I know how to install an ISO in VirtualBox or Virtual PC, but I don't know where to find a Windows 10 ISO file. Microsoft provide a tool to download Windows 10 but it seems that it's only usable to upgrade a running Windows (I launched the tool with my Windows 7).

• Daemon Tools
• Create Iso From Virtualbox

Hello, As you know many people are in search of,how to install windows on Pen drive not using vmware virtual machine or other virtualbox. I am looking for that if i can install my windows 7 os on usb instead of hardisk is there any way in short cuts for that or we need to give defrent codes? As hd is coded for all windows,,,, ~~????? If you have only one USB Stick and no way to use a DVD, you can install Tails on an USB through VirtualBox. Here are the steps. Download Tails as instructed on the official site (*.iso, *.sig + verifying.) Create New Virtual.

Where can I find Windows 10 ISO file?

4 Answers

Microsoft now provides Windows 10 test VMs for Hyper-V, VMware and VirtualBox. Follow these steps:

1. Navigate to https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/
2. Under Virtual Machine select: Microsoft Edge on Windows 10
3. Under Select Platform, select the virtualization technology of choice
4. Download the .ZIP file
5. Unzip the VM and import it into your virtualization platform

This VM will allow you to test Windows 10 for up to 90 days. You can activate the VM by entering your Windows product key which will eliminate the 90 day limit.

There's another option to download the ISOs from Microsoft. You just have to either use a non-Windows PC (Linux, Mac, Android, whatever...) or use a user-agent spoofer tool so Microsoft's website thinks you're not in Windows. I used this one for Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmg

The reason is that if they see you use Windows they'll offer you their downloader EXE, which can only download to drive C: and if it's full (which is usual when using a small SSD drive as the main one) you can't download even if you have a secondary drive with several free TBs, since you can't choose another drive.

If their site thinks you're not on Windows, they'll offer you direct download links to the ISOs valid for 24h.

The URL to get the ISOs is this one (remember to use a spoofer or a non-Windows device or you won't be able to get the links to the ISOs from this page, and will get links to the tool instead):

All these answers are viable, however, if you don't want to use the media creation tool, or tell windows you are a PHONE using any browser by entering into DEV mode using F12 and emulating to be a windows phone, or cell phone to do the download, you can use this link.

This page will ask you for the OS, and Language and give you Two links, one for 64bit and one for 32bit. Once you select the ISO of your choice, the link is valid 24 hours. If you try later after 24 hours, you would have to start the process over to get a fresh download link.

That tool can download an ISO file for you to do with what you want. It's the alternative option to upgrading the PC it's running on. You can even use the Media Creation Tool to automatically burn Windows 10 to a USB drive.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged virtualboxwindows-10iso-imagemicrosoft-virtual-pc or ask your own question.

Type: virtualbox-iso

The VirtualBox Packer builder is able to createVirtualBox virtual machines and export them inthe OVF format, starting from an ISO image.

The builder builds a virtual machine by creating a new virtual machine fromscratch, booting it, installing an OS, provisioning software within the OS, thenshutting it down. The result of the VirtualBox builder is a directory containingall the files necessary to run the virtual machine portably.

» Basic Example

Here is a basic example. This example is not functional. It will start the OSinstaller but then fail because we don't provide the preseed file for Ubuntu toself-install. Still, the example serves to show the basic configuration:

It is important to add a shutdown_command. By default Packer halts the virtualmachine and the file system may not be sync'd. Thus, changes made in aprovisioner might not be saved.

»ISO Configuration Reference

By default, Packer will symlink, download or copy image files to the Packercache into a 'hash($iso_url+$iso_checksum).$iso_target_extension' file.Packer uses hashicorp/go-getter infile mode in order to perform a download.

go-getter supports the following protocols:

Daemon Tools

• Local files
• Git
• Mercurial
• HTTP
• Amazon S3

On windows - when referencing a local iso - if packer is running withoutsymlinking rights, the iso will be copied to the cache folder. Read Symlinksin Windows 10! formore info.

»Required:

• iso_checksum (string) - The checksum for the ISO file or virtual harddrive file. The algorithm to use when computing the checksum can beoptionally specified with iso_checksum_type. When iso_checksum_type isnot set packer will guess the checksumming type based on iso_checksumlength. iso_checksum can be also be a file or an URL, in which caseiso_checksum_type must be set to file; the go-getter will download itand use the first hash found.

