Sun VirtualBox

[Snowhog]

Finished installing Sun VirtualBox Version 4.1.8 r7547, the Extension Pack, and the Guest Additions. I created a Linux 64-bit VM (fixed 10GB) and installed Ubuntu 11.04 64-bit (what my Dad is running).

I created a permanent shared folder to my host /home/paul folder, giving me complete access from within the VM to my host user home directory. Nice.

Sound in the VM works.
USB works.
Mouse is automatically captured and transitions seamlessly between the VM and the Host. Sweet.

Posted from the VM Ubuntu 11.04.

[MoonRise]

I've been using VBox for a LOOOOONG time. Love it. My fear is Oracle will soon A. Not allow the free use for personal/home use or B. Slowly kill it. All is all even now it is a absolutly great VM Software. I've used VMWare and Hyper-V (of course both at work) and I can personally say that VBox is the best (IMHO). As far as coporate use I can't say as I use mainly Hyper-V at work at MS has it in par with if not better than VMWare. So with that said I guess you can see the order I would go with VM software.

[GreyGeek]

I've upgraded to the latest as well. I installed Win8 beta as a guest OS to play with it. Also resident in VB is LinuxMintKDE12 and my XP.

[SecretCode]

I use vbox a lot. For occasional (or sometimes frequent, due to client needs) use of Windowses; for checking out new distros; for - and this is oddly useful - checking old distros to see if xyz app worked correctly in it if pqr bug existed in it. Also for moving machines from one host to another e.g. when I've been required to use a client PC - using the same vm in two different hosts is not officially supported but works well enough with some care.

I must have 50 virtual machines lying around.

[GreyGeek]

If one does a lot of coding on several different projects, each requiring its own development environment, VB is an excellent way to set up each environment without modifying your base installation nor any of the other guest OS's you've installed for each project. Oracle has a VB tool out for that now.

[ardvark71]

Hi all...

I wanted to take a look at Windows 8 as well, so I also am trying to install it in my copy of VirtualBox. However, I keep getting a message:

"Failed to access the USB subsystem."

And then a message about it was not allowed to access any USB devices and that I should add my "user" to the "vboxusers' group." Does anyone know what how I go about doing this?

Thanks :-)

[MoonRise]

Hi all...

I wanted to take a look at Windows 8 as well, so I also am trying to install it in my copy of VirtualBox. However, I keep getting a message:

"Failed to access the USB subsystem."

And then a message about it was not allowed to access any USB devices and that I should add my "user" to the "vboxusers' group." Does anyone know what how I go about doing this?

Thanks :-)

First you'll need to make sure you install the version of VitualBOX from their website. Don't use the version in the REPO as it doesn't support USB, at least that I know of from last check. After that you'll need the Extension pack. Link below is for the latest release.

As far as the vboxusers group. Open System Settings. Go to User Managment. Go to the GROUPS tab. Check "SHOW SYSTEM GROUPS". Locate the vboxusers group and add your account.

VirtualBox 4.1.8 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack All platforms

[ardvark71]

Hi MoonRise...

Thanks for your help :-)

Right now I'm using Ubuntu 10,04, so I'm not sure how that would translate into its settings. "Users and Groups" didn't seem to have the needed configuration options.

I did install my copy from VirtualBox's website along with their extension pack.

Regards...

[MoonRise]

Hmmmmmm, yeeeeeah, that would pose an issue as I really don't remember what the is in System Settings for 10.04. I know System Settings have changed a bit since then. Let me see if I can remember that.

[SecretCode]

This command should do the trick:

sudo usermod -G vboxusers yourusername

Note the capital G.

You may need to restart after this. Or open a new shell or something.

[ardvark71]

Thanks, SecretCode, that did it! Problem solved. :-)

EDIT: Well, I guess this won't work. Apparently, Windows 8 needs "VT-x/AMD-V and Enable Nested Paging" enabled, otherwise, it won't work in VirtualBox. I don't recall seeing this option in my system's BIOS. :-(

Regards...

[SteveRiley]

Finished installing Sun VirtualBox

Just can't get that s/Sun/Oracle/ thing going in your brain, eh?

So with that said I guess you can see the order I would go with VM software.

Ever seen LD VMotion and Storage VMotion work? Very slick, and while not super-easy to set up (need a layer-2 network to span a layer-3 network), I don't know of anything else that competes. I used to use only Virtual PC and Hyper-V for a long time. Then I dabbled a bit with VirtualBox but am now making the move to VMware everywhere.

[MoonRise]

[MoonRise]

"Ever seen LD VMotion and Storage VMotion work?"

Can't say I have. We've always been a small shop but recently we've seen huge growth to the point of reaccesing our systems. VM is an eventual path. I've already virtualized lesser systems as they were easier to move. The others will have to wait until the next time we do an upgrade which won't be for a while so we have time to "plan".

[ardvark71]

This command should do the trick:

sudo usermod -G vboxusers yourusername

Note the capital G.

You may need to restart after this. Or open a new shell or something.

Uh Secretcode....

I just noticed that now I can't log in into anything requiring my password!! It's not accepted. I get the following message when trying to start Synaptic, for example:

"Failed to run /usr/sbin/synaptic as user root.

The underlying authorization mechanism (sudo) does not allow you to run this program. Contact the system administrator."

How do I go about fixing this?!

Regards...