QE-2021 Virtual Machine

An all-inclusive QE-2021 Virtual Machine (size: 2.4G) that contains simulation software and material required for the QE-2021 hands-on courses is available for download from these locations:

The sha256 checksum of the QE2021.ova file:

013700560aaa820fa9b5d3f760c5634ea29c67e1d4bc0423d2545c1ae550e68a

QE-2021 Virtual Machine image is the same irrespective of which operating system you use (Linux, Mac OS, or Windows). QE-2021 Virtual Machine depends on the VirtualBox virtualization software (version 6.1) and is based on Debian OS.

Hardware requirements

Your computer (laptop or desktop) must support virtualization and have about 10G of free disk space.

Installation instructions

To install QE-2021 Virtual Machine follow these steps:

  1. Download and install VirtualBox (click a large blue "Download VirtualBox 6.1" button therein).
  2. After VirtualBox is installed and QE-2021 Virtual Machine downloaded from one of the above provided links, import the QE-2021 Virtual Machine by either double clicking it or from File->Import Appliance menu of the VirtualBox program.

How to login

Once QE-2021 Virtual Machine is imported into VirtualBox, click the green "Start" arrow on the VirtualBox manager window. After QE-2021 Virtual Machine is booted, login screen appears. To login use:

username: user
password: qe2021

Keyboard settings

By default a system is set to US keyboard. You can change this or add new keyboards by going to (upper left corner of the Desktop environment): System->Preferences->Hardware->Keyboard

The following window appears (new keyboard layouts can be added by clicking the "+Add" button):

The keyboards can then be switched on the right part of the top-panel:

Changing the number of CPUs

If your computer has several CPUs then you can increase the number of CPUs that QE-2021 Virtual Machine will use as to make the calculations run faster. This can be done as follows: close the QE2021 virtual-machine and in the VirtualBox Manager select the QE2021 Virtual Machine but do not start it. Then press the Settings button and in the window that appears select System tab and increase (or decrease) the number of CPUs accordingly.

Troubleshooting

On some laptops virtualization is disabled by default, if you encounter any issues, this is the first thing to check. In general you should reboot the system, enter the BIOS and search for a virtualization option and make sure it is enabled. Some general instruction on how to do this are available here.

Black screen issue

If you get a black screen, you may need to change the video memory in the Settings. Close the QE2021 Virtual Machine and then in the VirtualBox Manager select the QE2021 Virtual Machine but do not start it. Then press the Settings button and in the window that appears select Display tab and change (increase) the Video Memory.

Issue with VirtualBox on Windows 10

It has been reported that sometimes virtual machine does not start on Windows 10, despite virtualization being enabled in the BIOS. In this case, see Virtual box is not working on windows 10.

Notice to MAC users

If QE-2021 Virtual Machine opens in a small window, it is possible to solve the problem as follows:

  1. login (see below) without trying to resize the window
  2. once desktop environment of QE-2021 Virtual Machine appears, click on Cmd+C button
  3. if Cmd+C doesn't solve the problem, use the following menu on the "VirtualBox VM": View->Virtual Screen 1->Scale to ... (you need to select appropriate value of scaling)

Problem with high DPI screens

On high DPI screens, text and icons in the VM may appear too tiny. This issue can be solved as illustrated by the below snapshot via the View menu of the VM main window.

Ugly layout upon resizing the VM window size

If you get an ugly layout of VM's desktop upon resizing the VM main window, use the View->Adjust Window Size menu on the "VirtualBox VM" as shown below:

Other issues

If there are any other issues or if you are unable to load the QE-2021 Virtual Machine, try to search for tips on the internet. As a last resort, we will try to help you on-line at the beginning of the school.