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I want to install VirtualBox 5 Guest Addition on Kali Linux. I tried this:

apt-get update
apt-get install -y virtualbox-guest-x11
reboot

From here but it does not work. I use latest Kali Linux version 2016.1 64bit version with VirtualBox 5.

How can I install VirtualBox 5 Guest Additions on latest Kali Linux?

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  • What, exactly, do you mean by "it does not work"? What happens? How does that differ from what you expected to happen?
    – cas
    Jun 5, 2016 at 0:19

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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  1. On VirtualBox host select menu Devices -> Install Guest Additions CD Image...

  2. On Kali Linux guest cancel the autorun prompt and run the following command in Terminal:

    sh /media/cdrom0/autorun.sh

    (if the CD-ROM image is mounted elsewhere, replace cdrom0 with the mount point)

    It will build and install guest additions.

  3. Reboot Kali Linux guest machine.

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  • That will do a local compile and install of the guest additions, i.e. take them out of Kali Linux's package management. IMO, the OP would be better off figuring out why installing the ` virtualbox-guest-x11` package failed and fixing it. He could start by providing more info (more detailed than just "it doesn't work") in his question.
    – cas
    Jun 5, 2016 at 0:06
  • it's a comment to your answer, which is telling him to bypass the packaging system....something that should only be done as a last resort, when everything else fails. I was in the middle of posting a comment to his question when i got distracted by reading the kali docs on vbox guest additions - something i hadn't done before because i'm not in the habit of reading web pages that require javascript even for basic functionality like displaying text & images.
    – cas
    Jun 5, 2016 at 0:21
  • VirtualBox is a platform on which a guest machine runs. It provides Guest Additions package in a version that matches the version used on host. I don't think using this method is "a last resort". On the contrary, I think it is the most reliable one.
    – techraf
    Jun 5, 2016 at 0:28
  • there's a reason why 20+ years ago the linux (and unix) world moved on from just extracting a .tar file, running ./configure (if you were lucky) and then make install, or running some custom installer script. It's because that method of software installation is crap (for many reasons, a list far too long to go into here), so we invented packaging systems. If you learn from history, you're not doomed to repeat it.
    – cas
    Jun 5, 2016 at 0:37
  • Again: is it a comment to my answer or just general rant? VirtualBox comes with an installation package for Guest Additions. It is not "some custom installer script", it is an inherent component of this software.
    – techraf
    Jun 5, 2016 at 1:01
2

i had this problem, too.

try apt-get -upgrade-dist

then reboot

then apt-get install virtualbox-guest-x11

then reboot

apparently the virtualbox tools are compiled against the latest kernel (4.6), whereas the latest kali version for download is 4.0

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In order to fix this, keep in mind that you got to make sure you are downloading the right image for Virtual box if you go to https://www.offensive-security.com/kali-linux-vmware-virtualbox-image-download/ make sure to download the virtual box image once you download everything. The guest additions from Virtualbox will be installed and everything would look beautiful! Goodluck out there and enjoy!

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