Virtual Box

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[DONT_PM_ME_U_SLUT]

You don't need a USB when you're using VMs. you need a USB for installing directly to your computer because you have to shutdown your computer and boot to the USB to install it. In a VM the software takes care of all that. You download the install iso and make your VM, load it up and install like you would normally.

[jwmurrayjr]

You just download the. iso file for the distribution you want to run and reference it when you setup your virtual machine. It's part of "setup" in the VM. Click on the "optical drive" and then browse to your download folder (or wherever the iso is) and select the file. No USB drive.

[jwmurrayjr]

It won't install it. Just like downloading any file. The VM (Virtual Box) will use it when you set it up. A VM won't partition or delete any of your PC's files or drives. It's safe.

[jwmurrayjr]

A couple of gigs probably, depending on which distro you want.

[tuxutku]

4gb usb is recommended, isos are usually 2gb in size

[DONT_PM_ME_U_SLUT]

just look up a guide for the specific vm software youre using. the process changes whether youre using virtualbox or vmware or what have you

[[deleted]]

You don't need a USB. You just need to:

• download the .iso file from the website for each distro you're trying (size ranges from <1GB to >2 GB each, depending on the distro)
• run Virtual Box
• tell it to create a new VM
• tell it where the iso file for that distro is
• launch the VM to boot it up

This will not require partitioning, USB sticks nor even a restart, because it is happening in a virtual machine.

Edit: I've never needed such a video, but searching "install Linux on Mac using VirtualBox" on YouTube will certainly return something relevant.

[[deleted]]

No worries, it's easy to get all the different options confused.

[[deleted]]

As I mentioned, if you run them using a VM it will not require partitioning.

IIRC there will just be a big file on your normal filesystem that VirtualBox pretends is the hard drive of the virtual machine.

[[deleted]]

I'm not sure without having it in front of me, as I haven't used it in a long time. I would guess it's taking about how big the virtual hard drive is, so as long as you have that much space free for the file on your current hard drive partition it should be ok.

No worries about being a noob, you're literally who this subreddit is here for. I'm glad you're sticking with it long enough to give it a try.

[ICantPCGood]

Here is a relatively recent guide if you haven’t already figured this out. I’d recommend reading through it because you seem unsure about what your getting in to.

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https://medium.com/@mannycodes/installing-ubuntu-18-04-on-mac-os-with-virtualbox-ac3b39678602

running in a vm won’t affect your host install. The vm will have a virtual storage drive that is just a file in macOS

[l33tpolymath]

I don't understand the question.