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aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

if so which ones?

i need a
Code: [Select]
 less /etc/group
to peruse the list of groups but nothing else jumps out at me as needing joined.

Thanks for your reply.
Cat Herders of Linux

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #1 –
I dont think so , Virtual Box need any special group.
I would suggest to install virtualbox from arch repos
Create problems which don't have solution

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: Arch_user – on
I dont think so , Virtual Box need any special group.
I would suggest to install virtualbox from arch repos
How to select the repo to install a package from?  it's not in the pacman tips and tricks as found here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman/Tips_and_tricks

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pacman -h
usage:  pacman <operation> [...]
operations:
    pacman {-h --help}
    pacman {-V --version}
    pacman {-D --database} <options> <package(s)>
    pacman {-F --files}    [options] [file(s)]
    pacman {-Q --query}    [options] [package(s)]
    pacman {-R --remove}   [options] <package(s)>
    pacman {-S --sync}     [options] [package(s)]
    pacman {-T --deptest}  [options] [package(s)]
    pacman {-U --upgrade}  [options] <file(s)>

use 'pacman {-h --help}' with an operation for available options



Code: [Select]
 pacman -S -h
usage:  pacman {-S --sync} [options] [package(s)]
options:
  -b, --dbpath <path>  set an alternate database location
  -c, --clean          remove old packages from cache directory (-cc for all)
  -d, --nodeps         skip dependency version checks (-dd to skip all checks)
  -g, --groups         view all members of a package group
                       (-gg to view all groups and members)
  -i, --info           view package information (-ii for extended information)
  -l, --list <repo>    view a list of packages in a repo
  -p, --print          print the targets instead of performing the operation
  -q, --quiet          show less information for query and search
  -r, --root <path>    set an alternate installation root
  -s, --search <regex> search remote repositories for matching strings
  -u, --sysupgrade     upgrade installed packages (-uu enables downgrades)
  -v, --verbose        be verbose
  -w, --downloadonly   download packages but do not install/upgrade anything
  -y, --refresh        download fresh package databases from the server
                       (-yy to force a refresh even if up to date)
      --arch <arch>    set an alternate architecture
      --asdeps         install packages as non-explicitly installed
      --asexplicit     install packages as explicitly installed
      --assume-installed <package=version>
                       add a virtual package to satisfy dependencies
      --cachedir <dir> set an alternate package cache location
      --color <when>   colorize the output
      --config <path>  set an alternate configuration file
      --confirm        always ask for confirmation
      --dbonly         only modify database entries, not package files
      --debug          display debug messages
      --disable-download-timeout
                       use relaxed timeouts for download
      --gpgdir <path>  set an alternate home directory for GnuPG
      --hookdir <dir>  set an alternate hook location
      --ignore <pkg>   ignore a package upgrade (can be used more than once)
      --ignoregroup <grp>
                       ignore a group upgrade (can be used more than once)
      --logfile <path> set an alternate log file
      --needed         do not reinstall up to date packages
      --noconfirm      do not ask for any confirmation
      --noprogressbar  do not show a progress bar when downloading files
      --noscriptlet    do not execute the install scriptlet if one exists
      --overwrite <glob>
                       overwrite conflicting files (can be used more than once)
      --print-format <string>
                       specify how the targets should be printed
      --sysroot        operate on a mounted guest system (root-only)


installing from the arch repo doesn't seem like a simple straight forward operation
Cat Herders of Linux

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #3 –
I would guess Arch_user meant the repos generally, although you had better wait to see if there is some particular reason for that, but surely  the Artix version would be the natural choice? You can select by simply prefacing the desired repo though, eg community/virtualbox and community/virtualbox-host-dkms although possibly then you would want an Arch kernel too for dkms compatibility.
It's been a while since I did anything with virtualbox but the main thing I remember needing to do was enable virtualization in the BIOS menu CPU settings which is usually turned off by default, packages mostly set up groups and so on with install hooks, except some like wireshark.

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #4 –
Code: [Select]
pacman -S community/virtualbox
Create problems which don't have solution

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #5 –
Yah i dont know that i want to do all that.  i like lqx kernel and artix kernel. not sure i want arch kernel.  virtualbox is giving me trouble with using the nvme partition i have windows on in the virtualbox and attaching it to the virtualbox for windows 10.  Using the drive itself i've done before when it was /sda or whatever.  i know i had permissions issues also before that was always the part i got hung up on before but always overcame it but this time it seems more irksome.  Basicly i used my windows install inside a virtualbox and used a shared folder with addons... ttc client.exe specifically.  also getting minion working with my installed java is being a bugaboo this time around too but i think i only need the proper path to get minion running.  my rx 550 sff half height card just couldn't pull it's weigh in linux so i ran windows 10 on dual boot.  now with my 1650 half height card that takes up 2 slots, i get performance in linux that is much beefier it makes sense to use linux only and run a virtualbox for the ttc client.exe when i need it.  Trying to get this all working like i had it before just isn't working out.
Cat Herders of Linux

