBox to demonstrate how to install Linux on a USB drive and then boot from that USB drive within the VirtualBox environment. This is a key tool in the process described in the video.

💡Linux

Linux is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems. In the video, the host is focusing on installing and booting a Linux distribution from a USB drive using VirtualBox. Linux is the operating system that the viewer is guided to install and operate within the virtual environment.

💡USB Drive

A USB drive is a portable data storage device that connects to a computer via a USB port. In the context of the video, the USB drive is used to store a full installation of Linux, which the host then demonstrates how to boot from within VirtualBox. The USB drive is a crucial component in the process as it serves as the storage medium for the Linux installation.

💡Disk Management

Disk Management is a Windows utility that allows users to manage their computer's hard disk drives and volumes. In the video, the host opens Disk Management to identify the USB drive, which is necessary for the next steps in creating a symlink to the USB drive for VirtualBox to recognize.

💡Command Prompt

The Command Prompt is a command-line interface in Windows that allows users to interact with the operating system and perform various tasks. In the video, the host uses the Command Prompt to enter commands that create a symlink to the USB drive, which is a crucial step in setting up the boot process in VirtualBox.

💡Symlink

A symlink, or symbolic link, is a file that points to another file or directory. In the video, the host creates a symlink to the USB drive to tell VirtualBox where to find the USB drive. This is a necessary step to enable booting from the USB drive within the virtual environment.

💡Virtual Machine

A virtual machine (VM) is an emulation of a computer system. In the video, the host creates a new virtual machine in VirtualBox to boot from the USB drive containing the Linux installation. The virtual machine is the simulated environment where the Linux operating system will run.

💡Ext4 Filesystem

The ext4 filesystem is a journaling file system commonly used by Linux distributions. In the video, the host mentions that Windows does not recognize the ext4 filesystem on the USB drive, which is why it appears as a healthy but unrecognized partition in Disk Management.

💡NTFS

NTFS is a file system that is proprietary to Microsoft and is primarily used for Windows operating systems. In the video, the host contrasts NTFS with the ext4 filesystem, noting that Windows handles NTFS and FAT32 (referred to as 'f80' in the script) file systems natively, but not other file systems like ext4.

💡Linux Host

A Linux host refers to a computer running a Linux operating system. In the video, the host also demonstrates how to boot from the USB drive using a Linux host, showing that the process can be done not only on Windows but also on a Linux system.

💡Encryption Key

An encryption key is a code used to encrypt and decrypt data. In the video, the host mentions entering an encryption key when booting the virtual machine, which is likely related to the security features of the virtual machine setup in VirtualBox.

Highlights

Vince demonstrates how to boot a Linux installation from a USB drive in VirtualBox.

The tutorial explains the process of working with a Linux installation without needing to shut down the machine.

A limitation in VirtualBox is discussed, where booting from a USB drive isn't straightforward.

Instructions are provided for using command prompts to enable USB booting in VirtualBox.

The importance of identifying the correct USB drive in Disk Management is emphasized.

A detailed guide on how to open a command prompt as an administrator is given.

Commands to create a symlink for VirtualBox to find the USB drive are explained.

The process of setting up a new virtual machine in VirtualBox is outlined.

Configuration settings for the virtual machine are discussed to ensure proper booting.

The tutorial covers how to boot into the USB drive through VirtualBox successfully.

Vince shows how to reboot the system into Linux and perform similar steps on a Linux host.

Terminal commands for identifying the USB drive in a Linux system are provided.

The method for creating a file to enable booting from the USB drive on a Linux host is shown.

Instructions for setting up a new virtual machine in VirtualBox on a Linux host are given.

Final steps to successfully boot a Linux distribution from a USB drive on a Linux host are detailed.

The video concludes with a summary of the process and an invitation for viewer interaction.

