Fedora is my flavor of choice when working with Linux. This guide will get you going with a local copy for testing.
This is part 1 of a multi part series you can follow here.
Why Fedora?
A lot has to do with the packages being maintained and the financial support behind it. Fedora is the test bed for one of the biggest names in Linux - Red Hat. Packages consistently change getting new versions but potentially pick up bugs, security vulnerabilities, and compatibility issues with other packages. The Red Hat and CentOS distribution are famous for their security and stability. Keeping up with the latest packages becomes impossible. All the packages go through thorough vetting before being released which takes months sometimes years. Fedora runs packages which are closer to what is currently being developed. This will mean the stability will not be the same as a Red Hat or CentOS but it does have the same people behind it. What you get is a pretty stable Linux distro with packages that are actually relevant.
VM Setup
Running a virtual machine is the quickest way to dive into some experimenting with Linux. In short, it's a computer inside a computer. For this tut I will use Oracle Virtual Box but you can use VMware Player if you chose. For the people using VMware the screens will obvious be different but the steps are almost identical. I prefer installing right out of the cli.
Prerequisite
Enabling Intel VT and AMD-V virtualization hardware extensions in BIOS is required for running virtual machines. Here is a link provided by Fedora on how to enable it.
Install Oracle Virtual Box
Head over to the downloads page for Oracle Virtual Box and pick the package that goes with the OS you are using.
I am currently running Fedora on a 64 bit system so I will choose Fedora 26 / 27 / 28 AMD64. This is going to vary on the system you are using so choose accordingly.
Just double click on the recently downloaded file in the downloads folder VirtualBox-X.X. This will open up the appropriate installer for you and display an Install button.
Get Fedora Image
We are going to be working with Fedora Workstation. Boogie over to the downloads page and grab a copy of the ISO.
Creating the VM
Open VirtualBox and then click Machine followed by New.
Fill out the obvious :D
Give it some ram. I went with 2048.
Create the hard drive next.
Select how to allocate the storage. It explains the difference between the two options in the prompt.
We aren't really going to dive down deep into the image types. Just use the default VDI and hit next.
The default is 8 but I adjusted this value to 20 since I have plenty of disk space.
Alright, now the new Virtual Machine has been created at this point and you should see it on the left hand panel like below.
Add the ISO
Now we need to add the ISO to the new virtual machine so we can install Fedora on it's local HD.
Right click on the Fedora VM and then click Settings.
Navigate to the Storage section.
Click on the CD icon on the right hand side and navigate to the Fedora ISO downloaded in the prior step.
Now we are ready for first boot. The virtual machine will treat the cd-rom as priority and boot from there. Click OK at the bottom.
VM Launch and Fedora Install
Right click your Fedora VM, mouse over Start, and click Normal Start when the option pops up.
You should be face to face with a VM at this point. Click on the window and hit enter after confirming mouse capture. After a short boot sequence you will presented with the following install screen:
Select Install to Hard Drive since we will be making modifications in the later tutorials. Running in ISO mode you cannot make any persistent changes. The next prompt will ask which language to use; confirm and then click Continue.
Select the VBOX HD and then click done.
Finally, hit the Install button.
Remove the ISO
We don't want the Fedora ISO to boot up every time we turn on the VM. Power off your VM by navigating in Fedora to the shut down section. Navigate back into the settings page and remove the ISO we added in the previous steps.
Finished
At this point you have a local VM of Fedora you can use for the rest of the tutorial. Turn it back on and then fill out the username and password section.
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