Introduction
This guide explains how to create a Virtual Machine for OpenMediaVault using Oracle VirtualBox; and is intended for beginners who want to build a NAS environment in a virtualized setup, on a Windows OS.
Based on Debian Linux, OMV (OpenMediaVault) is an awesome, simple open-source NAS solution to help any enthusiast with setting up a little server, or something big depending on how you plan on exploiting it.
Although having somewhat been familiar with VirtualBox in the past, I've had to learn a bit about OpenMediaVault in 2025 for internship in Networking, an experience that has been both rewarding and frustrating. So i thought about compiling knowledge to help others.
The whole thing here, is to be able to setup Docker Compose and SMB/CIFS on this setup, so this is the first of other articles, all part of a whole tutorial.
Let us dive into the Virtualverse...
Requirements
Prerequisites:
Latest version of Oracle VirtualBox available on the official website: https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.1.10/VirtualBox-7.1.10-169112-Win.exe;
Latest version of an image from Open Media Vault, on the official website: https://www.openmediavault.org/download.html;
A free partition on your Hard Drive, which you will let OMV manage (optional).
Make sure to have at least:
2 GB of RAM to spare,
2 Cores of CPU to spare,
At least 10 GB of Disk Space available (i went for 20 for my test setup).
Note: always take a stable version of OMV. And make sure to visit official sites only. But your judgment will speak for itself regarding the sources you trust.
Installing Oracle VirtualBox
VirtualBox installs like any basic application on Windows. After selecting where you want VirtualBox to install, you will need to select the add-on components for your virtual machines:
USB Support: A package containing special drivers for your Windows host machine, required by VirtualBox to recognize USB devices in your virtual machines.
Networking: A packet containing additional network drivers for the host machine, required by VirtualBox to support Bridged Networking. This mode will be explained in the configuration;
Python support: This package contains support for Python scripts for VirtualBox. We won't need this, so free-will to you if you know what you're doing.
After selection, you will continue with the installation and pay attention to any information that arises while it is running.
Creating the Open Media Vault Virtual Machine
Once VirtualBox is installed and up and running, you will launch its application, which should have had a shortcut created under your desktop under the name "Oracle VirtualBox".
After it is executed, you will be presented with a new window:
And from there, you click on the "New" icon to digitalize dive into the Virtualverse.
- Name and Operating System
(You can always zoom in, huh)
Now take my hand and walk with me:
In "Name": You will name your new Virtual Machine (e.g. OpenMediaVault);
In "Folder": You will specify the host location of your/your Virtual Machine(s) (if you delete this folder where it will be installed, the VM will go with it);
In "ISO Image", you will select the Open Media Vault ISO file that you have downloaded;
Next, you will select the System Type in "Type". OpenMediaVault runs on Linux;
In "Subtype", you will select "Debian";
In "Version", you will take 64bits, since the image you downloaded will be an "amd64" image.
- Unattended Install
"Unattended Installation" is a process that allows VirtualBox to manage the installation of a Guest System without requiring user intervention.
The catch? This process does not work with OpenMediaVault, since it is a Debian-based Linux distribution, customized with a web interface and its services.
So...huh...You can skip that section entirely.
- Hardware
This part refers to the parameters of memory and processing power used by the Virtual Machine. That means the more Open Media Vault services you have, the more should the tiers be raised.
Since we only have two services to install for our tutorial, you can limit the number of Processors to 2 cores and the Base Memory to 2 GB (2048 MB)...which is, to be honest, the bare minimum for anything nowadays.
Now about the Enable EFI option...
This option allows you to choose whether or not you want to enable UEFI mode for your virtual machine, allowing it to boot in UEFI rather than BIOS. Although OMV 7 supports UEFI, it is generally recommended that you leave this option disabled unless you want your MV to mimic a UEFI environment, if your .ISO supports this mode, or if your host disk boots in this mode.
But this option is not necessary for a standard installation, which we're doing.
- Hard Disk
This section is about configuring the Hard Drive ("Virtual" Hard Drive) that will be used to store the System and the data you create on it. Its location is basically in the folder that you will have specified in the "folder" option in the "Name and Operating System" section.
VirtualBox uses ".vdi" files to store virtual machine disks, that replicate real physical hard drives. So it is possible to allocate capacity to them. Even if this disk is empty, the space you allocate will be the space considered by the System that it will carry, and thus cut off from the capacity of the host hard disk.
"Pre-allocate Full Size": A capacity allocation option, which specifies whether the Virtual Disk should be created with its maximum capacity from the outset or whether it will gradually increase in size until it reaches the maximum limit predefined in the "Hard Disk File Location and Size" option bar;
"Use an existing Virtual Hard Disk File": This option is available when you have an available Virtual Hard Disk. In your case, unless you have one that you want to use, don't check it;
"Do not add a Virtual Hard Disk": Allows you not to create a Virtual Hard Disk for the installation of your virtual machine. In the case of this installation, it is better to avoid checking it since OMV will not be able to detect a Hard Drive during its installation... unless you add a Hard Drive later in the VirtualBox options.
Click finish after selecting the appropriate options, as in the example above.
And after all that configuration, your new VM will be up and ready to go. All you have to do is run it from the "Start" option.
Which will take you to the Open Media Vault setup home page:
Since we'll be configuring Docker Compose and SMB/CIFS, We'll come back to this.
To where, then?
For now, create a checkpoint, save the game, close the Virtual Machine...
In the next guide, as we will need to configure other things related to the interaction between this VM and the Host System, so that nothing surprises us when we will actually dive into OMV.
