Building a CyberLab: Installing VirtualBox 

The objective of this project is to build a virtual cyberlab composed of many virtual machines. This virtual environment will allow us to mimic real life hacking scenarios and serve as the foundation of future projects. The environment we want to build will consist of seven (07) to virtual machines (VMs): 

• Kali Linux: One of the virtual machines that will contain hacking tools. 
• Parrot Security: The second virtual machine that will contain hacking tools. 
• Two Ubuntu Linux: The virtual machines that will serve to demonstrate attacks on Linux based environments. 
• Metasploitable 1 and metasploiatble 2: The virtual machines that will be used to demonstrate attacks on Linux servers. 
• PfSense: The virtual router/firewall to isolate our lab environment and protect the vulnerable machines from outside attackers. 
• Main internal network: this network is isolated from the internet by the pfSense firewall. 
• Private network: this network is isolated from the main network behind the metasploitable servers. It is used to explore attacks. 

The topology below (Fig. 1) shows an overview of the lab environment. 

Fig. 1

A. Setting Up VirtualBox 

VirtualBox is a hypervisor, a program that will allow us to build the virtual machines/computers. To download Virtual VirtualBox for your computer (Windows, Linux, MacOS) follow the link below. In my case, I will download and install on a Ubuntu Linux machine. 

The download link is the following: https://www.virtualbox.org//wiki/Downloads 

For Linux users specifically Ubuntu, follow the steps below: 

• Select Linux Distributions 

Fig. 2

• Select latest version of Ubuntu; in my case Ubuntu 24.04. If you’re not sure which version of Ubuntu you’re using, go in Setting –> System –> About 

Fig. 3

• Save the file in your preferred directory; here in Download directory 

Fig. 4

To install VirtualBox on your machine, for my fellow Linux users, open your terminal and follow the steps bellow: 

Sudo apt-get update 

Enter your system’s password 

Fig. 5

Go to the directory where you saved the VirtualBox download. In my case it’s in the Download directory. Once in the directory, do a quick ‘ls | grep “virtualbox” command to make sure your file is in the directory. 

Fig. 6

Run the following command to install virtualbox. In my case I already have virtual box 

sudo dpkg -i virtualbox-7.1_7.1.0-164728~Ubuntu~noble_amd64.deb  

Fig. 7

IF THIS METHOD DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU, THE ALTERNATIVE SHOULD WORK: 

Run the following command: sudo apt install virtualbox 

The command should install the latest version of virtualbox for you. 

Fig. 8

After installation, open the VirtualBox by running the command virtualbox. This will automatically open the App for you. 

Fig. 9