How to set up USB for Virtualbox?

Question

I'm using Ubuntu Maverick and Virtual Box 3+. I have Windows 7 Ultimate. The problem is that it doesn't detect USB drives in Windows 7, but USB peripherals (mouse + keybord) are working.

I followed these instructions, but I can't find the user group vboxusers. How can I continue? I would also like to upgrade to the latest version without any risk (without losing my virtual hard disk drive).

Solution 1

1. Install Extension Pack

also see: How do I install the VirtualBox version from Oracle to install an Extension Pack?

USB 1.0 is supported in the version installed from the Ubuntu repositories (from VirtualBox > 4.x).

For USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 we need to install the free (but closed source) VirtualBox Extension Pack (NOT the "platform packages") from the VirtualBox download page. If you had installed VirtualBox from the repositories you have to make sure to choose the extension pack for the right version of VirtualBox. You can see the version of your installed VirtualBox in the help > About VirtualBox menu. For regular updates and bug fixes, it is recommended to install the most recent VirtualBox version from the Oracle repository.

All virtual machines need to be powered off before installing the extension.

2. Become a "vboxuser" in Host machine (local machine)

To be able to get access to an attached USB device, the Ubuntu host user needs to be in the vboxusers group. Add your user to this group by running the following command

sudo usermod -aG vboxusers <username> 

and reboot or logout/login.

3. Activate USB support in VirtualBox Manager

Shut down your virtual machine and open USB settings in the VirtualBox Manager. Tick Enable USB Controllerand USB 2.0 (EHCI) Controller or USB 3.0 (xHCI) Controller.

If these settings are greyed out, you need to shut down the virtual machine.

4. Select host USB device for access from the guest

To grant access to USB devices we need to select a device to disable in the host and to enable in the guest (this is a precaution to avoid simultaneous access from host and guest). This can be done from the panel Devices menu or by right mouse click in the bottom panel of the VirtualBox Manager on the USB icon:

Tick the device you need in the guest, untick it if you need it in the host. If you can't see your USB device in that list, it means that VirtualBox cannot access your host USB devices. Make sure your user is added to the vboxusers group and that you restarted your host.

The selected device will immediately be accessible from the guest. A Windows guest may need additional drivers.

• Windows 7 needs an additional driver for USB 3.0 support.
• Windows 10 does not accept an NTFS formatted USB pen drive.

[optional] Use USB filters for permanent access in the guest

By defining USB filters we can define USB devices that will automatically be presented to the guest when booting the guest OS.

Click on the green + symbol on the right to add a known device.

Note, that some devices may lead to a boot failure of the guest. We can not use these devices for filters.

Read more on USB support in the VirtualBox User Manual.

Also see: what are the proper values for usb device in virtual box

Solution 2

• Install gnome-system-tools b/c The old Users and Groups GUI is not available by default on 11.10

  sudo apt-get install gnome-system-tools
  

• After the installation finished Open user and groups from launcher

• Select your username click on Manage Groups and select vboxusers and click add.

• logout/login to be able to use USB in VirtualBox.

Solution 3

The vboxusers will be in the /etc/group file. You edit it with something like nano .

sudo nano /etc/group

Add your user to the vboxusers line, or create one if necessary.

As Takkat has pointed out, to get full USB device support, you'll need to install the full version of Virtualbox (not the OSE).

The ppa I have for the "official" virtualbox is here:

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox-offical-source.list:  
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian maverick contrib #VirtualBox Offical Source

Solution 4

In Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, after the initial install with

sudo apt install virtualbox virtualbox-guest-additions-iso

I also had to:

sudo usermod -a -G vboxusers $USER
sudo apt install virtualbox-ext-pack

Then I could enable USB 2/3 support in the machine settings.

What the virtualbox-ext-pack actually does, is download the required files from http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox and prompt you to accept the license before installing.

Solution 5

I had the same problem. After trying all the other solutions I realised my problem.

I had downloaded virtualbox from the Ubuntu Software Center, which didn't have the latest version of virtualbox, so I had accidently downloaded the wrong version of "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack".

Solution:

1. open virtualbox, click help, click about, find your virtualbox version number.
2. Goto https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Download_Old_Builds_4_3 (replace "4_3" with your version).
3. Download the "Extension Pack" that matches your virtualbox version.
4. Install that, and it might ask you if you would like to downgrade, click yes.

Worked for me anyway.

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Comments

[Admin]

Is the Virtualbox you have installed the one from the software center?

[Admin]

For your second question, the one about upgrading, you should probably have a look at this: askubuntu.com/questions/19268/…

[Admin]

@jgbelacqua Yes, I installed via software center.

[Admin]

follow this link, [follow this link - akwal][1] [1]: askubuntu.com/questions/209950/…

[Takkat]

+1 for ppa. I prefer linking to the download page as the deb link changed quite often recently ;)

[enthusiasticgeek]

I had a host ubuntu and a guest ubuntu. Most importantly do this on host not guest and one also needs Virtualbox extension pack apart from the guest additions (and save yourself an hour and a frustration).

[Lital Kaminsky]

May be its late to comment but I'm using VirtualBox 4.3.14 in Ubuntu 14.04 and the command you have provided to add users to vboxusers (sudo usermod -aG vboxusers <username>) was not working. instead a small change was required while providing options. I did give -a -G instead of giving -aG to make it work.

[Eliah Kagan]

@learner That's very strange, since -aG and -a -G should have the same effect when passed as options to usermod. Is it possible that instead you had not logged out and back in the first time, but had done so the second time?

[Lital Kaminsky]

@EliahKagan its been so many months so I have forgotten. But your explanation is the logical one so may be I have logged out and back the second time.

[Karl Morrison]

This might need updating, vb 5.x is out now.

[domih]

This pointed me in the right direction with my problem of defining the correct USB controller using a USB1-only compatible device in Vagrant, which is a VirtualBox configuration tool. The clue is that USB1.1 is ohci, USB2.0 is ehci and USB3.0 is xhci. Thanks!

[sam boosalis]

a command is simpler/safer, no? sudo usermod -aG vboxusers # <username>

[T.J. Crowder]

It is actively insane the installing the extension pack doesn't prompt you to add users to the vboxusers group. I only install VirtualBox every 5-6 years. This has bitten me and cost me time the last two times now. Thank you for this answer.

[Pratik Saluja]

Nothing worked for me except this answer. This pack is useful $ sudo apt install virtualbox-ext-pack

[UserX]

"Make sure your user is added to the vboxusers group": While this is obvious to you, I hit a roadblock here. HOW do you do this? Is it on the host or the guest? No clue.

[Takkat]

@UserX that would be step 2 of my answer.

[Harm]

I couldn't figure out why this wasn't working, until I realized I missed "and reboot or logout/login". Thanks

[Admin]

The sudo apt install virtualbox-ext-pack worked like a charm!