VirtualBox EXTENSIONS - How to Install?

[Hirnsausen]

Hi,
I am a novice, and after I downloaded and installed VirtualBox, I now also downloaded the EXTENSIONS.
The file name is "Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.8.vbox-extpack".

But being the novice I am, I have no idea how to install from this file. Can someone give me a step-by-step guidance? Thanks.

[scottgus1]

Sure, here you go:

Main Virtualbox window > File menu > Tools popout menu > Extension Pack Manager > Install button > Open the EP file > accept the license > Installed!

[Hirnsausen]

Thank you, your answer helped me a lot!

If you have time and fun, can you continue to help me?

I have two encrypted, external SSDs (to make it difficult for thieves to get all my data if they steal those SSDs) that I have connected using USB, and someone told me that the EXTENSIONS for VB that I just installed would be able to recognize those SSDs in a way, that my virtual Windows 10 inside VB can show them (and that I then can use the Windows software "DiskCryptor" to decrypt them).

If you have some knowledge about those extensions, can you guide me further in this matter?

[mpack]

The extension pack implements the encryption code as used by VirtualBox. If the SSD content was encrypted by VirtualBox then yes, it can be decrypted - provided you still have the 256-bit DEK that was used, and the short password needed to decode the DEK.

[Hirnsausen]

No, the SSDs were encrypted using the Windows software "DiskCryptor". I installed DiskCryptor under the virtual Windows 10 in VirtualBox, so it should be possible to decrypt them. But first, the virtual Windows needs to know about the connected SSDs.

Someone told me, after having installed those EXTENSIONS for VB, there is an option to be configured that would allow the virtual Windows to see all connected drives. Can you tell me more about that? How to configure?

[scottgus1]

the SSDs were encrypted using the Windows software "DiskCryptor". I installed DiskCryptor under the virtual Windows 10 in VirtualBox, so it should be possible to decrypt them.

With DiskCryptor, yes, when the VM is booted up. But not with the Virtualbox encryption from the EP.

Encryption software running in the VM may use a different key and encryption, so Virtualbox would have no way to decrypt that.

The EP contains nothing to help the host or Virtualbox to "see" the drives.

When you plug the drives in, does the host give them drive letters? If not, go to the host's Disk Managament and see if they need to be onlined etc. Web-search how to do this. It could also be that the USB drive wants to use a drive letter that is in use by something else. Web-search this too.

If the drives do appear in File Explorer, do they show VM folders: a folder with a .vbox file, a disk file (usually .vdi if made in Virtualbox, but possibly .vmdk or .vhd, etc.) and possibly Snapshots and Logs subfolders? If so, you have a VM ready to go. Use the main Virtualbox window's Machine menu Add command to add the .vbox files, then try starting the VMs.

If something else is going on besides the above, please describe exactly what is happening.

Don't bother trying to get Virtualbox encryption to decrypt another app's encryption, it won't work.

[fth0]

In VirtualBox 6.1, providing USB devices (e.g. SSDs) to the guest required the VirtualBox Extension Pack, but in VirtualBox 7.0, this is no longer the case.

I think the OP wants a step-by-step instruction to provide the USB devices (SSDs) to the guest OS, so that the Windows DiskCryptor software can decrypt the contents. But after that the question might arise, who wants the decrypted contents, the guest or the host?

[Hirnsausen]

Thanks for the new answers.
It would be DiskCryptor that would have to decrypt the drives. Before decrypted, they should show an "unformatted".

If any of you like the idea, we could meet on Discord and start a video chat. i could follow your instructions and stream my screen so you all could see what I see in realtime, and we can solve the entire problem within minutes. My Discord ID is "Hirnsausen#3973". Please let's do it that way.

[scottgus1]

Please post screenshots of what you see, cropped to the pertinent parts, using the forum's Upload Attachment tab.

[Hirnsausen]

This is what I see, showing Linux does not list the attached SSDs.

[scottgus1]

Ah, Linux host, yes. My earlier references to Disk Management and File Explorer were too Windows-centric, sorry about that.

There is a way to get USB devices that are unrecognizable by the host to pass into a VM instead, where an OS with proper drivers can access the device, see USB basics and troubleshooting. DiskCryptor running in a Windows VM should then be able to decrypt the drives. VirtualBox's EP-based encryption would not be used.