MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

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StarkMan90
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Joined: 22. Jun 2019, 03:08

MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by StarkMan90 »

Code: Select all

Failed to install the Extension Pack ~/Downloads/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.0.8.vbox-extpack.

The installer failed with exit code 667: VBoxExtPackHelperApp: error: Failed to open the extension pack tarball: VERR_ACCESS_DENIED ('~/Downloads/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.0.8.vbox-extpack')

rcExit=1.

Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: ExtPackManagerWrap
Interface: IExtPackManager {70401eef-c8e9-466b-9660-45cb3e9979e4}
Tried twice. I enter my password to allow administrator privileges.
socratis
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Re: MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by socratis »

  1. Moving to "OSX Pre-releases" from "OSX Hosts", as OSX 10.15 is in beta, not even public!
  2. I believe this is a PEBCAK problem, as other people have managed to install the ExtPack successfully. I don't particularly "like" the location of the ExtPack.
  3. How exactly are you trying to install the ExtPack? Which available methods did you try? CLI? Dbl-click? From within VirtualBox?
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jhelm
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Joined: 25. Jun 2019, 00:48

Re: MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by jhelm »

I am experiencing the same issue. The error occurs when attempting to update/install the extension pack through the VirtualBox Manager UI. Note that the extension pack installs fine via the command line using "vboxmanage extpack install"
CoyoteDen
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Joined: 10. Jun 2018, 06:35

Re: MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by CoyoteDen »

Won’t install for me unless I

Code: Select all

sudo VBoxManage extpack install
it and even then it only shows up as installed for root.

UNIX permissions don’t seem to be wrong for the installed extpack files inside VirtualBox.app so I guess the new privacy protections in Catalina are causing a problem.

VirtualBox also doesn’t appear in Launchpad if installed after upgrading to Catalina.
socratis
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Re: MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by socratis »

CoyoteDen wrote:Won’t install for me unless I

Code: Select all

sudo VBoxManage extpack install
Of course! Absolutely! That's the whole idea! The ExtPack needs admin and root access, because it gets installed in "/Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/ExtenstionPacks" and by default this is an area that needs authorization to write to. That's how I've been installing the ExtPack since ... forever?

Here's the important parts of my quick and dirty installation script, which I have to run from an admin account, because my typical account is not in the 'sudoers' group:
sudo hdiutil detach /Volumes/VirtualBox
sudo hdiutil attach "$MY_VirtualBox"
sudo $(dirname "$0")/__VirtualBox_Uninstall.tool --unattended
sudo installer -pkg /Volumes/VirtualBox/VirtualBox.pkg -target /
sudo hdiutil detach /Volumes/VirtualBox
sudo VBoxManage extpack install --replace "$MY_ExtPack" --accept-license=56be48f923303c8cababb0bb4c478284b688ed23f16d775d729b89a2e8e5f9eb
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CoyoteDen
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Re: MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by CoyoteDen »

socratis wrote: Of course! Absolutely! That's the whole idea! The ExtPack needs admin and root access, because it gets installed in "/Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/ExtenstionPacks" and by default this is an area that needs authorization to write to. That's how I've been installing the ExtPack since ... forever?
I've never had to use sudo. Using the GUI or VBoxManage will pop a dialog asking you to authenticate... but that might only work if you're in the sudoers group.

The problem was no matter how I did it, GUI or command line, it would prompt to authenticate and then give a VERR_ACCESS_DENIED reading the extpack. This is after allowing access to the Downloads folder. If I ran the GUI or VBoxManage sudo, it would install but wasn't visible when vbox was run without sudo, and I couldn't see an obvious reason why. I dtraced it and it looks like VirtualBox can't access the files added to the app. UNIX permissions are correct but there's some additional layer in Catalina that blocks it. GIving VirtualBox "Full Disk Access" makes no difference.

So, thinking Catalina might be flagging files in Downloads as unsafe, I uninstalled the extpack and moved the extpack out of downloads to my home dir.

Now it installs by prompting for auth at the usual time, and vbox can see the extension pack without being run sudo.

The files installed to VirtualBox.app don't appear to be any different but I bet the APFS metadata is different.

tl;dr: move the Extension Pack out of Downloads before you try to install it. Catalina is somehow restricting files installed directly from Downloads.
socratis
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Re: MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by socratis »

CoyoteDen wrote:Catalina is somehow restricting files installed directly from Downloads.
So, what's the output of:
  • 
    ls -ale@ "<ExtPack_FullPath>"
On my 10.11.6, a freshly downloaded ExtPack from Firefox, has the following:
$ ls -ale@ /Users/Shared/VirtualBox/_Downloads/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.0.97-131601.vbox-extpack 
-rw-r--r--@ 1 socratis  staff  25880708 26 Ιον 19:54 /Users/Shared/VirtualBox/_Downloads/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.0.97-131601.vbox-extpack
	com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms	     201 
	com.apple.quarantine	      62
Doing a:
  • 
    xattr -rc /Users/Shared/VirtualBox/_Downloads/
cleans all metadata on everything and their children. No more warnings ;)
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CoyoteDen
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Re: MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by CoyoteDen »

I tried clearing the xattrs and installing with VBoxManage. It fails after authentication if the extpack is in Downloads.
Moving the extpack out of Downloads allows it to install, even with the com.apple.quarantine xattr still set.
It really does not want you to install the file from Downloads.
socratis
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Re: MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by socratis »

CoyoteDen wrote:It really does not want you to install the file from Downloads.
By Toutatis Apple! For the love of bytes!!! :shock:

What are they trying to do? Security through obscurity? Make you go through hoops? :roll:

Haven't installed 10.15, because it means that I got to do it on an external bootable HD that I have (not going to mess with my main one). Which means downtime for my main computer. I might have to sync my Firefox history and my IRC chats with my secondary in order to do it, but at some point I'll have to bite the bullet and do it I guess...
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socratis
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Re: MacOS Catalina 10.15 Extension Pack Fails

Post by socratis »

I found this little gem in Six Colors' First Look: macOS Catalina Public Beta, Locking down Mac security:
In Catalina, apps will also ask you for permission before accessing more aspects of your Mac’s system. Apps that monitor keyboard input or screen recording will now need to ask permission before getting access to those portions of the system. Apps that want access to specific folders, including the Desktop, Documents, and Download folders, iCloud Drive, removable disks, and network volumes will need user consent before they’ll be able to do so. This feature is designed to stop apps from sneakily accessing your disk without your knowledge—if you open or save a file via a menu or via the Finder, your consent is implicit and you won’t be bothered.
Is there any option in the Security in the System Preferences? Or any other Preference?

Also of interest is that if you missed the "Allow Oracle" during a fresh installation of VirtualBox, now you can find it easier in the Security Preference and allow it, without having to resort to tricks:
Apple has also improved the act of granting special permission to apps in Catalina. In Mojave, if you denied permission to an app by mistake, adding that app back required you to dig around and find the app to add it to the Security preference pane—and some of those apps were weird helper apps that were very hard to find. In Catalina, if an app asks for permission and you decline, that app will appear in the Security preference pane, unchecked, making it easy to check the box and go about your business.

/me really has got to install 10.15...
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