Virtualbox guests - zypper wants to install virtualbox-kmp-default every time it changes

I found that you do not need any virtualbox pieces in OpenSUSE guests - 15.2 or Tumbleweed.
But everytime virtualbox (any piece) updates - zypper installs the removed virtualbox pieces again.
I have to zypper -n rm virtualbox* to get rid of them.

Without the “improved” guest additions - everything works fine and sound is perfect.
The only thing missing is dynamic screen resizing - cvt and xrandr can fix that.

How to I keep zypper from reinstalling the virtualbox pieces - do I need to create a bugzilla for that?

How to I keep zypper from reinstalling the virtualbox pieces - do I need to create a bugzilla for that?

zypper al --help

When you want to block a package from being installed you just lock it. It is of course in

man zypper

See the chapter Package Locks Management.

zypper al .......

If it has been removed by zypper - why would it reinstall it. It was removed. It is not installed so it should not update.
If I remove any other program - it does not reinstall when a new version of the removed program comes out.

I should not have to force zypper to stop installing any virtualbox component if none is installed when it is updating.

1 Like

That is an automatism for kernel packages, also for broadcom and more…

Lock it and all is good.

Meaning that, there’s a component supplied by either the package virtualbox-guest-tools or the package virtualbox-guest-x11 which has remained in the Guest system and, that triggers the re-installation of the “guest” packages at every VirtualBox update.

  • Please check the contents of the “guest” packages and ensure that there ain’t a forgotten VirtualBox Guest mouse driver or video driver in the /usr/ libraries.

Part of a Pattern?

I did a find for virtualbox* VirtualBox* - only the icons exist. So it isn’t that.

Any time a kernel changes, kernel modules need to be re-built specifically to support the new module unless the module was originally built with DKMS. I had thought that virtualobx now comes with DKMS included (no need to add DKMS as a dependency), but who knows… and it’s also conceivable that a specific new kernel may be so different that DKMS might not work for that specific upgrade.

As for installing Virtualbox Guest Additions in general…
It’s usually a good thing and like other virtualization technologies if openSUSE detects the machine is running in a virtualizaed environment any Guest enhancements are usually installed automatically.
See the Virtualbox User Manual for the functionality it provides.
But, of course it’s not necessary and if you don’t want it, you can uninstall and lock so it isn’t re-installed later.

TSU

virtualbox-guest-tools has the following content:

  • / – an empty directory: “media” …
  • /sbin/ – mount.vboxsf ; vboxguestconfig
  • /usr/bin/ – VBoxControl
  • /usr/lib/systemd/system/ – vboxadd-service.service
  • /usr/lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/ – a link to “vboxadd-service.service”
  • /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/ – 60-vboxguest.rules
  • /usr/lib/virtualbox/ – vboxadd-service
  • /usr/sbin/ – VBoxService

virtualbox-guest-x11 has the following content:

  • /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/ – vboxadd-xclient.sh
  • /usr/bin/ – VBoxClient
  • /usr/lib64/ – an empty directory: “dri” …
  • /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/ – 2 empty directories: “drivers” and “input” …

If any of these files are present, the packages will re-install when VirtualBox is patched or updated …