Reference no: EM134008541

Forensics

Assignment - Install a VirtualBox Virtual Machine with Ubuntu Linux

In this lab exercise, you will download a virtual machine engine onto your host computer. You will then configure the virtual machine engine for loading and hosting guest operating systems that may run currently with each other and with the host operating system. You will then install a guest operating system onto the virtual machine by creating an instance and loading the new guest OS. For this lab exercise, you will be using open source software that is free to use in this educational environment. You may be asked to register to download the software. Please use your own discretion in providing personal information to the software providers as part of the registration process.

The Virtual Machine software that you will be using for this exercise is Oracle's VirtualBox.

The Operating System that you will be using for the guest virtual instance is Ubuntu Linux. This operating system has been selected because (1) it is open source and free to use and (2) because you really do need to begin learning Linux if you have not already. This will provide you with the environment to become familiar with Linux and see that it's not so scary after all. If you have an .iso (DVD) containing a version of Microsoft Windows, you may use that instead. You will receive full credit for this lab exercise.

This is a summary of the steps you will be following for this lab exercise:

Download the Ubuntu Linux distribution .iso file onto your host computer so that it is ready to be installed onto the virtual instance when you have created it.
Download the Virtual Machine from the Oracle website.
Install VirtualBox onto your host computer.
Download and install the VirtualBox Extension Pack
Download and install the VirtualBox Guest Additions
Start the VirtualBox Virtual Machine
Install the Ubuntu Linux Operating System onto a new Virtual Machine
Install updates to the Ubuntu Linux Operating System
Create a snapshot of the current Ubuntu Virtual Machine
Shut down the Ubuntu Virtual Machine

Part 1 - Download a copy of Ubuntu Linux

This is the operating system that you will be installing on the first virtual machine that you create. You will build upon this virtual machine in Week 8, so it is important to retain this virtual machine and not delete it after this lab exercise is complete. To install an operating system onto a virtual machine, you must first have the .iso distribution file present and read on the host computer. You may place the .iso file either on the host computer's hard drive or onto removable storage (i.e. a thumb drive) that is attached to the host computer.

The downloader should automatically detect the processor and operating system that you are currently using on your host computer. If it doesn't, you may have to click on the architecture that is compatible with your host computer. If you don't know what the architecture of your computer is, go to the Settings option from the computer's Start menu and click on the ‘About' option as shown below:

In this case, you can see that the host computer is an Intel 64-bit OS / Processor so one would select the first option on the list provided (amd64).

You MAY then be presented with a screen that suggests you contribute to the open source consortium that is maintaining this operating system. You should feel free to contribute or not. If you chose not to contribute simply move each of the slide bars all the way over to the left to set the counters to $0. Then click on the Download (Pay with Paypal) link.

When you click on this hyperlink, the file will begin to download onto your host computer. It will automatically place the .iso file into your Downloads folder.

Optional, but important step: Whenever you download a file from the Internet, it is a good idea to verify that the download was successful by checking the hash value of the file you downloaded against the hash value provided by the source website. In this case, the website doesn't provide a hash. At the time this course was being created, the 16.04.2 version hash values were:

MD5: 1400884cec8e40a1a876b2678f81494b
SHA-1: 4375b73e3a1aa305a36320ffd7484682922262b3

Perform a screen capture of the completed download and paste this into your Word document as verification that you successfully downloaded the .iso file.

Now that you have the .iso for the Ubuntu Operating System downloaded, it's time to download and install VirtualBox.

Part 2 - Download and Install Oracle's VirtualBox

There are several commercial Virtual Machine systems available for you to use. If you are planning to run Virtual Machines in a production environment, one of these systems would be recommended. For this lab exercise, the free open source version will provide you with all the tools necessary to understand the concepts of virtual systems and how they interact in the Cloud Services environment.

Click on the big blue button that says "Download VirtualBox 5.1"

You will be presented with the following screen to allow you to select the host computer's Operating System. The chances are that you're using a Windows variant, so select the first option. However, if you are an Apple computer user, rest assured that this software would work for you as well.

Click on the "Windows hosts" hyperlink and your download will begin automatically.

For VirtualBox 5.1.18-114002, the hash values current as of the development of these instructions are:

MD5: 37a8f47f74752da43b481dbf12c0cb62
SHA-1: 8ac3a6a64944f446f4df18dc46645916b3d6836d

You can see on this page that the current hash values are provided through hyperlinks on this page!

