VirtualBox: Difference between revisions
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Added a warning not to include virtualbox in environment.systemPackages |
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[https://www.virtualbox.org/ VirtualBox] is a virtualisation hypervisor. It has powerful a GUI included for managing virtual machines. | |||
== NixOS Installation == | == NixOS Installation == | ||
VirtualBox can be installed on NixOS without problems, put this snippet in your <code>configuration.nix</code> | VirtualBox can be installed on NixOS without problems, put this snippet in your <code>configuration.nix</code> | ||
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Adding users to the group vboxusers allows them to use the virtualbox functionality. | Adding users to the group vboxusers allows them to use the virtualbox functionality. | ||
{{Evaluate}} | {{Evaluate}} | ||
{{Tip|When starting a VM, you may run into NS_ERROR_FAILURE. If you check the log you might see something like | |||
<syntaxHighlight lang=nix> | |||
00:00:00.616892 Audio: Initializing ALSA driver | |||
</syntaxHighlight> | |||
In this case, the audio driver causes a crash. This can be fixed by switching to another driver such as PULSE.}} | |||
{{Warning|Ensure that you do not put <code>virtualbox</code> into your <code>environment.systemPackages</code> when you've enabled it with <code>virtualisation.virtualbox.host.enable {{=}} true</code>. If you put <code>virtualbox</code> into your <code>environment.systemPackages</code>, VirtualBox won't be able to access it's driver, and attempting to start a VM will fail with the error NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0X80004005).}} | |||
== VirtualBox Oracle Extensions == | == VirtualBox Oracle Extensions == | ||
{{unfree}} | {{unfree}} | ||
Oracle VirtualBox Extensions are required if you want to forward usb2 or usb3 to your guests. The Extensions are unfree. | Oracle VirtualBox Extensions are required if you want to forward usb2 or usb3 to your guests. The Extensions are unfree. | ||
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</syntaxHighlight> | </syntaxHighlight> | ||
Host extensions cause frequent recompilation. | {{Tip|If USB forwarding is only advanced feature used in virtualization, then consider using an open-source virtualization solution such as GNOME Boxes or [[Virt-manager]] to avoid frequent recompilations..}} | ||
{{Warning|Host extensions cause frequent recompilation.}} | |||
Possible solutions: | Possible solutions: | ||
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* Also see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48838411/install-virtualbox-modules-from-nixos-unstable-in-configuration-nix | * Also see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48838411/install-virtualbox-modules-from-nixos-unstable-in-configuration-nix | ||
* Use module from https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/71127 (unsafe) if you'd like to avoid recompilation. | * Use module from https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/71127 (unsafe) if you'd like to avoid recompilation. | ||
* Use [[Virt-manager]] instead of VirtualBox | |||
== VirtualBox Guest Additions == | |||
<syntaxhighlight lang="nix"> | |||
{ | |||
virtualisation.virtualbox.guest.enable = true; | |||
virtualisation.virtualbox.guest.dragAndDrop = true; | |||
} | |||
</syntaxhighlight> | |||
== See also == | |||
* [https://search.nixos.org/options?query=virtualisation.virtualbox virtualisation.virtualbox options] | |||
[[Category:Virtualization]] | |||
[[Category:Software]] | |||
Latest revision as of 09:29, 8 August 2024
VirtualBox is a virtualisation hypervisor. It has powerful a GUI included for managing virtual machines.
NixOS Installation
VirtualBox can be installed on NixOS without problems, put this snippet in your configuration.nix
{
virtualisation.virtualbox.host.enable = true;
users.extraGroups.vboxusers.members = [ "user-with-access-to-virtualbox" ];
}
Adding users to the group vboxusers allows them to use the virtualbox functionality.
 |
Tip
In order to affect your NixOS system by your nix-language-specific changes you must first evaluate it:
$ nixos-rebuild switch --use-remote-sudo |
|
Tip
When starting a VM, you may run into NS_ERROR_FAILURE. If you check the log you might see something like
00:00:00.616892 Audio: Initializing ALSA driver
|
VirtualBox Oracle Extensions
Oracle VirtualBox Extensions are required if you want to forward usb2 or usb3 to your guests. The Extensions are unfree.
{
nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;
virtualisation.virtualbox.host.enable = true;
virtualisation.virtualbox.host.enableExtensionPack = true;
}
|
Tip
If USB forwarding is only advanced feature used in virtualization, then consider using an open-source virtualization solution such as GNOME Boxes or Virt-manager to avoid frequent recompilations..
|
Possible solutions:
- Use a pinned vbox module, see how to pin: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/41212
- Also see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48838411/install-virtualbox-modules-from-nixos-unstable-in-configuration-nix
- Use module from https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/71127 (unsafe) if you'd like to avoid recompilation.
- Use Virt-manager instead of VirtualBox
VirtualBox Guest Additions
{
virtualisation.virtualbox.guest.enable = true;
virtualisation.virtualbox.guest.dragAndDrop = true;
}