Upgrade VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x on Ubuntu/Debian

• I recommend to install VirtualBox from the Oracle repository, as you get the latest version of VirtualBox
• Add “virtualbox.list” to /etc/apt/sources.list.d

  sudo deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian stretch contrib

• Add Oracle VirtualBox public key:

  wget https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc
  sudo apt-key add oracle_vbox_2016.asc
  wget https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox.asc
  sudo apt-key add oracle_vbox.asc

• Install Virtualbox:

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install virtualbox-6.0

• Download the VirtualBox Extension Pack. Double click the file from within the GUI to install.
• VirtualBox: Encryption of Disk Images
• Configuring VirtualBox autostart on Linux

• To upgrade the Guest Additions after upgrading the host version, download the guest additions pack, close all virtual machines, and start virtualbox as root

  sudo virtualbox

• After installing the Guest Additions, close virtualbox and restart it as user

• Add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list.d:

  deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian stretch-backports main contrib

• Install virtualbox-guest-dkms, kernel headers, and, optionally, virtualbox-guest-x11 (for the graphical guest utilities):

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install virtualbox-guest-dkms virtualbox-guest-x11 linux-headers-$(uname -r)

• Reboot the guest system.
• More info: How to install VirtualBox Guest Additions in a Debian virtual machine

There are several options to autostart (and autostop) virtual machines. For a server environment with a Debian host the 1. option through rc.local is preferrable.

1. through rc.local
2. through X desktop
3. through VirtualBox command line

1. install rc.local as a systemd service on your debian server. This emulates the SysVinit behavior of rc.local as Debian changed the default init system to systemd with Debian Jessie 8
2. mount encrypted file systems through rc.local as explained in Encrypted partitions/folders with auto-mount
3. start vms through rc.local headless. Since rc.local runs as root you need to use runuser to start the vm as the user who created the vm. You may also chose to put the startvm code into a script and add execution of the script to rc.local:

   runuser -l <user> -c "vboxmanage startvm <vm-name> --type headless"

1. put a symlink to the following script into /lib/systemd/system-shutdown:

   runuser -l <user> -c "ssh <vm-name> 'sudo systemctl poweroff </dev/null &>/dev/null &'"
   while [ "`runuser -l <user> -c 'vboxmanage list runningvms'`" != "" ]
   do
       echo waiting for VMs to shutdown
       sleep 5
   done

2. allow <user> to execute command 'systemctl poweroff' in the vm (do not ssh into the VM as root - security!). Note that 'systemctl poweroff' is the systemd command, do not use poweroff or shutdown commands:

   sudo visudo
   <user> ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /sbin/systemctl poweroff

3. the scripts must be run as root so they can be executed through rc.local
4. also, the server must be shut down with systemctl rather than reboot or shutdown for this to work

• Debian Services

• On the host, open Settings → Session and Startup, then add a new task under Application Autostart with the following command:

  VBoxManage startvm <VM name>

• On the client, open Settings → Power Manager, then set the desired action under “When power button is pressed”

1. Configuration

   sudo vim /etc/default/virtualbox
   VBOXAUTOSTART_DB=/etc/vbox
   VBOXAUTOSTART_CONFIG=/etc/vbox/autostart.cfg
   
   sudo vim /etc/vbox/autostart.cfg
   default_policy = deny
   # Create an entry for each user allowed to use autostart
   username = {
     allow = true
     startup_delay = 10
   }
   
   sudo chgrp vboxusers /etc/vbox
   sudo chmod 1775 /etc/vbox
   sudo usermod -aG vboxusers username

2. Choose VMs to automatically start and stop

   VBoxManage setproperty autostartdbpath /etc/vbox # first time a user configures autostart only
   VBoxManage modifyvm <vmname> --autostart-enabled <on|off>
   VBoxManage modifyvm <vmname> --autostop-type <disabled|savestate|poweroff|acpishutdown>

3. Restart VirtualBox autostart service

   sudo service vboxautostart-service restart

vboxmanage startvm MachineName

vboxmanage controlvm MachineName acpipowerbutton

In xfce desktop, make sure the action on Power Button is set in Settings –> Power Manager

Set different timeouts to the shutdown command used by NUT. For example, set +0 for the clients, and +1 for the host.

One of the following commands:

VBoxManage list runningvms
vboxmanage list vms --long | grep -e "Name:" -e "State:"

• How can I tell if a virtual machine is up from the command line?
• autostop-type
• Configuring VirtualBox autostart on Linux
• How to start VirtualBox machines automatically as a service on Windows

• Make sure to update the same way you installed the previous version, either from the Oracle repository, or from the Debian backports
• If you followed my guide, check the VirtualBox version.revision.build (e.g. 6.1.16)
• Updating the build is done by running “apt upgrade”

  audo apt update
  sudo apt upgrade

• Updating to a new version or revision is done by running “apt install virtualbox-<version>.<revision>”, e.g.

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install virtualbox-6.1

• 2 Ways to Install VirtualBox on Debian 9 Stretch

• Remove old extension pack

  sudo vboxmanage extpack uninstall "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack"

• Download current extension pack from Download VirtualBox and install

  wget https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/6.1.30/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.30.vbox-extpack
  sudo vboxmanage extpack install Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.30.vbox-extpack

• vboxmanage startvm "<vm_name>" --type headless

• sudo apt-mark hold virtualbox-6.1

• sudo apt-mark unhold virtualbox-6.1

• VBoxManage extpack
• Oracle VirtualBox Extension Pack
• How to Exclude Specific Package from apt-get Upgrade