modprobe vboxguest failed

Question

I am running an Ubuntu Server (12.0.4-beta2; kernel 3.2.0) in VirtualBox (host is Win7) and I want to use shared folders. I've followed the manual to set up vbox guest additions http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04.html#idp5801200 but this error occurs with every startup:

Starting the VirtualBox Guest Additions ...fail!
(modprobe vboxguest failed)
Starting VirtualBox Guest Addition service VirtualBox Additions module not loaded!

When I try it myself:

$ modprobe vboxguest
FATAL: Module vboxguest not found.

Did I do something wrong, what do I need to fix it? Thanks for help.

score 28 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 06 '17 at 05:49

28

I had this problem today, and solved it by installing the kernel-headers

yum install dkms binutils gcc make patch libgomp glibc-headers glibc-devel kernel-headers

then

yum install kernel-devel

or

yum install kernel-PAE-devel

Then re-run VBoxLinuxAdditions.run.

edited Jun 06 '17 at 05:49

Community

1

answered May 02 '12 at 05:14

brendan

425

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 28 '15 at 13:36

I discovered here that the standard guest additions install includes a built-in setup function, so there's no need to reinstall:

/etc/init.d/vboxadd setup

This gave me the error about missing kernel sources, so as brendan's answer, yum install kernel-devel, and then that setup command works, and everything seems to be back to normal again!

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 27 '14 at 15:53

6

I had a similar problem today, but it turns out the vagrant-vbguest plugin was not installed. So, in the folder with my Vagrantfile:

vagrant plugin install vagrant-vbguest

That solved it for me.

answered Feb 27 '14 at 15:53

oalders

163

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 16 '20 at 23:50

When installing from an ISO that has had point fixes made to it, the kernel-devel headers will most likely be a newer version than the kernel that shipped with the ISO.

You need to make sure everything is up to date and in lockstep.

What worked for me on a CentOS 8 install was the following:

sudo yum update
sudo yum install binutils gcc make patch libgomp glibc-headers glibc-devel elfutils-libelf-devel kernel-headers kernel-devel
sudo reboot
Insert VBox Guest Additions again

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 07 '19 at 20:38

3

on Centos 8, first run

sudo yum install elfutils-libelf-devel

answered Oct 07 '19 at 20:38

Bart Verschooren

31
1

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 17 '17 at 10:38

Had the same problem on a Debian guest. Based on dualed's answer:

Find out your kernel architecture, i.e.:
```
$ uname -r  
4.9.0-3-686
```
Install make and the kernel headers (replace "686" with your architecture: "amd64", "686-pae",...):
```
$ sudo apt install make linux-headers-686
```
Finally, install the Guest Additions:
```
$ sudo sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run
```

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered May 19 '21 at 14:53

1

I followed till this below : None of them cleared issue. After below step, worked fine.

sudo yum install elfutils-libelf-devel

My environment: OVM : 6.1 Oracle Linux 7.9

answered May 19 '21 at 14:53

Srinivasulu Adiraju

11

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 03 '22 at 18:31

I had this same problem. I had 2 kernels installed and therefor also 2 kernel-headers. I removed the old kernel-headers that I don't use/boot that kernel. It did say this even when successful:

VirtualBox Guest Additions: To build modules for other installed kernels, run
VirtualBox Guest Additions:   /sbin/rcvboxadd quicksetup <version>
VirtualBox Guest Additions: or
VirtualBox Guest Additions:   /sbin/rcvboxadd quicksetup all

I have no idea how to do the above.

devel7316 · Answer 9 · 2020-08-04T00:29:42.253

-1

I've found this and sort everything out!:

yum install kernel-uek-headers-$(uname -r)

yum install kernel-uek-devel-$(uname -r)

it's intall what VBoxLinuxAdditions.run needs.

edited Aug 04 '20 at 00:29

answered Aug 04 '20 at 00:22

devel7316

1

modprobe vboxguest failed

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