53

I install virtualBox on Ubuntu 16.04, but after install and create new virtual Host shows this error:

Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908)

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver (vboxdrv) is either not loaded or there is a permission problem with /dev/vboxdrv. Please install virtualbox-dkms package and load the kernel module by executing

modprobe vboxdrv

as root. If it is available in your distribution, you should install the DKMS package first. This package keeps track of Linux kernel changes and recompiles the vboxdrv kernel module if necessary.

where: suplibOsInit what: 3 VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED (-1908) - The support driver is not installed. On linux, open returned ENOENT.

When I try to run sudo modprobe vboxdrv, I get this error:

$ sudo modprobe vboxdrv
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'vboxdrv': Required key not available

How can I address this modprobe vboxdrv error?

Flimm
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mySun
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6 Answers6

95

As the first step run this command:

sudo modprobe vboxdrv

If it's not helpful run these commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --reinstall linux-headers-$(uname -r) virtualbox-dkms dkms

Then reboot your system and after reboot run this command:

sudo modprobe vboxdrv

And if it doesn't work you must disable Secure Boot in your BIOS/UEFI settings because Secure Boot prevents unsigned modules from being loaded.

Zanna
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Ali Razmdideh
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5

  1. Uninstall virtualbox-dkms and its configurations by running the below commands:

    sudo apt-get remove virtualbox-dkms
sudo apt-get remove --purge virtualbox-dkms

  2. Install Linux headers and Linux image by running the below command:

    sudo apt-get install -y linux-headers-amd64 linux-image-amd64

  3. Install virtualbox-dkms 

    sudo apt-get install -y virtualbox-dkms
karel
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Adel Alsharafi
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4

In my case it has to do with UEFI being active. In that case, unsigned kernel modules like vboxdrv aren't loaded.

More info here: Could not load 'vboxdrv' after upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 (and I want to keep secure boot)

david.perez
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2

I had this happen after a BIOS upgrade. The BIOS upgrade zapped my Machine Owner Key, which then resulted, after a video driver change, in the virtualbox modules not being loaded after being built.

$ locate MOK.der
/var/lib/shim-signed/mok/MOK.der

Running:

sudo mokutil --import /var/lib/shim-signed/mok/MOK.der

Enter a password and then reboot and enter the password and enroll the MOK key via the BIOS util. This allowed me to reinstall the MOK.der created upon install, and then everything worked as intended, as it was the key the all the modules are signed with when they were (re)built.

Thystra
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1

Like @david.perez exposed, it can be solved by disabling the UEFI Secure Boot:

  1. do 'Power Off / Restart'
  2. at the very first screen, select 'UEFI settings'
  3. in the Bios interface, browse until 'UEFI' tab
  4. change 'Enabled' to 'Disabled', save and exit
Nicolas Casel
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0

I'm using 20.04 and I followed the steps from Zanna described above.

Then I got this error when trying to execute the last command:

Error: modprobe: ERROR: could not insert ‘vboxdrv’: Operation not permitted

I followed this guide to fix the permission error:

https://crazytechgo.com/modprobe-error-could-not-insert-vboxdrv-operation-not-permitted/

Nik
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