VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. VirtualBox is an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers and it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.
VirtualBox is being actively developed with frequent releases and has an ever growing list of features, supported guest operating systems and platforms it runs on. VirtualBox is a community effort backed by a dedicated company: everyone is encouraged to contribute while Oracle ensures the product always meets professional quality criteria.
This brief how-to explains how to install Oracle VirtualBox and Extension pack on Fedora Linux.
1. Add Oracle VirtualBox Repository
$ sudo wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/rpm/fedora/virtualbox.repo -P /etc/yum.repos.d
2. Install VirtualBox Dependencies
$ sudo yum install gcc kernel-devel kernel-headers dkms.noarch xdotool
3. Install Oracle VirtualBox
$ sudo yum install VirtualBox-7.1
4. Download and Install Oracle Extension Pack
The Oracle VirtualBox extension pack extends functionality of VirtualBox for USB 3.0 and VirtualBox Remote Desktop Protocol (VRDP) support. Firstly, download an extension pack.
$ wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/$(vboxmanage --version | cut -d 'r' -f1)/Oracle_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-`echo $(vboxmanage --version | cut -d 'r' -f1)-$(vboxmanage --version | cut -d 'r' -f2)`.vbox-extpack
Now, we can install the pack with the command.
$ sudo vboxmanage extpack install Oracle_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-`echo $(vboxmanage --version | cut -d 'r' -f1)-$(vboxmanage --version | cut -d 'r' -f2)`.vbox-extpack
5. Add Existing User to Vboxusers Group
During the VirtualBox installation, the group vboxusers is created. Any system user who is going to use USB device from VirtualBox guest must be member of this group. The following command adds an actual user to the vboxusers if is not a member of group.
$ sudo usermod -a -G vboxusers $(whoami)
Note that adding an active user to that group will require that user to log out and back in again.
End.