Upgrade VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x on Ubuntu/Debian

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In this tutorial, you will learn how to upgrade VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x on Ubuntu/Debian. VirtualBox 7.0.0 was officially released on October 10 2022. This is a major update with numerous updates and fixes. Read more about them on the Changelog. VirtualBox 6.x will still be supported until December 2023.

Upgrading VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x

Check Current VirtualBox Version

First confirm your current version of VirtualBox either via GUI or command line;

vboxmanage --version

Sample output;

6.1.40r154048

Or from VirtualBox manager GUI > help > About VirtualBox…

upgrade VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x on Ubuntu/Debian

So, how can you upgrade VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x on Ubuntu/Debian?

Uninstall Previous Versions of VirtualBox

Before you can proceed with upgrades, you need to uninstall the current version.

Stop running vms;

vboxmanage list runningvms | sed -r 's/.*\{(.*)\}/\1/' | \
xargs -L1 -I {} VBoxManage controlvm {} poweroff

Quit VirtualBox manager by pressing Ctrl+q on VirtualBox manager.

Or simply;

pkill VirtualBox

Next, remove VirtualBox Extension Package if installed;

sudo vboxmanage extpack uninstall "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack"

Then, uninstall virtualbox;

sudo apt remove --purge --auto-remove virtualbox virtualbox-6.1

Note that this wont remove the VirtualBox virtual machines on your host system.

Once the package removal is done, reboot the system;

sudo systemctl reboot -i

Upgrade VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x

Once the system boots, proceed!

Next, install VirtualBox repository on your Ubuntu or Debian system if not already in place;

echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -sc) contrib" | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list

Install VirtualBox repository signing key;

sudo apt install gnupg2
wget -qO- https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc | \
sudo gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/virtualbox.gpg

Run system package cache update;

sudo apt update

Install VirtualBox 7.x (VirtualBox 7.0 as of this writing is available) using the package manager.

sudo apt install virtualbox-7.0

Install VirtualBox Extension Pack for VirtualBox 7

Download VirtualBox 7.x extension pack and install;

wget -P /tmp https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.2/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.2.vbox-extpack
sudo vboxmanage extpack install --replace /tmp/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.2.vbox-extpack

Launch VirtualBox 7.x on Ubuntu/Debian

You can now launch VirtualBox 7.x;

vboxmanage --version

Sample output;

7.0.2r154219

Similarly, launch VirtualBox manager and navigate to the Help > About VirtualBox to check the version.

Upgrade VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x on Ubuntu/Debian

And that is how easy it is to upgrade VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x on Linux.

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koromicha
I am the Co-founder of Kifarunix.com, Linux and the whole FOSS enthusiast, Linux System Admin and a Blue Teamer who loves to share technological tips and hacks with others as a way of sharing knowledge as: "In vain have you acquired knowledge if you have not imparted it to others".

13 thoughts on “Upgrade VirtualBox 6.x to VirtualBox 7.x on Ubuntu/Debian”

  1. vboxmanage is part of virtualbox so you need to uninstall the VirtualBox Extension Package first BEFORE uninstalling virtualbox.

    Reply
  2. Is the reboot absolutely necessary after uninstalling vbox 6

    The system I want to upgrade runs some other revenue-earning systems, not vbox based.
    A reboot would take some special scheduling.

    Reply
  3. The documentation for Version 6.1 of virtual box does not say one has to remove Version 6.1 prior to installation of version 7.0 . Is the documentation incorrect?

    Reply

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