Creating an Oracle Linux 7.9 Virtual Machine

Launch Oracle VirtualBox Manager on your host machine. Click the New button in the toolbar to start the VM creation wizard. This is the starting point for building your dedicated Oracle Linux environment. For a DBA, having a local VM means you can safely practice installation, configuration, and database operations without any risk to production systems.

Set the basic identity of your VM. Provide a meaningful name, choose a dedicated storage folder on your host, and point to the Oracle Linux 7.9 ISO you downloaded from Oracle eDelivery. This ISO is the installation media — think of it as the DVD from which the OS will be installed. DBAs always use official Oracle ISOs to ensure the OS is certified for database workloads.

Define the compute resources for your VM. RAM and CPU are shared from your host machine, so set them to match Oracle's minimum requirements without starving the host. A DBA must understand hardware sizing — Oracle Database is resource-intensive, and inadequate RAM causes excessive paging while insufficient CPUs create processing bottlenecks under load.

Create the virtual hard disk that will hold your OS, Oracle software, and database files. VirtualBox uses a dynamically allocated disk by default — it only consumes physical host space as data is written. Click Finish to complete the wizard. In production, DBAs plan disk layout carefully, separating data files, redo logs, and archive logs across different mount points.

Your virtual machine now appears in the VirtualBox Manager panel. The summary shows the name, OS type, memory, and disk profile. The VM is registered but not yet powered on. This is a good checkpoint for a DBA to verify the hardware profile matches requirements before applying settings.

Before starting the machine, click Settings to make important pre-boot configurations. Parameters such as display memory, network mode, and clipboard should be configured now rather than after OS installation. The screenshots show the VM selected in the manager panel and the Settings dialog.

Under General → Features, set both Shared Clipboard and Drag and Drop to Bidirectional. This allows seamless copy-paste between your host and the VM — extremely useful when transferring commands, scripts, or configuration values. DBAs frequently copy connection strings, IP addresses, and SQL commands into the VM terminal during setup.

Navigate to Display settings and increase video memory to 128 MB. This prevents display glitches and supports the full GNOME desktop environment that will be installed with 'Server with GUI'. A well-rendered desktop makes the initial OS setup and Oracle configuration phases significantly smoother.

Go to Network settings and change Adapter 1 from the default NAT to Bridged Adapter. In Bridged mode, the VM gets its own IP address on the same network as the host — enabling direct SSH connections via PuTTY or MobaXterm. NAT mode hides the VM behind the host, making direct SSH access difficult. DBAs always need direct network access to their database servers.

Click Start to power on the VM. VirtualBox boots from the Oracle Linux 7.9 ISO and launches the Anaconda installer. The boot sequence progresses through several screens — this is normal. The screenshots below show the VM starting up and the installer boot menu appearing. Wait patiently for the installer to load completely.

The Anaconda installer opens with a language selection screen. Choose English (English) and click Continue. All Oracle documentation, error messages, MOS (My Oracle Support) articles, and community resources are in English. Choosing English ensures full consistency and aligns with real-world production server configurations.

On the Software Selection screen, choose Server with GUI as the base environment and check all available add-ons. The GNOME graphical interface is helpful during the learning phase, providing a visual terminal and file manager. In real production environments, Oracle servers typically run in minimal/headless mode, but for a DBA training lab, the GUI builds confidence and simplifies navigation.

Under Installation Destination, configure the disk partitioning and change the filesystem type from the default xfs to ext4. The screenshots below walk through the complete partition configuration workflow — creating mount points for /, /boot, swap, and a dedicated /u01 for Oracle software. For a DBA, understanding filesystem layout is critical: Oracle requires predictable, dedicated storage paths for its data files, redo logs, and archive logs.

After all Installation Summary items are validated and show green checkmarks, click Begin Installation. Anaconda starts formatting the virtual disk, installing RPM packages, and configuring the bootloader. This process typically takes 10–20 minutes. A DBA should note what packages are being installed — understanding what's on the system helps diagnose dependency issues when adding Oracle software later.

During installation, configure the root password and create a dedicated user named oracle. Oracle Database software must be installed and run under a dedicated, non-root OS user — this is an Oracle-mandated security requirement. Using root to run Oracle is unsupported and creates serious security risks. The oracle user will own all Oracle software, processes, and associated files.

After the first boot into the GNOME desktop, a first-run setup wizard appears. Click through the prompts — Next → Next → Next → Skip → Done. These configure basic GNOME preferences such as language, keyboard, and location services. Accept the license agreement when prompted. A DBA moves through this quickly to get to the functional terminal environment.

Once on the GNOME desktop, maximize the VirtualBox window for a full-screen experience. A full-screen VM window makes it easier to work with multiple terminal tabs, configuration dialogs, and file managers simultaneously — a typical DBA multitasking workflow.

Right-click on the GNOME desktop and select Open Terminal. The terminal is the single most important tool in a DBA's Linux toolkit. From this command line you will install Oracle Database, start and stop the database, check alert logs, monitor disk space, and execute SQL*Plus. Every DBA must be comfortable and fast on the Linux terminal.

Click the system tray in the top-right corner of the GNOME desktop and navigate to Settings → Network. You will configure a static IP address so the VM always has a predictable, reachable address. In real Oracle production environments, servers have fixed IP addresses. This practice simulates that setup and ensures reliable SSH connectivity.

Before configuring a static IP, note the current IPv4 address automatically assigned by your router via DHCP. Click the gear icon next to your wired connection and open the IPv4 tab to see the assigned address. Write this down — you will use this as your static IP in the next step. This approach ensures you pick an IP that's already compatible with your network.

In the IPv4 settings tab, switch from Automatic (DHCP) to Manual. Enter the IP address you noted, keep the Netmask as shown, and set the Gateway and DNS to your router's IP — the same as your network IP but with 1 as the last octet (e.g., 192.168.1.1). Click Apply to save the configuration.

After clicking Apply, turn the wired network connection OFF and then back ON using the toggle switch. This forces the interface to release the DHCP lease and reconnect with your configured static address. Without this step, the old DHCP address may remain active until the next reboot.

Open the terminal and run ifconfig to confirm the static IP is correctly assigned to your network interface. This is one of the most fundamental verification commands for a DBA — used every time you connect to a new server to confirm the network identity. The output shows all interfaces, their IP addresses, and network statistics.

On your host Windows machine, open MobaXterm and click Session to create a new SSH connection to your VM. MobaXterm is a preferred tool among DBAs because it bundles SSH, SFTP file transfer, X11 forwarding, and multiple tabbed terminals in a single application — all essential for day-to-day remote database administration.

In the SSH session dialog, enter the static IP address of your Oracle Linux VM and the username you want to connect as. Leave the port as 22 (standard SSH port). Click OK and MobaXterm will prompt for the password. This is exactly how DBAs remotely connect to production Oracle servers.

You are now connected to your Oracle Linux VM via SSH — from your host Windows machine. This is precisely how DBAs access production Oracle servers. You have a fully functional Linux terminal without a graphical interface, ready for Oracle Database software installation, configuration, and all subsequent DBA operations.

Run df -h to verify the filesystem and mount points configured during OS installation. This confirms the disk partitioning was applied correctly and all required storage areas are available. For a DBA, verifying mount points after VM setup is a critical step — the Oracle software, database files, and archive logs each require their own dedicated and sufficient filesystem space.