VirtualBox

Install VirtualBox for running local virtual machines needed by lab workflows.

ansible-playbook -i inventory -K playbooks/lab-stack.yml --tags virtualbox

VirtualBox is installed by the lab stack when the virtualbox tag is run. Add VM-specific setup notes here when the lab has a shared convention.

🔧 Manual setup and configuration

  • Choose the VirtualBox Host Key in File > Preferences > Input. The shared role does not enforce a per-user Host Key.
  • Configure machine-specific hardware-key remapping in a personal overlay.

✅ Check

VBoxManage --version
groups | tr ' ' '\n' | grep '^vboxusers$'

Configuring virtual machines

The following settings are recommended for Windows VMs:

General

  • Operating System: Windows 10 (64-bit)

System

  • Base Memory: 2048 MB
  • Boot Order: Floppy, Optical, Hard Disk
  • Acceleration: Nested Paging, Hyper-V Paravirtualization

Display

  • Video Memory: 128 MB
  • Scale-factor: 2.00
  • Graphics Controller: VBoxVGA
  • Remote Desktop Server: Disabled
  • Recording: Disabled

Storage

  • Controller: SATA
  • SATA Port 0: FS_Win10_Gerit.vhd (Normal, 50,00 GB)
  • SATA Port 1: [Optical Drive] Empty

Audio

  • Host Driver: Windows DirectSound
  • Controller: Intel HD Audio

Network

  • Adapter 1: Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop (NAT)

Backing up virtual machines

  • Shutdown VM before zipping the *.vhd to create a snapshot backup.
  • Exclude the VM from regular backups and copy them manually to an external HDD.