Installing Ubuntu on VirtualBox

I have a Windows 8 machine on which I will be installing Ubuntu 14.04 inside Oracle VM VirtualBox. First download VirtualBox and install it. For this example I am using 4.3.12. Download the image file for Ubuntu.

Once you have installed VirtualBox open it and click on "New" on the toolbar to begin the process of creating a new virtual machine.

Give a name to your virtual machine and select which OS you would be installing in it and click on "Next".

Sharing folders between Windows (host) and Ubuntu (guest) in VirtualBox

I have Windows 8 installed with Ubuntu 12.04 in Oracle VM VirtualBox and quite a few times I want to share files between them. For that, first you need to install VirtualBox Guest Additions for Linux. Guest additions consist of device drivers and system applications that optimize the guest operating system for better performance and usability.

To install Guest Additions go to Ubuntu Launcher and you would see VBOXADDITIONS_X.X.X_XXXX mounted.

Dash search in Ubuntu / Unity

When I first upgraded to Ubuntu 11.04 I took an instant disliking to its new desktop environment - Unity. But sadly I was really out of choice as GNOME 3 was even more disappointing (they even decided to do way with minimize and maximize buttons). Unity in Ubuntu 11.10 was a bit improved but still I hated the interface. But now, I have kind of got used to it and discovered this new thing in Dash search.

In Unity you can search for applications in Dash, but what I didn't know that you could also search inside applications. Basically I wanted to change the theme so I went to Dash and searched for "theme" and look what it gave me in results.

Configure 24Online for Ubuntu / Linux

At my home I connect to internet using 24Online. The service of this ISP is pretty good with prompt customer support. I recently installed Ubuntu 11.10 with dual boot on my Windows Vista PC. Ubuntu is a pretty good OS, but without an internet connection there's nothing much you can do with it.

For Windows, 24Online provides a UI client.

But for Linux there's no UI client available - only command line utility is available. If you already have an account with 24Online then you can log in your account from browser and download the file from "Client" menu in the website or you can download the file from here (13.2 KB). You can get your IPv4 settings by going to "Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Manage Network Connections". Right click on "Local Area Connection" icon and click on "Properties". From the dialog box select "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" and click on "Properties" button. Note down the IP addresses from the fields marked in the screenshot below.