• iso_url (string) - A URL to the ISO containing the installation image orvirtual hard drive (VHD or VHDX) file to clone.

»Optional:

• iso_checksum_type (string) - The algorithm to be used when computing thechecksum of the file specified in iso_checksum. Currently, valid valuesare ', 'none', 'md5', 'sha1', 'sha256', 'sha512' or 'file'. Since thevalidity of ISO and virtual disk files are typically crucial to asuccessful build, Packer performs a check of any supplied media by default.While setting 'none' will cause Packer to skip this check, corruption oflarge files such as ISOs and virtual hard drives can occur from time totime. As such, skipping this check is not recommended. iso_checksum_typemust be set to file when iso_checksum is an url.

• iso_checksum_url (string) - A URL to a checksum file containing achecksum for the ISO file. At least one of iso_checksum andiso_checksum_url must be defined. iso_checksum_url will be ignored ifiso_checksum is non empty.

• iso_target_extension (string) - The extension of the iso file afterdownload. This defaults to iso.

• iso_target_path (string) - The path where the iso should be saved afterdownload. By default will go in the packer cache, with a hash of theoriginal filename and checksum as its name.

• iso_urls (array of strings) - Multiple URLs for the ISO to download.Packer will try these in order. If anything goes wrong attempting todownload or while downloading a single URL, it will move on to the next.All URLs must point to the same file (same checksum). By default this isempty and iso_url is used. Only one of iso_url or iso_urls can bespecified.

»Example ISO configurations

go-getter can guess the checksum type based on iso_checksum len.

» Configuration Reference

There are many configuration options available for the VirtualBox builder. Theyare organized below into two categories: required and optional. Within eachcategory, the available options are alphabetized and described.

In addition to the options listed here, acommunicator can be configured for thisbuilder.

» Optional:

• boot_command (array of strings) - This is an array of commands to typewhen the virtual machine is first booted. The goal of these commands shouldbe to type just enough to initialize the operating system installer. Specialkeys can be typed as well, and are covered in the section below on theboot command. If this is not specified, it is assumed the installer willstart itself.

• boot_wait (string) - The time to wait after booting the initial virtualmachine before typing the boot_command. The value of this should bea duration. Examples are 5s and 1m30s which will cause Packer to waitfive seconds and one minute 30 seconds, respectively. If this isn'tspecified, the default is 10s or 10 seconds.

• cpus (number) - The number of cpus to use for building the VM.Defaults to 1.

• disk_size (number) - The size, in megabytes, of the hard disk to createfor the VM. By default, this is 40000 (about 40 GB).

• export_opts (array of strings) - Additional options to pass to theVBoxManageexport. Thiscan be useful for passing product information to include in the resultingappliance file. Packer JSON configuration file example:

  A VirtualBox VMdescriptionmay contain arbitrary strings; the GUI interprets HTML formatting. However,the JSON format does not allow arbitrary newlines within a value. Add amulti-line description by preparing the string in the shell before thepacker call like this (shell > continuation character snipped for easiercopy & paste):

• floppy_dirs (array of strings) - A list of directories to place ontothe floppy disk recursively. This is similar to the floppy_files optionexcept that the directory structure is preserved. This is useful for whenyour floppy disk includes drivers or if you just want to organize it'scontents as a hierarchy. Wildcard characters (*, ?, and []) are allowed.

• floppy_files (array of strings) - A list of files to place onto a floppydisk that is attached when the VM is booted. This is most useful forunattended Windows installs, which look for an Autounattend.xml file onremovable media. By default, no floppy will be attached. All files listed inthis setting get placed into the root directory of the floppy and the floppyis attached as the first floppy device. Currently, no support exists forcreating sub-directories on the floppy. Wildcard characters (*, ?,and []) are allowed. Directory names are also allowed, which will add allthe files found in the directory to the floppy.

• format (string) - Either ovf or ova, this specifies the output formatof the exported virtual machine. This defaults to ovf.

• guest_additions_interface (string) - The interface type to use to mountguest additions when guest_additions_mode is set to attach. Willdefault to the value set in iso_interface, if iso_interface is set.Will default to 'ide', if iso_interface is not set. Options are 'ide' and'sata'.

