virtualbox.org

I'm running Debian 7 as a guest machine on Virtualbox, and have noticed that there's a package called virtualbox-guest-additions-iso that I can use to install guest additions. Is this preferred over the CD image? The reason I ask is because I've tried installing it using the CD image, but there was a problem with paths. I had to create a soft link /sbin/mount.vboxsf pointing to /opt/VBoxGuestAdditions[...]/lib/VBoxGuestAdditions/mount.vboxsf. That fixed mounting shared folders anyway. It seems to be a small problem, but I'd like to know if there's a conflict between the CD and package installations or if it's a user error.

As an aside, I've noticed other guest additions packages such as virtualbox-guest-x11 and virtualbox-guest-utils. Are these recommended for the other features such as resizing?

An ISO is a CD image, so the question of which to prefer doesn't arise.

You should use the version that came bundled with the VirtualBox software, which you install by selecting Device|Insert Guest Additions CD and then running the appropriate installer for your guest OS.

Also, see the user manual, chapter 4.

My wording might have been bad. What I meant was: is the package version in any way different from the "Insert Guest Additions CD" version? For example, the VBoxLinuxAdditions.run script could be different.

If they're the same, I'm surprised it's broken with Debian, or are you saying it's a user error? I have read Chapter 4 by the way.

As a general rule you should not mix versions of the VirtualBox guest additions from a distros repos and the one that is contained in VirtualBox itself. Choosing "Insert Guest Additions CD" from the VirtualBox menu should mount just fine in a Debian guest.