Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
DavidSpector
Posts: 21
Joined: 11. Apr 2021, 17:54

Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by DavidSpector »

My host is Windows 10 Home. I have successfully added a VM for Slax 9.11.0, but shared directory and USB will not work due to lack of Guest Additions.

Have read the documentation and it just confuses me. Sorry, just a Noob.

First step is to locate VBoxGuestAdditions.iso, since it is missing from the Virtualbox download page for VB 6.1.22. I'm guessing that it is already present somewhere in the host or guest OS. Maybe my problem is not understanding Linux terminology. Second step is to understand how to install and activate Guest Additions in the running guest OS. Hoping for nonjudgmental detailed help.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by scottgus1 »

I have deleted your other posts on this subject, on some pretty old dead topics. Duplicate posts are not allowed.

Guest Additions comes with official Virtualbox. In the VM window's Devices menu, click "Insert Guest Additions CD Image". The GAs installer 'CD' will appear in the VM's CD drive. Run the installer from there.

Note that there are prerequisites to install first before installing GAs in Linux VMs. These prerequisites are the same as for installing Virtualbox on a Linux host, see https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch02. ... nux-prereq and https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04. ... ions-linux
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by mpack »

There is no such file as "VBoxGuestAdditions.iso", which may explain why you can't find it.

Nor do you need to find the GAs ISO at all.

All you need do, when the VM is running, is choose the Devices|Insert Guest Additions CD... menu item. Let VirtualBox worry about where the ISO is or how it is named.
DavidSpector
Posts: 21
Joined: 11. Apr 2021, 17:54

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by DavidSpector »

scottgus1 wrote:I have deleted your other posts on this subject
Thank you for keeping this forum clean. - David
DavidSpector
Posts: 21
Joined: 11. Apr 2021, 17:54

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by DavidSpector »

mpack wrote:All you need do, when the VM is running, is choose the Devices|Insert Guest Additions CD... menu item
When I do that (choosing Devices in the Virtualbox menu, not in Linux), I get an error message:

Unable to insert the virtual optical disk C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso into the machine Slax.

Could not mount the media/drive 'C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso' (VERR_PDM_MEDIA_LOCKED).

Result Code: E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component: ConsoleWrap
Interface: IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}
Callee: IMachine {85632c68-b5bb-4316-a900-5eb28d3413df}
DavidSpector
Posts: 21
Joined: 11. Apr 2021, 17:54

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by DavidSpector »

scottgus1 wrote:Guest Additions comes with official Virtualbox. In the VM window's Devices menu, click "Insert Guest Additions CD Image". The GAs installer 'CD' will appear in the VM's CD drive. Run the installer from there.

Note that there are prerequisites to install first before installing GAs in Linux VMs. These prerequisites are the same as for installing Virtualbox on a Linux host, see https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch02. ... nux-prereq and https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04. ... ions-linux
I don't understand https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch02. ... nux-prereq at all. Also, I believe that I have seen Qt installed in the Slax setup information, so why would it have to be installed again?
DavidSpector
Posts: 21
Joined: 11. Apr 2021, 17:54

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by DavidSpector »

I tried running "rcvboxadd setup" from root, but since Slax is a desktop system, I don't see a Linux command line.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by scottgus1 »

DavidSpector wrote:I don't understand https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch02. ... nux-prereq at all.
It is a little thick for me too, but it must be compiled with all the same.
DavidSpector wrote: believe that I have seen Qt installed in the Slax setup information, so why would it have to be installed again?
the manual wrote:Some systems will do this for you automatically when you install Oracle VM VirtualBox.
DavidSpector wrote:since Slax is a desktop system, I don't see a Linux command line.
I believe Linux calls this the 'Terminal'.

Since you appear to have found the GAs installer, and the problem now sits in installing the GAs, you need a new topic in Linux Guests. Please post your questions on installing Linux prereqs there.
brian314
Posts: 1
Joined: 30. Jul 2021, 19:27

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by brian314 »

I had the same question, and wanted to share the steps that got me to get this to work. Although my goals wasn't to get USB to work, it was just to allow clipboard sharing between host and VM. Here's what worked for me...

