Obviously, the new version needs to be downloaded with the extension pack that goes with it. It is important to note that the extension pack and VBox version numbers need to match as they are harmonious in their usage. Keep the both of them together and possibly make a backup if necessary.
First thing to do is make a backup of the directory housing all the virtual machines. The update process doesn’t mess with these, but it doesn’t hurt to have a backup anyway since as we all know “stuff happens”. Since a lot of the machines I run are installed directly from the iso files for various Linux systems, I keep these in a directory the same as the virtual machine directory and back them up as well. Doing this keeps all our data in a nice cozy spot that can be accessed just in case things don’t go as planned for some odd reason.
Next, open YaST and in the search box on the left type in Oracle and click on the box checked with VirtualBox until it become a red X to signify removal of the software from the system then click “Accept” to have it removed. Once that is done click the rpm VBox file and let it install itself. Believe it or not, the process is almost half done.
Start VBox and go to File > Preferences > Extension and select the old version of the extension pack and remove it. Then of course select to add a new extension and add the new one in its place. Now both the new VBox and the new extension pack that goes with it are installed and almost ready to be used. Now go into system runlevels and restart VBox.
Go back into YaST and go to System Services (Runlevels) and once that opens scroll down to the V’s and there should be an asterisk next to a couple of the VBox items that need to be running for it to work. Select each one with an asterisk and click on “Enable” to get them running again. Remember, don’t forget to click on “Ok” in the lower right corner or none of the changes will get registered with the system! If for any reason something doesn’t restart right, then check with the support team over at openSUSE and find out why, but there shouldn’t be any problems.
The last thing to do is reboot the system and launch VBox. Each of the machines will need to have the new extension pack re-installed for it to take effect.
