How To: Install VirtualBox 3.2 on Fedora 13

SendDerek · #1 26th May 2010, 05:26 AM

This is my humble tutorial on how to get VirtualBox 3.2 up and running on Fedora 13. It's located on my web blog here:

How To: Install VirtualBox 3.2 on Fedora 13 [Tutorial]

There are also some other VirtualBox tips in the Appendix, so be sure to glance at those as well.

Enjoy!

---------- Post added at 09:26 PM CDT ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 PM CDT ----------

Note: The following is an excerpt from my blog entry that I linked to above. Chances are that I will update that one more often than this one. Keep that in mind.

This is a step by step tutorial on how to get VirtualBox 3.2 up and running on Fedora 13. Specifically, this guide was written using the VirtualBox 3.2.0 (32-bit) version. It can be adapted to upcoming versions and different CPUs (64-bit). The folks at VirtualBox have made it easy to install for Fedora users and I’m going to show you how in a few easy steps. Right, open a terminal window and let’s get to it…

Step 1: Download, Copy, and Edit Repository File
This is a one-liner command that will download, copy, and edit the VirtualBox repository file at once.

Code:

su -c 'wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/rpm/fedora/virtualbox.repo -O /etc/yum.repos.d/virtualbox.repo; sed -i "s,enabled=0,enabled=1,g" /etc/yum.repos.d/virtualbox.repo'

Step 2: Update Repository and Install VirtualBox-3.2
This command will update yum repositories to include the new VirtualBox repository file we copied in the last step and then it will attempt to install VirtualBox-3.2 with dependencies.

Code:

su -c 'yum update; yum install -y VirtualBox-3.2 dkms gcc'

Step 3: Run VirtualBox Setup Script
This command will run the VirtualBox driver setup script.

Code:

su -c '/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup'

If you're having issues, try installing "kernel-PAE-devel" or "kernel-devel".

Step 4: Setup Groups for VirtualBox Access
This command will add you to the vboxusers group. Replace "username" with your actual username found by using the 'whoami' command.

Code:

su -c 'usermod -G vboxusers -a username'

If you find that you're getting SELinux errors or denials, try adding VirtualBox.so as an exception with this command:
su -c 'chcon -t textrel_shlib_t /usr/lib/virtualbox/VirtualBox.so'

Step 5: Run VirtualBox
Finally, run VirtualBox and have fun with it!

Code:

VirtualBox

Appendix A: To Properly Backup the VirtualBox Machine (.vdi):
Please refer to my other page here:
How To: Properly Backup a VirtualBox Machine (.VDI)

Appendix B: Setup a Pre-Built VirtualBox Guest Image
Please refer to my other page here:
How To: Setup a Pre-Built VirtualBox Guest Image [Tutorial/Guide]

Appendix C: Shrinking a VirtualBox Guest Image
Please refer to my other page here:
Shrinking a Dynamic VirtualBox Disk Image

Tallahassee · #2 26th May 2010, 05:46 AM

Thank you SendDerek for taking time to share with us this tutorial. I am new to Virtual Box and Fedora. I am running Fedora 12. So I wonder if this tutorial works for Fedora 12 as well?

BTW, why are steps 3 and 4 necessary? Whenever I install programs, I thought just running "yum install program" will do. Why do I have to run Virtual Box's driver setup script?

Sorry if the questions sound silly. I am really new in this. Thanks again.

SendDerek · #3 26th May 2010, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallahassee

Thank you SendDerek for taking time to share with us this tutorial. I am new to Virtual Box and Fedora. I am running Fedora 12. So I wonder if this tutorial works for Fedora 12 as well?

BTW, why are steps 3 and 4 necessary? Whenever I install programs, I thought just running "yum install program" will do. Why do I have to run Virtual Box's driver setup script?

Sorry if the questions sound silly. I am really new in this. Thanks again.

Steps 3 and 4 are necessary since VirtualBox needs to build kernel modules specific to your running kernel. You also need to add yourself to the vboxusers group, which is not something that is done through the package manager.

I also have a guide for installing VirtualBox on Fedora 12 here (the above guide should work as well, but just in case...)
How To: Install VirtualBox 3 on Fedora 12 [Tutorial]

Tallahassee · #4 26th May 2010, 06:09 AM

Thank you very much for your quick reply. On a side note, do I have to add myself to other user groups for other applications that I install? Cause I only read the tutorial and documentation for yum. Don't remember reading anything about user groups. Is it important?

SendDerek · #5 26th May 2010, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallahassee

Thank you very much for your quick reply. On a side note, do I have to add myself to other user groups for other applications that I install? Cause I only read the tutorial and documentation for yum. Don't remember reading anything about user groups. Is it important?

For the most part, you don't need to worry about setting up user groups. To be honest, the only place I've ever needed to do it is with VirtualBox (and maybe some other server packages).

Tallahassee · #6 26th May 2010, 07:03 AM

SendDerek, for some reason, my yum couldn't locate VirtualBox package. I double and triple checked the repositories. The repositoy file for VirtualBox is there. Weird. Anyway, I downloaded the RPM package from VirtualBox's website and performed a local install. But I read that locally installed programs will not be able to be updated through yum update. Am I right? So is there a solution to rectify it?

