Practice with a full Ubuntu desktop VM

Use this route when you want to practise a full Linux desktop as well as terminal commands. For terminal practice while staying on Windows, start with Ubuntu on WSL2. This guide uses a full Ubuntu desktop virtual machine: Windows remains the host, and Ubuntu runs as the guest in a window. Installing the environment changes Windows and uses host storage. Later practice inside a guest folder is a separate activity.

You can learn Linux while continuing to use Windows. No migration is required. If you already run Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 LTS natively, skip the Windows installation sections and continue at Open the Ubuntu terminal and start the course.

Check whether this procedure fits your PC

The documented scope is VirtualBox 7.2 on a personal Windows 11 Home or Pro x64 computer, with an Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 LTS amd64 guest. Oracle lists Windows 11 x64 hosts and Ubuntu 24.04 64-bit guests in its host installation scope and guest table. Home/Pro is this guide’s chosen scope, not a claim that Oracle excludes every other edition. Use a Windows release still receiving updates according to Microsoft’s release table. Canonical lists 24.04 LTS security maintenance through May 2029.

This is a documentation-reviewed procedure. No Windows build, VirtualBox patch, guest image, device or coexistence combination has passed a Switchboard device test. Provisioning, both restarts, terminal/workspace, lesson 1 and removal/recovery remain pending. A vendor-supported platform is not a promise that this untested combination will work on your PC.

Your situation	Route
Windows 11 Home/Pro, Intel or AMD x64	Continue after preparation and permission for installation.
Windows on Arm, including Snapdragon	Stop this procedure. Oracle marks Windows Arm hosts experimental; an amd64 guest is not supported on an Arm host.
Enterprise/Education, Server, work/school management, or modified Windows	Outside this beginner procedure. Have the responsible administrator review the environment and policy first.
Windows 10, macOS, or another Linux host	Outside this Windows 11 procedure, even where VirtualBox supports the host.
An existing Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 LTS installation	Use its terminal; do not create a second environment unnecessarily.
WSL or another Linux distribution	Not certified here for the full course. This guide supplies no lesson applicability matrix, so it does not offer WSL as a complete-course substitute.

Open Settings > System > About and check system type, processor, RAM, Windows edition and build. Inspect System > Storage for available disk space using Microsoft’s device-information instructions.

For this walkthrough, plan for 16 GB host RAM, at least four processor threads, and 60 GB free on the drive holding the VM. Allocate 4 GB RAM, two virtual processors and a 40 GB dynamically allocated virtual disk to Ubuntu. These are this guide’s starting allocations, not Oracle minima or measured performance guarantees. Leave enough resources for Windows and your other applications. Oracle cautions that assigned RAM is unavailable to the running host and says not to assign more than half the host’s processor threads in its VM creation guidance. Dynamic storage still needs physical free space as it grows; snapshots need more.

Preserve the host before installation

Complete the Windows backup and recovery preparation, including a recoverable sample file and access to any encryption key. Record existing VM tools, WSL/Docker use, Windows virtualization features and security settings before adding another product. If VirtualBox is already installed or someone else owns its VMs, agree who maintains it before changing its version.

Hardware virtualization must be available in firmware. Microsoft’s hardware-requirements page describes the read-only systeminfo.exe report from PowerShell or Command Prompt. Inspect its Hyper-V Requirements section for firmware virtualization; if it reports an already detected hypervisor, record that state for coexistence review instead. This check does not install Hyper-V or establish that VirtualBox will run.

If virtualization is disabled or unclear, use the computer manufacturer’s firmware instructions linked from Enable Virtualization on Windows. Make that a separate authorized change. Do not change boot order, storage mode, encryption, Secure Boot or security protections to follow this VM guide.

Oracle documents a Hyper-V backend that also requires Windows Hypervisor Platform, and warns of potentially substantial slowdown. Existing WSL, Docker and security features may depend on the Windows virtualization configuration. Leave them in place. If the required coexistence configuration is absent or the VM fails, stop for a reviewed compatibility decision; do not disable Hyper-V, memory integrity or Credential Guard as a workaround. This guide does not authorize enabling additional Windows features either.

Before continuing, the computer’s owner must authorize installing VirtualBox and Ubuntu, any requested drivers and restart, and the proposed disk use. Reading this page or completing a guest workspace checklist is not that authorization.

Install VirtualBox on Windows

After authorization, save work and close other VM sessions. Use the Windows base package from Oracle’s downloads. The reviewed download listing offers 7.2.22; it is not a tested version. Record the exact version you install.

Run the installer, retain its default protected installation location, and review its component choices. Python support is optional and is not needed for this course. Stop if Windows blocks a driver for signature or security reasons; keep enforcement enabled. Follow Oracle’s Windows installation instructions for the installer itself, and restart if requested. Do not add the separately licensed Extension Pack for these lessons.

Open Oracle VirtualBox from Start. Success at this stage is a working Manager window and normal Windows networking, audio and essential applications after any restart. It is not yet a working Linux environment. If the installer fails, retain its error and use the host-removal or Windows-recovery route below before retrying changes.

