Installation failed on macOS Sierra

[Lod]

I've troubles installing virtualbox on OS X Sierra. I'm getting the error message "The installer encountered an error that caused the installer to fail. Contact the software manufacturer for assistance". Searching google didn't get me very far. Hopefully someone here can help me.

System
Macbook Pro
macOS Sierra 10.12.2 (clean install)
Administrator rights.

Steps.
1. Downloaded Virtualbox 5.1.10 dmg from website.
2. Opened dmg and double clicked VirtualBox.pkg
3. No changes in installation settings
4. At "Validating packages" step, the installation gives the error message.

I've added the installation logfiles.

Thanks in advance.

[ChipMcK]

At "Validating packages" step, the installation gives the error message.

Search MacOS Validating package

[socratis]

@ChipMcK
Nope, that's not it. What you're referring to is happening way before the installation even starts. It happens when you try to open the .pkg file itself. You wouldn't have installation logs at all.

@Lod
I'm working on it since you posted. Upgrading my 10.12.1 VM to 10.12.2 and see what I can dig. Since we're at it, how "fresh" is your install? Failures of installation, like this one when executing the "postflight" script usually means that you've installed a 3rd party software in your system. Macports? Homebrew? Anything?

[Lod]

You're right socratis, my installation wasn't that fresh after all.

I did install homebrew on it. Also Oracle Java and MS office. I used Homebrew to install postgresql. I never made the connection with virtualbox, so I left it out my description.

[socratis]

You replied as I was previewing my message. That means that we're online concurrently, aka faster response times

I upgraded my 10.12.1 VM to 10.12.2 and everything went fine. I compared the installation logs between the failed one from Lod and the successful one from my VM. Here's what I found.

The installation fails in the "postflight" script for the KEXTs. To be more exact it fails when it tries to load '/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox/VBoxDrv.kext'. There is the following message in the installation log:

./postflight: /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox/VBoxDrv.kext failed to load - (libkern/kext) kext (kmod) start/stop routine failed; check the system/kernel logs for errors or try kextutil(8).

So, try to manually load the kext with:

• sudo kextload '/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox/VBoxDrv.kext'

and see what it returns. Check the logs as instructed.

Finally, after searching a lot of time for PKInstallSandboxManager and PKInstallSandbox, I ended up in a familiar thread here in the forums that I was actively involved in, but I didn't make the connection (corrupted RAM in my head): viewtopic.php?f=8&t=80023

This was a thread about a failed installation after an upgrade. It was much more "Hercule Poirot", so, depending on what the message in the error logs after trying to install the kext is, we may have to follow the same steps. Give it a read for the background please.

Besides having installed Homebrew, one important question: did you have Automatic Updates turned on on your Mac?

[Lod]

Unfortunately I have to work, so I haven't got very much time.
I'm not sure which log I have to use. I looked in the /var/log/system.log but nothing is logged here (based on the timestamp).

I saw there is a Virtualbox app in my applications. Of course i immediately started it and added an Ubuntu host. The VM failed to start. So probably let us first try to solve the installation woes .

[socratis]

Did you manually try to load the kext as I told you? Actually, I think I should have added a 'sudo' in there. I'll correct it.
You didn't answer my question: were the updates set to Automatic?

[Lod]

I manually loaded the kext. As sudo as well.
The command line returns this:

Code: Select all

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox/VBoxDrv.kext failed to load - (libkern/kext) kext (kmod) start/stop routine failed; check the system/kernel logs for errors or try kextutil(8).

The /var/log/system.log still doesn't show anything.

Automatic updates are on.

[amadeus]

I solved exactly the same problem with the following steps:

1) Boot in Safe Mode (hold SHIFT key, while booting),
2) Uninstall VirtualBox (use the VirtualBox_Uninstall.tool script that comes with the Virtual dmg
3) Reboot normallly
4) Installing VirtualBox again. Installation should complete successfully this time

Amadeus

[Lod]

Hi Amadeus,

thank you for your reaction. I've tried it this morning, but with no success for me

[chiaraZ]

Hi, I experienced the very same problem after upgrading to Sierra. I solved reinstalling VirtualBox version 5.0.26. Other versions of VirtualBox did not work.

[socratis]

@chiaraZ
By "I experienced the very same problem" do you mean that you got the same error message "The installer encountered an error that caused the installer to fail. Contact the software manufacturer for assistance"? Because the installation can fail for several reasons, although there have been 3 instances so far: you, Lod and amadeus (which actually didn't prove it was the same problem).

So please provide an installer log of a failed installation, unless you can tell me by reading it at which step it failed and why, which could help others with the very same problem.

The claim that 5.0.26 installation works I'm afraid doesn't make too much sense. There's absolutely nothing that changed in the installer in recent versions, so I'm a little bit surprised by such a statement. I would like to see evidence, that's what I guess I'm trying to say...

[Lod]

Still, I tried the suggestion of 5.0.26. It didn't work though (surprisingly).

I also did an attempt at which I killed all possible processes which might block the installation (docker processes, VPN software, virusscanner etc). No success either.
At the moment a system administrator at my work is working on it. Hopefully he will find something.

[socratis]

macOS Sierra 10.12.2 (clean install)

I honestly would like to know your definition of "clean install" is. I had to drag it out from you that you had Homebrew installed, and now we get this?

I killed all possible processes which might block the installation (docker processes, VPN software, virusscanner etc).

I wonder what constitutes an unclean install in your book...
I'm going to let your administrator figure this one out, mainly because they have access to the machine and I don't, and it's kind of difficult to diagnose problems like that from across the globe, especially when all the evidence is not presented from the beginning.

[Lod]

I'm sorry if I gave some misinformation. I'm quite new to macOS.
And to the concept of system administrators. All my previous jobs were at companies too small to have system administrators, so I had to do things myself using Windows and Linux. They gave me the laptop saying that it was newly installed. Yesterday I learned today that their clean install is in fact from a system image created by them.
The VPN software I was not aware of, since I don't have to use it. I dismissed the virusscanner as a problem source because it never was at my Windows or Linux machines. The docker software was installed by me, after I posted this thread.

Thanks for taking your time. If there is any progress, I will let it know.