[SOLVED] VirtualBox Service as non-administrator (security permissions)

[emilhem]

I'm trying to launch a VirtualBox VM on a Windows 10 64-bit host using the VirtualBox autostart service as a non-admin user but it is not starting. Starting the service when the user is an administrator and starting the VM manually as a non-admin works, but using the service does not.

What permissions are required for a non-admin user to run as VM's as a service? The Windows Logging gives the following failure for the execution of the service:

Code: Select all

The machine-default permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID 
{X}
 and APPID 
{Y}
 to the user HOST\USER SID (Z) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Unavailable SID (Unavailable). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool.

What security permissions are required?

[emilhem]

I found what had to be changed in order to run the service as a regular user.

First open/enter Component Services (comexp.msc) and navigate to Console Root > Component Services > My Computer > DCOM Config

Component Services View

ComponentServices_01.png (77.87 KiB) Viewed 7680 times

Open the VirtualBox Application Properties (right click and press Properties), go to the Security tab and change Launch and Activation Permissions to Customize, then click Edit...

VirtualBox Application Component Services Properties

ComponentServices_02.png (27.02 KiB) Viewed 7680 times

Add the user that you want to launch the VirtualBox Service and give it the Local Launch and Local Activation permissions.

Launch and Activation Permissions

ComponentServices_03.png (28.02 KiB) Viewed 7680 times

Now do the same for the VirtualBox System Service!

You should now be able to run the VirtualBox Service as a regular user! :D

[scottgus1]

Thanks very much for reporting this! Should be quite useful.