Upgrading a Virtualbox 7.1 VM from Ubuntu MATE 22.04. to 24.04 works for me and so does freshly installing 22.04. But repeated attempts to make a VM via fresh install of an ISO image of Ubuntu MATE 24.04.3 failed. I tried it on VBox 7.1.12 and 7.1.14 on PCs running Ubuntu MATE 24.04.3 (full patch), Windows 10 and 11 as hosts.
The installer would start, but the animation would freeze soon and it would run indefinitely, producing high system load without ever completing the install.
Here is what finally worked for me. Before first start, apply these 3 settings to the new VM:
1. Uncheck "Cable Connected" (in "Network") to enforce a totally "local" install from the 24.04.3 image, without downloading anything.
2. Under Settings-->System-->Acceleration, set Paravirtualization to KVM
3. Under Settings-->Display choose "VBoxSVGA" instead of "VMSVGA"
Step 1 alone will produce a running but instable Linux. Upon starting the installer image for the first time, you will see a Warning:
[drm] vmwgfx seems to be running on an unsupported hypervisor.
[ 12.162848] vmwgfx 0000:00.02.0: [drm] *ERROR* This configuration is likely broken.
[ 12.162851] vmwgfx 0000:00.02.0: [drm] *ERROR* Please switch to a supported graphics device to avoid problems.
Step 2 and 3 abolish this message. The VM will start normally.
Other than that, my settings were: 2 GB RAM, 4 CPUs (the maximum for a 4-core host), a large VHD (200 GB, not pre-allocated), rest: defaults.
4. Start the install of "Desktop", the full-featured version). Linux will be ready for first login in less than 10 minutes on a reasonably fast PC.
Optional features: I did not install proprietary drivers, as these are of no use in a VM. Support for additional media formats is available only with a network connection and has to be installed later.
5. With network still disconnected, install the guest additions, set up shared folder etc. and make a first snapshot.
5. Connect to the network and install 0.9 GB of updates. Enjoy!
Remarks:
A) Your VM will have Active Directory support, albeit in a non-operational state. Read here for more...
...and decide whether you want to just keep it, make it operational, or disable/remove it. IMHO, an unneeded network service which allows for remote administration should at least not be accessible.
B) You can turn off the splash screen, but you will see no green/red boot messages, only the shutdown messages. This is a shortcoming of VBosSVGA.