Although my virtualbox is functioning without any apparent errors and guest addition functions all appear to be available, I am now seeing the following on boot-up (for about the last week or so):
var/log/boot.log:
[1;31mFAILED[0m] Failed to start LSB: VirtualBox Linux Additions kernel modules.
See "systemctl status vboxadd.service" for details.
[1;33mDEPEND[0m] Dependency failed for LSB: VirtualBox Additions service.
There may be a better way to determine whether your Guest Additions are installed and working properly,
But my quick tests are
Re-size the graphics console, eg switch to Full Screen and back.
If your Desktop automatically re-sizes to fill the changed window sizes, then <some> kind of Guest Additions is installed, if this is an openSUSE Guest, you likely have the Guest Additions package installed (which is automatically the case when openSUSE detects it’s being installed as a Virtualbox Guest).
Try to set up a Shared Folder.
Shared Folders are not generally supported by default versions of Guest Additions (or, Tools in the case of VMware).
If you cannot set up and mount a Shared Folder in your Guest, then you likely have a default version and if you want full functionality need to uninstall and re-install your Guest Additions using the Guest Additions ISO (generally mounted if you select the menu option in your graphical console window, which is not the VM Manager).
Your error saying Guest Additions has not started might be significant if you actually use any features provided by Guest Additions (typically most used are the display re-sizing described, shared Clipboard for copy/paste functionality between HostOS and Guest and auto-focus as your mouse hovers over the Guest or not). Guest Additions are generally not critical for any use, but provide convenience features.
Note that Guest Additions aren’t “mounted,” they’re installed.
The install source for Guest Additions might be mounted, but that’s not an indication whether the Additions have been installed.
Thanks for the reply. I misspoke - yes, the guest additions are installed. I was referring to the storage tree under settings. But no matter, the additions iso (v. 5.0.26) is shown there (and in the virtual media manager and Windows Explorer).
As I mentioned, I have not noticed any loss of function in the guest. Nevertheless, I performed the tests you suggested.
I resized (Cntrl-F) to full screen and back several times without any error or hiccup.
I’ve long had shared folders - as I have several data drives - and this function is also working.
So again, the machine is working (including the bidirectional clipboard). Perhaps the error will disappear when the next major virtualbox upgrade occurs.
I don’t recall mentioning the packages installed on the Linux host. The guest additions are installed in the virtualbox and therefore on the guest (Windows 7).
What prompted your comment (below)?
"No need for a guest-package on the Host.
Delete it.
Guest is only for the Guest if there is an openSUSE running."
Guest Additions are installed only in a Guest… Never in the HostOS.
Virtualbox Extensions are installed only in the HostOS, Never in any Guest.
In your HostOS,
You should remove all your Guest Additions running the following command in a root console
zypper rm virtualbox-guest*
When you install Guest Additions in a Guest, the installation source does not come from any files on the HostOS except for the special Guest Additions ISO file (file extension .iso). Nothing else on your HostOS should reference Guest Additions.
Thanks. I recall seeing your advice elsewhere. And it makes perfect sense. What I cannot find is a list of mandatory files for VirtualBox on the linux host (even in the VirtualBox manual). Please let me know of any resource I may consult that provides a package list for a Linux host.
From previous experience and advice on this forum, I opted to use the YaST version as opposed to the Oracle download. The apparent benefit is that updates for both the Linux kernel and VirtualBox are handled seamlessly.
When I installed VirtualBox in June of this year, the YaST version was 5.0.18. In addition to virtualbox 5.0.18-16.1, YaST automatically added the following three files:
virtualbox-guest-kmp-default 5.0.18_k4.1.12_14-16.1;
virtualbox-host-kmp-default 5.0.18_k4.1.12_14-16.1; and
virtualbox-qt 5.0.18-16.1
I apparently manually selected virtualbox-guest-tools and virtualbox-guest-x11, but perhaps should not have done that, as they arguably don’t serve any purpose on the host (if that’s true).
But the mystery is why YaST automatically included virtualbox-guest-kmp-default with the base files. According to a page on openSuSE, “Kernel Module Packages (KMPs) are a way for anyone to package kernel modules in such a way that they are cleanly handled in case of kernel updates.” See https://en.opensuse.org/Kernel_Module_Packages.
Out of curiosity, I booted up a SuSE 13.2 installation with VirtualBox and that too has the three -guest packages. But they don’t generate the LSB error (from the 13.2 boot.log: Starting LSB: VirtualBox Linux kernel module…). So something else may be causing the error on the Leap 42.1 installation.
If vboxadd.service has been configured on your HostOS,
That should be disabled, too (It’s probably not worth excising/removing completely)
systemctl disable vboxadd.service
And, for your current session should probably be stopped if ti’s not running, by disabling the service won’t start automatically on any future boots
systemctl stop vboxadd.service
My guess for now is that should likely address your problem
(It’s this service which should never have been installed in the first place which is throwing the error)
I understand. But I would like to know what this component does.
Further, since the system is functioning fully and properly, and I depend on it for work, please understand that I am reluctant to do anything further until I have a better understanding of what I’m doing. Thank you.