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Installing ChromeOS on VirtualBox using the NeverWare build

Installing ChromeOS on VirtualBox

  1. Download the NeverWare's ChromeOS build from http://www.neverware.com/freedownload

  2. Extract the *.bin.zip

  3. Convert it to VDI. vboxmanage convertdd chromiumos_image.bin chromiumos_image.vdi

  4. mv chromiumis_image.vdi C:\t\v\chromeos\

  5. Create a VM with settings:

  • Guest OS type: Linux/Other Linux
  • 2048 RAM
  • Use existing chromiumos_image.vdi as hard disk
  • Enable EFI (special OSes)
  • Enable PAE/NX
  • change pointing device to PS/2 Mouse
  1. Start the VM
@benbull
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benbull commented Aug 29, 2018

Why not just use the prebuilt appliance here;

https://neverware.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/214564457--UPDATED-Un-Official-CloudReady-Virtual-Machine-Images-

Then just import it to VirtualBox or VMWare?

@pepa65
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pepa65 commented Sep 18, 2018

The import failed...

@usaps
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usaps commented Oct 8, 2018

Does anyone know how to run a VirtualBox o VMWare from this builds:

https://chromium.arnoldthebat.co.uk/?dir=special

Thanks

@bleonard252
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I am attempting to use the "arnoldthebat" build, but am encountering the same problems.

@O1O1O1O
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O1O1O1O commented Oct 25, 2018

Ditto on "arnoldthebat" build

@FossPrime
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FossPrime commented Dec 26, 2018

with cloudready-free-70.4.39-64-bit I can reach the developer console... but otherwise I just get the cloud ready boot screen
https://neverware.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360001326327-Cloudready-gets-stuck-on-Virtualbox

screen shot 2018-12-26 at 11 53 04 am

@h2smedia
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h2smedia commented Jan 9, 2019

According to the CloudReady Blog Post https://neverware.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001615368-Download-CloudReady-Image-for-VMware
Tested in VMware ESXi 6.5, Workstation 14.1.1 and Fusion 10.1.2
CloudReady will not work with Virtualbox as a host-application due to graphics incompatibilities
Updates, rootFS verification, and command line access are all the same on this image as on other versions of the Home Edition.

@RaspberryRoblox
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Does the command only work on Ubuntu? I am using Windows.

@thiagocmartinsc
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Hi,

I downloaded it and it doesn't boot.

ubuntu@litebox-1:~/Downloads$ file cloudready-free-72.4.61-64-bit.bin 
cloudready-free-72.4.61-64-bit.bin: DOS/MBR boot sector; partition 1 : ID=0xee, start-CHS (0x0,0,2), end-CHS (0x87,228,45), startsector 1, 2183183 sectors; partition 2 : ID=0xef, active, start-CHS (0x87,228,46), end-CHS (0x90,14,14), startsector 2183184, 131072 sectors

kvm -m 2048 -cdrom cloudready-free-72.4.61-64-bit.bin -boot d

On KVM, it just fails to boot. Looks like that there is nothing on its MBR, no boot loader.

While the following just works:

kvm -m 2048 -cdrom ubuntu-18.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso -boot d

But I want to try ChromeOS in my Elo TV

@ashutoshpw
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Can someone share the converted .vdi image?
We can host it on Google drive and then anyone can download and Install.

Most of the people don't have vboxmanage command available (In Windows)

@doublelattemint
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doublelattemint commented May 29, 2019

ABOUT the 3.Convert it to VDI

step1.
#in Windows "cmd"
one:
cd to C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox then:
ex: C:> cd Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox
two:
VBoxManage.exe list hdds
ex: C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> VBoxManage.exe list hdds

Step2.
#Convert it to VDI
one:
#iIf your file is in Downloads
C:\Users\ciao_sunTW\Downloads\cloudready-free-74.4.58-64-bit.bin

#Convert it to VDI command: vboxmanage convertdd (Space) "Load path (.bin)" (Space)"storage path(.vdi)"
two:
ex: C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>vboxmanage convertdd C:\Users\ciao_sunTW\Downloads\cloudready-free-74.4.58-64-bit.bin
C:\Users\ciao_sunTW\Downloads\cloudready-free-74.4.58-64-bit.vdi

step 3 :
#you can see
Creating dynamic image with size 6773946880 bytes (6461MB)...

step 4:
the "cloudready-free-74.4.58-64-bit.vdi " in the Downloads

@doublelattemint
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Installing ChromeOS on VMware Workstation 15 Player(free) can work .

