1 How to install VirtualBox and VirtualBox Extension Pack
Before you can use the virtual machine of sRNAtoolbox (sRNAtoolboxVM) you need to download and install a hypervisor or a virtual machine monitor, i.e. a computer software that creates and runs virtual machines. There are many hypervisors that are compatible with the Open Virtualization Format (OVF or OVA), like VirtualBox, VMware and XenServer, among others. OVA is the format that we use to distribute sRNAtoolboxVM. We recommend using VirtualBox (version 5 or higher) because it is free, open source and user friendly.
To install VirtualBox visit this website.
Download the version for your operating system (Windows, OS X, Linux and Solaris) and the VirtualBox Extension Pack (is the same for all supported platforms). Install VirtualBox and then double-click on the VirtualBox Extension Pack file to install it. If the double click does not work, open VirtualBox and go to
2 Download Virtual Machine
Download the sRNAtoolboxVM OVA file here.
Then open VirtualBox and go to
3 Configure Virtual Machine
Once imported, you will see sRNAtoolboxVM in the VirtualBox interface (left menu). Now click on sRNAtoolboxVM to select it for configuration.
To change the memory allocation, go to
To change the number of CPUs assigned, go to
4 Use a shared folder
It is highly recommended to use a shared folder to store the datasets, assemblies and results. If you do not use a shared folder, the performance of sRNAtoolbox will be considerably lower and the virtual disk will grow undesirably. Please use a shared folder.
To select the shared folder in the host machine:
- The name and path of the folder in the host machine.
- The name of the shared folder for the virtual machine.
Note that it is important to activate the auto-mount feature.
Within the virtual machine, the shared folder will be on /media and the name of the folder will be the name you entered, preceded by sf_. For example, /media/sf_mydata. Please note that the path of the shared folder on the host and the virtual machine are different.
5 Launch the virtual machine
After closing the configuration window, in the VirtualBox interface, select sRNAtoolboxVM and click on Start button (green arrow). sRNAtoolboxVM will start in a new window. To log into the VM, enter your credentials:
- User: srna
- Password: srna
Optionally, you can change the password, by typing in a terminal:
Note that the virtual machine can access internet if the host machine is connected to the web. However, the VM is not accessible from outside and therefor a lax password should be not security issue.
6 Change keyboard layout and time zone
To change the keyboard layout, type the following command in a terminal of the sRNAtoolboxVM:
You will be asked the password for your user in the sRNAtoolboxVM (default: srna). Select your keyboard layout and ready.
To change your time zone, type the following command in a terminal of the sRNAtoolboxVM:
You will be asked the password for your user in the sRNAtoolboxVM (default: srna). Select your time zone and ready.