Installing VBoxGuestAdditions headless?

[asktoby]

I want to synch my debian guest OS clock to the debian host clock.
I understand this is achieved by installing VBox Guest Additions on the guest.
I am running everything headless on a server so am looking to do this without the GUI.
My host does not have /usr/share/virtualbox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso.
I have found a link to manually download VBoxGuestAdditions.iso (http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox) but there are various versions and I do not know which version to get. How can I find out which version of Virtualbox I am running to get the matching iso?

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vboxmanage -v

on my host gives 3.2.10_OSEr66523 but there is no 3.2.10 on that page!

[Y E T I]

http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/

[asktoby]

I've changed the thread title to better reflect what I'm trying to do.
How can I find out which version of Virtualbox I am running to get the matching VBoxGuestAdditions.iso? Or does it not matter?

[mpack]

The correct VBoxGuestAdditions.iso to use with your installed version of VBox is bundled with VBox, and can be found in the VBox program folder. There is no need to look elsewhere for it.

[asktoby]

My copy of Virtualbox was installed from debian repos, and /usr/share/virtualbox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso does not exist.
I'm not sure what you mean by "the VBox program folder"?

[mpack]

Then you need to go to the Debian people for support. This site only supports the official Oracle distribution.

[Y E T I]

VBoxManage -version

[asktoby]

vboxmanage -version: 3.2.10_OSEr66523
I have downloaded http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualb ... 3.2.10.iso

When I run sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run it fails with:

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Building the main Guest Additions module ...fail!
(Look at /var/log/vboxadd-install.log to find out what went wrong)
Installing the Window System drivers ...fail!
(Could not find the X.Org or XFree86 Window System.)

The full contents of /var/log/vboxadd-install.log are here:
http://pastebin.com/uU5SbCNw

The error seems to be:
echo " ERROR: Kernel configuration is invalid."; \
echo " include/generated/autoconf.h or include/config/auto.conf are missing.";\
echo " Run 'make oldconfig && make prepare' on kernel src to fix it."; \

uname -a gives: Linux Media 3.2.0-31-generic
I've installed build-essential and linux-headers-generic.

I'm not sure where to go from here?

[Y E T I]

#sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run --help
will show you
#sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run --nox11
you get shared folders and time sync only without xorg.

[asktoby]

Thanks, but the --nox11 flag doesn't seem to make any difference:

$ sudo sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run --nox11
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox 3.2.10 Guest Additions for Linux........
VirtualBox Guest Additions installer
Removing installed version 3.2.10 of VirtualBox Guest Additions...
Uninstalling old VirtualBox DKMS kernel modules ...done.
Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel modules
Building the main Guest Additions module ...fail!
(Look at /var/log/vboxadd-install.log to find out what went wrong)
Installing the Window System drivers ...fail!
(Could not find the X.Org or XFree86 Window System.)

[Y E T I]

of course there is an error installing the x system. you don't have it. the time sync should as well as the shared folders.

[asktoby]

I believe you are suggesting that the guest additions have installed correctly except for the X11 portion?

I think that this may not be the case.

My /var/log/vboxadd-install.log reports lots of install errors:
http://pastebin.com/uU5SbCNw

Also, running $ VBoxService gives
: error: VbglR3Init failed with rc=VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND.

Also, time synchronisation is not working.

It seems to me that the guest additions have not installed?

[JKyleOKC]

I had the exact same error, attempting to install 64-bit guest additions for vbox 3.2.12; the 32-bit additions, however, worked properly on other VMs in the same host. Apparently one of the header files is missing from the vbox iso file itself, or an uncompress action is failing...

[asktoby]

Should I try using a more recent VBoxGuestAdditions iso with my 3.2.10 install? Which would you suggest?

[asktoby]

I took a gamble and downloaded the 3.2.14 guest additions iso.

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sudo sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox 3.2.14 Guest Additions for Linux........
VirtualBox Guest Additions installer
Removing installed version 3.2.10 of VirtualBox Guest Additions...
Uninstalling old VirtualBox DKMS kernel modules ...done.
Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel modules
Doing non-kernel setup of the Guest Additions ...done.
Starting the VirtualBox Guest Additions ...done.
Installing the Window System drivers ...fail!
(Could not find the X.Org or XFree86 Window System.)

...it seems to be working! My guest clock is now synched to the host.
I guess my only concern now is that it is not managed by apt so, when I come to update debian, Virtualbox will be left behind.