VirtualBox - ArchWiki

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VirtualBox#USB_su...

VirtualBox
From ArchWiki VirtualBox is a virtual PC emulator like VMware. It is in constant development and new features are implemented all the time. e.g. version 2.2 introduced OpenGL 3D acceleration support for Linux and Solaris guests. It has a Qt GUI interface, as well as headless and SDL command line tools for managing and running virtual machines. It includes guest additions for some guest operating systems, which integrate functions of the guest and host systems, including sharing les, the clipboard, video acceleration and a seamless window integration mode. See the Wikipedia article on this subject for more information: VirtualBox Summary This article is about basic usage of VirtualBox, including running the VirtualBox software within an Arch host, and running an Arch guest inside a VirtualBox virtual machine. Required software VirtualBox (https://www.virtualbox.org) Related VirtualBox Extras PhpVirtualBox VirtualBox Arch Linux Guest On Physical Drive Advanced VirtualBox Networking Installing Arch Linux from VirtualBox Moving an existing install into (or out of) a virtual machine

Contents
1 Installation on host 1.1 Hosts running a custom kernel 1.1.1 Automatic re-compilation of the virtualbox modules with every update of any kernel 2 Setup 2.1 Loading Kernel Modules 2.2 Guest additions disc 2.3 Booting a live disc 2.4 Advanced setup 3 Arch Linux guests 3.1 Install the Guest Additions 3.2 Start the sharing services 3.3 Using USB webcam / microphone 3.4 Using Arch under Virtualbox EFI mode 4 Shared Folders as Arch Linux Guest 4.1 Synchronise guest date with host 5 Troubleshooting 5.1 USB subsystem is not working on the host or guest 5.1.1 fstab method 5.1.2 USB subsystem method 5.2 Failed to create the host-only network

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interface 5.3 WinXP: Bit-depth cannot be greater than 16 5.4 Mounting .vdi Images 5.5 Startup problems because of mount failures 5.6 Copy&Paste not working on Arch Linux Guest 5.7 Mouse is resetting to (0,0) randomly and frequently 6 External links

Installation on host
The basic GPL-licensed VirtualBox suite can be installed with the virtualbox (https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=virtualbox) package, found in the ocial repositories. You will need to install virtualbox-host-modules (https://www.archlinux.org /packages/?name=virtualbox-host-modules) separately, if it is not installed with the the virtualbox (https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=virtualbox) package, which contains the precompiled modules for the stock archlinux kernel. For custom kernels, read the section below. In order to use the graphical interface, based on Qt ( VirtualBox command), you will also need to install the qt (https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=qt) package. This is not required for the simpler SDL-only GUI ( VBoxSDL command) nor for the VBoxHeadless command. If you are using the linux-lts (https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=linux-lts) kernel you should install also the virtualbox-host-modules-lts (https://www.archlinux.org/packages /?name=virtualbox-host-modules-lts) package.

Hosts running a custom kernel

VirtualBox works just ne with custom kernels such as Linux-ck without the need to keep any of the ocial ARCH kernel packages on the system. The trick to keeping pacman from bringing down the ARCH kernel packages is to install virtualbox with the virtualbox-host-source (https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=virtualbox-host-source) package, which contains the source for the virtualbox kernel modules. See FS#26721 (https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/26721) for further explanations. Once virtualbox-host-source (https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=virtualbox-host-source) is installed, simply generate the kernel modules for your custom kernel by running:
# dkms install vboxhost/<virtualbox-host-source version> -k <your custom kernel's version>/<your architecture>

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Which for the lazy is the command:

# dkms install vboxhost/$(pacman -Q virtualbox|awk {'print $2'}|sed 's/\-.\+//') -k $(uname -rm|sed 's/\ /\//')

and load it:

