How to Install VirtualBox on Debian 11

By Raj On Sep 11, 2021

Virtualbox is a free and open-source virtualization software that allows you to create and run a guest operating system (“virtual machines”) such as Linux, Windows, and Solaris.

Virtual machines are beneficial to test the operating systems without touching the host operating system.

In this post, we will see how to install VirtualBox on Debian 11.

Add VirtualBox Repository

First, update the repository index and then install the CURL package.

sudo apt update 
sudo apt install -y curl

Import the Oracle VirtualBox signing key to your system using the following command.

curl -fsSL https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/virtualbox-keyring.gpg

Add the VirtualBox repository to your system.

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/virtualbox-keyring.gpg] https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian bullseye contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list

Install VirtualBox on Debian 11

First, update the Debian repository index.

sudo apt update

Then, install any of the VirtualBox versions you want on your system with the below command.

# VirtualBox 6.1
sudo apt install -y virtualbox-6.1
# VirtualBox 6.0
sudo apt install -y virtualbox-6.0
# VirtualBox 5.2
sudo apt install -y virtualbox-5.2

Once the VirtualBox installation is complete, check the VirtualBox Linux kernel module service status using the below command.

sudo systemctl status vboxdrv

Output:

● vboxdrv.service - VirtualBox Linux kernel module
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/virtualbox/vboxdrv.sh; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (exited) since Sat 2021-09-11 08:23:44 CDT; 16min ago
    Process: 7293 ExecStart=/usr/lib/virtualbox/vboxdrv.sh start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
        CPU: 458ms
Sep 11 08:23:44 debian11 systemd[1]: Starting VirtualBox Linux kernel module...
Sep 11 08:23:44 debian11 vboxdrv.sh[7293]: vboxdrv.sh: Starting VirtualBox services.
Sep 11 08:23:44 debian11 vboxdrv.sh[7320]: VirtualBox services started.
Sep 11 08:23:44 debian11 systemd[1]: Started VirtualBox Linux kernel module.

Launch VirtualBox

You can launch the VirtualBox by going to Activities >> Search for Oracle VM VirtualBox or with the virtualbox command in the terminal.

The following screenshot shows that VirtualBox is running on Debian 11.

Install Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack

Oracle offers additional functionalities such as USB 2.0/3.0, VirtualBox Remote Desktop Protocol (VRDP) support, Disk encryption, Host webcam passthrough, Intel PXE boot ROM, and PCI passthrough via VirtualBox extension pack.

Follow the steps mentioned in the below link to install VirtualBox Extension Pack.

READ: How To Install Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack on Debian 11

Conclusion

That’s All. I hope you have learned how to install VirtualBox on Debian.

debian 11 virtualbox