GNOME Boxes is one of the best virtualization software you can find out on Linux. It’s a part of the GNOME software family that’s both simple to use and provides powerful control over virtual OS. GNOME Boxes is capable of running almost all the operating systems as a guest OS on any supported platform.

It’s a lot simpler and easier to use. This tool allows any inexperienced and general Linux users to enjoy the full advantage of virtualization technology.

It’s also a great alternative to the VirtualBox. Are you interested in other VirtualBox alternatives? Check them out!

Why use GNOME Boxes

There are a number of reasons you should consider adding GNOME Boxes into your arsenal.

First of all, it’s a virtualization software that allows you running other systems on the same hardware. You won’t have to install the OS natively in your system. That’s also the sole purpose of VirtualBox. However, because of the simplicity, you don’t have to go through all the detailed system specification for the virtual OS.

In addition, you can also use it for managing remote systems over the network. That’s a powerful thing if you’re working on a corporate environment.

Installing GNOME Boxes

Run the following command(s) according to your Linux distro –

• Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gnome-boxes

• Debian

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-boxes

• OpenSUSE

Get GNOME Boxes.

• Fedora

sudo yum install gnome-boxes

• Arch Linux

Get GNOME Boxes.

Using GNOME Boxes

Before proceeding further, you may need to make the following tweaks to your system so that GNOME Boxes run perfectly, without any problem.

At first, install the following packages –

• qemu-utils
• libvirt-bin

Then, run the following commands in a terminal –

sudo nano /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf

# Add the following lines in the file, save and close
group=kvm

sudo usermod -a -G kvm $USER

After the installation is complete, start GNOME Boxes –

From the top-left corner, click “New” button for adding a new virtual system.

You can also add a virtual system from an image file.

If you want, you can customize the settings for the virtual system as Boxes will allocate space to a minimum level (enough for running the OS).

Enjoy!