virtnet and VirtualBox Versions

Introduction

As new VirtualBox versions have been released, there have been features added/removed that impact on running virtnet. virtnet was originally running 32-bit Linux operating systems, specifically Ubuntu 16.04. However VirtualBox 6.0 and onwards no longer supports 32-bit operating systems, only 64-bit. And generally 64-bit operating systems require hardware virtualization (Intel VT, AMD-V), whereas software virtualisation was supported in older versions of VirtualBox with 32-bit operating systems. And while there is little difference between Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04 and 20.04 (with respect to the networking and security tasks used in virtnet), it makes sense to move to newer versions. All these issues means there are now several ways to get virtnet running. They are outlined below.

Recommended Approach

Currently (as of March 2020) the recommended approach to use virtnet is still using the base machine and topology .cmd (or .sh) scripts, as described at: https://sandilands.info/sgordon/virtnet. However this requires VirtualBox 5.2 and uses Ubuntu 16.04 32-bit. All instructions and tasks (e.g. in Networking and Security in Linux) are based on these versions. To setup, following the instructions at https://sandilands.info/sgordon/virtnet.

Alternative Approaches

If the recommend approach does not work (probably because you have VirtualBox 6.0 or above, or want to use Ubuntu 18.04), then here is an alternative approach.

1. Download a zip file (see list below) that contains all VMs for a specific topology
2. Unzip the zip file
3. For each VM/directory created, add it to VirtualBox (from the "Machine" menu, selected "Add").
4. Start and use the nodes. There is no need to run a .cmd/.sh script or deploy nodes---they are already deployed.

You can watch a 7 min video demonstrating this approach.

While this approach may be slightly easier than the recommended approach, the disadvantage is it currently only supports two topologies (5 and 7) and requires are larger download. You also have to download the correct zip based on your version of VirtualBox. The list below summarises the zips.

• topology05-1604-32.zip (845 MB). Topology 5. Ubuntu 16.04 32-bit. Only works in VirtualBox 5.2. Does not require hardware virtualization. RAM requirements: 256 MB per machine = 768 MB.
• topology07-1604-32.zip (670 MB). Topology 7. Ubuntu 16.04 32-bit. Only works in VirtualBox 5.2. Does not require hardware virtualization. RAM requirements: 256 MB per machine = 1 GB.
• topology05-1804-64.zip (1100 MB). Topology 5. Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit. Works in VirtualBox 5.2, 6.0 and above. Requires hardware virtualization (e.g. Intel VT, AMD-V). RAM requirements: 512 MB per machine = 1.5 GB.
• topology07-1804-64.zip (1100 MB). Topology 7. Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit. Works in VirtualBox 5.2, 6.0 and above. Requires hardware virtualization (e.g. Intel VT, AMD-V). RAM requirements: 512 MB per machine = 2.5 GB.

Most likely if the Recommended Approach doesn't work, then you should try 18.04 in VirtualBox 6.0 (or above). However your computer must have hardware virtualisation enabled in the BIOS. Most computers have the capability, but some may not have it enabled by default. If not, the VMs will not work. You will need to find instructions for your make/model of computer to enabled hardware virtualisation (e.g. search for "enable hardware virtualization on [make] [model]").

Created on Sun, 05 Apr 2020, 4:36pm

Last changed on Sun, 05 Apr 2020, 4:36pm