Transcripts

hi Vince here again in my last video I

showed you guys how to do a full install

of Linux until USB Drive in VirtualBox

this time around I'm going to show you

how you can boot back into that USB

Drive with Linux using VirtualBox as

well now why might you want to do this

well it's say for example you want to

work with that installation you might

want to do some things like update it or

you might want to pull down some files

back onto windows because especially

Windows doesn't really handle any other

file systems very well besides NTFS and

f80 you might want to boot back into

that USB Drive using this VirtualBox if

you don't want to shut down your machine

and reboot back into the USB on your

hardware now there is a limitation in

VirtualBox where it doesn't really allow

you to easily boot from a USB Drive

you'll need to enter some commands into

the command prompt to allow this to

happen the instructions about how to do

this shown in this article here I will

show you how to do this first of all in

Windows and later in the video I'll show

you how to do the same thing in Linux as

a host now scrolling through this

article the first thing you need to do

is open up Disk Management in Windows so

the easiest way to do that is to

right-click on your Start menu and

select Disk Management in here what

you'll need to do is try to identify

which is the USB Drive and that's

usually going to be somewhere down near

the bottom the best way to probably

identify it would be with how big it is

in my case it's 120 gig Drive and you'll

see here two partitions which Windows

doesn't really recognize as anything

except a healthy partition because it

can't really read the ext4 filesystem

in my case it's disk ten

just make note of that in your head

maybe write it down somewhere because

you'll need that in the following steps

returning to the article here the next

thing we need to do is open up a command

prompt we can do that simply by going to

Start menu and typing CMD now it's

important here that you don't just click

on it to open it to what you'll need to

do is right-click it and select run as

administrator next what you'll need to

do is follow these instructions and put

in these commands into your command

prompt first you'll need to change into

the directory where your VirtualBox is

installed

next you'll need to paste this command

in now what you'll need to do is at the

end of this command where there's little

hash symbol is you will need to put in

the number that you saw in your disk

management so in my case it's dis number

10 of your USB Drive so you'll need to

replace the hash with a 10 and simply

hit enter and hopefully you'll get this

message that the disk was created

successfully what this command has done

is created a shortcut file or a symlink

to tell VirtualBox where to find a USB

Drive and in this situation it saved

that file to this C Drive of course you

can then go and find this file and move

it to where you would like to save all

your virtual machines next what we can

do is go ahead and open VirtualBox to do

so when you find VirtualBox in your

Start menu what you'll need to do is to

right-click and choose run as

administrator just like we did with

command prompt earlier otherwise this

method doesn't work now I've already got

VirtualBox I've been here as

administrator we can go ahead and

a new virtual machine will call this

boot USB choose Linux as your operating

system type and in point to 64-bit let's

bump up our ramp to four gigs and in

this section when we have to choose our

hard disk what we already have is a link

file that we created earlier to the USB

Drive so we can actually go ahead and

choose use existing virtual hard disk

file and we click this little icon here

may need to choose add now that

commander around earlier I would have

saved the file to the C Drive and here

it is here we choose open choose and we

can create we need to still adjust a few

settings to make sure this works

properly in the system we can get rid of

the floppy increase to two CPUs display

increase the video memory to the maximum

128 megabytes change the display to V

box VGA and enable 3d acceleration

importantly you'll need to go into the

USB section and choose USB 3 ok let's

start our up

enter in the encryption key that we put

in earlier we can now log in and there

you have it

we have successfully booted into our USB

Drive through VirtualBox next up I'm

going to reboot my system in to Linux

and I'll show you how to do the same

thing with a Linux host running

VirtualBox right so in Linux what you'll

first need to do is open up a terminal

window and next we need to determine

whereabouts in your system the USB Drive

that you what a boot from is that and

you can do this in a couple of ways by

first of all typing sudo if disk - L

entering your password and in my case it

appears that my USB nvme drive is at SD

k another way you can do this is to type

LS p okay and you might be able to

identify your disk again by the size of

your disk it's usually shouldn't be any

disk that's already been used here it

should be a USB Drive that's not

currently being mounted and in this

situation again I can confirm it is SDK

just remember that because we'll need

that in the next step next what we need

to do is use this command don't worry if

it's very long I will copy and paste it

into the description in the video down

below what we need to do is replace at

the NT s DX with the letter that we need

for our drive and then press Enter and

with any luck our file was created

successfully in this case in my home

directory next what we'll do is go ahead

open up VirtualBox in a desktop this

time around you actually don't need to

open as administrator or root you can

just reuse it in your normal VirtualBox

will create a new machine or called boot

USB select Linux as the top of operating

system and again in this case it was

open to 64 bits well pop it up so again

- 4 gigs of RAM and use existing hard

disk file now we may need to find the

file again

there it is in my home directory USB dot

VMDK

choose create we will just quickly sort

out some of these settings pop it up to

two processes change a USB to three that

should do us and go ahead and try and

build it up

and it appears that we have it up and

going again

there you are

we have successfully booted a fully

installed Linux distribution on a USB

Drive through VirtualBox that's all for

today thank you very much again for

watching if you have any questions

comments or suggestions please leave

them down below bye for now