CSEC3616Cybersecurity Engineering

    The unit VM, DVWA and Jupyter

    How to import the course VM in VirtualBox, log in, and reach DVWA and Jupyter through port forwarding.

    • Pick the correct VM image for your machine.
    • Import and start the VM in VirtualBox with the required minimum memory.
    • Set up port forwarding and reach DVWA and Jupyter from the host browser.

    6 min read

    Mechanism

    The unit runs its practical work inside a prebuilt Ubuntu virtual machine, so every student works against the same tools and versions. The VM is imported into VirtualBox as an .ova appliance file. Two services inside it, DVWA and Jupyter Notebook, are reached from your host browser through port forwarding.

    Aside

    The .ova image is several gigabytes and is not hosted on this site. Get it from Canvas directly (Modules → Week 2).

    1. Pick the right image

    • Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2, M3, M4): SecEng2026-ARM64.ova
    • Windows PC, or Intel-based Mac: SecEng2026-x86.ova

    2. Install VirtualBox

    Download the installer for your OS from virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads and accept the default options. On macOS, if the installer is blocked, right-click (or Control-click) it, choose Open, then confirm Open in the dialog.

    3. Download the VM file

    Log in to Canvas, go to Modules → Week 2, and download the .ova file matching your machine from step 1.

    4. Import the VM

    1. Open VirtualBox and go to File → Import Appliance.
    2. Select the .ova file you downloaded and click Continue.
    3. On the Appliance Settings screen, the defaults are fine as they are.
    4. If your host has less than 8GB of free RAM you may lower the Memory value, but not below 4096 MB, the floor the VM needs to run.
    5. Click Import and wait; this can take several minutes.

    5. Start the VM and log in

    Select the imported VM in the VirtualBox list and click Start. Once it reaches the login screen:

    FieldValue
    Usernameubuntu
    Passwordubuntu123

    6. Set up port forwarding

    Port forwarding maps a port on your host machine to a port inside the VM, so a browser on your own computer can reach a service running in the guest. Set this up once; it works whether the VM is running or shut down.

    1. In VirtualBox Manager, select the VM, then Settings → Network.
    2. Confirm Adapter 1 is attached to NAT, then open Advanced → Port Forwarding.
    3. Add one rule per row below (leave Host IP and Guest IP blank):
    NameProtocolHost portGuest portService
    dvwaTCP808080DVWA, the web app used for web-security exercises
    jupyterTCP88888888Jupyter Notebook, used for scripted exercises
    sshTCP222222SSH access into the VM from the host terminal
    1. Click OK to save each rule, then OK again to close Settings.

    7. Reach the services

    With the VM running, open these from your host browser:

    ServiceURL
    DVWAhttp://localhost:8080/dvwa/
    Jupyter Notebookhttp://localhost:8888

    Source

    Setting up the VM PDF