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #8 –
SO fwiw, i have to
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sudo usermod -a -G disk $USER
and then reboot to use the
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 VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk --filename /path/to/filename.vmdk --rawdisk /dev/devid (sda or nvme0n1 or whatevs)

therefor i recommend when installing virtualbox to add user to that group as well as vboxusers




also the above command is deprecated anyway and the new one looks something like this:
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 VBoxManage createmedium disk --filename=/path/to/filename.vmdk --variant=RawDisk --format=VMDK --property RawDrive=/dev/devid (sda or nvme0n1 or whatevs)
Cat Herders of Linux

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #9 –
at any rate after adding my nvme to the virtual box and fussing with the settings i got windows booting from my nvme in virtualbox with shared folders pointed to and working correctlyso that ttc client and minion can both update my addons as needed.

though even with guest additions installed i'm seem stuck at 1280x720 for my best resolution in vb....  dont remember that ever being the case before.  oh ok i got 1600x900 off the  virtualbox window menu.  guess nothing left to do...
Cat Herders of Linux

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #11 –
Quote from: nous – on
Quote from: cat herders of linux – on
SO fwiw, i have to
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sudo usermod -a -G disk $USER
Don't do that, having write permissions on disk devices as user is a massive vulnerability. Groups audio, video and vboxusers are all you need.
ok but i cant create the raw disk or mount it in a virtualbox without it.  the commands return errors that point directly to permissions issues with not having disk privileges. At least temporarily i think i need to.



I very much appreciate you pointing out the risk involved in that so i will remove permissions now that vb is working as intended and reboot and see if i can still run vb as needed.
Cat Herders of Linux

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #12 –
Quote from: cat herders of linux – on
Yah i dont know that i want to do all that.  i like lqx kernel and artix kernel. not sure i want arch kernel.  virtualbox is giving me trouble with using the nvme partition i have windows on in the virtualbox and attaching it to the virtualbox for windows 10.  Using the drive itself i've done before when it was /sda or whatever.  i know i had permissions issues also before that was always the part i got hung up on before but always overcame it but this time it seems more irksome.  Basicly i used my windows install inside a virtualbox and used a shared folder with addons... ttc client.exe specifically.  also getting minion working with my installed java is being a bugaboo this time around too but i think i only need the proper path to get minion running.  my rx 550 sff half height card just couldn't pull it's weigh in linux so i ran windows 10 on dual boot.  now with my 1650 half height card that takes up 2 slots, i get performance in linux that is much beefier it makes sense to use linux only and run a virtualbox for the ttc client.exe when i need it.  Trying to get this all working like i had it before just isn't working out.

"Ceterum censeo M$ esse delendam"
"Wer alles kann, macht nichts richtig"

Artix USE="runit openrc slim openbox lxde gtk2 qt4 qt5 qt6 conky
-gtk3 -gtk4 -adwaita{cursors,themes,icons} -gnome3 -kde -plasma -wayland "

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #13 –
def can not use vb now without user in disk group. so what are my other options? @nous

VD: error VERR_ACCESS_DENIED opening image file  i tried to chmod 777 the file and to chown -R my home directory and in either case i continue to get the error that points to a permission issue that is only solved by adding user to disk group.
Cat Herders of Linux

Re: aside from vboxusers any other groups needed for virtualbox to run?

Reply #14 –
Quote from: cat herders of linux – on
def can not use vb now without user in disk group. so what are my other options? @nous
Code: [Select]
# ls -l /dev/sd*
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8,  0 Mar  1 22:37 /dev/sda
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8,  1 Mar  1 22:37 /dev/sda1
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 16 Mar  1 22:37 /dev/sdb
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 17 Mar  1 22:37 /dev/sdb1
There's a reason disks aren't even readable by mortals. This is especially important for multi-user machines, but even in single-user ones, an account which can read/write directly to disks is (almost) nothing short of a root user.
Imagine being tricked to run a script that zeroes everything it can write to, just to be able to run vbox on a real partition. If I were you, I'd clone the vmdk to a vdi. Expensive, storage-wise, for sure, perhaps there are leaner solutions out there with sparse files and such, but I'm not the best guy to advise on it since I mostly use virtualbox to test our ISOs.

If you're absolutely certain you'll never be compromised, disk group membership is a nice shortcut. If.