{"id":15664,"date":"2023-03-04T23:53:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T20:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/?p=15664"},"modified":"2024-03-10T08:32:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T05:32:54","slug":"install-virtualbox-guest-additions-on-linux-mint-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/install-virtualbox-guest-additions-on-linux-mint-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Linux Mint 21"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Follow through this tutorial to learn how you can easily install VirtualBox guest additions on Linux Mint 21. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.virtualbox.org\/manual\/ch04.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VirtualBox guest additions<\/a> consist of device drivers and system applications that optimize the guest operating system for better performance and usability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table of Contents<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#installing-virtual-box-guest-additions-on-linux-mint-21\">Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions on Linux Mint 21<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#guest-additions-features\">Guest Additions Features<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#install-kernel-headers-and-required-build-tools\">Install Kernel Headers and Required Build Tools<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#mount-and-install-guest-additions-iso-file-on-the-virtual-machine\">Mount and Install Guest Additions ISO file on the Virtual Machine<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#insert-guest-additions-iso-file-manually\">Insert Guest Additions ISO File Manually<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#installing-guest-additions-iso-from-apt-repositories\">Installing Guest Additions ISO from APT Repositories<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#other-tutorials\">Other Tutorials<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"installing-virtual-box-guest-additions-on-linux-mint-21\">Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions on Linux Mint 21<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"guest-additions-features\">Guest Additions Features<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>VirtualBox guest additions enhances the performance and usability of the virtual machine in various ways;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mouse pointer integration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shared folders.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Better video support.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Seamless windows mapping on the host&#8217;s desktop<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Generic host\/guest communication channels for controlling and monitoring guest execution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Time synchronization.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shared clipboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Automated logins\/credentials passing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"install-kernel-headers-and-required-build-tools\">Install Kernel Headers and Required Build Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To begin with, install required build tools, the Linux kernel headers and the support modules, if not already installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Run the command below to verify if these requirements have already been installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>sudo dpkg -l | grep -E \"dkms|linux-headers-$(uname -r)|build-essential\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"scroll-sz\"><code>\nii  dkms                                       2.8.7-2ubuntu2mint2                        all          Dynamic Kernel Module Support Framework\nii  linux-headers-5.15.0-56-generic            5.15.0-56.62                               amd64        Linux kernel headers for version 5.15.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<code>ii<\/code>&nbsp;means that the package is installed. As you can see from the output, dkms is not installed. If none if these packages is installed, you can simply use the APT package manager to install them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>sudo apt update -y<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>sudo apt upgrade<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>sudo apt install dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mount-and-install-guest-additions-iso-file-on-the-virtual-machine\">Mount and Install Guest Additions ISO file on the Virtual Machine<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To proceed, you need to have the Guest Additions ISO file mounted on the virtual machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guest Addition ISO file can be inserted into the VM in two ways;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#insert-from-devices-menu\">Insert Guest Additions ISO File Manually from Virtual Machine menu<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#install-from-repos\">Install Guest Additions ISO from Linux Mint Repositories<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"insert-guest-additions-iso-file-manually\">Insert Guest Additions ISO File Manually<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you can insert Guest additions ISO file, ensure that your VM has an empty optical drive attached. You can check this from the storage settings, <strong>Controller:IDE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/empty-optical-drive.png\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1220\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/empty-optical-drive.png\" alt=\"Install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Linux Mint 21\" class=\"wp-image-15668\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/empty-optical-drive.png?v=1677960225 1220w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/empty-optical-drive-768x269.png?v=1677960225 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1220px) 100vw, 1220px\" \/><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, navigate to Menu bar on your VM and click <strong>Devices &gt; Insert Guest Additions CD image<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/insert-virtualbox-guest-additions-iso-file.png\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1916\" height=\"1030\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/insert-virtualbox-guest-additions-iso-file.png\" alt=\"Install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Linux Mint 21\" class=\"wp-image-15669\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/insert-virtualbox-guest-additions-iso-file.png?v=1677960314 1916w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/insert-virtualbox-guest-additions-iso-file-768x413.png?v=1677960314 768w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/insert-virtualbox-guest-additions-iso-file-1536x826.png?v=1677960314 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1916px) 100vw, 1916px\" \/><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When you insert the Guest additions ISO file, a dialog box is launched which prompts you to run or cancel the Guest Additions installer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/guest-additions-installer.png\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"904\" height=\"670\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/guest-additions-installer.png\" alt=\"Install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Linux Mint 21\" class=\"wp-image-15670\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/guest-additions-installer.png?v=1677960465 904w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/guest-additions-installer-768x569.png?v=1677960465 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 904px) 100vw, 904px\" \/><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Click&nbsp;<strong>Run<\/strong>&nbsp;to launch the installation of Guest additions on Linux Mint 21. You will be prompted to enter your password to authenticate the installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Upon successful authentication, the Guest Additions installation will now