• guest_additions_mode (string) - The method by which guest additions aremade available to the guest for installation. Valid options are upload,attach, or disable. If the mode is attach the guest additions ISO willbe attached as a CD device to the virtual machine. If the mode is uploadthe guest additions ISO will be uploaded to the path specified byguest_additions_path. The default value is upload. If disable is used,guest additions won't be downloaded, either.

• guest_additions_path (string) - The path on the guest virtual machinewhere the VirtualBox guest additions ISO will be uploaded. By default thisis VBoxGuestAdditions.iso which should upload into the login directory ofthe user. This is a configurationtemplate where the Versionvariable is replaced with the VirtualBox version.

• guest_additions_sha256 (string) - The SHA256 checksum of the guestadditions ISO that will be uploaded to the guest VM. By default thechecksums will be downloaded from the VirtualBox website, so this only needsto be set if you want to be explicit about the checksum.

• guest_additions_url (string) - The URL to the guest additions ISOto upload. This can also be a file URL if the ISO is at a local path. Bydefault, the VirtualBox builder will attempt to find the guest additions ISOon the local file system. If it is not available locally, the builder willdownload the proper guest additions ISO from the internet.

• guest_os_type (string) - The guest OS type being installed. By defaultthis is other, but you can get dramatic performance improvements bysetting this to the proper value. To view all available values for this runVBoxManage list ostypes. Setting the correct value hints to VirtualBox howto optimize the virtual hardware to work best with that operating system.

• hard_drive_interface (string) - The type of controller that the primaryhard drive is attached to, defaults to ide. When set to sata, the driveis attached to an AHCI SATA controller. When set to scsi, the drive isattached to an LsiLogic SCSI controller.

• sata_port_count (number) - The number of ports available on any SATAcontroller created, defaults to 1. VirtualBox supports up to 30 ports on amaximum of 1 SATA controller. Increasing this value can be useful if youwant to attach additional drives.

• hard_drive_nonrotational (boolean) - Forces some guests (i.e. Windows 7+)to treat disks as SSDs and stops them from performing disk fragmentation.Also set hard_drive_discard to true to enable TRIM support.

• hard_drive_discard (boolean) - When this value is set to true, a VDIimage will be shrunk in response to the trim command from the guest OS.The size of the cleared area must be at least 1MB. Also sethard_drive_nonrotational to true to enable TRIM support.

• headless (boolean) - Packer defaults to building VirtualBox virtualmachines by launching a GUI that shows the console of the machinebeing built. When this value is set to true, the machine will startwithout a console.

• http_directory (string) - Path to a directory to serve using anHTTP server. The files in this directory will be available over HTTP thatwill be requestable from the virtual machine. This is useful for hostingkickstart files and so on. By default this is an empty string, which meansno HTTP server will be started. The address and port of the HTTP server willbe available as variables in boot_command. This is covered in more detailbelow.

• http_port_min and http_port_max (number) - These are the minimum andmaximum port to use for the HTTP server started to serve thehttp_directory. Because Packer often runs in parallel, Packer will choosea randomly available port in this range to run the HTTP server. If you wantto force the HTTP server to be on one port, make this minimum and maximumport the same. By default the values are 8000 and 9000, respectively.

• iso_interface (string) - The type of controller that the ISO is attachedto, defaults to ide. When set to sata, the drive is attached to an AHCISATA controller.

• iso_target_extension (string) - The extension of the iso file afterdownload. This defaults to iso.

• iso_target_path (string) - The path where the iso should be savedafter download. By default will go in the packer cache, with a hash of theoriginal filename as its name.

• iso_urls (array of strings) - Multiple URLs for the ISO to download.Packer will try these in order. If anything goes wrong attempting todownload or while downloading a single URL, it will move on to the next. AllURLs must point to the same file (same checksum). By default this is emptyand iso_url is used. Only one of iso_url or iso_urls can be specified.

• keep_registered (boolean) - Set this to true if you would like to keepthe VM registered with virtualbox. Defaults to false.

• memory (number) - The amount of memory to use for building the VMin megabytes. Defaults to 512 megabytes.

• output_directory (string) - This is the path to the directory where theresulting virtual machine will be created. This may be relative or absolute.If relative, the path is relative to the working directory when packeris executed. This directory must not exist or be empty prior to runningthe builder. By default this is output-BUILDNAME where 'BUILDNAME' is thename of the build.

