Fedora 20 (Heisenbug) is currently the latest release and if you want to try it on VirtualBox then install the guest additions for full functionality.
Installation is simple and takes a few steps, but involves download and updates which would require some bandwidth.
The Guest Additions are compiled from source and loaded as a module.
1. Update Fedora
The first thing to do is to upgrade all packages and make the system uptodate.
$ sudo yum distro-sync
2. Install kernel headers and build tools
VirtualBox guest additions are always compiled so they need necessary build tools and kernel libraries. Install them with the following command.
$ yum -y install kernel-devel kernel-headers dkms gcc gcc-c++
Reboot
After upgrading and installing kernel headers, reboot the system.
3. Compile virtualbox guest additions
Click on Devices > Insert guest additions CD image on the VirtualBox window menu.
The cd image is now available in fedora at /dev/cdrom or /dev/sr0.
Create a directory at home and mount the cd in it.
$ mkdir vboxcd $ sudo mount /dev/cdrom ~/vboxcd [sudo] password for silver: mount: /dev/sr0 is write-protected, mounting read-only
$ ls 32Bit cert VBoxSolarisAdditions.pkg 64Bit OS2 VBoxWindowsAdditions-amd64.exe AUTORUN.INF runasroot.sh VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe autorun.sh VBoxLinuxAdditions.run VBoxWindowsAdditions-x86.exe
Next run the VBoxLinuxAdditions.run script. The output should look similar to this
$ sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run Verifying archive integrity... All good. Uncompressing VirtualBox 4.3.6 Guest Additions for Linux............ VirtualBox Guest Additions installer Removing installed version 4.3.6 of VirtualBox Guest Additions... Copying additional installer modules ... Installing additional modules ... Removing existing VirtualBox DKMS kernel modules [ OK ] Removing existing VirtualBox non-DKMS kernel modules [ OK ] Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel modules [ OK ] Doing non-kernel setup of the Guest Additions [ OK ] Starting the VirtualBox Guest Additions [ OK ] Installing the Window System drivers Installing X.Org Server 1.14 modules [ OK ] Setting up the Window System to use the Guest Additions [ OK ] You may need to restart the hal service and the Window System (or just restart the guest system) to enable the Guest Additions. Installing graphics libraries and desktop services componen[ OK ] $
The line that builds the VirtualBox Guest additions kernel modules is the important one and must not fail
Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel modules [ OK ]
Done, Now reboot.
4. Verify that guest additions are loaded
After the reboot the screen resolution of fedora guest should adapt to virtualbox window size which indicates that the guest additions are working. You can additionally verify that the kernel modules are loaded or not, with the following command
$ lsmod | grep -i vbox vboxsf 43786 0 vboxvideo 12658 1 drm 283349 2 vboxvideo vboxguest 231692 8 vboxsf $
The vboxguest module indicates that virtualbox guest additions kernel module is loaded and working.
5. Configure shared folders
The last thing is to configure shared folders so that you can easily exchange files between the host and guest OS. Click on "Devices > Shared Folder Settings" in the Virtualbox window. Click the icon on right to add a new shared folder.
Select the directory on your host system that is to be shared with the guest Fedora 20.
Make sure to give a proper folder name, since it would be used to mount the directory inside Fedora.
Check "Make Permanent" if you want shared folder setting persistent. Permanent shared folders are listed under Machine Folders, where as the non-permanent ones go under the Transient Folders list.
After selecting the folder to share, now mount the folder inside Fedora using the folder name specified earlier. The command to use is mount
$ sudo mount -t vboxsf enlightened ./vboxshared OR $ sudo mount.vboxsf enlightened ./vboxshared
vboxshared is the name of the directory where we mount the shared folder. Make sure that the directory exists. The mount command would now show that the directory is mounted
$ mount | grep vboxsf none on /home/silver/vboxshared type vboxsf (rw,nodev,relatime)
Conclusion
Finally you have VirtualBox Guest Additions Installed on Fedora. Now you should be able to get the native resolution, and be able to copy paste stuff across Fedora and the host OS.
It will also enable shared folders so that you can automatically share files across host and guest OS.
If you have any questions or feedback, let us know in the comments below.
Wow !! Nice article bro. I struck in Compile VirtualBox guest additions this part. Finally your site helped me :)
Thanks that’s very helpful. After guest addition is installed, my fedora adapts to full screen of my computer.
you have to add yourself to the vboxsf group in order to mount the windows shared folder
use
usermod -a -G vboxsf ahmad
to add user ahmad to the secondary group vboxsf
then you can mount the shared folder in linux
sudo mount -t vboxsf sharedFolder ./shared
Thanks, it worked almost like a charm on my CentOS 7 server environment. CentOS mounts the ./vboxshared folder as /media/sf_vboxshared. But it works as long as you use the under CentOS created foldername sf_vboxshared name as foldername in the Device->Shared Folder Settings.
you are the best. It worked all so perfectly.
VirtualBox-guest is available in rpmfusion. You can just enable it as described here:
http://rpmfusion.org/Configuration
and do a yum install VirtualBox-guest afterwards.
@sainathsr:disqus
Try to activate 3D experience in your VM settings
Thanks Installed guest additions ,but performance still low
Specs
Core2Duo E4500
1GB Ram for guest
128 Mb Video Mem
By far the best procedure I’ve found. Worked the first time with a new Fedora xfce install, smooth as can be. Now I can learn the Fedora RPM way of doing things without losing my main Mint based on Ubuntu tagging along with Debian that finally freed me from Windows. Way too much fun for a coot my age. Thanks!
Thanks for the steps.
It worked perfectly on a new install of Fedora Mint and Xfce
thanks
why is linux got to be so complicated?
Thanks for the tutorial btw