Virtualbox 5.1 upgrade SOLVED

[mike acker]

apparently, to upgrade to Virtualbox 5.1 we need to do a remove and re-install,--

So,,-- can I do it this way:

1. make sure i have the 5.1 .deb package in downloads/vbox51 from Oracle;

2. export the virtual guest machine using the existing V-Box

2. use apt-get remove to remove virtual box, thusly:

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sudo apt-get remove --purge virtualbox  
sudo apt-get remove --purge virtualbox-dkms 

REBOOT

3. use sudo dpkg -i to install the 5.1 deb file

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cd ~/Downloads/vbox51
sudo dpgk -i *.deb

4. import the guest machine saved in step (2).

[Pierre]

when running my VB v5.0.x one day,
it gave the usual notice about some upgrade being available,
but, this time, it was for v5.1 instead of the usual v5.0.x as it always was.

so that link was followed, as always, and the v5.1 was obtained.

then the old v5.0.x was removed with Package Manager AKA Synaptic.
& then then newly obtained v5.1 was installed .. ..

all was sweet & everything was still in-place:
ie: I'd not removed any existing VBs & they were still in-place & they still worked A.ok.

& Yes - - you do have to remove the v5.0.x or else the new v5.1 won't install .. .. ..

[Flemur]

make sure i have the 5.1 .deb package in downloads/vbox51 from Oracle;
...
sudo dpgk -i *.deb.

Did you get one .deb file, or more than one?

IIRC my process for upgrading to a 5.1 from Oracle was what you described; I only downloaded
virtualbox-5.1_5.1.12-112440~Ubuntu~xenial_amd64.deb (**edit: was months ago)
the rest are from the repos (and have different version numbers).

[Cosmo.]

2. export the virtual guest machine using the existing V-Box

...

4. import the guest machine saved in step (2).

Not really needed. VMs and stored VB-settings get preserved and will get reused.

But you should have quitted all existing VMs before upgrading - that means not closed them to a saved state; in this case there is a chance, that you cannot reopen them without discarding the saved state at first.

[o-l-d]

Remember to install the correct extensions pack for the version you are using. They offer more features and resolve video and hardware compatibility.

[daret]

Or you can add new source
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

[mike acker]

when running my VB v5.0.x one day,
it gave the usual notice about some upgrade being available,
but, this time, it was for v5.1 instead of the usual v5.0.x as it always was.

so that link was followed, as always, and the v5.1 was obtained.

then the old v5.0.x was removed with Package Manager AKA Synaptic.
& then then newly obtained v5.1 was installed .. ..

all was sweet & everything was still in-place:
ie: I'd not removed any existing VBs & they were still in-place & they still worked A.ok.

& Yes - - you do have to remove the v5.0.x or else the new v5.1 won't install .. .. ..

Cool/Good News!


what should work then is

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sudo apt-get remove virtualbox

and then install the .deb

[mike acker]

noting that the 5.1.18 update won't install as an update to the 5.0 version,--

First, I determined to remove virtualbox. just apt-get remove virtualbox doesn't work. I had to find out the package name that was installed:

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dpkg --get-selections | grep -v deinstall

this revealed, among much other stuff :

virtualbox-5.0 install
virtualbox-guest-dkms install
virtualbox-guest-utils install
virtualbox-guest-x11 install
virtualbox-nonfree install

working from that i used this command to remove virtualbox-5.0

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$ sudo apt-get remove virtualbox-5.0

following that i switched to the directory where i have the .deb that Virtualbox downloaded using the link provided by the earlier version:

virtualbox-5.1_5.1.18-114002~Ubuntu~trusty_amd64.deb

from there I installed the new .deb

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sudo dpkg -i *.deb

( I made sure the one deb was the only one in the directory i was working from )

this went normally; after that, when i started VirtualBox I was prompted for the EXTENSIONS. I just followed the prompts and let it install the Extensions.

after this my existing guest machine ( Win8.1 ) fired up -- and died. I started it again and this time it let me go to DEVICES and INSERT the Guest Additions. With the Guest Additions in the (pseduo) CD drive I was able to install the Guest additions. This ended requiring a reboot of the guest machine.

however at this point I have Photoshop/Elements running in the Guest VM,-- so -- it looks like I have Crossed the Rubicon and become a VB 5.1 user.

[krustybaguette]

January 2018 prompting to install v. 5.2.6. Warning about breaking 5.1.18 installation suggests that I must completely remove the old version before installing the new version plus its extensions. Is this a correct asuumption?

[Cosmo.]

Yes, upgrading VB to another major version (where in x.y.z x or y are different), makes an uninstall of the old version necessary. The extension pack should not be a problem. As soon as you launch the BN manager for the new version the first time you will get a prompt to update it.

Don't forget, that also the guest additions inside of the guests have to get updated afterwards. That can in every case be done on top of the old ones.

[Pierre]

it does seem that the latest upgrade - - virtualbox-5.2_5.2.6-120293~Ubuntu~trusty_i386.deb,
and another one - - virtualbox-5.2_5.2.6-120293~Debian~jessie_i386.deb that is Debian based,
& are now both being offered.

since I've not had any chance to check these upgrade(s) as yet,
as it seems to require the removal of the older version . .
& there does seem to be a support file, version number issues, as well.

it most probably will require the removal of the v5.1xx series, I'm assuming ATM.

[bryanmc]

I did the 5.1.x to 5.2.x upgrade yesterday on my Debian Stretch host. I did it from the stretch backports repo via apt-get install. It returned 1 pkg to be removed (5.1) and one to be installed (5.2). I let it do its thing and the install came out fine. I did have to dl and install the 5.2 extension pack from the oracle site before my vm's would run, but other than that it was painless.