VirtualBox
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.
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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 |
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;
}
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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..
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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.
VirtualBox Guest Additions
{
virtualisation.virtualbox.guest.enable = true;
virtualisation.virtualbox.guest.x11 = true;
}