Virtual Machine (VM)

Term: Virtual Machine (VM) / Guest Machine / Guest OS

Definition: A software-defined computer that runs inside the host, with virtual CPU, RAM, disk, and network; it has its own Operating System.

Context/Example: A Kali Linux VM running inside VirtualBox is a guest OS / VM. It acts like its own machine, but it’s just software.

Related Concepts: Host OS, hypervisor, Image/Template, snapshot.