To get the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso mounted.
- I found the file at: "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso"
- Launch VirtualBox (VB), but don't start the VM yet.
- Select the VM > Settings > Storage
- Right-click on SATA > Select Optical Drive
- Click Add
- Browse to the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso (mine was at: "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso" )
- Select Choose
- You should now see the VboxGuestAdditions.iso as a mount.
- Select it, and turn on it's attribute checkbox: Live CD/DVD
- Select OK

- Power up the VM (Mine is a Ubuntu desktop)
- I see the CD/DVD icon mounted on the Ubuntu desktop.
- Clicking on the icon opens it up in a file browser.
At the top, I clicked open in terminal, which put me in the directory where it was mounted:
/media/brian/VBox_GAs_6.1.24/

But, before we can run the software, we first need to make sure gcc and make are installed.
So do that with:
sudo apt install gcc
sudo apt install make

Restart the VM

Once restarted, run the VBoxGuestAddiions software by...
cd into your CD/DVD. Mine was mounted at: /media/brian/VBox_GAs_6.1.24/

Run the software with:
sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

Mine ran without error.
Restarted the VM
I can now copy/paste between my host Windows machine and the Virtual Linux/Ubuntu computer.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by mpack »

As mentioned in the thread already, everything you have under "To get the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso mounted" - is not necessary. VirtualBox already does all of that when you choose the "Insert Guest Additions CD..." menu item while the VM is running. This is why that menu item exists.
DavidSpector
Posts: 21
Joined: 11. Apr 2021, 17:54

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by DavidSpector »

I understand that you believe that, but I quoted the error message I received above.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by scottgus1 »

David, I suspect that Mpack's comment is for Brian.

Brian's suggestion about grand make should e looked into, though in the Linux Mint VM I recently made, these weren't necessary. Also, Brian did not mention installing the pertinent Linux headers. I did try those, but the VM OS reported these were already up-to-date.

The biggest one folks seem to miss is the headers.
DavidSpector
Posts: 21
Joined: 11. Apr 2021, 17:54

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by DavidSpector »

I have absolutely no willingness to build Linux from C files, opening an additional can of worms of information to learn and bugs to fix, when so many built and working distros are already available. I just want a recommendation of a distro that actually works well under Virtualbox, known and tested, instead of getting a list of everyone's favorite distro, which is what resulted from my original question. Many versions of Linux are said to "work out of the box" and "be perfect for beginners" or be "perfect for Windows users", but it seems that few work efficiently in Virtualbox. Slax almost succeeds, but not quite, due to its failure to share any resources with the host OS.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by scottgus1 »

FWIW I can't find any reference to which Linux to use in this topic, and the subject matter of your other topics doesn't seem to lean towards which Linux to use. Are you sure you got the correct forum?

If the worry of 'building Linux from C' comes from my reference to installing Linux kernel headers, then it is nowhere as heavy as all that.

Honestly I am on the same page as you in regard to Linux. They've done a lot to take it from command-line-only to making it have a Apple/Windows-like desktop and a Start-menu-ish interface. And I really wish I knew more about it. But daily life is short, I haven't had time to learn Linux like I have Windows, and nearly any time I see advice on how to fix anything in Linux it devolves to opening the Terminal then throwing what appears to be random alphabetic characters at it with a couple pipes thrown in. :lol: We'll both have to face it, that's what Linux is, and to make it work you'll have to hit the command line.

The manual explains why the Guest Additions installer does not install the kernel headers, and therefore it has to be done manually ahead of time. The way to install headers as well as gcc and make and QT and SDL (of which I have had to only install the headers, everything else was there already) is different with different families of Linux. You'd have to web-search how to install things in Linux ("how do I install gcc in 'XYZ Linux'?") then attempt to install these prerequisites, then "Insert Guest Additions CD Image", then run the installer from the VM's CD drive, and watch the installer messages carefully.

That's Linux...
DavidSpector
Posts: 21
Joined: 11. Apr 2021, 17:54

Re: Can't find Linux VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

Post by DavidSpector »

Thank you so much for your detailed answer. I had no idea that Linux was quite so limited with respect to Virtualbox and I do not trust myself to be able to make internal changes to the guest OS, so I guess I will give up on this project, since I have so much other stuff to do. Thanks again!
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