Can't install Guest Additions using VirtualBox, Ubuntu guest OS, Win7 host OS

ubuntu virtualbox virtualization ubuntu-10.10

55,382

As I mentioned in the comments, seems the ISO is not mounted. Here's what you can do

Ensure that the guest additions ISO is available to the host. You can do this by clicking on Devices menu -> CD/DVD devices and point to the GuestAdditions ISO file. The Guest additions is available in Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox folder

enter image description here

With that mounted, type in the below

cd /media
mkdir vbox
sudo mount /dev/sr0 vbox/
cd vbox/

Now, the guest installation ISO is mounted as /media/vbox

enter image description here

Run the Guest additions installer by tying ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

55,382

Joe Fletcher

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

Joe Fletcher almost 2 years
I'm new to VirtualBox and Linux. I've set up VirtualBox 4.0.4 on Windows 7. Successfully created a virtual machine running Ubuntu server 10.10 64 bit. I'm trying to set up Shared Folders. Prerequisite is Guest Additions. I've followed the Manual, as much as I understand it, and have Googled the heck out of trying to get past this. Here's what I've done:
1. sudo aptitude update
  sudo aptitude safe-upgrade
  sudo apt-get install dkms
2. Devices > Install Guest Additions... (nothing apparently happens, but I hear that's ok)
3. Devices > CD/DVD Devices > [peek at the dropdown: bottom line has Remove disc from virtual drive, so I think that means the ISO is in the virtual CD-ROM drive
4. Change to directory where your CD-ROM drive is mounted and execute as root, so I: cd .., cd .., cd media, cd cdrom. (am I even in the right place?!)
I try sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run and sudo sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run I get
```
sh: Can't open ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run
```
I try bash ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run and sudo bash ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run I get:
```
bash ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run no such file or directory
```
I try chmod +x VBoxLinuxAdditions.run and get no such file or directory

It seems I'm in the wrong directory, the right files aren't where I need them, wrong permissions, or wrong commands. I'm totally lost since every troubleshooting point I've seen on Google either hasn't worked for me when it did for others, or I just don't understand the instructions. Thanks in advance for any help.

This is what mount shows
- Darius over 13 years
  
  @Joe Fletcher - Are you sure you have installed Server? Server is terminal interface only. If you're new to Linux I would suggest "regular" Linux flavour
- Darius over 13 years
  
  @Joe Fletcher - If you don't me asking, what do you need Shared Folders in Ubuntu Server for?
- Patches over 13 years
  
  @Joe: My version of the VirtualBox Linux Additions has two different .run files for the architecture of your Linux VM: VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run for 32-bit and VBoxLinuxAdditions-amd64.run for 64-bit. (You most likely have 32-bit.) You're missing the -x86 or -amd64 in your examples. Could that be it?
- 100rabh over 13 years
  
  Seems like either the guest additions ISO hasn't been mounted or you're running VBoxLinuxAdditions.sh from the wrong place. Can you paste the results of mount?
- Joe Fletcher over 13 years
  
  @Patches so, I went to /media/cdrom/ and tried both: sudo sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-amd64.run sudo sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run both tries I get "Can't Open ...." @Darius: It's so I can access thoses sites thru Win7 as well as Linux
- Joe Fletcher over 13 years
  
  @Sathya, should I just type "mount" in the /media/cdrom/ directory? (I did this and a lot of stuff came onto the screen) Also, how do I copy and paste from the Linux/VirtualBox terminal?
- 100rabh over 13 years
  
  @Joe yes just type in mount. Take a screenshot ( Alt+ PrintScreen), open Paint & click on Edit -> Paste to get a screenshot
- Joe Fletcher over 13 years
  
  Here's a screenshot: link
- 100rabh over 13 years
  
  @Joe indeed, the ISO isn't mounted. I've just reached work so I can't check on this right now. Once I get back home ( still 8+ hours to go!) I'll take a look
- kmonsoor over 11 years
  
  @JoeFletcher i also had so much trouble for ubuntu on win7.
- kmonsoor over 11 years
  
  @JoeFletcher i also had so much trouble for ubuntu on win7. being pissed off, i started using OpenSUSE. now i am happy ... happy
Joe Fletcher over 13 years

You're a genius! Worked like a charm. I ran all commands with sudo and re-started, and it seemed to work. I got 2 error messages, but not sure if those matter (link).
100rabh over 13 years

Quite welcome @Joe. You can ignore those messages, it shouldn't affect you
Andres over 12 years

For those of you who are still having problems it might be you're missing the following packages: dkms, build-essential, and linux-headers-generic. read more try running: sudo apt-get install dkms build-essential linux-headers-generic then reboot. After reboot mount the share like mentioned above.
Eric J. almost 12 years

Funny that there is no mention of how to mount /dev/sr0 in the VirtualBox docs. Or did I miss something?
100rabh almost 12 years

@EricJ. it's not always necessary to mount - typically clicking on "Install guest additions" will mount the guest additions ISO - sometimes, this can fail however.
iconoclast almost 11 years

In my experience, 60% of the time it fails every time.