Setting Up Oracle VirtualBox Integration with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Using a Cloud Profile

Setting up Oracle VirtualBox’s integration with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) allows users to manage, export, and import OCI instances, as well as monitor their performance through VirtualBox Manager. To access these features, a cloud profile must be set up for the user. This blog provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up an OCI cloud profile for VirtualBox.

1) Install the VirtualBox Extension Pack

In order to access OCI integration, you will need to have the VirtualBox Extension Pack installed. The VirtualBox Extension Pack is freely available under the VirtualBox Extension Pack Personal Use and Educational License (PUEL) for personal and educational use. For commercial use, a commercial license must be purchased.

1. Download the VirtualBox Extension Pack, available on the VirtualBox.org website at Downloads – Oracle VirtualBox or from the Oracle website at Oracle VM VirtualBox - Downloads.
    
2. Run the VirtualBox Extension Pack file. This will open VirtualBox.
    
3. Accept the license agreement and wait for the VirtualBox Extension Pack to finish installing. 

2) Create a new cloud profile

You will first need to create a new cloud profile in VirtualBox Manager.

1. Navigate to the cloud tab in Oracle VirtualBox Manager
   
    
2. Select Add to create a new profile
    
3. Name the profile and click OK to create it.

3) Collect information for your cloud profile

For the cloud profile to connect to OCI, you will need to collect and fill in the following information:

• Tenancy OCID
• Compartment OCID
• Region Identifier
• User OCID
• Key fingerprint
• Key file location

1. Login to the OCI cloud console at Cloud Sign In
    
2. Navigate to compartments and copy the OCID of the desired compartment.
   
    
3. Navigate to the desired user profile.
    
4. In the bottom left, under Resources, select API Keys.
    
5. Select Add API key.
    
6. Select Download private key. You will need the path to where you download the private key later.
    
7. Select Add to generate the key pair. The configuration file preview will appear which displays the user OCID, key fingerprint, tenancy OCID and region identifier.
   
    

4) Complete your cloud profile

In Oracle VirtualBox Manager, you can now fill out the information in your cloud profile.

1. Populate the following fields with the information gathered during Step 2.

   Field	Information
   compartment	Compartment OCID
   fingerprint	Key fingerprint
   key_file	Path to private key
   tenancy	Tenancy OCID
   user	User OCID

   
   
   
    
2. Select Apply to save your user profile.
    
3. Under the OCI group, navigate to your profile to begin using OCI integration
   
    

You can now use OCI integration in Oracle VirtualBox Manager. This includes creating, deleting, resetting, cloning, or viewing performance metrics for any OCI instances located inside the chosen compartment. You can also export local virtual machines to OCI using your cloud profile or import OCI instances into Oracle VirtualBox Manager to use them locally.

Download VirtualBox 7.1 now to set up OCI integration and develop both locally and on OCI.

Resources

• Learn more about Oracle VirtualBox
• VirtualBox community website
• Visit the Oracle Virtualization Blog
• Oracle VirtualBox User Guide