Oracle VirtualBox Repaired

For those individuals who choose to run other operating systems inside of VirtualBox instead of a dual boot system and run into the problem associated with a Linux kernel update, this short tutorial is what needs to be done to resolve that problem. It’s not as devastating as some may think it’s just a matter of where to go and what to do. Do not lose hope, all is not lost. This tutorial covers how to get an Oracle V-Box back up and running with no loss of any data or having to freak out looking for any other file upgrades or anything like that.

In an ideal world, when the kernel updates come through there really shouldn’t be any issues with our virtual machines, as it happens though, for whatever reason this is not the case. When the system kernel gets updated, the link gets broken between the virtual machine and the kernel that allows it to utilize system resources. Fixing this is really easy to do and I’ll walk through the process step by step as I have done a few times in the past.

The most immediate notification of this circumstance is when someone tries to open a virtual machine and gets this pop-up notification that something has gone wrong an VirtualBox needs attention before it will work again.

While the instructions are there of what needs to get done to repair the problem, since those instructions have already been followed once when the virtual machine was installed they really aren’t what needs to be done now. The key in the pop-up is the vboxdrv file which will need to be restarted in YaST. To do this, go to YaST and scroll down to System then select System Services (Runlevel) such as shown below.

Once inside, don’t be fooled by what is shown that all the files associated with VirtualBox are in fact running. They are, but just like certain updates to a system they need to be re-started for the changes to take effect. In the uppermost top left is a radio button that says Expert Mode, click on this button and scroll down until the vboxdrv file is viewable. Click on this file line to select it and at the bottom of the screen is a button that says Start/Stop/Refresh. Go ahead and select restart to restart the instance of the file with the new kernel installed. Just for good measure, I restarted all the files associated with VirtualBox. REMEMBER TO CLICK ON OK IN THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER! If ok is not clicked the change will not be recorded with the system so do not forget!

Now go back and start whatever operating system is being used inside of VirtualBox and everything should work as planned. No system re-boot is necessary as the changes have already been recorded with the system when the ok button was pressed.