▷ How to install android in virtualbox

Thanks to virtualization we can do things as interesting as installing Android in VirtualBox and having the system under our Windows, Linux or Mac as if it were a mobile. In this article we will show where we can download any version of Android for free and create a virtual machine with the free VirtualBox Hypervisor.

Index of contents

We are going to show absolutely the whole process that we have carried out until we have had our virtual system running correctly.

Download Android ISO image

The first thing we will have to do, in addition to having VirtualBox on our computer, is download an ISO image of the operating system that is not interesting, in this case Android.

To do this we will visit the android-x86 website where we can download practically any version of Google's operating system for free.

The one that we will download will be the last available: Android 8.1 x86_64. We must click on the link that corresponds to the.ISO extension. Click on " View " and the download should start automatically.

Create the virtual machine

Now we will proceed to create the virtual machine. To do this, follow the steps that we will detail:

• Click on the " New " button located in the VirtualBox toolbar. Here enter the name for the machine. We choose the " Linux " system option and underneath choose " Other Linux (64 bit) ". We assign a RAM memory value of at least 2 GB or more We choose to Create a new virtual disk and we give the button " Create "

• On the next screen, we choose the location of our virtual machine. We assign an amount of storage space, at least 10 GB. We leave the other options by default. Click on " Create "

• With the machine done, click on " Configuration " to change certain parameters. In the " system " section and in the " Motherboard " tab, we remove the floppy disk from the list of devices

• In the " Processor " section we configure if possible, more than one core, the more the better

• Now we go to the " Screen " section to enable 3D acceleration and assign a video memory value

• In the " Storage " section, select the CD drive to load the ISO image of the system. Click on the icon in the left area and look for the location of the ISO image.

Everything will be ready to proceed with the installation of Android.

Android installation in VirtualBox

We run the machine with the green arrow button to start the installation process. The ISO image will have an installation wizard to install the system.

• We start by choosing the option of “ installation ”

• Then we choose the option “ Create / Modify partitions ” and click on OK

• In the next window we will see a message to use GPT partitions in which we must press " Yes ". A confirmation message will appear again to which we must only press any key

We will then enter a wizard for creating partitions. What we are going to do is very simple:

• Click on “ New ”. To all the messages that appear below, press Enter to leave us as default

• When we get to the last one, it will ask us to name the partition. It will be our decision to put it on or not.

• Thus we will return to the main window with the new partition. We must now choose " Write " To confirm that we agree we write " yes " and press Enter

• Now we must select the " Quit " option to go to the installation window. We will have to choose the only partition created and click on " OK "

• From the available options, we choose the “ ext4 ” format and click on “ OK ”

• Now several messages will appear. To install a boot loader click on “ Skip ”. To the following message we click on “ Yes ”. At the last message of “ Run Android-x86 ”, click on “ Ok ”

The installation process will begin until the system configuration screen finally appears.

To move the mouse we must leave the left button pressed. The operation of this leaves much to be desired, at least in this version of Android that we have used. But in the end we can get access to the different options with some work

Finally we will have Android installed on VirtuaBox. It is your turn to investigate the possible limitations of this system on a normal PC

An important detail is that to turn off the system we must go to the VirtualBox taskbar and click on " machine " and within the menu in " ACPI Shutdown ". In this way, the option to turn off or restart will appear in the system.

This is the process to install Android in VirtualBox. Although it is functional, there are other applications that emulate Android much better than VirtualBox.

Visit these tutorials to know and install them:

What limitations have you found in the installed system? Leave us in the comments what you think about the possibility of installing a virtual machine with Android in VirtualBox