Later in these instructions, you will also need to install the VirtualBox 5.1.18 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack so you might as well download that now too while you're here. Click on the "All supported platforms" hyperlink. Hash values for these at time of publication are:

MD5: 63bd10be522f6dac4a38524044a7cbd5
SHA-1: 5f78ed55b355990a50be4fbdd16ff1b9bf0c59df

Install Oracle VirtualBox onto your host computer

This begins quite simply by double clicking on the installer application in your downloads folder. The filename should be something like "VirtualBox-5.1.18-114002-Win.exe". Double clicking on this will open the installer program.

The first screen that you will encounter is the generic SETUP screen. Simply click on the "Next" button to continue.

The next screen will offer you options for customizing your installation of Oracle VirtualBox. Unless you already have advanced knowledge of VirtualBox internals, the suggested action for this screen is accept the default installation configuration by clicking on the "Next" button.

A second setup customization screen will be presented. Again, it is recommended that you simply accept the defaults by clicking on the "Next" button.

The next setup screen alerts you regarding network access installation. This will allow you to create an instance of VirtualBox that is isolated from any network connectivity that is available from the host computer. While this is a very valuable option for forensic investigators, for this laboratory exercise it would be prudent for you to have network access. Remember to disconnect from the network when you load suspect images to your virtual machine! You don't want leftover emails being sent as soon as you load the image. Click on the "Yes" button.

Last chance to change your mind! Click on the "Install" button.

Shouldn't take too long to install ...

Once the installation is complete, click on the "Finish" button to launch the VirtualBox interface.

You will be asked if you want to install the Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack. Yes, you want this. One of the tools it provides is the ability to access USB storage devices attached to the host computer. You will want this, so click on the "Download" button.

Yes, you are sure. Click on the "Download" button again.

Once downloaded, you will need to install the extension pack. Click on the "Install" button.

Review and accept the license agreement. If you agree, click on the "I Agree" button.

You are now ready to install the Ubuntu (or any other operating system) virtual machine.

Part 3 - Installing the Ubuntu Operating System onto an Oracle VirtualBox Virtual Machine

Now that you have downloaded your copy of Ubuntu and you've installed VirtualBox, it's time to install the operating system onto a virtual machine that you create. The process is similar for any operating system that you want to install onto a virtual machine. Simply create a new VM using the "New" button and follow along with these steps for as many virtual machines as you would like (and your hardware will support).

After opening the Oracle VirtualBox application, click on the "New" button in the upper right corner of the screen to start the installation process for your operating system.

Then fill in a name for your new virtual machine. It is recommended that some combination of the operating system name, version, and date of original installation should be used. If you use the operating system name, the remaining fields will be auto-filled for you. Click the "Next" button.

Use the slider or simply type the amount of memory that you would like to allocate to this virtual machine into the fields provided. This will diminish the amount of memory for host system services, so be careful how much you allocate to the virtual machine. If in doubt, simply accept the defaults and click on the "Next" button.

You will need some storage space for your virtual machine. Your options include creating a virtual disk now or using an existing one. For the purposes of this course, it is recommended that each virtual machine have its own virtual disk also. Click on the "Create" button.

You have several types of virtual disk drive types. A description of these options is beyond the scope of this course though, so simply take the default VDI option and click on the "Next" button.

The choice between a dynamically allocated or fixed size drive is going to depend upon the amount of space you have available on the host computer and the task you're trying to accomplish. If you're restoring a forensic image, a fixed size drive equal to the original is recommended. If, as in this case, you're simply setting up a workstation, a dynamically allocated drive is recommended. Click on the "Next" button.

Use the slider or simply type the amount of disk space that you would like to allocate originally to this virtual machine into the fields provided. Click on the "Create" button.

You have now created the virtual machine. It's now time to install the Ubuntu operating system onto the VM. Click on the "Start" button.

You will need to tell the VM where the image file is for the operating system. This is the file that you downloaded earlier in this exercise. If you followed the instructions, it should still be in your Downloads folder. Click on the small browse icon next to the Host Drive dropdown and locate your Ubuntu image file. Click on the "Open" button. Then Click on the "Start" button when the dropdown is populated with the location of the image file.

Allow the creation to continue until it is complete.

Once the installation is complete, you should see the following screen:

That's it. You're finished now. Prepare a screen capture of the virtual machine window and the Ubuntu virtual machine running as you see in the image above. Paste the screen capture into your Word document as verification of completing this step in the lab exercise.