VirtualBox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
ChipMcK
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by ChipMcK »

difficult to reproduce. Install/restore macOS to whatever state it was and then install 10.13.0.
Tedious at best.
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by socratis »

Have you tried this thing called virtualization? With snapshots? 8)
All kidding aside, that would be a perfect way to test something like that in a 10.13 VM. Except one little problem:
It is currently not possible to start a Mac OS X guest in safe mode by specifying "-x" option in "VBoxInternal2/EfiBootArgs" extradata.
It kicks you to the EFI shell after a couple of failed attempts to boot. Bummer...
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by ChipMcK »

I wonder who wrote the bug tracker?
VirtualBox does not honor any boot sequences for OS X
Last edited by ChipMcK on 7. Oct 2017, 23:36, edited 1 time in total.
socratis
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by socratis »

??? Who wrote the bug tracker? I'm not sure I follow...
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by AALLeeXX »

socratis wrote:@AALLeeXX
Can you provide a picture of what do you mean by that "list" in Safe Mode? I haven't seen anywhere else that safe mode trick (not that I've looked hard ;) ), so it would be interesting to see and have a reference. I think I know what you mean from your description, but the visualization in my head may not be enough...
Sure, here you go. Sorry, the screenshot does not show the line for "Oracle America", it's the 4th line... Would be so helpfull to have this in Normal mode too....
But as I said, this appears when clicking the Allow button - I assume it cannot be seen if no application is blocked (tbc'd).
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socratis
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by socratis »

AALLeeXX wrote:the screenshot does not show the line for "Oracle America", it's the 4th line
Tsk, tsk, tsk... Bad, bad Apple. Where is the scrollbar Apple, hey?
AALLeeXX wrote:Would be so helpfull to have this in Normal mode too
Or at least if you Option-click, like so many other "hidden" things, even in the System Preferences (Display comes to mind). Safe mode just to access this? Geez... I would like to think that they will address this in a future minor update, even in 10.13.1.
AALLeeXX wrote:I assume it cannot be seen if no application is blocked
Another shameful design. But to tell you the truth I expect that there will be some tools to modify this (even from the command line), it's simply too early and has not been discovered yet (methinks positively).

Merci beaucoup pour la photo AALLeeXX ;)
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by AALLeeXX »

Παρακαλώ Socratis ;)

Scroll bar ?... why make is messy when it can be so clean and pure ? :D

Might be hidden feature, you're right, but none of the (numerous) Apple senior advisors said anything about that. :shock:

I think in recovery mode we already have a command for that, but could not dive that much as it returned some errors for me... spctl. It offers some options to enable or disable the prompts to user or even add, remove or list the Team Identifiers (not app are blocked but Team ID... did not know that) allowed to load extenstions. But need to be in Recovery, pretty "heavy".
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by socratis »

AALLeeXX wrote:I think in recovery mode we already have a command for that, but could not dive that much as it returned some errors for me... spctl.
But of course, duh... It's listed in that famous Technical Note TN2459 under the "How This Affects Enterprise App Distribution" section.

The nuclear option
Thankfully I have a 10.13 VM, with a snapshot right after the installation was done, which means it's as clean as a whistle. This allows me to test things at will and revert back to its "factory settings". So, boot into Recovery Mode, "spctl kext-consent disable", reboot, allows you to install VirtualBox (and anything else for that matter) without being prompted for the approval of the kext.

Of course that's the worst workaround possible, but until Apple fixes some of their issues, I can't think of anything else at the moment. And of course, after applying the workaround, it should definitely be followed by a reboot into Recovery Mode, "spctl kext-consent enable", reboot normally.
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by loukingjr »

socratis wrote: Of course that's the worst workaround possible, but until Apple fixes some of their issues, I can't think of anything else at the moment.
Hi Socratis, :)
Just curious, why is this an Apple problem versus a VirtualBox problem? And if it's an Apple problem, why do the kexts for VMWare Fusion install and work?

Lou.
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by socratis »

loukingjr wrote: why is this an Apple problem versus a VirtualBox problem?
Primarily because it's not just VirtualBox that has been affected by this. The web if filled with complaints about this exact behavior. But also because the VirtualBox installer didn't change at all to force this behavior, old installers should work right out of the box (with the added kext warning of course). And don't forget the fact that at some instances while the kext is blocked, the warning dialog doesn't show to alert the user for the actions required (System Preferences » Security » Allow kext). And finally, if you allow a certificate signed kext, that permit should stick and not work on the 3rd or 4th attempt. While doing exactly the same thing.

As for VMWare, I haven't done a thorough analysis (neither I plan to), but if you're talking from personal experience, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that other users are affected. Just like with VirtualBox, not everyone's systems are affected. It depends on something (TBD) not being just right. I've got a VM and I've tried it literally dozens of times, but I couldn't get it to fail. My guesstimate is that the certificate database is not properly populated and/or is corrupted.

PS. Nice to see you're back... ;)
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by loukingjr »

socratis wrote:PS. Nice to see you're back... ;)
Thanks. I'm semi back. 8)

One thing is certain, in Sierra a user would have received notice that a kext was blocked. I found out by accident in High Sierra, Apple did in fact increase secutiry from Sierra to High Sierra so one can't say things should work as they have. Well you can say it. :lol:

Anyway, High Sierra is somewhat of a work in progress. My personal experience with VirtualBox and High Sierra didn't require installing in Safe Mode. Although I did have to unblock "Oracle" in Security & Privacy.

we'll see how things progress. I'm running the 5.2 release candidate.

Good "seeing" you. :)
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by socratis »

loukingjr wrote:High Sierra is somewhat of a work in progress
About 3 months ago in the middle of July, I tested the 10.13 beta (17A306f) (and fried my MBP 17" in the process :( ). My feelings then are still valid with the released version:
10.13
It's not even alpha. I really hope Apple fixes 10.13, because if this thing stands as is, you'd better stick with what you have, whatever that may be. This thing is slower than an OSX client running inside a VM. In fact I thought I was running in a VM and I was scared to press Cmd-Q. RAM hungry, CPU thirsty, GPU molasses. Just playing an HTML5 audio-only stream in Safari hits 50% of the CPU. Yikes.
And back then I foresaw (unfortunately) the problem:
For the VirtualBox installation, there is a small difference for first time users of either 10.13 or VirtualBox, and that's a new policy from Apple, which requires that even known developers must be given a stamp of approval before they can install a kernel extension for the 1st time. Expect complains...
Little did I know...
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by loukingjr »

You were psychic. 8)

I've been using High Sierra since June. I wasn't running VMs much so I missed the good stuff. lol

I'm sure things will get sorted.
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by socratis »

And just because I was feeling bad about posting the "nuclear option" workaround, I just discovered a new Apple note (Prepare for changes to kernel extensions in macOS High Sierra) where they describe exactly the same thing:
If you want to disable User Approved Kernel Extension Loading, boot into macOS Recovery and use the spctl command.
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Re: Virtualbox fails to run on macOS High Sierra - kernel driver not loaded

Post by loukingjr »

Indeed. I for one hesitate to override security settings for obvious reasons. 8)
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