# modprobe vboxdrv

Note: (Not working currently) To load/compile virtualbox modules automatically at startup you can install and add dkms (https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=dkms) in your DAEMONS array. Automatic re-compilation of the virtualbox modules with every update of any kernel This is possible thanks to virtualbox-hook (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/virtualbox-hook/) from the AUR. In virtualbox-hook, the 'automatic re-compilation' functionality is done by a vbox hook on mkinitcpio after forcing to update the linux-headers package. You will need to add 'vbox' to the HOOKS array in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf, as well as 'linuxheaders' and your custom kernel(s) headers to the SyncFirst array in /etc/pacman.conf for this to work. The hook will call the dkms command to update the virtualbox modules for the version of your new kernel. Note: If you are using this functionality it's important to look at the installation process of the linux (or any other kernel) package. vbox hook will tell you if anything goes wrong.

Setup
Add the desired username to the vboxusers group. Everything may work ne without this step but shared folders and possibly some other optional stu require it to work. The new group does not automatically apply to existing sessions; the user has to log in again or start a new environment with a command like newgrp or sudo -u username -s .
# gpasswd -a username vboxusers

Loading Kernel Modules

VirtualBox running on Linux uses its own kernel modules, including a mandatory one called vboxdrv, which must be loaded before virtual machines can run. It can be automatically loaded when Arch Linux starts up, or it can be loaded manually when necessary.

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To load the VirtualBox driver at startup, add a le with the *.conf sux in the /etc/modules-load.d directory (e.g. virtualbox.conf) that reads "vboxdrv":
# tee /etc/modules-load.d/virtualbox.conf <<< "vboxdrv"

Note: You may need to update the kernel modules db in order to avoid 'no such le or directory' error when loading vboxdrv. Run: depmod -a . To load the module manually:
# modprobe vboxdrv

To start the VirtualBox graphical manager:

$ VirtualBox

Guest additions disc

The
virtualbox

package also suggests installing

virtualbox-guest-iso

on the host (Arch Linux) running VirtualBox. It is a disc image that can be used to install the guest additions onto guest systems. Make it available to the (running) guest by going to Devices and clicking "Install Guest Additions... Host+D". Then run the guest additions installation from inside the guest.
(https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=virtualbox-guest-iso)

Booting a live disc

Click the 'New' button to create a new virtual environment. Name it appropriately and select Operating System type and version. Select base memory size (note: most operating systems will need at least 512MB to function properly). Create a new hard disk image (a hard disk image is a le that will contain the operating system's lesystem and les). When the new image has been created, click 'Settings', then CD/DVD-ROM, check 'Mount CD/DVD Drive' then select an ISO image.

Advanced setup
See VirtualBox Extras for advanced conguration.

Arch Linux guests

Installing Arch under VirtualBox is straightforward, and additions should be installed through pacman (not through "Install Guest Additions" in VirtualBox, or from a mounted ISO image).

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Install the Guest Additions

Install the virtualbox-guest-utils utils) package:
# pacman -S virtualbox-guest-utils

(https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=virtualbox-guest-

Manually load the modules with:

# modprobe -a vboxguest vboxsf vboxvideo

Create a

*.conf

le (e.g.

virtualbox.conf )

in

/etc/modules-load.d/

with these lines:

/etc/modules-load.d/virtualbox.conf vboxguest vboxsf vboxvideo

Start the sharing services

After installing virtualbox-guest-utils (https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=virtualbox-guestutils) above, you should start VBoxClient-all to start services for sharing the clipboard, resizing the screen, etc. If you are running something that launches /etc/xdg/autostart/vboxclient.desktop , such as GNOME or KDE, then nothing needs to be done. If you use .xinitrc to launch things instead, you must add the following to your .xinitrc before launching your WM.
# VBoxClient-all &

Using USB webcam / microphone

Note: You will need to have VirtualBox extension pack installed before following the steps below. See VirtualBox_Extras#Extension_pack for details. 1. Make sure the virtual machine is not running and your webcam / microphone is not being used. 2. Bring up the main VirtualBox window and go to settings for Arch machine. Go to USB section. 3. Make sure "Enable USB Controller" is selected. Also make sure that "Enable USB 2.0 (EHCI) Controller" is selected too. 4. Click the "Add lter from device" button (the cable with the '+' icon). 5. Select your USB webcam/microphone device from the list.

