Oracle VirtualBox¶
Deploy the Sophos Remote Testing Appliance (RTA) as a virtual machine in VirtualBox on your workstation or a dedicated host. We provide the appliance as an OVA file; you import it directly into VirtualBox and make a few configuration adjustments before first boot.
How delivery works on Oracle VirtualBox¶
You receive one thing from your engagement lead:
| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
| OVA file | A portable appliance archive containing the disk images and VM descriptor. Provided by your engagement lead for this engagement. |
The OVA is customized for your engagement before you receive it. It bundles the
full 40 GB root disk and a small cidata.vmdk seed disk, plus a VM descriptor that
sets sensible defaults — a single Import Appliance attaches both disks. The
appliance's identity and credentials are already provisioned, so it boots already
registered and connects to the Sophos headend automatically; there is no
activation step, and the console shows a live status and troubleshooting
dashboard. You will override the firmware and
network adapter settings after import — VirtualBox defaults to BIOS firmware and NAT
networking, neither of which is correct for the RTA.
Get these two things right¶
UEFI required — VirtualBox defaults to BIOS
VirtualBox creates all VMs with Legacy BIOS firmware by default. You must enable EFI after import or the appliance will not boot. This is the single most common mistake on this platform.
Bridged Adapter required for L2 engagement work
The appliance needs Layer-2 adjacency to your targets. Use Bridged Adapter so the VM appears as a distinct host on the physical LAN. NAT networking is sufficient only for isolated lab testing where you do not need L2 reach to real targets.
Requirements¶
| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| vCPU | 2 | 4 or more |
| Memory | 4 GB | 8 GB or more |
| Boot disk | 40 GB | 40 GB (fixed by the OVA) |
| Firmware | UEFI / EFI (must enable after import) | — |
| Secure Boot | Disabled (VirtualBox default — leave it off) | — |
| Networking | Bridged Adapter (for L2 to targets) | Wired Ethernet host NIC |
Choose a deployment method¶
-
Point-and-click: import the OVA through the File menu, adjust firmware and network settings in the VM's Settings dialog, then start the VM.
-
VBoxManageend-to-end — import, configure firmware, set the bridged adapter, and start the VM from a single shell session.