Where Are The Guest Additions?

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Linux hosts.
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caltrop
Posts: 52
Joined: 7. Aug 2017, 16:07

Where Are The Guest Additions?

Post by caltrop »

My LInux Laptop dies... got a new Laptop and...

Here I am again with the same problem as before - I can not locate the new Windows Guest Additions ISO.

I got this downloaded: :D
VirtualBox 5.2.12 for Linux
Ubuntu 16.04 ("Xenial") i38

Windows Guest Additions??? :?
caltrop
Posts: 52
Joined: 7. Aug 2017, 16:07

Re: Where Are The Guest Additions?

Post by caltrop »

OK, after much digging I found it! :D

The FTP page:
http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.2.12/

Posting it here so others & I can find it again easily.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Where Are The Guest Additions?

Post by socratis »

That would be the
WRONG ANSWER!!!

Too much digging? How about the User Manual? Chapter 4.2. Installing and Maintaining Guest Additions? That would actually take zero (0) digging!
In the "Devices" menu in the virtual machine's menu bar, VirtualBox has a handy menu item named "Insert Guest Additions CD image", which mounts the Guest Additions ISO file inside your virtual machine.
As it has been said time and time again, you do NOT need to download the Guest Additions (GAs) separately, the Guest Additions come bundled with VirtualBox.

The only time you might need to manually download the GAs is if you're trying troubleshooting a problem with the GAs.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
CarbonPepper
Posts: 9
Joined: 29. Sep 2014, 21:10

Re: Where Are The Guest Additions?

Post by CarbonPepper »

I'm having the same problem. I've just rebuilt a host system and just getting the virtual machines running again.
Previously I installed using dpkg after downloading, but this time VB installed from debian repos added to /etc/apt/sources.list as per: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads
There's a slight mismatch of versions which is solved, except for GA.

Guest OSs run OK, but additions is a problem. In a running guest, when choosing Devices / Insert Guest additions CD image...

VB responds with "Could not find the Virtualbox Guest Additions disk image file". See attachment. The manual does not cover this scenario.

Given that elsewhere in this forum users advise that installs from repos do not include the same things as downloads, e.g. extension pack, it is natural to assume that "could not find" = "Missing" because that's basic English.

But it's helpful to have such an emphatic assurance from a moderator that GA is always bundled with VB. Presumably no matter the method of install. So I guess something remains broken for me.
Attachments
Screenshot_2019-07-10_17-03-09.png
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socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Where Are The Guest Additions?

Post by socratis »

CarbonPepper wrote:but this time VB installed from debian repos added to /etc/apt/sources.list as per: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads
Somehow I think that you might have gotten the repo version, not the official one. That's the only time that "VirtualBox-alikes" try to download a non-existent GAs ISO. The official releases always contain a bundled version of the GAs, even the test, even the development builds.

So, make sure that you have the official VirtualBox version by checking the output of:
  • 
    VBoxManage -version
If you end up with something like:
$ VBoxManage -version
X.Y.Z_Distro r12345
... then you're running the fork version. There shouldn't be any "_Distro" after the version string.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
CarbonPepper
Posts: 9
Joined: 29. Sep 2014, 21:10

Re: Where Are The Guest Additions?

Post by CarbonPepper »

Thanks. That was very useful, because I watched the install carefully and saw
Preparing to unpack .../virtualbox-6.0_6.0.8-130520~Ubuntu~bionic_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking virtualbox-6.0 (6.0.8-130520~Ubuntu~bionic) ...
Setting up virtualbox-6.0 (6.0.8-130520~Ubuntu~bionic) ...
But I was not watching as carefully when adding the expansion pack

So, just now VBoxManage -version is reporting: 5.2.18_Ubuntur123745

I did a purge and re-install, again I watched 6.0 install.
My problem lies with

Code: Select all

sudo apt install virtualbox-ext-pack
Which results in....
The following packages will be REMOVED
virtualbox-6.0
The following NEW packages will be installed
dkms libgsoap-2.8.60 libvncserver1 virtualbox virtualbox-dkms virtualbox-ext-pack virtualbox-qt
Which will result of course in the older version being installed from the Ubuntu repo, not the 6.0 from the oracle repo.

I'm currently trying to find the right package for ext pack....

EDIT:
It seems that the 6.0 repo does not contain any extension pack packages, instead, this has to be maintained for version:

Code: Select all

# Download
	wget https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/6.0.8/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.0.8.vbox-extpack
#Install
	sudo VBoxManage extpack install Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.0.8.vbox-extpack --accept-license=56be48f923303c8cababb0bb4c478284b688ed23f16d775d729b89a2e8e5f9eb
# Tidy up
	rm Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.0.8.vbox-extpack
After this, everything is working and I can install additions correctly.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Where Are The Guest Additions?

Post by socratis »

Or alternatively you could just grab the ExtPack from the VirtualBox site Downloads page, and the appropriate VirtualBox from the Linux Downloads page. ;)

In that last page, you can find the instructions to add VirtualBox as a repository, so you could use your traditional install/upgrade/uninstall tools.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
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