Tails

Tails is meant to be installed on a live stick. For a VM, download the ISO version, not the USB version.

First, click the "Tools" option in the sidebar on the main Virtualbox window, then click the "New" button.

Under Name, enter "Tails ISO". Under Type, "Linux". Under Version, "Other Linux (64-bit)". Then click Next.

Increase the memory to 2048MB, then click Next.

Select "Do not add a virtual hard disk", then click "Create".

On the warning popup, click "Continue".

Now click "Settings" in the top bar of the Virtualbox main window.

Select "Display" in the sidebar of the VM settings window, and increase Video Memory to max.

Now open up a Files window, you should already be in "Home", and double click on "VirtualBox VMs".

Drag the Tails ISO file that you downloaded into the "Tails ISO" folder. You can enter into the folder to check if you desire.

Close the Files window, and switch to "Storage' in the sidebar of the VM settings window. In the list you should see "Controller: IDE" or something similar, with a disk icon below it that says "Empty". Right click on the Controller item, and select "Optical Drive".

On the popup, click "Add".

Navigate to the ISO file we downloaded, and either double click on it or press the "Open" button at the top right of the window.

Then click "Choose".

Remove the "Empty" item in the list by right clicking on it, and clicking "Remove Attachment". Then click "Ok" at the bottom right to close the window.

In the sidebar, click "USB" and select "USB 3.0".

In the sidebar, click "User Interface", uncheck "Show in Full-screen/Seamless", then click "OK" to close the settings.

Then click "Start".

You can ignore the Troubleshooting Mode, click enter or wait three seconds for Tails to start booting.

Once Tails has started, you have the option of changing the Language, Keyboard Layout, and Calendar Date format. You will have to get this screen every time. There is an option for "Create Persistent Storage", but it won't work here. Click "Start Tails".

Once Tails loads, you will see that the window is too small, but if you simply resize the window, it won't work. You have to change the display size from inside the VM. Click on "Appli..." in the top bar, "System Tools", "Settings". The settings app will take a moment to open up.

Scroll down in the sidebar to "Displays", and select the proper fullscreen resolution, in my case 1920x1080.

Then click "Apply", and then "Keep Changes".

You can now enter fullscreen by pressing Right Control-F.

Close the settings page, and then click on the "Connect to Tor automatically" option, and then "Connect to Tor".

Wait to connect to Tor, and once it completes you will see a screen where you can open the Tor Browser.

It will automatically connect to the Tails website, where you can access documentation.

To verify that you are connected to Tor, go to https://check.torproject.org to verify.

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