How to install VirtualBox on Oracle Linux 8.5

To Install VirtualBox On Oracle Linux 8.5

Introduction:

Oracle is an open-source and free-to-use virtualization tool that is known as VirtualBox.It is recognized as one of the best cross-platform applications for developing virtual machines within an operating system and running them simultaneously. It is available in all major Operating systems like macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Installation Procedure:

Step 1: Check the Version of OS

[root@linuxhelp ~]# cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Oracle Linux Server"
VERSION="8.6"
ID="ol"
ID_LIKE="fedora"
VARIANT="Server"
VARIANT_ID="server"
VERSION_ID="8.6"
PLATFORM_ID="platform:el8"

Step 2: First of all, update the CentOS 8 system’s metadata cache using the command given below

[root@linuxhelp ~]# sudo dnf makecache
Oracle Linux 8 BaseOS Latest (x86_64)                             21 kB/s | 3.6 kB     00:00    
Oracle Linux 8 BaseOS Latest (x86_64)                            6.0 MB/s |  50 MB     00:08    
Oracle Linux 8 Application Stream (x86_64)                        23 kB/s | 3.9 kB     00:00    
Oracle Linux 8 Application Stream (x86_64)                       5.9 MB/s |  38 MB     00:06    
Latest Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 6 for Oracle Linux  6.4 kB/s | 3.0 kB     00:00    
Latest Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 6 for Oracle Linux  5.9 MB/s |  57 MB     00:09    
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:06 ago on Thu 27 Oct 2022 05:23:21 AM IST.
Metadata cache created.

Step 3: Right after updating the metadata cache, update the system’s packages as well by typing the command given below

[root@linuxhelp ~]# sudo dnf upgrade
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:41 ago on Thu 27 Oct 2022 05:23:21 AM IST.
Dependencies resolved.
=================================================================================================
 Package              Arch   Version                                     Repository         Size
=================================================================================================
Installing:
 kernel               x86_64 4.18.0-372.26.1.0.1.el8_6                   ol8_baseos_latest 8.1 M
 oracle-indexhtml     noarch 8-7.0.2.el8                                 ol8_baseos_latest 242 k
     replacing  redhat-indexhtml.noarch 8-7.0.4.el8
Upgrading:
 ModemManager         x86_64 1.18.2-1.el8                                ol8_baseos_latest 1.1 M
 ModemManager-glib    x86_64 1.18.2-1.el8                                ol8_baseos_latest 304 k
 NetworkManager       x86_64 1:1.36.0-7.0.1.el8_6                        ol8_baseos_latest 2.3 M
 NetworkManager-adsl  x86_64 1:1.36.0-7.0.1.el8_6                        ol8_baseos_latest 149 k
 NetworkManager-bluetooth
Installed:
  oracle-indexhtml-8-7.0.2.el8.noarch                                                            
  qemu-kvm-docs-15:6.2.0-11.module+el8.6.0+20743+999ad699.5.x86_64                               
  qemu-kvm-hw-usbredir-15:6.2.0-11.module+el8.6.0+20743+999ad699.5.x86_64                        
  qemu-kvm-ui-opengl-15:6.2.0-11.module+el8.6.0+20743+999ad699.5.x86_64                          
  qemu-kvm-ui-spice-15:6.2.0-11.module+el8.6.0+20743+999ad699.5.x86_64                           
  shadow-utils-subid-2:4.6-16.el8.x86_64                                                         
  swtpm-0.7.0-3.20211109gitb79fd91.module+el8.6.0+20743+999ad699.x86_64                          
  swtpm-libs-0.7.0-3.20211109gitb79fd91.module+el8.6.0+20743+999ad699.x86_64                     
  swtpm-tools-0.7.0-3.20211109gitb79fd91.module+el8.6.0+20743+999ad699.x86_64                    

Complete!

Step 4: Once the system is up to date, add the repository by typing the command given below

[root@linuxhelp ~]# sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo=https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/rpm/el/virtualbox.repo

Adding repo from: https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/rpm/el/virtualbox.repo

Step 5: Once you have successfully added the VirtualBox’s repository to your system, you can install the latest version of VirtualBox by typing the command given below

