Installation Problems on 9.04 Ubuntu Server Edition

[biggeffory]

Can anybody help with this problem??

I've currently got installed Ubuntu server edition 9.04 (32-bit) and have tried to install virtual box using a deb package installer. Most of the installation went fine except before the installation was finished i received an error (below) and to access the /var/log/vbox-install.log to find out what went wrong, the install log is also printed below.

The error code:

Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908)

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver (vboxdrv) is either not loaded or there is a permission problem with /dev/vboxdrv. Re-setup the kernel module by executing

'/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup'

as root. Users of Ubuntu, Fedora or Mandriva should install the DKMS package first. This package keeps track of Linux kernel changes and recompiles the vboxdrv kernel module if necessary.

The log file:

Attempting to install using DKMS
removing old DKMS module vboxdrv version 2.2.4

------------------------------
Deleting module version: 2.2.4
completely from the DKMS tree.
------------------------------
Done.

Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/vboxdrv/2.2.4/source ->
/usr/src/vboxdrv-2.2.4

DKMS: add Completed.

Error! Your kernel source for kernel 2.6.28-13-server cannot be found at
/lib/modules/2.6.28-13-server/build or /lib/modules/2.6.28-13-server/source.
You can use the --kernelsourcedir option to tell DKMS where it's located.
Failed to install using DKMS, attempting to install without
Makefile:145: *** Error: unable to find the sources of your current Linux kernel. Specify KERN_DIR=<directory> and run Make again. Stop.

From what was returned I imagine that the source kernel which needs to be altered for virtual box to run correctly is not in the location above and therefore the installation process cannot go ahead.

Can anybody please shed some light on the situation for me?? I should mention that the graphical interface of virtual box is working perfectly but i'm unable to start a virtual machine because of the above error.

Thanks
BigGeffory

[Perryg]

Did you put your user name in the VBoxUsers group?

[stefan.becker]

Are kernel and kernel headers exact in the same version?

[biggeffory]

Yes my virtual box group has been created and my user's name is amongst that group. this was done automatically by the package install, from what I can see there doesn't seem to be any problems with the user's and groups so far.

Im not entirely sure whether the kernel and kernel headers are the same as i've never had much to do with the code of the OS. How would I find out the answer to your question in terms of terminal commands. Am I right in saying that your thinking is that the kernel and headers are different or are in different locations on the server edition of Ubuntu. It could be that the .rpm installation package downloaded of this site is only intended for the desktop edition and not the server due to the differences in the kernel and headers. Do you think there could be any truth to this theory and if so how to remedy the problem???

Thanks
Biggeffory

[Perryg]

Well on a new install of VirtualBox before you install you should run the commands below:

sudo -i <enter> and type your password <enter>

Then run these commands:

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apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

I don't remember if these are installed in the new build (Version 9.04) but it would not hurt to run just in case.

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apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)

reboot the computer and then try to install VirtualBox again.

Edit: Corrected statement to allow proper installation of kernel headers, command line, unknown version. Also verified that the kernel-headers is not installed by default.

[fixedwheel]

Am I right in saying that your thinking is that the kernel and headers are different or are in different locations on the server edition of Ubuntu.

the server edition kernel&headers are different from the desktop version

It could be that the .rpm installation package downloaded of this site is only intended for the desktop edition and not the server due to the differences in the kernel and headers.

no, the Ubuntu 9.04 .deb package should work regardless if server 9.04 or desktop 9.04

...
I don't remember if these are installed in the new build (Version 9.04) but it would not hurt to run just in case.

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apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-generic

well, linux-headers-generic is for the linux-image-generic "desktop" kernel, but it wont hurt to install and use this kernel. The headers for the "server" kernel is linux-headers-server

[biggeffory]

I've installed the following packages and rebooted the computer before trying to install the .deb package installer again.

dkms
build-essential
apt-get update (to make sure all packages are updated)

The virtual machine now works fine and is hosting multiple guest os's

Many thanks and much appreciation to all who contributed to the solution of this problem.

Biggeffory

[Perryg]

@biggeffory,

I just installed 9.04 server myself yesterday to verify the process. I already had 8.04 setup as LAMP fully loaded. I was surprised at the performance improvement with 9.04 in VirtualBox. Can't wait to try the next LT and see the improvement there. Too bad it will be so long in coming. Enjoy!