Guest Additions v5.2.2 - Endless loop to VboxSolarisAdditions.pkg

Discussions about using Solaris guests in VirtualBox.
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RogerMialkowski
Posts: 2
Joined: 24. Nov 2017, 22:22

Guest Additions v5.2.2 - Endless loop to VboxSolarisAdditions.pkg

Post by RogerMialkowski »

Can't seem to install the guest additions for latest OpenIndiana. Guest additions CD mounts but there is no file called VboxSolarisAdditions.pkg, it's a directory and it shows the root directory once you change into it and change into the pkg subdirectory and shows the root again, over and over. Tried on 3 different OpenIndiana guests on a Windows 7 computer. Not sure if it's a mistake on the Guest Additions or something? Please advise.

Thanks,
Roger Mialkowski
Jiri
Posts: 2
Joined: 25. Nov 2017, 17:35

Re: Guest Additions v5.2.2 - Endless loop to VboxSolarisAdditions.pkg

Post by Jiri »

Ditto here. It's an endless loop. Does the same with VBoxGuestAdditions_5.2.1-118918.iso, shows it as a directory.

Workaround: create your own .iso, include the .pkg file found on any VBox additions

My quick and dirty:
Environment: VirtualBox 5.2.2 running on Linux Mint, guest OS Linux Mint as well
1) in the guest OS, well, in the Virtualbox frame menu: Devices -> Insert Guest Additions CD Image
- result: image should be mounted, there should be a file called (you guessed it) VBoxSolarisAdditions.pkg, and (unlike on Solaris), it shows up as a file
2) make a new directory somewhere, let's call it additions
3) copy VBoxSolarisAdditions.pkg from the CD to your "additions" directory
4) in xterm
> mkisofs -o /home/<you>/VBoxSolarisAdditions.iso /home/<you>/additions/
- expected result:
---------------------------------------
I: -input-charset not specified, using utf-8 (detected in locale settings)
56.41% done, estimate finish Sat Nov 25 16:48:59 2017
Total translation table size: 0
Total rockridge attributes bytes: 0
Total directory bytes: 0
Path table size(bytes): 10
Max brk space used 0
8863 extents written (17 MB)
------------------------------------------
5) Mount your new .iso in your solaris guest, install the additions as prescribed:
root@<yourmachine> # pkgadd -G -d ./VBoxSolarisAdditions.pkg

You should be able to do the same thing on any guest VM - well, other than Solaris :( . I am not sure where the additions iso image lives on the host OS and was too lazy to look for it, mounting it in the guest OS seemed to be the simple way of getting to it

Hope this helped, it seems like it worked for me

Jiri
RogerMialkowski
Posts: 2
Joined: 24. Nov 2017, 22:22

Re: Guest Additions v5.2.2 - Endless loop to VboxSolarisAdditions.pkg

Post by RogerMialkowski »

Hello!

Yes, that was very clever. I thought the whole ISO was hosed but it showed up the Solaris pkg fine on other OSes. I created the ISO and it installed. Great workaround!

Thanks!
Roger
spbarrett
Posts: 25
Joined: 6. Jul 2016, 15:48

Re: Guest Additions v5.2.2 - Endless loop to VboxSolarisAdditions.pkg

Post by spbarrett »

This worked, but oh what a convoluted method.
My host OS is Windows10, so I had to perform the steps in a Linux 7 guest. Then copy the resulting ISO file to a share folder for the guest and host OSs. Once there, mount the ISO under Solaris but the pkg name was different. I executed the pkgadd command against the file and installed the Solaris guest additions.
I'm not sure how you figured that out but I appreciate it. They say that the difference between a geek and a guru is that geeks go to gurus when they need help. Guess it is pretty easy to tell which group I fall into!
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