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Virtual environment（VirtualBox, VMware）

Updated 2025/07/17

By introducing a virtual environment, multiple arbitrary OS environments, including Linux, can be run simultaneously, providing an environment for more advanced and wider-ranging classes, exercises, and assignments.
The virtual environment installed on the PCs in the PC room and general classrooms is VirtualBox and VMware.

1. Caution when using the virtual environment in the PC room

Pay attention to the available strage space.

Please make sure to use dynamically expanding formats for virtual disk image files (such as VHD or VMDK) created by virtual machines. Also note that the created image files may eventually consume up to the maximum capacity specified for the virtual disk.
Be especially careful about the remaining free space in either MyVolume (your personal storage area) or the capacity of any external USB storage devices you bring.
If the MyVolume storage limit is reached and writing becomes impossible, unexpected errors may occur.

Do not suspend or pause the virtual machine. Always shut it down properly to end the session.

When suspending a virtual machine, the amount of memory allocated to it is saved as a temporary file.
This functionality enables pausing and resuming the virtual machine without performing a shutdown. However, it also results in increased storage usage due to the creation of the suspend file.
Whenever possible, shutting down the virtual machine instead of suspending it is strongly recommended.
If the suspend feature must be used, ensure that you are fully aware of both the available storage capacity at the destination and the time required to write the suspend data.

Configure a password for the virtual machine, and refrain from saving session passwords or related information.

The guest OS running on the virtual machine can be used for browsing, email, mounting MyVolume, and other typical tasks as regular machine.
However, if configured to save passwords for websites or similar credentials, the risk of unauthorized use due to loss, theft, or copying of the disk image becomes significantly higher.
At a minimum, ensure that a login password is set for the guest OS, avoid saving any passwords, and regularly clear cached data.

Bridge connection is not available.

Only NAT and host-only communication is available for network adapters in the virtual environment of the PC lab.
Please note that bridged connections are not available.

Manage the guest OS yourself.

All virtual machines, including the guest OS image file deployed as a working sample, can be run with administrator privileges.
Any problems with the OS can be resolved to some extent by updating the package yourself.
(It is possible to use an older package to test for defects, but do so at your own risk.)

2. Example of using a disk image with OS installed

As a sample of how the virtual environment works, we have prepared some disk images with LiveDVD and almost clean installation.
Please note that these are only samples and are not customized for specific classes.

Only the VineLinux 6.1 disk image has software installed that is similar to the Linux environment in a traditional PC classroom, but the file size is much larger.

Example of using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS with VirtualBox

VineLinux 6.1 with VirtualBox (March 24, 2014 Edition)

Example of VineLinux6.1 usage by VMware (March 24, 2014 Edition)

Example of CentOS usage with VMware 

Example of CentOS usage with VMware (LiveDVD) 

Download virtual disk image (example of use)

\\yshare.sic.shibaura-it.ac.jp\sharefolders\public\vm (Toyosu Campus)
\\oshare.sic.shibaura-it.ac.jp\sharefolders\public\vm (Omiya Campus)
※The deployed disk image was created as an example of a virtual Linux environment deployment use case, reducing the time and effort required to install an OS.

3. Virtual Environment TIPS

The following TIPS are basically for the above OS installed disk images.
In the case of a newly built guest OS environment, some packages may be missing and may not be executable without modification.

・Settings when creating a new virtual machine and standard storage location for virtual HDDs

・Return to host OS side during mouse/keyboard capture on guest OS

・ Example script to mount MyVolume and share folder (CIFS) from VineLinux6.1 (virtual disk image in the example)

* Please use the browser function to save the file, and then use it with execute permission (chmod +x).
* Must be run with root privileges.
* Running without arguments will display usage instructions.
* Please enter your Windows password for authentication.
* To unmount, use the umount command and execute the mount destination individually.

・Mount MyVolume(CIFS) from Ubuntu12.04LTS

* Fields marked with {} should be entered as appropriate.
* Servername must be entered as FQDN
* Please enter your Windows password for authentication.

・Mount MyVolume and Issue Submission Folder (CIFS) from knoppix7.0.2

* If uid and gid are not specified, the uid and gid will be root's uid and gid, and read from general user (knoppix) is possible, but write is not possible.
* If iocharset is not specified, Japanese folder/file names will be garbled.
* Please enter your Windows password at the time of authentication.

・CIFS mount by nautilus

・If VirtualBox does not start with an error

The above error may occur.

This error occurs when the same user is running VirtualBox on a different terminal in the campus PC classroom environment.
Log off the other terminal that is currently logged in, and it will be able to start.

・How to print from VineLinux6.1 (virtual disk image in the example) to a printer in the PC lab

To print on the campus printer, you must have a user name that matches the ID on your student ID card that you hold up to the printer when printing.

You can print with the installed driver by changing the standard user name “user” to your GIC(Gakujutsu Information Center) account name (lower case letters) or by creating a new user with your GIC account name and logging in.