Installation and Setup of Cloudera Hadoop Environment using VirtualBox

AIM

To install Oracle VirtualBox and set up the Cloudera QuickStart Virtual Machine in order to create a local Big Data (Hadoop) environment for executing Hadoop ecosystem commands.

Prerequisites

Oracle VirtualBox

Click Windows hosts under VirtualBox Platform Packages to download

Cloudera QuickStart VM 5.12

Download the VM image (~5.49GB)

System Requirements

RAM: Minimum 8GB (16GB recommended)
Disk Space: At least 50GB free
CPU: Intel VT-x or AMD-V virtualization enabled in BIOS

Note

We are using version 5.12 instead of 5.4.2 mentioned in the Lab Manual for better stability. The VM is over 5GB, so the download will take some time.

Installation Steps

Install VirtualBox — Download and run the installer.
Download Cloudera VM — Use the link above (~5.49GB).
Extract the ZIP cloudera-quickstart-vm-5.12.0-0-virtualbox.zip — Right-click → Extract All.
Open VirtualBox → File → Import Appliance → Select the .ovf file → Import (Next, Finish).
Start the VM — Select it in the sidebar and click Start. (Allow Network Access if prompted).

Booting

Booting takes a long time, Please be patient. You may see Progressbar stuck at 100% beside CentOS 6.7 Boot Logo for a while. You can check the logs using Esc key.

Recommended Settings (Optional)

I recommend configuring these settings for a smoother experience before starting the VM (Right-click VM → Settings).

General → Advanced (ensure you are detailed view/Expert mode):
- Shared Clipboard: Change to Bidirectional.
- Drag'n'Drop: Change to Bidirectional.

Resource Usage

Only change these if your host system has enough resources (keep sliders in the Green zone).

System → Motherboard:
- Base Memory: Increase to 8192 MB (8GB) or more.
Display → Screen:
- Graphics Controller: Change to VMSVGA and check Enable 3D Acceleration.
- Video Memory: Maximize to 128 MB (or 256 MB if that's available).

Continue

Back to Experiment 1

Continue with the experiment

VM Setup