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Halton
Halton

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(basic) Provision VirtualBox Ubuntu VM Server on MacOS

#beginners #ubuntu #virtualmachine

This is when I open the VirtualBox Ubuntu Server Command UI, it's only the command.

by default
Username: vboxuser

update and install openssh-server 

sudo apt update

sudo apt install openssh-server -y
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check if ssh is running 

sudo systemctl status ssh
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it shows ssh not started, run below commands 

sudo systemctl enable ssh

sudo systemctl start ssh
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confirm it’s listening 

sudo ss -tlnp | grep ssh
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now, the configuration inside the VM linux is done

Now it's MacOS terminal turn

open local MacOS terminal run command, to list all the virtualbox VMs 

VBoxManage list vms
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note that we are currently configuring the VM with name "ubuntu24-server2" 


VBoxManage showvminfo "ubuntu24-server2" | grep -A3 "NIC 1"
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no ssh rules been added to this VM yet

check port 2222, it’s being occupied by another VM 

lsof -iTCP:2222 -sTCP:LISTEN
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check port 2223, it’s free, let’s use 2223 

lsof -iTCP:2223 -sTCP:LISTEN
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add rule to "ubuntu24-server2", but it failed, because "ubuntu24-server2"  is running now 

VBoxManage modifyvm "ubuntu24-server2"  --natpf1 "ssh,tcp,,2223,,22"
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show running VMs 

VBoxManage list runningvms
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shutdown the running "ubuntu24-server2"


 

VBoxManage controlvm "ubuntu24-server2" acpipowerbutton
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add rule to "ubuntu24-server2", again, it successed 

VBoxManage modifyvm "ubuntu24-server2"  --natpf1 "ssh_dummy_name,tcp,,2223,,22"

VBoxManage showvminfo "ubuntu24-server2" | grep -A3 "NIC 1"
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start the "ubuntu24-server2" VM, the VM will be running on the backend 

VBoxManage startvm "ubuntu24-server2" --type headless
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What it means: VBoxManage startvm → starts a VM from the command line (instead of clicking “Start” in the VirtualBox GUI).

--type headless → tells VirtualBox NOT to open the graphical console window.

The VM runs entirely in the background (no window, no dummy terminal)

using SSH to connect to the VM server 

ssh -p 2223 <user>@127.0.0.1
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type yes and enter your username & password, you are all set

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