VMware Workstation 15 Player:
https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player/workstation-player-evaluation.html

@Arslan30
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Can someone share the converted .vdi image?
We can host it on Google drive and then anyone can download and Install.

Most of the people don't have vboxmanage command available (In Windows)

you can find it here "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage"....Use an elevated CMD and run this command and covert command combined

@Lucaslah
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Lucaslah commented Oct 9, 2019

Can someone share the converted .vdi image?
We can host it on Google drive and then anyone can download and Install.

Most of the people don't have vboxmanage command available (In Windows)

Hi,
I have the converted .vdi image link here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AJPAFrULMGawmLabBhz627N45p9cO0QD/view?usp=sharing
Thanks

@Lucaslah
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Lucaslah commented Oct 9, 2019

@Lucaslah Says: Hi, I have the converted .vdi image link here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AJPAFrULMGawmLabBhz627N45p9cO0QD/view?usp=sharing Thanks

Anyone can downlaod this file to use or host elce where.
Thanks

@RobT2012
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CloudReady will not work with Virtualbox as a host-application due to graphics incompatibilities

I read that part and tried it with vmware-player, same issue as with vbox, it hangs with nothing but a blank screen. When the cloudready vm fires up, vmware complains that there's no 3D graphics, so that's likely the reason for the blank screen. I'm on fully updated Debian Buster with Radeon GPU.

@LiVanych
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Hi, there! I got old but working version from this link https://davrt8itj6cgg.cloudfront.net/cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit/cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit.zip

$ unzip cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit.zip
$ qemu-img convert -raw cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit.bin -O vdi cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit.vdi

I have VirtualBox 6.0.14 on Ubuntu 16.04
Enjoy!

@unfor19
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unfor19 commented Nov 26, 2019

Hi, there! I got old but working version from this link https://davrt8itj6cgg.cloudfront.net/cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit/cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit.zip

$ unzip cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit.zip
$ qemu-img convert -raw cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit.bin -O vdi cloudready-free-63.3.41-64-bit.vdi

I have VirtualBox 6.0.14 on Ubuntu 16.04
Enjoy!

Tried it on Ubuntu 19.10 .. Didn't work for me :\

@tomsaleeba
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Using virtualbox 6.0.14 on Manjaro and the original method in this gist, I had the same boot to a black screen issue. Presumably because of the graphics issue that Neverware warn about.

I changed the virtualbox VM graphics controller from the default VMSVGA to VBoxVGA and then I managed to get the splash screen to show briefly but then it goes black again. The shortcut to get to the dev console works but after a few seconds the VM seems to go back to the black screen. Not sure if that's a bootloop or that's how the chromium dev console works (if you're not fast enough to select an option).

There's also a warning about the VBoxVGA graphics adapter being deprecated so it's not a long term solution even if it did work better.

@Deliaz
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Deliaz commented Jan 13, 2020

From the https://cloudreadykb.neverware.com/s/article/Download-CloudReady-Image-For-VMware

CloudReady will not work with Virtualbox as a host-application due to graphics incompatibilities

@enthalpie91
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enthalpie91 commented Jan 14, 2020

Hi the only problem at this date is :: we can't( get a image from neverware !! even for a home free edition we need a PROFESSIONAL email no more gmail, free , wanadoo or verizon !! so how can i try chromeos ( i am obliged !! to try because i need to help my grandson , the us school obliged then to have a chrome book .. freedom

@Deliaz
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Deliaz commented Jan 14, 2020

I have downloaded it yesterday and installed it on VMWare Fusino without asking me for any email.
Here is the link:
https://cloudready-free-downloads.neverware.com/vmware/CloudReady-Home-v76-x64.ova

but it claims to be

Tested in VMware ESXi 6.5, Workstation 14.1.1 and Fusion 10.1.
Does not work on VMware Workstation 15 in our testing, but does work in Workstation Pro
CloudReady will not work with Virtualbox as a host-application due to graphics incompatibilities

