Student Virtual Machine Environment

This tutorial will guide you through downloading and configuring a virtual machine for completing assignments in this course.

Installing the Virtual Machine

  1. Download and install VirtualBox for your platform.
  2. Download the Student Virtual Machine distribution file.
  3. Open VirtualBox.
  4. In the VirtualBox Manager window, navigate the menu to File -> Import Appliance.
  5. Click the folder/browse icon and find the infosec_vm_distribution.ova file you just downloaded.
  6. Click Continue or Next.
  7. Check the box next to Reinitialize the MAC address of all network cards or Generate new MAC addresses for all network adaptors and then click Import.
  8. Wait for the import process to complete.
  9. Click on the new virtual machine named “infosec_vm_distribution” to select it and click the Start button at the top of the screen.
  10. You can now use the virtual machine as you would a normal Ubuntu computer. If you need to use an elevated command, the username and password are both student.

  11. When you are done using the virtual machine, you can simply close the window. It will prompt you to choose one of the following options:

    • Save the machine state
    • Send the shutdown signal
    • Power off the machine

    In most cases, you can select the second option. The third option will force the machine to terminate, potentially destroying unsaved work.

Destroying the Virtual Machine

If at any point, you need to start with a fresh virtual machine instance, you can follow these steps to delete the old version. This process will completely destroy the virtual environment, including files saved onto the virtual disk. Do not follow these steps if you have work saved in the virtual machine! After following these steps, you can repeat the steps above to re-install the machine.

  1. Right click on the virtual machine named “infosec_vm_distribution” and click Remove... in the context menu.
  2. The “VirtualBox - Question” popup interface will ask if you want to delete files associated with the virtual machine. Click on the Delete all files button. Important: This will delete any work you have saved in the virtual machine.