This is going to be the most entertaining section of the article: you'll get to play with your brand-new Ubuntu Linux virtual machine! If you haven't used Linux before, I'd definitely recommend that you browse through the Ubuntu documentation at https://help.ubuntu.com/9.10/index.html.
The best way to test your new virtual machine is experimenting, so let's get on with it!
Isn't it cool to have a little Ubuntu system running inside your real PC? Just like a pregnant mother feeling her baby's first movements! Well, not as touching, but you get the point, right?
Ubuntu is one of the friendliest Linux distributions available. That's why I decided to use it for this article's exercises. Now let's go and test the Internet connection on your new Ubuntu virtual machine!
One of the best things about the Ubuntu Desktop edition is that you can use Mozilla Firefox out of the box. And the Ubuntu Update Manager keeps it updated automatically for you!
You have your virtual machine installed. What's next? Let's surf the web! After all, what could be more important than that?
If you cannot connect to Internet from your virtual machine, check your host's network settings. If you can connect from your host, try using another virtual network adapter type in your virtual machine to see if the problem disappears.
Well, this exercise is not really hard, right? But this is a cool way to test if your new virtual machine has Internet enabled by default. Later on, we'll talk about the different settings related to virtual network interfaces and VirtualBox. You can also know if your virtual machine can connect to Internet through the Ubuntu Update Manager because it will issue a warning if it cannot access the Ubuntu software sources. For now, it's good to know we can surf the web! Now let's see how you can do some real work inside your Ubuntu VM…
Ok, we have Internet enabled on our Ubuntu virtual machine; what else could we ask for? How about some word processing, a spreadsheet, and some presentations, for starters? I know it's boring, but some of us also use VirtualBox to work!
Ubuntu comes with OpenOffice.org, the open source productivity suite that has proven to be an effective alternative to MS Office for Linux users. Now let's try it out on your new Ubuntu virtual machine...
How about that? A complete office productivity suite inside your main PC! And Internet access too! So, if you always wanted to learn about Linux or any other operating system but were afraid of messing up your main PC, VirtualBox has come to your rescue!
Now let's see how to turn off your virtual machine…
Now that you have an Ubuntu virtual machine, you would likely benefit from trying out the Ubuntu One service, where you can back up, store, sync, and share your data with other Ubuntu One users. And the best of all, it's free! To open an account, select Applications | Internet | Ubuntu One, and follow the instructions on screen.
Use your Ubuntu One account to transfer some files between your virtual machine and your host PC. If you're using Windows, you can work with the Ubuntu One web interface at http://one.ubuntu.com.
I know you're thinking, "Geez, I can't believe this guy! He's actually going to spend an entire subsection of this article just to show us how to shutdown a virtual machine! Aw, come on!"
Now it's my turn: Remember we're talking about a virtual machine here, not a real PC! You need to consider several things before shutting this baby down!