@enthalpie91
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Hi the only problem at this date is :: we can't( get a image from neverware !! even for a home free edition we need a PROFESSIONAL email no more gmail, free , wanadoo or verizon !! so how can i try chromeos ( i am obliged !! to try because i need to help my grandson , the us school obliged then to have a chrome book .. freedom

I have found version 78.4.3 bin file and convert it to VDI
when i start th VM ( virtualbox under opensuse i get a black screen after a short message "virtualbox)
I have try to change order on boot ==> ko
I have try to set /unset parameter like PAE/NX PS2 for mouse .. but KO

@bart2016
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bart2016 commented May 3, 2020

From the https://cloudreadykb.neverware.com/s/article/Download-CloudReady-Image-For-VMware

CloudReady will not work with Virtualbox as a host-application due to graphics incompatibilities

thanks, spent 2 hours, but no luck with virtual box.

vmware player 15 + OVA from this URL works directly, after boot I could do the upgrade to latest.

@dilshadak
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I can see only shell. No ui. I tried all the solution mentioned here. I am using VBox in windows 10.

@ashishagarwal2023
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Can someone share the converted .vdi image?
We can host it on Google drive and then anyone can download and Install.
Most of the people don't have vboxmanage command available (In Windows)

Hi, I have the converted .vdi image link here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AJPAFrULMGawmLabBhz627N45p9cO0QD/view?usp=sharing Thanks

The drive doesn't contain it, please upload it again, I need it! I am unable to download the file, it no longer exist.

@clintonimaroo
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I don't know why i can't download the Neverware CloudReady ChromeOS OVA file (https://cloudready-free-downloads.neverware.com/vmware/CloudReady-Home-v83-x64.ova).

@bleonard252
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bleonard252 commented Nov 21, 2022 via email

@stefanschmidt
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The ChromiumOS distribution CloudReady was discontinued some time after Google acquired the company that offered it. As mentioned above the successor is ChromeOS Flex but there don't seem to be any official virtual machine images available.

Downloading the virtual machine image

The CloudReady OVA file mentioned in the knowledge base article is available on the Wayback Machine (direct download).

$ sha256sum CloudReady-Home-v83-x64.ova
7e4c7304c4b7363dfd778d3a58765c4d03fcd9fb3a1e5ae97c2582b42e4b66ad  CloudReady-Home-v83-x64.ova

The download from the Google Drive link above is unsurprisingly much faster.

The version of the CloudReady OVA is actually fairly dated. The virtual machine image was created using CloudReady 83.4.4 and the last released version seems to be CloudReady 96.4.6, which is available on the Internet Archive.

Running ChromiumOS in a virtual machine

If you'd like to run CloudReady as a VM, you can do so using VMware applications on Linux, Windows and Mac including VMware ESXi, VMware Workstation, VMware Player, and VMware Fusion. We've prepared a CloudReady: Home Edition image as a VMware OVA file to make it easy to import and get started.

CloudReady will not work with Virtualbox as a host-application due to graphics incompatibilities

https://web.archive.org/web/20190130020129/https://neverware.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001615368

CloudReady in VirtualBox

CloudReady 83.4.4 ChromiumOS in VirtualBox 6.1.40 on macOS 10.15.7 (hangs on boot screen, see above)

CloudReady 83 4 4 ChromiumOS in VirtualBox 6 1 40 on macOS 10 15 7

CloudReady in VMware Fusion

CloudReady 83.4.4 in VMware Fusion Player 12.1.2 on macOS 10.15.7 (seems to work fine)

CloudReady 83 4 4 in VMware Fusion Player 12 1 2 on macOS 10 15 7

@romansaff
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CloudReady 83.4.4 ChromiumOS OVA file from the link above works fine for me in VirtualBox 7.0.12 on Fedora 39 after I set Graphics Controller on Display page to VMSVGA, also set Enable 3D Acceleration.

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