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The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide

By | July 21, 2011, 1:53pm PDT

Summary: Do you want Oracle VirtualBox 4.1? Do you have five minutes? If you said, ‘Yes’ to both questions, then this tutorial is for you.



Have you tried VirtualBox 4.1 yet? I hope it isn’t because the latest packaged version for your OS is 4.0.12 and you feel as if you’re stuck there. You’re not stuck there. This short tutorial will guide you through the installation. This installation is for Debian-related Linux distributions. If you use Windows, download the 4.1 installable file from http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads and run it.

Copy the following line into your /etc/apt/sources.list file.

deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian maverick contrib non-free

Save sources.list and run update:

$ sudo apt-get update

If you receive the following error,

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

Grab the public key file for the package.

$ wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/oracle_vbox.asc

–2011-07-21 12:58:19– http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/oracle_vbox.asc

Resolving download.virtualbox.org… 137.254.16.69

Connecting to download.virtualbox.org|137.254.16.69|:80… connected.

HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK

Length: 1734 (1.7K) [text/plain]

Saving to: `oracle_vbox.asc’

Install the file with,

$ sudo apt-key add oracle_vbox.asc

OK

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install virtualbox-4.1

Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
virtualbox-ose-dkms libvncserver0
Use ‘apt-get autoremove’ to remove them.
The following extra packages will be installed:
libsdl-ttf2.0-0
The following packages will be REMOVED:
virtualbox-ose virtualbox-ose-qt
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libsdl-ttf2.0-0 virtualbox-4.1
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 2 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 66.5MB of archives.
After this operation, 76.2MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? Y

Once installed, you can run VirtualBox from your GNOME menu under System Tools. Or, if you installed onto a server system with no graphical system, then launch it from your remote Linux system by connecting via SSH ($ ssh -X hostname) and typing, virtualbox &, at a user prompt.

If you’re running Windows, connect via an SSH client with X11 forwarding on and use an X server like Xming to view remote graphical programs.

If you need more assistance with making the connection from your remote system or installing VirtualBox 4.1, please use the Talkback area.

Tell me what you think of VirtualBox 4.1, if you can pull yourself away from it long enough to do so.

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Topics

Innotek VirtualBox, HTTP, HTTP Request, Desktop Virtualization, Hardware, Virtualization, Ken Hess

Kenneth 'Ken' Hess is a full-time Windows and Linux system administrator with over 15 years of experience with Mac, Linux, UNIX, and Windows systems in large multi-data center environments.

Disclosure

Ken Hess

My full-time employer is EDS (HP). I write as a freelancer for ZDNet. The postings and opinions on this blog are my own and don't necessarily represent EDS's, HP's, their subsidiaries or affiliates positions, strategies or opinions. I own no investments or direct financial instruments in the companies I write about.

Biography

Ken Hess

Kenneth 'Ken' Hess is a full-time Windows and Linux system administrator with over 15 years of experience with Mac, Linux, UNIX, and Windows systems in large multi-data center environments.

Ken writes on a variety of topics including interoperability, virtualization, data center operations, databases, and open source software. He has written and co-written books on Linux, databases, and virtualization. He currently writes a System Administration column for Linux Magazine and is a regular contributor to Linux User & Developer magazine, ServerWatch.com's Trends and InfoStor. He often contributes to other online and print publications as well.

His first computer was a Commodore VIC-20, which he purchased because William Shatner was in the commercials.

In his limited spare time, Ken enjoys painting, drawing, and flinging angry birds at fortified pigs.

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Improving the American Mind, One Word At a Time
frankblank 5th Mar
Just so you know, it's drivel, not dribble.
View in thread
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
nightbirdsf 21st Jul
Thank you! This is appreciated.
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
The Rifleman Updated - 22nd Jul
I started with VirtualBox 3.5. It seemed really good but, Windows was a nightmare to get working right. Sound and Video especially!

I upgraded normally as they came then 4.0 came out. This is where I had issues with VirtualBox because they wanted me to completely un-install 3.x and clean install 4.x! I hate this!! This is unreasonable to expect of a normal User. - Especially in Linux!!! When new Users to Linux see this kind of stuff they run for hills thinking that they need to be Linux-Geeks to do what they want to do.

I have been setting up Windows XP Users in VMware because it just works, plain and simple. Even U.S.B. works out-of-the-box unlike VirtualBox. I don't know what else it takes after setup but, I haven't been able to figure it out and I AM TO BUSY FOR NONSENSE LIKE THAT!!! It has to work! - PERIOD!!!

