After the release of VirtualBox 4.2.x versions, I decided to update the repositories on one of the computers at work, which runs Ubuntu 12.04. To do so just put the following into the file /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian precise contrib

After this change you must refresh the package list and update VirtualBox:

aptitude update
aptitude install virtualbox-4.2

Repositories on Debian

For Debian testing (wheezy) and stable  (Squeeze) you must put the following lines:

deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian wheezy contrib
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian squeeze contrib non-free

Setting apt-cacher

If you followed the apt-cacher and VirtualBox recipe from this blog, I inform you only the /etc/apt/sources.list file must be edited as explained above, I mean, the apt-cacher server remains unchanged.

Reference: Download VirtualBox for Linux Hosts

If for any reason you need to install CentOS on a virtual machine using VirtualBox and you want to take advantage of the extras features provided by the Guest Additions (network and graphic drivers, for enabling full screen and mouse integration options) you can follow these steps::

• In the virtual machine with CentOS install the needed files for compiling the Guest Additions:

yum install kernel-headers kernel-devel
yum groupinstall "Development Tools"

This will take long because it downloads a lot of packages.

• Select Guest Additions on VirtualBox menu.

On the virtual machine a link will be created to mount the CDROM. Right click on it and choose Mount. Once mounted go to:

cd /media/VBOXADDITIONS_4.1.20_80170/

There run the binary file for Linux installation:

./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

Once it had finished the Guest Additions will be installed on Fedora!

Installing on Red Hat

The above steps are valid for Red Hat, you only need to set a repository from where packages and group of packages will be downloaded.

A coworker came to me with a virtual machine running OpenSuse 10.1, where she wanted to use one of the VirtuaBox’s Guest Additions features: shared folders. The first thing I detected was it didn’t have the Guest Additions installed, so I proceeded to install them but the VirtualBox’s installing script didn’t compile because all the stuff needed to compile a Linux module was missing. On this article I describe all I had to do to compile the Guest Additions on OpenSUse 10.1.

OpenSuse 10.1 repositories

First I supposed I had to install the kernel sources and the needed compilers, but checking the repositories I realized that it only had as source the installation CD that was used to create the virtual machine.  OpenSuse 10.1 is an old distribution and its repositories are no longer supported officially, so I had to find somebody who had the mirrors published, so I came across to this mirror list. I used the first option and from Software Sources I put the url shown on the picture:

Requisites to compile the Guest Additions

Once the repository was added I proceeded to install the requisites to compile the Guest Additions, begging with the C/C++ tools and compilers. To do so, I went to the OpenSuse’s Control Center, and from Software Management I choose C/C++ compilers and tools option from the selections, as shown in the following image:

In order to compile the Guest Additions it still left another requisite: the kernel sources. Here I found another problem, because the virtual machine had kernel 2.6.16.46-0.12-default but the repository didn’t have the sources for that version but the 2.6.16.13-4-default version instead. The solution was to remove the kernel image 2.6.16.46-0.12 and use the one provided in the repository 2.6.16.13-4, to do so yo can use the Software Management or from a terminal type this:

 zypper remove kernel-default

 zypper install kernel-default

Then you can install the kernel sources:

 zypper install kernel-source kernel-sysm

Once installed all requisites, just run the Guest Additions script from the directory it was mounted:

./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

To changes take effect you must reboot the guest.

Shared folders

You can active the shared folders from VirtualBox’s by going to Device > Shared Folders, and select the one you want to map in the host’s file system. If you check Auto-mount next boot, and for the shown example, a shared folders will appear in /media/Sf_videos

References

• Mirrors use by Smart for SUSE 10.1
• Manual de VirtualBox 2.0.10 – PDF

Now in VirtualBox 4.x the USB support and other stuff are installed using and extra package called Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack. This move by Oracle lets distribute VirtualBox as software libre, so if commercial software is needed it can be installed as an extension, without GPL license infringements.

Installing

Let’s see how to install Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack:

1. Download Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.2.12 Extension Pack
2. Open VirtualBox, then go to  File > Preferences > Extensions  and choose the downloaded file  (see above image).
3. Add the user to VirtualBox group. On Linux you must add the user who will use VirtualBox to the vboxusers group:
   

   adduser lgallard vboxusers

   Note: In this example lgallard is the user wichi will use VirtualBox, and for adding users to groups in Linux you must be the system’s administrator (root).

4. Close the graphical session and log into again to apply changes..

Once it’s done you can use any USB device or the serial port with your virtual machine!!

Old versions

If you need the Extension Packs for older VirtualBox versions, here I leave some:

• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.2.10 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.2.8 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.2.6 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.2.4 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.2.2 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.22 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.20 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.18 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.16 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.14 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.12 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.10 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.8 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.6 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.4 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.1.2 Extension Pack
• Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.0.12 Extension Pack

Even in recent VirtualBox versions the USB support is not enabled by default. Some time ago you needed to edit the /etc/fstab, but all that is in the past. Now just add the user which will be using the USB ports to the vboxuser group:

adduser lgallard vboxusers

To apply changes you must log out and log in to run VirtualBox again.

I had set VirtualBox to download it from Oracle’s repository as a Debian package when upgrading the system. But I opened VirtualBox and got the above message, thing I found odd since it should have automatically updated. Therefore I did a research and found that VirtualBox’s repository changed, before you put into the /etc/apt/sources.list this:

deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian squeeze non-free

Now you must put this:

deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian squeeze contrib non-free

After this change you must refresh the package list and update VirtualBox:

aptitude update
aptitude install virtualbox-4.1

Setting apt-cacher

If you followed the apt-cacher and VirtualBox recipe from this blog, I inform you only the /etc/apt/sources.list file must be edited as explained above, I mean, the apt-cacher server remains unchanged.

Reference: Download VirtualBox for Linux Hosts