• post_shutdown_delay (string) - The amount of time to wait after shuttingdown the virtual machine. If you get the errorError removing floppy controller, you might need to set this to 5mor so. By default, the delay is 0s or disabled.

• shutdown_command (string) - The command to use to gracefully shut down themachine once all the provisioning is done. By default this is an emptystring, which tells Packer to just forcefully shut down the machine unless ashutdown command takes place inside script so this may safely be omitted. Ifone or more scripts require a reboot it is suggested to leave this blanksince reboots may fail and specify the final shutdown command in yourlast script.

• shutdown_timeout (string) - The amount of time to wait after executing theshutdown_command for the virtual machine to actually shut down. If itdoesn't shut down in this time, it is an error. By default, the timeout is5m or five minutes.

• skip_export (boolean) - Defaults to false. When enabled, Packer willnot export the VM. Useful if the build output is not the resultant image,but created inside the VM.

• sound (string) - Defaults to none. The type of audio device to use forsound when building the VM. Some of the options that are available aredsound, oss, alsa, pulse, coreaudio, null.

• ssh_host_port_min and ssh_host_port_max (number) - The minimum andmaximum port to use for the SSH port on the host machine which is forwardedto the SSH port on the guest machine. Because Packer often runs in parallel,Packer will choose a randomly available port in this range to use as thehost port. By default this is 2222 to 4444.

• ssh_skip_nat_mapping (boolean) - Defaults to false. When enabled, Packerdoes not setup forwarded port mapping for SSH requests and uses ssh_porton the host to communicate to the virtual machine.

• usb (boolean) - Specifies whether or not to enable the USB bus whenbuilding the VM. Defaults to false.

• vboxmanage (array of array of strings) - Custom VBoxManage commands toexecute in order to further customize the virtual machine being created. Thevalue of this is an array of commands to execute. The commands are executedin the order defined in the template. For each command, the command isdefined itself as an array of strings, where each string represents a singleargument on the command-line to VBoxManage (but excludingVBoxManage itself). Each arg is treated as a configurationtemplate, where the Namevariable is replaced with the VM name. More details on how to useVBoxManage are below.

• vboxmanage_post (array of array of strings) - Identical to vboxmanage,except that it is run after the virtual machine is shutdown, and before thevirtual machine is exported.

• bundle_iso (boolean) - Defaults to false. When enabled, Packer includesany attached ISO disc devices into the final virtual machine. Useful forsome live distributions that require installation media to continue to beattached after installation.

• virtualbox_version_file (string) - The path within the virtual machine toupload a file that contains the VirtualBox version that was used to createthe machine. This information can be useful for provisioning. By defaultthis is .vbox_version, which will generally be upload it into thehome directory. Set to an empty string to skip uploading this file, whichcan be useful when using the none communicator.

• vm_name (string) - This is the name of the OVF file for the new virtualmachine, without the file extension. By default this is packer-BUILDNAME,where 'BUILDNAME' is the name of the build.

• vrdp_bind_address (string / IP address) - The IP address that should bebinded to for VRDP. By default packer will use 127.0.0.1 for this. If youwish to bind to all interfaces use 0.0.0.0.

• vrdp_port_min and vrdp_port_max (number) - The minimum and maximum portto use for VRDP access to the virtual machine. Packer uses a randomly chosenport in this range that appears available. By default this is 5900 to6000. The minimum and maximum ports are inclusive.

» Boot Command

The boot_command configuration is very important: it specifies the keys totype when the virtual machine is first booted in order to start the OSinstaller. This command is typed after boot_wait, which gives the virtualmachine some time to actually load the ISO.

As documented above, the boot_command is an array of strings. The strings areall typed in sequence. It is an array only to improve readability within thetemplate.

The boot command is sent to the VM through the VBoxManage utility in as fewinvocations as possible. We send each character in groups of 25, with a defaultdelay of 100ms between groups. The delay alleviates issues with latency and CPUcontention. If you notice missing keys, you can tune this delay by specifying'boot_keygroup_interval' in your Packer template, for example:

There are a set of special keys available. If these are in your bootcommand, they will be replaced by the proper key:

• <bs> - Backspace

• <del> - Delete

• <enter> <return> - Simulates an actual 'enter' or 'return' keypress.