CSchwangler · #7 26th May 2010, 07:55 AM

You are right, if the program is not in a repository, how should it be automatically updated? Can you get into more detail what the problem with yum was? Did you install the VirtualBox repository (step 1) and was yum able to access the repositoy?

Tallahassee · #8 26th May 2010, 08:33 AM

OK. I successfully installed VirtualBox repository using the following command.

Code:

wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/rpm/fedora/virtualbox.repo && cp virtualbox.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/

I checked the /etc/yum.repos.d directory, and virtualbox.repo is there. Then I proceed with the following command.

Code:

yum install VirtualBox

Yum tells me that "no package VirtualBox available". Yum couldn't locate VirtualBox, which it should have. I then proceed to check the repository list with:

Code:

yum repolist

I don't see any VirtualBox related repository there. So virtualbox.repo is placed in the correct folder. But Yum somehow doesn't recognize it? Cause if it does, it should have shown up when I issued the command above, right?

sej7278 · #9 26th May 2010, 11:17 AM

the package is called VirtualBox-3.2 not just VirtualBox, copy'n'paste the commands.

cd /etc/yum.repos.d/
wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtu...irtualbox.repo
yum install VirtualBox-3.2

hardly needs a howto, its even in the vbox wiki.

leigh123linux · #10 26th May 2010, 11:22 AM

Step #1 assumes that wget is installed, use curl instead

Code:

su -c 'curl http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/rpm/fedora/virtualbox.repo -o /etc/yum.repos.d/virtualbox.repo; sed -i "s,enabled=0,enabled=1,g" /etc/yum.repos.d/virtualbox.repo'

Tallahassee · #11 26th May 2010, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sej7278

the package is called VirtualBox-3.2 not just VirtualBox, copy'n'paste the commands.

cd /etc/yum.repos.d/
wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtu...irtualbox.repo
yum install VirtualBox-3.2

hardly needs a howto, its even in the vbox wiki.

Oh, so the package name is VirtualBox-3.2 instead of just VirtualBox? Thanks. I managed to find the package now. I already did a local install but I managed to find the file now in the repository, if I want to update it next time, will I be able to just update it through yum? Or do I have to uninstall the local installation and reinstall through the repositories?

sej7278 · #12 26th May 2010, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallahassee

Oh, so the package name is VirtualBox-3.2 instead of just VirtualBox? Thanks. I managed to find the package now. I already did a local install but I managed to find the file now in the repository, if I want to update it next time, will I be able to just update it through yum? Or do I have to uninstall the local installation and reinstall through the repositories?

yeah its a stupid way for sun/oracle to do it, as it means if you have vbox 3.2 installed, you have to remove it and then install vbox 3.3, even if you're using the repos, as the package name is different!

if you've installed using rpm, then yum should be able to do minor updates as long as you have the repo installed.

SendDerek · #13 26th May 2010, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallahassee

Oh, so the package name is VirtualBox-3.2 instead of just VirtualBox? Thanks. I managed to find the package now. I already did a local install but I managed to find the file now in the repository, if I want to update it next time, will I be able to just update it through yum? Or do I have to uninstall the local installation and reinstall through the repositories?

Just as the guide stated... it's VirtualBox-3.2. Copy/paste is generally the best way to go (that's why most of these documents are command-line oriented).

Quote:

Originally Posted by leigh123linux

Step #1 assumes that wget is installed, use curl instead

Code:

su -c 'curl http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/rpm/fedora/virtualbox.repo -o /etc/yum.repos.d/virtualbox.repo; sed -i "s,enabled=0,enabled=1,g" /etc/yum.repos.d/virtualbox.repo'

I wouldn't have recommended wget if I didn't know it came installed by default in F13.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sej7278

the package is called VirtualBox-3.2 not just VirtualBox, copy'n'paste the commands.

cd /etc/yum.repos.d/
wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtu...irtualbox.repo
yum install VirtualBox-3.2

hardly needs a howto, its even in the vbox wiki.

I agree that it hardly needs a how to. The folks at VirtualBox have made it very easy to install their package now that they introduced the repositories. But, there are still folks who just want a quick answer without rummaging through the VirtualBox manual, and that's what this guide is meant for.

I am curious however... in my mind it's always been 1) download repo file, 2) enable it, 3) update package manager to reflect new repo data, 4) install packages in repo. Your explanation suggests the steps 2 and 3 are not necessary. Is this true? I honestly didn't attempt it any other way than what I mentioned in my guide.

Tallahassee · #14 26th May 2010, 06:44 PM

Ah, I see. Thank you sej7278. I didn't know about this at all. SendDerek, I suggest that you put this into your tutorial. Then it will be perfect. Thank you for all your help guys.

Ishwon · #15 30th July 2010, 07:21 AM

I had the same problem running Virtual Box 3.2 on Fedora 13 64Bit. Was able to solve the issue by downloadning and running the kernel-devel:

Code:

http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/4/idpl/14000745/dir/fedora_13/com/kernel-devel-2.6.33.3-85.fc13.x86_64.rpm.html

After that, run the following in Terminal as root:

Code:

/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup

It should install and run Virtual Box successfully.