VARIOUS VirtualBox Installation

This will explain how to install and configure VirtualBox to run on your Crunchbang system.

There is only an open source version available, and the closed-source components have been moved to a separate, optional (but recommended) Extension Pack.

By far the easiest way to install VirtualBox (and any other software) is by using apt-get in Terminal Emulator.

1. Open up Terminator (Openbox Menu > Terminal)
2. At the prompt, type:

   sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

   or

   gksudo geany /etc/apt/sources.list

3. Enter your password.
4. You will need to add the appropriate line to your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

   deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian squeeze non-free     ## #! Statler
   deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian wheezy contrib non-free   ## #! Waldorf

5. Put the line that corresponds to your version of CrunchBang in your file, either by retyping it or copying and pasting it. Then save the file and exit the editor.
6. You will need to install the Sun public key to your system. You can do that with one command:

   wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/sun_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

7. You will need to update your repositories with the new addition that you made, so go back to Terminator and type:

   sudo apt-get update

8. We install the dkms package that will rebuild the vbox module whenever the kernel is updated:

   sudo apt-get install dkms

9. Now to install virtualbox with apt-get, type:

   sudo apt-get install virtualbox-4.1

That will run the installer and get VirtualBox 4.1 installed on your system. There are some additional steps to get it configured that will be later in the document. Continue here

Guest Additions are replaced by Extension Packs. Their installation is easy.

1. Visit https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads and save the “VirtualBox 4.1.xx Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack” file from that page.
2. If the version number of the Extension Pack does not correspond with your installed VirtualBox version, go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Download_Old_Builds_4_1 and download the Extension Pack that fits your VirtualBox version. This is usually not necessary.
3. Open VirtualBox (press Alt-F2 or Alt-F3 and enter: virtualbox)
4. In the GUI, click on File → Preferences → Extensions
5. Click on the little icon on the right (mouse hover shows “Add package”)
6. Browse to the downloaded file and open it. You will be prompted to accept the License Agreement.
7. The installation of the Extension Pack needs a few seconds and you are done.

Some people do not like to have the Virtualbox GUI displayed when they work with a virtual machine. If the virtual machine is called “test1”, you can load it from terminal or via an entry in Openbox menu with this command:

virtualbox --startvm test1

When updating the Debian based system, apt-get may display an error message like:

 W: GPG error: http://download.virtualbox.org wheezy InRelease:
The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available:
NO_PUBKEY 54422A4B98AB5139

W: There is no public key available for the following key IDs: 54422A4B98AB5139

This is a new feature of the apt-get system that guarantees the authenticity of servers for updating Debian.

Simply type the following commands, taking care to replace the number below with that of the key that was displayed in the error message:

sudo gpg --keyserver pgpkeys.mit.edu --recv-key 54422A4B98AB5139     
sudo gpg -a --export 54422A4B98AB5139 | sudo apt-key add -