My reluctant to switch Windows XP Users want something they won't have to mess with and won't have to be calling me every time something goes wrong or doesn't happen because they can't perform the VirtualBox Upgrade without paying me. - And they shouldn't have to!

I'm sure " you can get it working but, this is my big issue with Linux... You have to get it to work. VirtualBox 4.x, more frequently than not, doesn't work out-of-the-box and yet VMware Player does.

LinuxMint turned out to be a big disappointment and useless as a Host O.S. with the April release that had a horrible User Interface and EXPERIENCE ! (What's up with stupid peek-a-boo scroll bars anyway?) Then!, to top it all off, the underlying Ubuntu revived old U.S.B. issues that no one still!, can find an answer to that what causes the system to slowly melt down and become function-less and ultimately, unwilling to boot!

To the author of this article, thank you for your time and effort you put into this guide but!, for me, I've been there, done that, and have been very unsatisfied with the results. VMware Player is my only free Virtualization Tool.
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
D Soup 22nd Jul
@The Rifleman
Wow. Such a long diatribe over something that you don't use.

Gee, I've been using VirtualBox since Innotek was doing it--about version 1.4 or something. It has always been a cinch to install and use for me. Nothing special about my hardware. It just gets easier and easier to use.

I can understand if you can't read the documents when things change it must be a challenge. Perhaps your clients read better than you do? I especially like how easy it has been to use usb in various iterations of the software. Now it is ridiculously simple. But don't let that change your mind. I'm sure Oracle can do without your approach.
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
mart5.1 22nd Jul
@D Soup
Gee, thanks for the typical arrogant linux head response,
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
jordanhawk 21st Sep
Nothing special about my hardware. It just gets easier and easier to use. Online Education | Fake Degree
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
jordanhawk 21st Sep
I especially like how easy it has been to use usb in various iterations of the software. MBA Degree | Online Campus
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
pfyearwood 22nd Jul
Thanks for the heads up on the new Virtual Box.
Isn't there an easier way that what you wrote? By following the same link you have with Windows, the user can select the Linux option. That will lead to a page with a listing of all the major distros. Select yours, click to download, then click on the package to start installation. Give password then sit back. If you need to remove 4.0, which is required in Ubuntu Lucid, go to Synaptic, removed, then try again. In Ubuntu, make sure that you have DKMS installed. That is not included in the dependencies that the installer will add.

And, if you have a previous version with VMs already made, they will be picked up and ready for use. You will have to re-install the new Guest Addtions.

Paul
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
The Rifleman Updated - 23rd Jul
@Ken Hess and comments by pfyearwood

This is exactly what I mean by "Make it work"! I just don't have time for this nonsense!!!
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
bswiss 25th Jul
@The Rifleman

In that case you should stick with the distro's official repository. If you don't have time for that nonsense, then neither do you have time for reflexively grabbing the absolute latest version of the software in the first place -- whether you want to install it on Linux or Windows -- unless you have a very specific need for some particular new feature.

Leave playing guinea-pig to those who do have the time, or the need, or just plain like the challenge. (That said, I find it amusing that a Windows fan complains about not having the time to deal with issues).
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
bswiss Updated - 25th Jul
@pfyearwood

Because the method given by the author in this article ensures that updates will be handled automatically by the package manager -- I don't think that the method you suggest would do that.

So for once, ZDNet detailed the approved "Linux way" of installing a piece of software, instead of the "Windows way" which tends to create problems -- if not immediate breakage (missing or mis-matched dependencies), then incompatibilities caused by some parts of the system being updated without regard to the rest.

Of course, if you can somehow tolerate not having the "latest and greatest" software, it's even easier to simply get that software directly from the distribution's repository -- once again, through the package manager (or "software manager) which conveniently lists and describes all the software available in the repository for your particular distro and version. It may not be "(b)leading edge", but it's less hassle, and often less trouble.
0 Votes
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RE: The Five Minute How To Install VirtualBox 4.1 Guide
rjv23@... 22nd Jul
thanks for the useless and really dumb article. I thought you would explain the details of setting VB up and the difficulties a user would experience. This is actually why I took the time to click on the article and read it. Any user can install VB from the package manager on most introductory distros. Why waste readers time with dribble like this.
0 Votes
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Improving the American Mind, One Word At a Time
frankblank 5th Mar
Just so you know, it's drivel, not dribble.

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