How to Install Oracle VirtualBox 5.1 on Ubuntu 17.04 & 16.04 and Debian 8/7

Written by
Rahul K.
Virtualization 28 Comments

Oracle VirtualBox 5.1.20 has been released on Apr 18, 2017. Oracle VirtualBox 5.1.14 is the maintenance release of VirtualBox 5.1 which improves stability and fixes regression. See the ChangeLog for more details.

This article will help you to install Oracle VirtualBox on your Ubuntu 17.04, 16.10, 16.04 LTS, 14.04 LTS, 12.04 LTS and Debian 8/7 systems.

Step 1: Setup Apt Repository

Firstly edit /etc/apt/sources.list file and add one of the following lines according to your distribution to your system. You can find your system distribution codename using “lsb_release -c” command from a terminal.

For Ubuntu 17.04 ("Zesty")
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian zesty contrib

For Ubuntu 16.04 ("Xenial")
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian xenial contrib

For Ubuntu 14.04 ("Trusty")
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian trusty contrib

For Ubuntu 12.04 LTS ("Precise Pangolin")
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian precise contrib

For Debian 8 ("Jessie") 
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian jessie contrib

For Debian 7 ("Wheezy")
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian wheezy contrib

Step 2: Setup Oracle public key

After adding required apt repository in your system, download and import the Oracle public key for apt-secure using following commands.

$ wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
$ wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Step 3: Install Oracle VirtualBox

After completing above steps, let’s install VirtualBox using following commands. If you have already installed any older version of VirtualBox, Below command will update it automatically.

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install virtualbox-5.1

Step 4: Start VirtualBox

We can use dashboard shortcuts to start VirtualBox or simply run following command from a terminal.

$ virtualbox

virtualbox-on-ubuntu

Rahul K.
Rahul K.
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I, Rahul Kumar is the founder and chief editor of TecAdmin.net. I am Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and working as IT professional since 2009.

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28 Comments

  1. Alessandro Gonçalves Reply to Alessandro
    July 14, 2017 at 1:25 pm

    Thank you man, your tutorial was on point. Simple and direct.

  2. Fortune Reply to Fortune
    May 4, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    root@messack-Latitude-E6410:~# sudo echo “deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian xenial contrib” >> /etc/apt/sources.list
    root@messack-Latitude-E6410:~# sudo apt-get update
    E: Type ‘“deb’ is not known on line 52 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list
    E: The list of sources could not be read.

  3. Paul Reply to Paul
    May 2, 2017 at 4:55 pm

    Thanks so much, finally got me going in Ubuntu 17.04.

  4. Ikhwan Reply to Ikhwan
    April 8, 2017 at 11:41 pm

    Thanks a lot. It works in my trusty

  5. JideGuru Reply to JideGuru
    April 4, 2017 at 10:23 pm

    Thanks a lot

  6. Jhon Reply to Jhon
    March 24, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    Thanks a lot

  7. kaleem Reply to kaleem
    January 22, 2017 at 4:32 pm

    user@user:~$ lsb_release -c
    Codename: xenial
    user@user:~$ deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian xenial contrib
    No command ‘deb’ found, did you mean:
    Command ‘dab’ from package ‘bsdgames’ (universe)
    Command ‘deb3’ from package ‘quilt’ (universe)
    Command ‘debi’ from package ‘devscripts’ (main)
    Command ‘derb’ from package ‘icu-devtools’ (main)
    Command ‘dub’ from package ‘dub’ (universe)
    Command ‘debc’ from package ‘devscripts’ (main)
    Command ‘xdeb’ from package ‘xdeb’ (universe)
    Command ‘dex’ from package ‘dex’ (universe)
    deb: command not found

  8. anirtek Reply to anirtek
    January 20, 2017 at 2:06 am

    Its not working for me. Saying that vboxdrv kernel module is not loaded. Please run /sbin/vboxconfig to recompile and run. However when I tried this, its not working again.

  9. Navnath Kumbhar Reply to Navnath
    November 21, 2016 at 5:31 pm

    Thank you very much! This really helped.

  10. Rich Reply to Rich
    April 10, 2016 at 2:13 am

    Hello. I used this guide and i got it installed fine. However I noticed that when I open virtualbox from the search bar its different than when I open it from the terminal using virtualbox.

    When I open it from the search the file options is missing, doesnt show the virtual machines, and the GUI is different. If I open from terminal then I can get the file option and it shows the virtual machines.

    I`m not sure if this is normal or not … but it seems really weird. I do not have two different versions installed. I am on Ubuntu 14.04 x64.

    Is there a way to get the terminal version to open without having to run through terminal, like make a shorcut to that version or something? I dont really want the terminal open all the time just to use virtualbox. When I close out of terminal the program closes out as I`m sure you know.

    Thanks for any help on this!

    • Rich Reply to Rich
      April 10, 2016 at 4:19 am

      update:

      It seems to be a difference of root. If I am root by say sudo -i in terminal and then run virtualbox I get the right version to run with all the options and virtual machines.

      However if I am not root and type virtualbox I get a watered down version and now virtual machines. This is the same version that I get if I just open it using search.

