Fresh OS on each VirtualBox startup

[MrJDH]

Hello,

Could anyone suggest a way of pre-configuring VB, to always start in a 'fresh install mode'? VB will be used to give students a chance to have a go at installing an OS. It would be great to pre set VB to auto-boot the OS media, whether it be an ISO file or the like.

What would be even better, would be to set VB to trash the VDI file following a power down of the VM, so that everything is reset for the next student.

Is this achievable?

Many thanks.

[noteirak]

Check item #4 in section 5.4 of the User Manual, will do exactly what you are looking for.

[MrJDH]

Check item #4 in section 5.4 of the User Manual, will do exactly what you are looking for.

Thanks Noteirak, that's great. How early on could I mark a disk as being immutable? So, could I configure a new VM with the required CPU/RAM/HD size, start the machine to boot from the OS ISO/DVD, and then quickly shut down the machine before the OS install begins, marking the disk as immutable after the shutdown?

Where are the settings for the VM stored, so that once a VM has been configured, the settings files can be copied to the required PC?

Many thanks.

[noteirak]

You can mark the disk as immutable whenver you want. But you should do it once you have a fully working VM in the exact state you expect it to be when it starts for your students.
All the VM files are located in a single folder, so if you need to deploy it, you only need to copy the VM folder directly. By default, the VM folder is located under "$HOME/Virtualbox VMs"

[MrJDH]

You can mark the disk as immutable whenver you want. But you should do it once you have a fully working VM in the exact state you expect it to be when it starts for your students.
All the VM files are located in a single folder, so if you need to deploy it, you only need to copy the VM folder directly. By default, the VM folder is located under "$HOME/Virtualbox VMs"

Your help is much appreciated. Many thanks.