Problem with the installation of VirtualBox

Question

I am trying to install virtualbox and make it work but it doesn't seem like I can. In the image you can see the output.

Command line output

If I run VBoxManage --version I get:

WARNING: The character device /dev/vboxdrv does not exist.
Please install the virtualbox-dkms package and the appropriate
headers, most likely linux-headers-generic.

You will not be able to start VMs until this problem is fixed.
4.3.10_Ubuntur93012

But virtualbox-dkms is already installed and at the latest version. So I tried to reinstall it and i got this:

cli output 2

Any help will be appreciated.

EDIT:

The output after reconfigure (@M.Tarun suggestion):

cli output 3

EDIT 2:

Also installed the sources as @Hmayag instructed, purged virtualbox and installed it again but I got the same problem.

Kalispera Antoni. The installer is trying to build the kernel module but fails to locate the kernel source files. The clue is Module build for the currently running kernel was skipped since the kernel sources for this kernel does not seem to be installed. Check that you have those installed. Make sure they match the running kernel version. I think apt-get source linux-image-$(uname -r) should do it. — hmayag, May 13 '14 at 20:25
Kalispera:). Unfortunately nothing happened. Please see my second edit. — Antonis Gr, May 13 '14 at 20:37
Also installed dpkg-dev and ran the command again but no luck. — Antonis Gr, May 13 '14 at 20:48
With no luck I meant that VirtualBox still doesn't work. Sources were succesfully installed. Now I purged VirtualBox and I am about to install it again. If something good happens I ll let you know! — Antonis Gr, May 13 '14 at 20:52
Again the same. * No suitable module for running kernel found — Antonis Gr, May 13 '14 at 20:56
You probably have a mismatch between the running kernel and the installed header. Can you add the output of uname -a and dpkg -l | grep linux-headers? — Rmano, May 13 '14 at 21:57
Tried it this command in Terminal sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup — Abdul Kadir, May 21 '14 at 12:08
@Rmano I am facing the same problem. Here is the output https://dpaste.de/s0mi — Vaibhav Jain, Oct 08 '15 at 07:04
Found solution on http://askubuntu.com/questions/582109/14-10-virtualbox-no-suitable-module-for-running-kernel-found-cannot-find-ker — Vaibhav Jain, Oct 08 '15 at 07:54
Yep, same problem as http://askubuntu.com/questions/449905/wrong-kernel-after-upgrade-old-kernel-still-installed --- still happens a lot. — Rmano, Oct 08 '15 at 07:58

score 70 · Answer 1 · edited May 13 '14 at 22:48

70

Basically after you install those two packages you also need to do the reconfiguration:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox-dkms
sudo dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox
sudo modprobe vboxdrv

And to fix eth0:

sudo modprobe vboxnetflt

edited May 13 '14 at 22:48

Eric Carvalho

54,385

answered May 13 '14 at 19:58

M.Tarun

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6
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please see the edit – Antonis Gr May 13 '14 at 20:21
works fine, thanks! Vagrant 1.7.2; VirtualBox 4.3.10; Ubuntu 14.04 – Makc Jun 02 '15 at 13:07
How above commands will deploy for centOS – Hafiz Muhammad Shafiq Sep 08 '15 at 07:19
1

If you still have problems make sure that UEFI secure boot is disabled. – totymedli Mar 01 '17 at 19:29
I had issues with virtualbox-dkms support after the kernel upgrade and ended up with installation of the latest version of VirtualBox from the official website site. – luart Oct 25 '17 at 13:29
The line sudo dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox might be superfluous, I didn’t need it. – Melebius Jul 02 '19 at 09:32
elect@elect-NUC8i5BEK:~/Downloads$ sudo modprobe vboxdrv modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'vboxdrv': Operation not permitted – elect Sep 11 '19 at 19:46
I had to restart to see the changes after following these commands – Kamol Hasan Nov 04 '19 at 11:55

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 20 '14 at 05:52

17

I solved this problem by following commands:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic
sudo dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox-dkms

edited Aug 20 '14 at 05:52

amc

7,142

answered Aug 20 '14 at 03:40

user318571

171

Thanks this helped me on ubuntu 14.04 after a dist upgrade somehow linux headers changed – sandino Aug 24 '15 at 15:31
5

This helped me. I was able to fix with: sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` and then sudo dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox-dkms. Thanks! – stitakis Jan 12 '17 at 20:48
@stitakis your comment should be an answer so I could upvote i properly – rioted Aug 21 '17 at 14:40

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 12 '17 at 19:59

3

The reason for the problem is that you have booted the 3.11 kernel while the dpkg-reconfigure expects a 3.13 kernel. That's why you get the message 'no suitable module for the running kernel'.