      I hope this gives more info into whats going on… if anyone sees this.

  11. dondhayal Reply to dondhayal
    March 13, 2016 at 9:42 am

    Fetched 819 B in 23s (35 B/s)
    W: GPG error: http://deb.opera.com stable Release: The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 63F7D4AFF6D61D45
    W: Failed to fetch http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/dists/stable/Release Unable to find expected entry ‘main/binary-i386/Packages’ in Release file (Wrong sources.list entry or malformed file)

    E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

  12. dondhayal Reply to dondhayal
    March 13, 2016 at 9:41 am

    i download wheezy but download was squeee Fetched 819 B in 23s (35 B/s)
    W: GPG error: http://deb.opera.com stable Release: The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 63F7D4AFF6D61D45
    W: Failed to fetch http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/dists/stable/Release Unable to find expected entry ‘main/binary-i386/Packages’ in Release file (Wrong sources.list entry or malformed file)

    E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

  13. Carsten Reply to Carsten
    February 3, 2016 at 10:50 am

    Hi.

    Very nice and easy to follow guide. However, what now?

    How do I run Virtual Box from my clientcomputer?

  14. Caleb Reply to Caleb
    September 11, 2015 at 5:43 am

    Hi, so I have an issue here…

    desktop@steamos:~$ sudo apt-get install virtualbox-5.0
    Reading package lists… Done
    Building dependency tree
    Reading state information… Done
    Package virtualbox-5.0 is not available, but is referred to by another package.
    This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
    is only available from another source

    E: Package ‘virtualbox-5.0’ has no installation candidate

    What do I do?! Thanks

  15. Arno Reply to Arno
    November 24, 2014 at 6:41 pm

    Hi Rahul,

    Works like a charme, thank you for your clear instructions ! Extension pack is already included, USB support worked out of the box.

    Best greetings from Germany.

    Arno

  16. Thabung Reply to Thabung
    November 14, 2014 at 6:04 pm

    Hi Rahul,
    I am getting the following error, trying out in Ubuntu 12.04

    ou might want to run ‘apt-get -f install’ to correct these:
    The following packages have unmet dependencies:
    virtualbox-4.3 : Depends: libvpx1 (>= 1.0.0) but it is not going to be installed
    Recommends: libsdl-ttf2.0-0 but it is not going to be installed
    Conflicts: virtualbox-4.3:i386 but 4.3.18-96516~Ubuntu~precise is to be installed
    virtualbox-4.3:i386 : Depends: libc6:i386 (>= 2.15) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libcurl3:i386 (>= 7.16.2-1) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libdevmapper1.02.1:i386 (>= 2:1.02.20) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libgcc1:i386 (>= 1:4.1.1) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 or
    libgl1:i386
    Depends: libpng12-0:i386 (>= 1.2.13-4) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libpython2.7:i386 (>= 2.7) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libqt4-network:i386 (>= 4:4.5.3) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libqt4-opengl:i386 (>= 4:4.7.2) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libqtcore4:i386 (>= 4:4.8.0) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libqtgui4:i386 (>= 4:4.8.0) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libsdl1.2debian:i386 (>= 1.2.10-1) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libssl1.0.0:i386 (>= 1.0.0) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libstdc++6:i386 (>= 4.6) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libvpx1:i386 (>= 1.0.0) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libx11-6:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libxcursor1:i386 (> 1.1.2) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libxext6:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libxinerama1:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libxml2:i386 (>= 2.7.4) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libxmu6:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: libxt6:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: zlib1g:i386 (>= 1:1.1.4) but it is not going to be installed
    Depends: psmisc:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Recommends: libasound2:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Recommends: libpulse0:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Recommends: libsdl-ttf2.0-0:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Recommends: dkms:i386 but it is not installable
    Recommends: linux-headers:i386
    Recommends: gcc:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Recommends: make:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Recommends: binutils:i386 but it is not going to be installed
    Recommends: pdf-viewer:i386
    Recommends: libgl1:i386
    Conflicts: virtualbox-4.3 but 4.3.18-96516~Ubuntu~precise is to be installed
    E: Unmet dependencies. Try ‘apt-get -f install’ with no packages (or specify a solution).

  17. Matt Reply to Matt
    November 12, 2014 at 8:30 am

    It doesnt work on my Debian Wheezy:

    virtualbox-4.3 : Depends: libc6 (>= 2.15) but 2.13-38+deb7u6 is to be installed

    Also, 4.3 is not the stable version for Wheezy.

    If i go ahead with the .deb will I screw my dependencies ?

  18. Edwin Meyer Reply to Edwin
    November 11, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    Thanks very much for posting this, Rahul. The info is clear and complete (unlike the cryptic info on https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads), and I was able to successfully install VirtualBox 4.3.18 on to my Ubuntu 14.04 OS.

  19. Hans Reply to Hans
    October 15, 2014 at 8:17 am

    Thanks. Followed your tutorial here exactly as written on a Debian Wheezy 32bit.
    Everything went great, until I typed in: # virtualbox
    I got an error: Failed to open the X11 display!
    What am I doing wrong?

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