-1908 Error when trying to run Virtual Machine on Virtual Box

[Tcanuth]

I apologize in advance for the hand holding that will be required. I am very new to Kali and Linux in general.

I am trying to learn a bit about penetration testing and need to set up a lab environment with virtual box so that I can practice and am unable to get Virtual Box to start a virtual computer successfully.

After 2 days, and countless google searches and more terminal commands than I can recall, I am at my wit's end.

This is what I am working with...

I am runing Kali GNU/LinuxRolling 64 bit Gnome 3.26.1 on a flash drive with persistance

When i try to start my virtual machine, I get error boxes. This first reads as follows:

Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908)

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver (vboxdrv) is either not loaded or there is a permission problem with /dev/vboxdrv. Please reinstall virtualbox-dkms package and load the kernel module by executing 'modprobe vboxdrv' as root.

where: suplibOsInit what: 3 VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED (-1908) - The support driver is not installed. On linux, open returned ENOENT.

The 2nd box I get goes like this:

Failed to open a session for the virtual machine Victim.
Details: The virtual machine 'Victim' has terminated unexpectedly during startup with exit code 1 (0x1).

Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: MachineWrap
Interface: IMachine {b2547866-a0a1-4391-8b86-6952d82efaa0}

I have purged virtual box and the machines it has created multiple times and reinstalled it. I have also uninstalled the linux headers and made attempts to reinstall them, i have also upgraded and updated kali as far as I am able to. I have tried to download it and manually install it, and I have also tried using apt-get to install it as well.

I'm stuck, so if someone would be kind enough to assist me and maybe explain the steps that are taken and what they mean, it would be a wonderful learning experience and a huge help to me so I can start educating myself on the wonderful world of Kali, Linux, and penetration testing.

Thanks in advance, and I am willing to completely start from scratch if need be. Let me know how to fix this buggy program.

Let me know if you need any additional information! First time posting here.

[socratis]

I am runing Kali GNU/LinuxRolling 64 bit Gnome 3.26.1 on a flash drive with persistance

What does that do to the system? Does it persistently save installed 3rd party programs, or only your data? Which VirtualBox version did you try to install and where from?

[Tcanuth]

Persistance means any changes to the system are saved rather than lost on reboot, so any 3rd party programs or any changes i make stick rather than lost.

i initially tried installing using apt-get virtualbox and installed that way, and thats the way i am currently running now.

The current version of VirtualBox I have installed is Version 5.1.28_Debian r117968

[socratis]

The current version of VirtualBox I have installed is Version 5.1.28_Debian r117968

It looks like you're using Debian's fork version of VirtualBox. You can either ask in their forums for help, or completely remove/uninstall/delete/purge their version and install the official version from the Downloads section of VirtualBox (https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads).

[Tcanuth]

I am very new to Kali and Linux, so i will do some googling, but if you don't mind throwing up the commands to purge it, and a little more detail on how to download and install from virtual box, it would be greatly appreciate for brevities sake.

Thank you for your assistance so far, this has been a major headache for me for the last 48 hours

[socratis]

Well if I'm not mistaken, Kali uses the apt-get mechanism for installing and removing packages. So, have a look at a tutorial that just popped up when searching for "kali apt-get remove": apt-get command | Kali Linux Tutorial.

[Tcanuth]

I was able to remove it luckily without any issue, I guess that means i'm starting to get the hang of this.

Now i'm looking into how to install VirtualBox from the creators

[Tcanuth]

I purged and reinstalled from the download from Virtualbox and still the exact same error.

also tried apt-get update and upgrade with no luck

Any more ideas?

[Tcanuth]

Incase anyone else ever has this similar issue, I did end up figuring it out on my own. I was running all of it in root, i just had to use a different user and my headers updated correctly and allowed me to run my VM.