Be sure to update your bootloader.

In my case the bootloader is updated from another OS (Debian) and booting to that and running sudo update-grub solved the problem.

edited Mar 12 '17 at 19:59

Zanna

70,465

answered Jul 15 '14 at 20:08

Pit

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score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered May 21 '14 at 12:02

2

I wasn't able to fix the problem with any other solution suggested, so I made a fresh 14.04 installation and everything is fine now.

answered May 21 '14 at 12:02

Antonis Gr

613

3

That's the one thing I did not want to hear – Mateja Petrovic Sep 01 '19 at 13:06
This solution is king – Stanley Mohlala Mar 06 '20 at 13:07

score 2 · Answer 5 · edited Feb 15 '19 at 00:47

2

I used the vendor’s official guide for Debian-based Linux distributions:

printf 'deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian %s contrib\n' "$(lsb_release -cs)" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list

wget -qO- https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox{,_2016}.asc | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get purge virtualbox
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install virtualbox-5.0 dkms

edited Feb 15 '19 at 00:47

David Foerster

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answered Nov 20 '15 at 12:46

Adnrii Veklychev

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worked for me as well! – ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226 Jan 18 '16 at 09:48

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 18 '14 at 20:36

1

In my case, the issue was having virtualbox-4.1 installed alongside virtualbox-4.2. Once I uninstalled 4.1, I could run sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup and sudo modprobe vboxdrv just fine, as well as start VMs.

answered Dec 18 '14 at 20:36

Anthony Naddeo

241
1
4

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 23 '16 at 10:15

You have to check the version of gcc your are using. I was facing the same problem of virtualbox kernel compilation. I fixed the issue using this post https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/12467

You probably are using a outdated version of gcc that is different of the gcc used by the Linux kernel.

Check the default version your are using :

gcc -v

Mine is gcc version 4.4.7 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.4.7-8ubuntu1)

And the gcc version your kernel was compiled with

dmesg | more
[    0.000000] Linux version 3.13.0-83-generic (buildd@lgw01-55) (gcc version 4.8.2 (Ubuntu 4.8.2-19ubuntu1) ) #127-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 11 00:25:37 UTC 2016 (Ubuntu 3.13.0-83.127-generic 3.13.11-ckt35)

or with

dpkg -l gcc

If the gcc versions are different like on my system, switch your default gcc compiler

sudo update-alternatives --config gcc

then virtualbox-dkms installation should works fine

sudo apt-get --reinstall install virtualbox-dkms

score 0 · Answer 8 · edited Sep 23 '19 at 12:04

0

I had the same error on ubuntu 19.04 disco. I could solve it by disabling secure boot (via BIOS).

edited Sep 23 '19 at 12:04

Melebius

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answered Sep 23 '19 at 11:25

Cie6ohpa

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Elder Geek · Answer 9 · 2014-05-14T13:13:23.637

0

The clue is here: Please install the virtualbox-dkms package and the appropriate headers, most likely linux-headers-generic.

Since you have the first, it must still want the second.

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic

Then make sure everything is up to date.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

edited May 14 '14 at 13:13

answered May 13 '14 at 19:58

Elder Geek

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2

Sorry just forgot to write that I have them too. linux-headers-generic is already the newest version. is the output when i try to install them. – Antonis Gr May 13 '14 at 20:11
2

Thank you, I added that information to your question to insure that you get accurate answers – Elder Geek May 13 '14 at 20:15

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Mar 23 '15 at 11:29

0

I had the same issue. I found that the source of the problem is most probably that I'm using a custom kernel.

Downloading the latest .deb package from virtualbox.org, and installing it by dpkg -i has solved the problem in my case.

answered Mar 23 '15 at 11:29

Attila Fulop

875

score -1 · Answer 11 · answered May 21 '14 at 12:09

-1

Try

sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup

answered May 21 '14 at 12:09

Abdul Kadir

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Problem with the installation of VirtualBox

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