• <esc> - Simulates pressing the escape key.

• <tab> - Simulates pressing the tab key.

• <f1> - <f12> - Simulates pressing a function key.

• <up> <down> <left> <right> - Simulates pressing an arrow key.

• <spacebar> - Simulates pressing the spacebar.

• <insert> - Simulates pressing the insert key.

• <home> <end> - Simulates pressing the home and end keys.

• <pageUp> <pageDown> - Simulates pressing the page up and page down keys.

• <menu> - Simulates pressing the Menu key.

• <leftAlt> <rightAlt> - Simulates pressing the alt key.

• <leftCtrl> <rightCtrl> - Simulates pressing the ctrl key.

• <leftShift> <rightShift> - Simulates pressing the shift key.

• <leftSuper> <rightSuper> - Simulates pressing the ⌘ or Windows key.

• <wait> <wait5> <wait10> - Adds a 1, 5 or 10 second pause beforesending any additional keys. This is useful if you have to generally waitfor the UI to update before typing more.

• <waitXX> - Add an arbitrary pause before sending any additional keys. Theformat of XX is a sequence of positive decimal numbers, each withoptional fraction and a unit suffix, such as 300ms, 1.5h or 2h45m.Valid time units are ns, us (or µs), ms, s, m, h. For example<wait10m> or <wait1m20s>

»On/Off variants

Any printable keyboard character, and of these 'special' expressions, with theexception of the <wait> types, can also be toggled on or off. For example, tosimulate ctrl+c, use <leftCtrlOn>c<leftCtrlOff>. Be sure to release them,otherwise they will be held down until the machine reboots.

To hold the c key down, you would use <cOn>. Likewise, <cOff> to release.

»Templates inside boot command

In addition to the special keys, each command to type is treated as atemplate engine. Theavailable variables are:

• HTTPIP and HTTPPort - The IP and port, respectively of an HTTP serverthat is started serving the directory specified by the http_directoryconfiguration parameter. If http_directory isn't specified, these will beblank!
• Name - The name of the VM.

For more examples of various boot commands, see the sample projects from ourcommunity templates page.

»SSH key pair automation

The VirtualBox builders can inject the current SSH key pair's public key intothe template using the following variable:

• SSHPublicKey (VirtualBox builders only) - This is the SSH public keyas a line in OpenSSH authorized_keys format.

When a private key is provided using ssh_private_key_file, the key'scorresponding public key can be accessed using the above variables.

If ssh_password and ssh_private_key_file are not specified, Packer willautomatically generate en ephemeral key pair. The key pair's public key canbe accessed using the template variables.

For example, the public key can be provided in the boot command as a URLencoded string by appending | urlquery to the variable:

A kickstart could then leverage those fields from the kernel command line bydecoding the URL-encoded public key:

Example boot command. This is actually a working boot command used to start anUbuntu 12.04 installer:

For more examples of various boot commands, see the sample projects from ourcommunity templates page.

» Guest Additions

Packer will automatically download the proper guest additions for the version ofVirtualBox that is running and upload those guest additions into the virtualmachine so that provisioners can easily install them.

Packer downloads the guest additions from the official VirtualBox website, andverifies the file with the official checksums released by VirtualBox.

After the virtual machine is up and the operating system is installed, Packeruploads the guest additions into the virtual machine. The path where they areuploaded is controllable by guest_additions_path, and defaults to'VBoxGuestAdditions.iso'. Without an absolute path, it is uploaded to the homedirectory of the SSH user.

» VBoxManage Commands

In order to perform extra customization of the virtual machine, a template candefine extra calls to VBoxManage to perform.VBoxManage is the command-lineinterface to VirtualBox where you can completely control VirtualBox. It can beused to do things such as set RAM, CPUs, etc.

Extra VBoxManage commands are defined in the template in the vboxmanagesection. An example is shown below that sets the memory and number of CPUswithin the virtual machine:

The value of vboxmanage is an array of commands to execute. These commands areexecuted in the order defined. So in the above example, the memory will be setfollowed by the CPUs.

Create Iso From Virtualbox

Each command itself is an array of strings, where each string is an argument toVBoxManage. Each argument is treated as a configurationtemplate. The only availablevariable is Name which is replaced with the unique name of the VM, which isrequired for many VBoxManage calls.