- Added entry on installgin the VirtualBox extension pack.

VirtualBox extensions

#####################

:date: 2017-01-17

:summary: Installing the VirtualBox extension pack

I happened to run into a Vagrant image today that required the USB2 controller

extension to VirtualBox. The procedure to install the extension pack was not

immediately clear to me.

Installing through the VirtualBox GUI

-------------------------------------

When trying to go through the VirtualBox GUI, the

application would close when I clicked on 'add new package' in the preferences

window. Guessing it had something to do with root privileges I tried to run the

GUI with :code:`sudo` but that failed because I'm using Wayland and it could

not find display :0. Using Gnome3, :code:`gksudo` is no longer available and

the replacement is :code:`pkexec` which uses PolicyKit. running :code:`pkexec

VirtualBox` opened the nice Gnome3 authentication prompt but resulted in the

same error. Giving up on starting the VirtualBox GUI as root, I moved my

efforts to the :code:`VBoxManage` CLI.

Installing with the VBoxManage CLI

----------------------------------

Here are the steps I took to successfully install the extension pack:

#. Find the version of VirtualBox you have installed by running

   :code:`VBoxManage --version`.

#. Download the matching version of the extension pack from

   https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads if you're using the latest version

   or from https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Download_Old_Builds if you're using

   an older version.

#. Assuming you're using version 5.1.10, install the extension pack by running

   :code:`VBoxManage extpack install

   Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-5.1.10-112026.vbox-extpack`. For me,

   this opened the same nice Gnome3 authentication prompt.