▷ How to install raspbian in virtualbox step by step

What is Raspbian Stretch

Raspbian is nothing more than a Debian 9.4- based Linux distribution or distro for the Raspberry PI programmable motherboard. So it is an operating system that also has a graphical interface where a programming environment exclusively for Raspberry PI has been optimized.

This system is oriented to computer education in everything related to this programming environment. The system in question is optimized to work with floating point calculations with the ARMv6 CPU's own architecture installed on the Raspberry PI PCB.

Of course it has applications to use Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and a graphic environment with LXDE engine next to the Chromium web browser. The programming development environment it uses is IDLE oriented to programming in Python and Scratch.

This system is ideal to run on Raspberry and use it as a personal computer. The minimum requirements for this system with a graphical interface are the following:

Having a Raspberry PI Model 2, or in our case virtualization software. Raspbian ISO image: There are several more or less complete distributions. We will use the standard. Flash card of at least 5 GB, in our case a hard disk larger than this size. RAM memory of at least 512 MB and graphic memory of 64 MB

Install and configure Raspbian in VirtualBox

That being said, and knowing a bit of what Raspbian is all about, let's start with the Raspbian installation and configuration process on VirtualBox.

Create Raspbian Stretch virtual machine in VirtualBox

Well, let's start by indicating where we can find the Raspbian operating system and the VirtualBox virtualization tool. In both cases, we will use the most recent versions of both softwares.

To download VirtualBox 6.0, which is free, we will visit its corresponding page. To download Raspbian Stretch in ISO format, we will also go to the following link.

Once the ISO image is downloaded and VirtualBox is installed, we will go to its main window where we will click on " Machine -> New... ", to start the creation wizard.

In the window that appears to us, we will first click on the " Expert mode " button, to get an environment with more details on the configuration of the parameters of the MV.

We will put a name, and we will select as " Type " the Linux system and as " Version ", Debian 32 bit. Then we will select a quantity of RAM memory of at least 512 MB, if we have excess, we will be able to put the one we want up to 4 GB.

Finally we select the option of " Create a virtual hard disk now ", to finish by clicking on " Create ".

Next, we select the storage space for the virtual hard disk, which should be at least 5 GB, we recommend about 10 or 15 GB if we are going to work a lot with this operating system.

In our case, we have selected the VHD as an extension of the virtual hard disk, in this way we can migrate the virtual machine to Hyper-V, for example, the native Hypervisor of Windows 10.

With this, our virtual machine will be created, now it is time to make some configurations before starting to install the operating system.

Configure Raspbian virtual machine

To do this, we go to the main window with the new machine selected, and click on " Configuration ".

The first option we will touch will be the one in the " General " section, specifically in the " Advanced " tab. Here we will activate the option that the clipboard between our physical equipment and the MV is bidirectional. We will also activate the “Bidirectional” option in the “Drag and drop” section.

Now we will have to go to the " Storage " section to take our ISO image and place it on the virtual device to read CDs, in this way we will have access to the image to install the system.

Select " IDE Controller " and go to the CD button in the right area. Here we will look for the directory where the Raspbian Stretch ISO image is stored.

The next step is to go to the "Network" section, to select the type of connection we want to make on the machine. We recommend the “ Bridge adapter ” option, so that our machine can obtain the IP address directly from our router or DHCP server.

Also, if we are going to work with a Wi-Fi connection, in the drop-down list of "Name" we will select our Wi-Fi adapter so that it is in charge of controlling the connection of Raspbian.es a way to make everything a little more similar to how it would be in reality.

After this, we can start the system installation process, which will be the same as practically all Debian-based systems.

Install Raspbian Stretch on virtual machine in VirtualBox

We start the process by giving it the play from the main VirtualBox window. Immediately the ISO image will be loaded and we will select the option " Graphical Install ".

After selecting our installation language, we will select the option of “ Guided - use entire disk ”, which means that the installation of Raspbian will be carried out guided, and all the hard disk available for it will be used. Obviously it is the most normal thing, since it is a virtual machine specially created for it.

In the next window of the wizard, we can select what each of us likes. This option will be to partition the / home, / var and / temp folders. In our case, we will simply choose the first option, so that all of them are in a single partition.

The next thing we will see will be a summary of the actions that we are going to carry out, simply click on " Continue ".

We confirm once again selected the option " yes " so that the wizard applies the changes to the hard disk. In any case, in addition to its own partitions for files, Linux will create a partition for virtual memory, also called swap. By default it will be 1 GB.

After performing some procedures, it will ask us if we want to install boot Grub. Of course yes, we choose “ Yes ”.

In which case, we will choose that the partition where the grub will be installed, by default will be our Raspbian operating system.

Finally, the process will begin and after about 5 minutes, we will have our operating system fully installed. We will boot, and enter the graphical interface of Raspbian Stretch.

A quick wizard will appear to choose our language and connect to a network. We must not forget to connect Wi-Fi to the Internet or the adapter we have selected, since, at this point, the system will try to update to the latest version.

Activate Bluetooth Raspbian in VirtualBox

Surely, one of the things that may interest us the most if we have a team with bluetooth, is to use this also in the virtual machine to practice with different programs that we create for Raspberry PI.

The process will be as simple as going to the virtual machine toolbar and clicking on " Devices -> USB ". In this list, the Bluetooth device that our team has should appear. Click on it to activate it.

It will automatically be activated in the virtual operating system and we can use it. At this point, it will be disabled from the physical operating system, just as with removable storage drives.

If we do not know what our Bluetooth is called to select it from the list, we can go to the Windows device manager, right-clicking on the start menu button and selecting the option with this name.

Now we will look for a section that says " Bluetooth ", if we deploy it, we will see at least its brand to identify it.

Well in principle, this is all about the process of configuring and installing Raspbian in VirtualBox.

We also recommend these tutorials if you want to continue learning more about VirtualBox.

Are you a Raspberry enthusiast, do you think a Raspbian virtual machine is useful? If you have any questions / problems with this procedure, please leave us in the comments.