Install VirtualBox on Silverblue 36

Hello, I would like to know if it’s possible to install VirtualBox (the last version is 7 if I remember) on Silverblue ?

If you’re just looking to run VMs in an app, then I’d strongly suggest to look at using GNOME Boxes instead. It’s completely Free Software without any of the licensing gotchas that VirtualBox has. And GNOME Boxes doesn’t need a weird custom kernel module either. It’s much simpler to use and overall better for most people.

You can either rpm-ostree install gnome-boxes (and reboot or use --apply-live to try to skip a reboot) or install the Flatpak version.

If GNOME Boxes is a little too simple for you and you do want some advanced and/or esoteric features, then virt-manager would be my next suggestion. You can also install it as an overlay with rpm-ostree install virt-manager.

virt-manager actually uses the same backend (libvirt) as GNOME Boxes; they’re both different UIs built on top of the same tech. In fact, if you have GNOME Boxes as an overlay (not as a Flatpak), virt-manager can even see, run, and edit GNOME Boxes VMs.


If you need VirtualBox specifically for whatever reason, there’s a post on Ask Fedora about a problem with it on Kinoite (just like Silverblue, except with KDE instead of GNOME): https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/virtualbox-missing-vboxdrv-ko-after-fedora-kinoite-35-upgrade/77762

In that post, there’s a solution to build the kernel module against the new kernel so you don’t have to reboot so much: https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/virtualbox-missing-vboxdrv-ko-after-fedora-kinoite-35-upgrade/77762/4

But VirtualBox is problematic (at least with the extension pack licensing) and it’s a bit of a hassle everywhere. So it’s best to steer clear of it if you can.


For reference: VirtualBox licensing issues, all related to the extension pack (which has a bunch of necessary things like upgrading the speed of USB to be reasonable):

If you don’t use the extension pack, then you don’t need to worry so much (unless Oracle thinks you’re using it for business reasons and they think you’ve downloaded the extension pack). But if you don’t use the extension pack, then VirtualBox is functionally subpar in various ways.