SIEM Project Lab Setup | Part 2 | Install Ubuntu VM

?In this multipart walkthrough series, I demonstrate how to get a virtual home lab setup that can be used to practice using a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system. The SIEM that will ultimately be used is called Wazuh, which I'll describe in a later walkthrough. In my last article (which you can read here), I showed you how to download and install Oracle VirtualBox. In this part of the series, I'll show you how to set up an Ubuntu virtual machine (VM).

???? Ubuntu is a free, powerful operating system based on Linux. Linux is commonly used in servers, so it is worth being familiar with. In our SIEM series, we will use Ubuntu as one of the PCs in our practice lab network, so you'll get some experience using the Linux command line as well. All of this ties into developing cybersecurity skills which are widely in demand today. With that in mind, lets get this VM set up!

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Step 1: Go to Google.com and search for "Download Ubuntu Desktop"

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Step 2: Click on the "Download Ubuntu Desktop" link in the Google search results

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Step 3: Click on the green "Download 24.04.1 LTS" button (If you're reading this after February 2025, click on the latest version shown on this page).

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Step 4: Click "Save" in the dialog box (Pro Tip: We will need this file in the next steps, it might be wise to create a folder on your desktop and name is "VirtualBox ISOs" so that you can easily locate it when needed.

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Step 5: Once the ISO file is downloaded, open Oracle VirtualBox and click on Machine, New.?

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Step 6: In the "Name" field, type in whatever you like. For me, I type in "Ubuntu"

?Step 7: In the "ISO Image" field, click the dropdown arrow to the far right of the field. Click "Other," then locate your ISO file and double click on it. Also, click the "Skip Unintended Installation" checkbox at the bottom of this section (it is under the "Version" Field).

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Step 8: Click the "Hardware" section. VirtualBox defaults to assigning 2 GB of RAM to this VM. That should be ok for our experiment, but if you have a lot of RAM on your host system, I encourage you to assign as many as 4-6 GBs of RAM if possible as I believe it allows the VM to run more smoothly (it also helps the install go a little faster). It is up to you. For me, I assigned 6 GB RAM.

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Also for this step, you can assign a number of processors for your VM. Again, if you have a strong processor, I encourage 2-3 processors assigned to this machine (as again, it will make the install go a little faster) but if you leave it at 1 it should be fine. For me, I assigned 3 processors.

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Step 9: Click on the "Hard Disk" section. Ubuntu only needs 25 GBs of space to work properly. If you have an extra large hard drive, I encourage you to assign as many as 80 GBs if possible, but this is up to you. I assigned 80 GBs for my machine.

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Once you assign the desired hard drive space, click "Finish"

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Step 10: Before turning the VM on, click on the VM, then click on the orange "Settings" icon to bring up the settings window. Click on "Network," "Adaptor 1." Click the dropdown next to the "Attached to:" field and click on "Internal Network." Click "Ok." Your VM won't have a real Internet connection yet because we are going to use a firewall/router later on that will provide an IP address (and therefore an Internet Connection) to the VM.

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Step 11: Double click on the "Power" icon (its to the left of the "Powered Off" icon in the VirtualBox Manager window to start your VM.

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Step 12: When the VM window populates, I recommend clicking on "View" on the toolbar at the top of the screen and clicking "Scaled Mode" as it allows you to make the VM window bigger.

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Step 13: Once the install screen populates, choose your preferred language and then click "Next."

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Step 14: If needed, you can select any settings that you may need under the Accessibility and Keyboard Layout screens.?

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Step 15: Since our VM isn't yet connected to the Internet, click the "Do not connect to the internet" radio button on the "Internet Connection" screen.

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Step 16: On the "What do you want to do with Ubuntu?" screen, click "Install Ubuntu," then click "Next."

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Step 17: On the "How would you like to install Ubuntu?" page, click on "Interactive Installation" and click "Next."

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Step 18: On the "What apps would you like to install to start with?" page, select "Default selection."

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Step 19: On the "Install recommended proprietary software?" page, leave everything unchecked and click "Next."

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Step 20: On the "How do you want to install Ubuntu?" page, select the "Erase disk and install Ubuntu" radio button (it should be pre-selected) and then click "Next."

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Step 21: On the "Create your account" page, fill in the requested information however you like. It is recommended to use lowercase letters on the "Your name" and "Your computer's name" field to avoid any weird errors. Of course for the password you'll need upper and lowercase letters, etc. It is also recommended to leave the "Require my password to log in" box checked. Click "Next" when finished.

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Step 22: On the "Select your time zone" page, select your time zone and click "Next."

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Step 23: On the "Review your choices" page, click "Install." Depending on how much RAM and how many processors that you allocated in earlier steps, this process may take some time.

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Step 24: Once the install is complete you'll see an "Installation complete" screen. Click on "Restart Now."

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Note: You'll be brought to a page that says "Please remove the installation medium, then press Enter:." If you selected "Scaled Mode" in a previous step, you'll need to press and hold the "Ctrl" button on the right side of your keyboard (it's probably located under the "Shift" key on the right side of your keyboard) and the "C" key (right Ctrl + C) in order to see the toolbar on the top of your VM Window.

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Next, click "Devices," then "Optical Drives," then click "Remove Disk from Virtual Drive" if needed. If "Remove Disk from Virtual Drive" is grayed out, no worries, just click the "X" in the top right of the VM window and select the "Power Off the Machine" radio button to shut the VM down, then double click on the "Power" button in the VirtualBox Manager window to start the VM back up.?

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Step 25: Finally, when you get to the login screen, try to login to your Virtual Machine with the password you set up earlier by clicking your user name on the login screen. You can ignore any error screens about the VM not having an Internet connection. We will fix this in a later article.

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Step 26: When you get to the desktop, you'll see a "Welcome to Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS!" page. Click "Next" in the upper right corner. On the Ubuntu Pro screen that you'll see next, click "Next" again.

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Step 27: On the "Help improve Ubuntu" page, I recommend that you click the "No, don't share system data" radio button and then click "Next" in the upper right corner.

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Step 28: On the "Get started with more applications" page, click "Finish."

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Once you click "Finish" on step 28, if your screen looks in any way similar to what you see below, you're all set! You have the Ubuntu VM as set up as it can be in this part of the process! Nice work! I hope you found this tutorial useful. Feel free to share it if you feel someone else may get good use out of it.

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?If you have any issues or errors during setup, feel free to take a screenshot of the error that you see and post it in the comments below and I will be delighted to provide whatever help I can. If you see anyone else comment who has an issue that you think you may be able to help with, of course feel free to provide whatever help you can as well.

?Have you ever used Ubuntu in the past? If so, how have you used it? Feel free to let me know in the comments below. For me, I like to convert old computers to Linux machines by installing Ubuntu on them to give new live to old computers. I look forward to reading as to how you use or plan to use Ubuntu.

Thank you for your time and have a lovely day!

Check out the next part in this series below!