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6. Now click OK and start your VM.

Using Arch under Virtualbox EFI mode

My experience with this conguration was pretty terrible, but it does work. First, efibootmgr does *not* work. It will appear to work, but all changes it makes appear to be overwritten on reboot. After performing a standard UEFI/GPT installation, reboot and you should get dumped to the EFI shell. Type exit and you will get a menu. Select the Boot Management Manager, Boot Options, Add Boot Option. Use the le browser to nd the grub e le and select it. Add a label if you want. Afterwards, select Change Boot Order from the menu, use arrow keys to select your Arch option, and + to move it up to the top. GRUB should boot by default now. Note: Another useful way to get back to the EFI menu after autobooting is working is to press the C key inside GRUB and type exit . Obviously, this will only work with grub-efi , not grub-bios . Regenerating the grub.cfg le may also be required to x broken UUIDs. Check with the lsblk -f command that they match.

Shared Folders as Arch Linux Guest

Shared folders are managed via the VirtualBox program on the host. They may be added, auto-mounted and made read-only from there. Creating a shared folder from the VirtualBox program in the host locates that folder in /media/sf_SHAREDFOLDERNAME . At this time an additional step is needed to have that folder created in the Arch Guest because Arch use a package for Guest Additions. To create and access this shared folder from the Arch Guest, this must also be done at the command line after installing the Guest Additions package(s) from pacman:
# groupadd vboxsf # gpasswd -a $USER vboxsf

If you wish, a symbolic link may be made to another folder in your home directory for easy access. As an example, if a shared folder named "Dropbox" was created in the VirtualBox program on the host machine, then /media/sf_Dropbox is automatically created in the guest so this could be done:
$ ln -s /media/sf_Dropbox/* ~/dropbox

The .run script provided in the Guest Additions iso does this for you, however, Arch does not recommend using that script so this step must be done manually. The instructions for it were found here: (pastebin: [1] (http://pastebin.com/6cUE3kjF) ) . If shared folders are not auto-mounted, try manually mount (https://bbs.archlinux.org /viewtopic.php?id=70780) or read the next section.

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To prevent startup problems when you're using systemd, you should add comment=systemd.automount to your /etc/fstab . This way, they are mounted only when you access those mountpoints and not during startup. Otherwise your system might become unusable after a kernel upgrade (if you install your guest additions manually).
desktop /media/desktop vboxsf uid=user,gid=group,rw,dmode=700,fmode=600,comment=systemd.automount 0 0

Don't waste your time to test the (2012-08-20).

desktop /media/desktop vboxsf

nofail

option.

mount.vboxsf

is not able to handle this

uid=user,gid=group,rw,dmode=700,fmode=600,nofail 0 0

Synchronise guest date with host

To keep sync date and time, make sure you have previous section). Then run
# systemctl enable vboxservice.service

virtualbox-guest-utils

(https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=virtualbox-guest-utils)

installed in your host (see

To enable the service for next boot. To start immediately, run

# systemctl start vboxservice.service

You also need run this daemon in order to use auto-mounting feature of shared folders that are mentioned above.

Troubleshooting
USB subsystem is not working on the host or guest
Sometimes the usb subsystem is not auto-detected resulting in an error or in a not visible USB drive on the host, even when the user is in the vboxusers group. See this topic [2] (https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=125785) for details. Note: In linux 3.5 and later usbfs was dropped. The /etc/fstab method is no longer working. Please use the USB subsystem method fstab method Adding an entry in
none /proc/bus/usb

/etc/fstab

should resolve this issue:

0 0

usbfs

auto,busgid=108,busmode=0775,devgid=108,devmode=664

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USB subsystem method USB subsystem will work if you add

VBOX_USB=usbfs

to

~/.bashrc

and reboot your system or open a new bash instance.