[root@linuxhelp ~]# sudo dnf install VirtualBox-7.0 -y
Oracle Linux / RHEL / CentOS-8 / x86_64 - VirtualBox             565  B/s | 181  B     00:00    
Oracle Linux / RHEL / CentOS-8 / x86_64 - VirtualBox             1.4 kB/s | 1.7 kB     00:01    
Importing GPG key 0x98AB5139:
 Userid     : "Oracle Corporation (VirtualBox archive signing key) <info@virtualbox.org>"
 Fingerprint: 7B0F AB3A 13B9 0743 5925 D9C9 5442 2A4B 98AB 5139
 From       : https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox.asc
Oracle Linux / RHEL / CentOS-8 / x86_64 - VirtualBox             519 kB/s | 235 kB     00:00    
Dependencies resolved.
=================================================================================================
 Package                     Architecture Version                  Repository               Size
=================================================================================================
Installing:
 VirtualBox-7.0              x86_64       7.0.2_154219_el8-1       virtualbox               93 M
Installing dependencies:
 mesa-vulkan-drivers         x86_64       21.3.4-1.el8             ol8_appstream           6.7 M
 pcre2-utf16                 x86_64       10.32-3.el8_6            ol8_baseos_latest       229
Installed:
  VirtualBox-7.0-7.0.2_154219_el8-1.x86_64       mesa-vulkan-drivers-21.3.4-1.el8.x86_64        
  pcre2-utf16-10.32-3.el8_6.x86_64               qt5-qtbase-5.15.2-4.el8.x86_64                 
  qt5-qtbase-common-5.15.2-4.el8.noarch          qt5-qtbase-gui-5.15.2-4.el8.x86_64             
  qt5-qttools-common-5.15.2-4.el8.noarch         qt5-qttools-libs-help-5.15.2-4.el8.x86_64      
  qt5-qtx11extras-5.15.2-2.el8.x86_64            vulkan-loader-1.3.216.0-1.el8_6.x86_64         
  xcb-util-image-0.4.0-9.el8.x86_64              xcb-util-keysyms-0.4.0-7.el8.x86_64            
  xcb-util-renderutil-0.3.9-10.el8.x86_64        xcb-util-wm-0.4.1-12.el8.x86_64                

Complete!

Step 6: If you want to download and install the extension pack of VirtualBox as well, you can download it using the wget command

root@linuxhelp ~]# wget https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.0/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.0.vbox-extpack
--2022-10-27 05:39:35--  https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.0/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.0.vbox-extpack
Resolving download.virtualbox.org (download.virtualbox.org)... 104.115.92.27
Connecting to download.virtualbox.org (download.virtualbox.org)|104.115.92.27|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 18487641 (18M) [text/plain]
Saving to: ‘Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.0.vbox-extpack’

Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Ext 100%[===============================>]  17.63M  6.18MB/s    in 2.9s    

2022-10-27 05:39:39 (6.18 MB/s) - ‘Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.0.vbox-extpack’ saved [18487641/18487641]

Step 7: Now build the kernel modules using the command

[root@linuxhelp ~]#  sudo /sbin/vboxconfig
vboxdrv.sh: Stopping VirtualBox services.
vboxdrv.sh: Starting VirtualBox services.
vboxdrv.sh: Building VirtualBox kernel modules.

Step 8: Once downloaded, navigate to the location of the file and install it with the command

[root@linuxhelp ~]# sudo VBoxManage extpack install Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-*.vbox-extpack
WARNING: The vboxdrv kernel module is not loaded. Either there is no module
         available for the current kernel (5.4.17-2136.300.7.el8uek.x86_64) or it failed to
         load. Please recompile the kernel module and install it by

           sudo /sbin/vboxconfig

         You will not be able to start VMs until this problem is fixed.
VirtualBox Extension Pack Personal Use and Evaluation License (PUEL)

License version 11, 21 May 2020

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING ORACLE VM VIRTUALBOX EXTENSION PACK PERSONAL
USE AND EVALUATION LICENSE CAREFULLY BEFORE DOWNLOADING OR USING THE
ORACLE SOFTWARE. THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONSTITUTE A LEGAL AGREEMENT
BETWEEN YOU AND ORACLE.

Do you agree to these license terms and conditions (y/n)? y

License accepted. For batch installation add
--accept-license=33d7284dc4a0ece381196fda3cfe2ed0e1e8e7ed7f27b9a9ebc4ee22e24bd23c
to the VBoxManage command line.

0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
Successfully installed "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack".

Step 9: To Start the application in terminal use the following command

[root@linuxhelp ~]# virtualbox
WARNING: The vboxdrv kernel module is not loaded. Either there is no module
         available for the current kernel (5.4.17-2136.300.7.el8uek.x86_64) or it failed to
         load. Please recompile the kernel module and install it by

           sudo /sbin/vboxconfig

         You will not be able to start VMs until this problem is fixed.
Qt WARNING: QStandardPaths: runtime directory '/run/user/1000' is not owned by UID 0, but a directory permissions 0700 owned by UID 1000 GID 1000
Qt WARNING: QStandardPaths: runtime directory '/run/user/1000' is not owned by UID 0, but a directory permissions 0700 owned by UID 1000 GID 1000
Qt WARNING: Qt: Session management error: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported

Step 10: To launch the VirtualBox Manually ,Open up your activities menu, select show application or search for “VirtualBox”, and from the search results, select the Virtual box icon as shown in the picture below

Step 11: Now you can Import , Export and Create New Virtual Machines.

Conclusion:

We have reached the end of this article. In this guide, we have walked you through the steps required to Install Virtualbox on Oracle Linux 8.5. Your feedback is much welcome.

FAQ
Q
Can VirtualBox damage your PC?
A
In general, using a virtual machine will not cause any problems.
Q
Is VirtualBox safe?
A
Yes, VirtualBox is safe to use on any supported platform.
Q
Why is VirtualBox free?
A
Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License and, optionally, the CDDL for most files of the source distribution.
Q
Is VM VirtualBox free?
A
A powerful, open-source, virtual machine platform. To get started on your virtualization journey, VM VirtualBox offers a free virtual machine license for personal, educational, or evaluation use.
Q
Which is faster VirtualBox or VMware?
A
VMware's virtual machines run faster than their VirtualBox counterparts.