virtualbox.org

After upgrading from VB 5.1.3 to 5.2.4, I was prompted to update guest additions in an openSUSE Leap VM, and attempted to do so the usual way: by using the Devices menu to 'insert' the Guest Additions iso, then running VBoxLinuxAdditions.run as root.

I got:
And on reboot:
Updating a Windows7 VM the 'usual way' had worked fine. Months before, updating the same openSUSE VM the 'usual way' from VirtualBox versions 5.1.2* to 5.1.3* also had worked fine.

I investigated online, tried adding the user name to the vboxsf groups, and adding kernel-syms through Yast. No luck. However, I found a thread indicating that the openSUSE VM is installing its own guest additions: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=75572 .

I checked for virtualbox-guest-x11 under YAST in the openSUSE VM. Sure enough, it was there.

Is VB 5.2.4 being fussier about the check for existing Guest Additions before installing its own? And is there any need or benefit to going with the Guest Additions ISO from Oracle if the distro is installing its own?

And finally: are more distros now packaging their own Guest Additions? I installed an Antergos and Linux Mint VM awhile back, and noted that they both went full screen by themselves, and already had the functionality that I'd associate with Guest Additions.

OpenSUSE does have its own version of the guest additions as do most of the others. You can use which ever you choose but keep in mind that we only support the ones from VirtualBox and for the others you need to contact their respective support channels for assistance. I will also note that recently the distros have changed to installing their own kernel modules for VirtualBox but this is not really the full guest additions. In my experimenting the distro guest additions did not work fully. VBox video was the only one that worked adequately.

Thanks for letting me know, Perry. I'm going to try to run the Linux VMs with the built-in guest additions, then, if only for easy of use.

I have this occurring with macOS host and Ubuntu 16.04 host. I have install both VBox and Ubuntu GA's with no change.

@NickyP
Original: Host: Linux, Guest: openSUSE
Your reply: Host: OSX, Guest: Ubuntu
Nothing to do with each other. Please open a new thread, do not hijack other people's threads, and post a log of the VM (right-click on the VM, Show Log, ZIP it).

For the benefit of others who wander into this post from a search engine:

https://en.opensuse.org/VirtualBox#Inst ... _Additions

describes the problem, and offers a solution. I followed these steps yesterday to remove the openSUSE-installed guest additions and replace them with the latest-and-greatest guest additions from VirtualBox.