VirtualBox

Alternative

If the situation doesn't specifically require VirtualBox and you can use any Hypervisior, I strongly suggest using Virtual Machine Manager (virt-manager); as it uses KVM, which has support built into the kernel, which means a much simpler install for some distributions and less potential for issues.

Install

Note: After install a reboot may be required. Most distributions package it in their repositories and can be installed as such:

Arch-based

sudo pacman -S virtualbox

Debian

Debian doesn't package virtualbox in the offical repositories, so we need to add VirtualBox's repository. Source: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

Replace <mydist> in the first command with trixie or the current version of Debian if you are on a newer stable version.

# Add virtualbox repository to system
echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg] https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian <mydist> contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list
# Add VirtualBox's signing keys to system
wget -O- https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc | sudo gpg --yes --output /usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg --dearmor
# Update package list and install virtualbox
sudo apt update
sudo apt install virtualbox-7.2

Note: For the last command you can type up to sudo apt install virtualbox- and triple tap TAB to see what version options there are.

Fedora

Fedora doesn't package virtualbox in the offical repositories, so we need to add the RPMFusion repository which packages additional software, including virtualbox. RPMFusion is a long-standing repo operated by some of the same contributors as the main Fedora repos; it just contains things that Redhat cannot legally distribute.

Install VirtualBox

# Import the RPMFusion repository
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
# Install virtualbox
sudo dnf install virtualbox

When prompted to import the RPMFusion key, ensure it has the below signature, then input "y"

E9A4 91A3 DE24 7814 E7E0 67EA E06F 8ECD D651 FF2E
RPM Fusion free repository for Fedora (2020) <rpmfusion-buildsys@lists.rpmfusion.org>

If you don't use secure boot, you can simply reboot and skip to the Check functionality stage

Sign VirtualBox modules

Now, assuming you are using secure boot, we will need to allow the kernel modules used by virtualbox. We will do this using akmods

# enable akmods if it not already
sudo systemctl enable --now akmods
# Register the key with Secure Boot (MOK)
sudo mokutil --import /etc/pki/akmods/certs/public_key.der

That last command will prompt you for a password, it can be whatever, just be sure to remember it.

Reboot
Once you get a blue menu press any key to enter MOK management.
- If you miss this prompt you can re-run the last command and reboot again.
Select Enroll MOK and follow the prompts to enroll the key
Enter the password you chose when prompted

Check functionality

Once booted you can now ensure the VirtualBox module is working with

systemctl status vboxdrv

And ensure it it started.

Ubuntu/Mint

sudo apt install virtualbox

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