Debian 5.1.22 from source - /sbin/rcvboxadd-x11 not found

[JSM09A]

I created a Debian Jessie chroot, with Linux Kernel 4.9 from backports, and used it to rebuild VBox 5.1.22 from source.
The resulting VirtualBox-5.1.22-r115126.run was then installed on a Debian Jessie Host, also with the Linux Kernel 4.9 from backports.
Finally, I booted a (ram only) Virtual Machine using an image copy of a Debian Live XFCE (8.1) CD-ROM.
Fortunately, I was able to install the guest extensions sufficiently for shared folders and was thus able to copy out some log files.

The (only ?) remaining problem seems to be with the guest additions support for the video display. In particular, the button for "Auto-resize Guest display" is grayed-out, as are all of the other screen display resolution options under "Virtual Screen 1".

I have attached log files, both from the build, and from the install in hopes of some hints on how to proceed on this problem .... TIA !!!

Perhaps the most relevant log entry is from Guest: /var/log/VBoxGuestAdditions.log:
/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-5.1.22/init/vboxadd: 237: /opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-5.1.22/init/vboxadd: /sbin/rcvboxadd-x11: not found
which is somewhat perplexing since /sbin/rcvboxadd-x11 seems to be present (... it is a link to /opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-5.1.22/init/vboxadd-x11 which is also present)

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated ! Thanks, Scott.

[JSM09A]

Unfortunately ... it appears that the shared clipboard is also not working I -can- select the desired level of sharing under "Devices:Shared Clipboard", but with Guest-To-Host (or Bi-Directional) selected, text that is CUT on the guest is -not- available for PASTE on the host ...

Again, any suggestions appreciated

[Perryg]

You did well by providing the information needed. I do not see any glaring issue yet but I would like to see one more piece of information. The actual guests log file after you do a run and test the features that fail.

Post the guests log file ( as an attachment ). Right click on the guest in the Main Manager then click show log. Save and post as an attachment. Compress if it is too large to post.

[JSM09A]

Perryg: Thanks, I was not familiar with that log file

Logs attached as requested. Your assistance is greatly appreciated

Best regards, Scott.

[Perryg]

It looks ( correct me if I am wrong ) like you are running a LiveCD and the guest is not actually installed. It also shows that the guest additions are not actually installed in the guest. If you install the guest additions the guest would actually need to be rebooted to activate the features of the additions ( kernel modules ). So the question that needs to be answered is this a LiveCD and do you have an actual guest that is installed you can test this build with?

[JSM09A]

It looks (correct me if I am wrong ) like you are running a LiveCD and the guest is not actually installed.

Yes, you are entirely correct. Sorry, I tried to describe this in my initial post. I -am- running a LiveCD as guest - specifically Debian Live amd64 XFCE (8.1).

And as such, it is not really feasible to reboot the guest after installation of the Guest Additions.

I have used a similar setup for years, ... has something changed in 5.1.22 ???

I am actually posting this message from a LiveCD guest running in VirtualBox 5.0.24. The Guest Additions have been installed in this Guest and screen resizing and cut/paste to the Host work properly I have attached the VBox Guest log file for this (older) configuration after (successfully) performing cut/paste and guest window resizing.

So ... has something significant changed in 5.1.22 that requires a reboot in the guest after installing that Additions ? If so, could the Guest additions from an earlier version of VBox be successfully installed in the Guest (without a reboot) while running 5.1.22 on the Host ? Or perhaps I manually loaded the Guest kernel modules ... and have forgotten that step ... ?

Thanks again ! Scott.

[Perryg]

You can attempt to manually load the kernel modules and it may work but it would not be common. I have learned a long time ago that anything is possible, but anything outside the norm would not be in the scope here. IIRC there should be 4 or 5 modules that would need to be started. As far as what has changed to prevent you from doing what you have done in the past I could not say as I have never tried or investigated it.

[JSM09A]

OK ... I think the real problem is that the required guest additions kernel modules are not being rebuilt in the Guest

Using the archive of debian packages from:
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Download_Old_Builds_5_1
I extracted the Guest Additions ISO file from successive DEB packages and tried each of them
(essentially performing a manual "bisect" ....)

For all versions that I tried, up to and including 5.1.18, I see the following messages during the install:

Installing additional modules
vboxadd.sh: Building the guest additions kernel modules.
vboxadd.sh: Starting the VirtualBox guest additions.
You may need to restart the window system ... to enable the guest additions.

HOWEVER, for the ISO files from 5.1.20 and 5.1.22, I see ONLY:

Installing additional modules
vboxadd.sh: starting the VirtualBox guest additions.

So ... my guess is that I have stumbled onto a regression (from 5.1.18 -> 5.1.20) where the required kernel modules are no longer built, at least in my particular environment (Jessie 8.1 Live). Is this something that I should report/pursue on the vbox-dev mailing list ???

For all versions prior to 5.1.20, the guest screen auto-resize DOES work after installing the guest additions (... and after logging out, and logging back into the graphical desktop to "activate" them)

[socratis]

Most LiveCDs do not contain the infrastructure to build kernel modules. Properly setup gcc, header kernels, etc. so even if you were to file a bug, I wouldn't hold my breath. It wouldn't be a high priority, not even a low one. The status quo so far has always been "reboot your guest after the GAs installation". I wouldn't expect that to change. In fact they may have fixed a bug by disabling that. That's the reverse of what you'd want to hear I'm afraid...

[JSM09A]

For folks that may stumble onto this thread in the future ...

For VirtualBox versions 5.1.20 and beyond ... in order to run the Video Guest Additions in a VBox VM based on a Debian Live CD ... You may need to manually issue the command "/sbin/rcvboxadd-x11 setup" (as root), after installing the Guest Additions. After that, restarting the X-Window system (by logging out, and logging back in) should enable the Video extensions

It appears that the Guest Additions installer attempts to call /sbin/rcvboxadd-x11 during the normal Guest Additions install, but fails (perhaps because the required links for this file have not yet been established). It is not clear (to me) whether this is a bug ... or a feature ... of the changes made in Virtual Box version 5.1.20.

As the moderators have emphasized, in a normal (Hard Disk) based VM install, a reboot/restart of the entire Virtual Machine will automatically install the required pieces for the Video Guest Extensions.