How to setup a Virtual Machine VPN
VPN is a powerful security protocol that works system wide encrypting all sources of one’s internet traffic. A lot of users prefer VPN over proxies for that reason, but system wide protection is sometimes too inclusive. You can’t easily exclude applications from using the VPN–but with the assistance of a virtual machine, it becomes possible.
Virtual machines are virtual operating systems that work within your computer so you can be running two different operating systems at once. You can run Mac on Windows, or Windows on Mac, or even Linux on Windows (or Linux on Mac). The possibilities are endless!
If you love the security of VPN but also want to exclude your VPN usage from your main operating system, it’s as simple as setting up a virtual machine using VPN, and leaving your normal operating system disconnected from the VPN. Simply navigate to the TorGuard website and download the lite client for the chosen operating system of your virtual machine. Then install and connect to TorGuard VPN by entering your login credentials and picking your preferred remote server. The applications running inside the virtual machine will be connected to the VPN while your other operating system won’t be.
It’s a simple solution, but setting up a virtual machine can be confusing. That’s why we’re are here to help you! For this article, the guide will focus on setting up Ubuntu, but the process is similar for other operating systems. Here’s a guide on how to setup a virtual machine with VirtualBox:
- Get virtual box from VirtualBox.org.
- Start the installation file. Click next until it finishes. Don’t worry if it says your network might be affected.
- Once VirtualBox opens, click “New” in the top left corner. Then click “Next”.
- The next step is setting up some details for your virtual machine. Enter in your preferred name, the type of OS you want (here for Ubuntu chose Linux) and then the version.
- Next chose the amount of ram you want allocated to the virtual machine. Leave default if you aren’t sure on this one.
- In the same way you allocated some ram, now you need to allocate some hard drive space for your Operating system. Depending on the size of your OS, this is up to you–8GB should be fine for Ubuntu.
- Choose VDI.
- Choose whether you want a dynamically allocated drive (it will use space on your hard drive once it fills up) or a fixed size that could provide more speed but take longer to set up.
- Choose the amount of space that you think you will need for applications.
- Now you need to pick the file location of your operating system. Do this by double clicking on the Ubuntu file you have created. It will bring up a menu so that you can load your installation file. If you need a download, continue to step 11.
- Head over to ubuntu.com/download and download the latest iso file.
- Now once it’s downloaded simply picking the location of the downloaded file like in step 10 and install Ubuntu onto your virtual machine.
You should now be able to boot up into a virtual machine running Ubuntu! Finally, you should install TorGuard’s easy to use Ubuntu VPN app, choose your server and login! Follow the step by step Ubuntu VPN tutorial for instructions and enjoy your new virtualized OpenVPN security.