run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/guest-additions-installed.png\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"896\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/guest-additions-installed.png\" alt=\"Install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Linux Mint 21\" class=\"wp-image-15671\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/guest-additions-installed.png?v=1677960732 896w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/guest-additions-installed-768x579.png?v=1677960732 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 896px) 100vw, 896px\" \/><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Press Enter to close the installation screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Restart your virtual machine to reload the Kernel modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>sudo systemctl reboot -i<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also install the Guest Additions from the terminal. When the Guest Addition ISO file is inserted, it is mounted on <code>\/media\/$USER\/VBox_GAs_x.x.x<\/code>. Where x.x.x is the build version of VirtualBox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore press cancel when the installer dialog box opens up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then navigate to the mount point of the guest additions and run the command below replacing the version number accordingly;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>cd \/media\/$USER\/VBox_GAs_7.0.6\nsudo .\/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>or simply run;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>sudo \/media\/$USER\/VBox_GAs_7.0.6\/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"installing-guest-additions-iso-from-apt-repositories\">Installing Guest Additions ISO from APT Repositories<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It is also possible to install the Guest Additions ISO file from APT repos. Guest Additions ISO file is provided by the <code>virtualbox-guest-additions-iso<\/code> package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>sudo apt-cache policy virtualbox-guest-additions-iso<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The available version maybe a bit dated!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See sample output of the command above as of this writing;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"scroll-box\"><code>\nvirtualbox-guest-additions-iso:\n  Installed: (none)\n  Candidate: 6.1.38-1~ubuntu1.22.04.1\n  Version table:\n     6.1.38-1~ubuntu1.22.04.1 500\n        500 http:\/\/archive.ubuntu.com\/ubuntu jammy-updates\/multiverse amd64 Packages\n     6.1.34-1 500\n        500 http:\/\/archive.ubuntu.com\/ubuntu jammy\/multiverse amd64 Packages\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see, we have guest additions for VirtualBox 6.1.38 while we are running VirtualBox 7.0.6;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the right version is available, simply run the command below to install it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>sudo apt install virtualbox-guest-additions-iso<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Otherwise, if it is a must that you use this method of installing Guest additions, then download the DEB binary from  Debian SID repos;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wget http:\/\/ftp.de.debian.org\/debian\/pool\/non-free\/v\/virtualbox-guest-additions-iso\/virtualbox-guest-additions-iso_7.0.6-1_all.deb -P \/tmp<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The install the Guest additions ISO;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>sudo apt install \/tmp\/virtualbox-guest-additions-iso_7.0.6-1_all.deb<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>When installed, the VirtualBox Guest Additions ISO is now available as <code>\/usr\/share\/virtualbox\/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To install it, you need to mount it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>sudo mount -o loop \/usr\/share\/virtualbox\/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso \/media\/<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, run the installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>sudo \/media\/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"scroll-box\"><code>\nVerifying archive integrity...  100%   MD5 checksums are OK. All good.\nUncompressing VirtualBox 7.0.6 Guest Additions for Linux  100%  \nVirtualBox Guest Additions installer\nVirtualBox Guest Additions: Starting.\nVirtualBox Guest Additions: Setting up modules\nVirtualBox Guest Additions: Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel \nmodules.  This may take a while.\nVirtualBox Guest Additions: To build modules for other installed kernels, run\nVirtualBox Guest Additions:   \/sbin\/rcvboxadd quicksetup &lt;version>\nVirtualBox Guest Additions: or\nVirtualBox Guest Additions:   \/sbin\/rcvboxadd quicksetup all\nVirtualBox Guest Additions: Building the modules for kernel 5.15.0-56-generic.\nupdate-initramfs: Generating \/boot\/initrd.img-5.15.0-56-generic\nI: The initramfs will attempt to resume from \/dev\/dm-1\nI: (\/dev\/mapper\/vgmint-swap_1)\nI: Set the RESUME variable to override this.\nVirtualBox Guest Additions: Running kernel modules will not be replaced until \nthe system is restarted\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the installation is done, restart your system to reload kernel modules;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>sudo systemctl reboot -i<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>You should now be able to utilize the features brought about by the Guest additions on your virtual machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, you should now be on full screen and can be able to enable shared clipboard, shared folders, drag and drop&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/linux-mint-full-screen-guest-additions.png\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1916\" height=\"1030\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/linux-mint-full-screen-guest-additions.png\" alt=\"Install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Linux Mint 21\" class=\"wp-image-15672\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/linux-mint-full-screen-guest-additions.png?v=1677962496 1916w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/linux-mint-full-screen-guest-additions-768x413.png?v=1677962496 768w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/linux-mint-full-screen-guest-additions-1536x826.png?v=1677962496 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1916px) 100vw, 1916px\" \/><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>For full screen feature, if your VM doesn&#8217;t resize after reboot, then under <strong>view<\/strong> menu, click <strong>Auto-resize guest display<\/strong>, to disable and re-enable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is all on our guide on how to install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Linux Mint 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"other-tutorials\">Other Tutorials<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/install-virtualbox-guest-additions-on-almalinux\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Install VirtualBox Guest Additions on AlmaLinux<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/install-virtualbox-guest-additions-on-oracle-linux-9\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Oracle Linux 9<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Follow through this tutorial to learn how you can easily install VirtualBox guest additions on Linux Mint 21. VirtualBox guest additions consist of device drivers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":15670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,121,46],"tags":[6422,6419,6420,6421],"class_list":["post-15664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-virtualization","category-howtos","category-virtualbox","tag-guest-addition-features","tag-install-guest-additions-on-linux-mint-21","tag-linux-mint-21-virtualbox-guest-additions","tag-linux-mint-virtualbox","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15664"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15664"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20710,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15664\/revisions\/20710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}