Failed to create the host-only network interface

To be able to create a Host-Only Network Adapter or a Bridged Network Adapter the kernel modules vboxnetadp and vboxnetflt need to be loaded. It's possible to load these kernel modules manually with
# modprobe -a vboxnetadp vboxnetflt

To load them automatically at boot, add a new line for each module to /etc/modules-load.d/virtualbox.conf :
vboxdrv vboxnetadp vboxnetflt

Note: These used to be added to the deprecated.

MODULES

array in

/etc/rc.conf .

This is now

More information in this (https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=130581) topic.

WinXP: Bit-depth cannot be greater than 16

If you are running at 16-bit color depth, then the icons may appear fuzzy/choppy. However, upon attempting to change the color depth to a higher level, the system may restrict you to a lower resolution or simply not enable you to change the depth at all. To x this, run regedit add the following key to the Virtual Windows XP registry:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services] "ColorDepth"=dword:00000004

Then update the color depth in the desktop properties window. If nothing happens, force the screen to redraw through some method (i.e. Host+F to redraw/enter full screen).

Mounting .vdi Images

This just work with static size vdi images! Dynamic size won't be easy mountable! First we need one information from your .vdi image:

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$ VBoxManage internalcommands dumphdinfo Arch_64min.vdi |grep offData Header: offBlocks=4096 offData=69632

Now, add to your

offData

32256. e.g. 32256 + 69632 = 101888

Now you can mount your vdi image:

# mount -t ext4 -o rw,noatime,noexec,loop,offset=101888 Arch_64min.vdi /mnt/

Startup problems because of mount failures

If you experience problems in a systemd setup after a kernel upgrade, you should start the system with init=/bin/bash (if the emergency shell doesn't work for you).
root=/dev/mapper/vg_main-lv_root ro vga=792 resume=/dev/mapper/vg_main-lv_swap init=/bin/bash

Then mount the root-lesystem with write access:

# mount / -o remount,rw

Change /etc/fstab according to VirtualBox#Shared Folders as Arch Linux Guest. Then exec systemd with in the bash shell:
# exec /bin/systemd

Copy&Paste not working on Arch Linux Guest

Since updating virtualbox-guest-additions to version 4.2.0-2 copy&paste from Host OS to Arch Linux Guest stopped working. It seems to be due to VBoxClient-all requiring root access. In previous versions adding VBoxClient-all & to ~/.xinitrc was sucient to make copy&paste work. Update ~/.xinitrc to match sudo VBoxClient-all & and add the line , NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/VBoxClient-all to your username in the sudoers le and restart X. It should all work again. The line in the sudoers le should look similar to this:
# Allow sudo for user 'you' and let him run VBoxClient-all without requiring a password you ALL = PASSWD: ALL, NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/VBoxClient-all

Note: Use saving.

visudo

to edit the sudoers le. This will check for syntax errors when

Mouse is resetting to (0,0) randomly and frequently

Due to xorg bug 54353 (https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=54353) (and related bug reports discussed within), the VirtualBox mouse device will frequently reset

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to the upper left corner of the screen. The workaround suggested in the bug discussion can be applied by adding a script to /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d with:

for Z in $(xinput list | sed '/\(master\|slave \) \<pointer\>/!d;s/.*id=\([0-9]\+\).*/\1/'); do xinput set-prop $Z "Coordinate Transformation Matrix" 0.500000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.500000, 0.000000, 0.0 xinput set-prop $Z "Coordinate Transformation Matrix" 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.0 done

By changing the matrix's value and changing it back to its original value, the internal condition that triggers this bug is avoided.

External links
VirtualBox User Manual (http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/UserManual.html) Retrieved from "https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?title=VirtualBox&oldid=240322" Categories: Emulators Virtualization This page was last modied on 14 December 2012, at 19:56. Content is available under GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 or later.

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