Create the VM and install Ubuntu inside it

Get the Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 LTS amd64 ISO from the Noble release directory, following the Canonical release team’s rebuilt-image notice. The reviewed notice identifies 24.04.5.1 LTS for the desktop amd64 image. Check the filename identifies that release and desktop-amd64.iso; do not substitute a Server, Arm or newer-release image. If the page cannot provide an identifiable matching desktop ISO, stop before creating the VM.

In VirtualBox Manager, choose Home > New. Following Oracle’s new-VM wizard:

1. Name it Switchboard Ubuntu. Choose a local VM folder with enough room, record its full path, and select the downloaded ISO.
2. Confirm Linux/Ubuntu 64-bit. Deselect Install OS Using Unattended Installation to use the interactive Ubuntu installer.
3. Set the agreed RAM, processor count and new dynamic disk allocation from above. Create a new disk; do not attach an existing disk or a physical Windows drive.

Before starting, inspect the VM’s Settings. Keep its network adapter on NAT, with no port forwarding. NAT is Oracle’s default networking mode. Leave shared folders, shared clipboard, drag-and-drop and USB passthrough unused. Those connections are unnecessary for the beginner course and would broaden what the guest can access.

Start the VM. All installation choices below happen inside its window:

1. Choose language, accessibility and keyboard settings. Select Install Ubuntu > Interactive installation > Default selection and proceed through the network/software choices.
2. Select Erase disk and install Ubuntu only for the newly created virtual disk. Check the installation summary matches its capacity. Stop if it shows a physical Windows disk, existing personal data, or an unexpected target.
3. Create your guest account and password, select your time zone, review the summary, and install. Finish with Restart Now and sign in.

These are the relevant steps from Canonical’s Ubuntu 24.04 installer guide. Its physical USB, Windows BitLocker and storage-mode instructions are not part of this VM procedure. Keep the Windows host’s encryption enabled.

If asked to remove installation media, open Devices in the VM window and use its virtual CD/DVD media controls to eject the downloaded ISO, then press Enter. If Ubuntu starts the installer again, shut down the guest and check the ISO attachment in the VM’s Settings > Storage before restarting. Oracle describes these media controls in Working with VMs. Detach the installer image, not the guest’s hard disk.

In Ubuntu, open Software Updater, apply offered updates, and restart when requested, as described in the Ubuntu installation guide. Confirm that you return to the installed desktop rather than a temporary Try Ubuntu session.

Open the Ubuntu terminal and start the course

Click inside the Ubuntu desktop and press Ctrl+Alt+T, or search its application launcher for Terminal. Type bash and press Enter to start the course’s shell, as documented in Ubuntu’s Bash manual. Then type pwd and press Enter. You should see the guest account’s home path under /home/. These are Canonical’s terminal-opening and first-command steps. Run course commands in this Ubuntu terminal, not in Windows PowerShell, Command Prompt or Git Bash.

Return to Safe Setup to create and check ~/linux-practice. On a fresh setup, its listing includes the seven course folders files, projects, scripts, backups, downloads, logs and bin, as well as the dot entries shown by ls -la. A non-empty listing of those directories is expected. The workspace checklist checks the guest folder; it does not certify the Windows installation or recovery path.

Continue to Mission 1: Fundamental Navigation. Success means you can complete its navigation practice in the guest workspace and return to it after restarting Ubuntu. Use Ubuntu’s top-right system menu > power button > Restart; later use Power Off there to stop the guest cleanly. Canonical documents these restart and power controls. Then restart Windows, reopen VirtualBox, start this VM, and verify the same account and practice files remain. Record the actual versions and outcomes; do not mark this documentation as device-tested based on reading it.

Keep practice cleanup separate from host removal

To remove practice files while retaining Ubuntu, follow the course cleanup guide inside the guest, keeping any work you want. Removing ~/linux-practice leaves Ubuntu, installed guest software, the virtual disk, VirtualBox and Windows features in place. A VM snapshot also does not replace an independent copy of work you need to keep.

To stop using the VM, first shut down Ubuntu and confirm VirtualBox shows Powered Off. If retaining it for later, keep the complete VM folder, including its configuration, disks and any snapshots; confirm its contents before removing anything. Record its location outside the VM. Oracle explains the VM’s files and removal choices in Working with VMs.

For authorized removal, use Machines, right-click Switchboard Ubuntu, and choose Remove. Choose the option that only removes it from the list when you want to retain its files. Only choose deletion of associated files after confirming the listed paths belong solely to this VM and any retained work has an independent, usable copy. Deleting its virtual disk destroys the files inside it; there is no promised undo. Removing the list entry alone does not reclaim disk space.

If no other VM needs VirtualBox, uninstall Oracle VirtualBox through Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps > More (…) > Uninstall, or its Control Panel entry. This is the standard removal route documented by Microsoft and Oracle. Keep deliberately retained VM files and account for the downloaded ISO separately. Do not remove shared Visual C++ runtimes, other VMs, WSL distributions, Windows virtualization features or network adapters by guesswork.

Restart Windows if requested. Verify that VirtualBox is absent from Installed apps, the intended VM files are retained or removed as chosen, and your baseline Windows tasks still work. If host behavior broke after installation or removal, use Windows recovery with the recorded error and pre-change recovery point. If only the guest is broken, preserve its files and investigate it separately; reinstalling Windows is not a guest repair procedure.