How to install VirtualBox 7.0 on Debian
VirtualBox is an excellent hypervisor and virtualization tool for Debian and other Linux OSes. However, it doesn’t come in the official software sources for users to install. In this guide, we’ll show you how to quickly set up VirtualBox 7.0 on Debian.
How to install VirtualBox 7.0 via the downloadable DEB package on Debian
Due to the nature of Debian, VirtualBox 7.0 isn’t distributed via official Debian software sources. This is because VirtualBox isn’t explicitly open source, and thus Debian legally doesn’t feel comfortable distributing it.
If you need VirtualBox on your host machine for virtualization purposes, Oracle makes a downloadable DEB package available on their website, which users can download. The downloadable DEB package is currently supported on Debian 11 and Debian 10.
Open up a terminal window to download the latest DEB package for VirtualBox 7.0 on Debian 11. You can open up a terminal on the Debian Linux desktop by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Alternatively, search for “Terminal” in the app menu and launch it that way.
With the terminal window open, use the wget download command to download the latest DEB release to your home folder. This download should not take long, as it is not a very large file.
https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.6/virtualbox-7.0_7.0.6-155176~Debian~bullseye_amd64.deb
If you’re using Debian 10, rather than 11, you’ll need to download a different DEB package to your computer. Using the wget download command, grab the following package.
wget https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.6/virtualbox-7.0_7.0.6-155176~Debian~buster_amd64.deb
Those using Debian Testing will not be able to install VirtualBox 7.0 using the Debian 11 or 10 packages. Instead, you’ll need to download the Ubuntu 22.04 DEB package from Oracle.
wget https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.6/virtualbox-7.0_7.0.6-155176~Ubuntu~jammy_amd64.deb
After downloading the VirtualBox 7.0 DEB package to your home folder on Debian, you can install the application on your system using the apt install command. Be sure to follow the installation
Debian 11
sudo apt install ./virtualbox-7.0_7.0.6-155176~Debian~bullseye_amd64.deb
Debian 10
sudo apt install ./virtualbox-7.0_7.0.6-155176~Debian~buster_amd64.deb
Debian Testing
sudo apt install ./virtualbox-7.0_7.0.6-155176~Ubuntu~jammy_amd64.deb
After installing the package on your computer, you’ll need to reboot in order to use the newly installed kernel modules. Upon logging in, launch VirtualBox to use it.
Launch issues
If you’re having issues launching a virtual machine after rebooting, this command may fix it. However, keep in mind that this is a simple workaround, and if it doesn’t fully solve the problem, you should refer to the official Oracle documentation on the website.
sudo chown root:root /usr/
How to install VirtualBox 7.0 with Oracle’s official software repository on Debian
Downloading a standalone DEB package to run VirtualBox 7.0 works, but it isn’t the only way you can install the software on Linux. If you’d prefer to install VirtualBox 7.0 via the official repos, you can. The benefit of going with the repos is that you’ll get every Vbox update as quickly as possible.
To start, you’ll need to download the repo URL to your Debian system. Open up a terminal window, and enter the command below that corresponds with the version of Debian you use.
Debian 11
su -
echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg] https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian bullseye contrib' >> /etc/apt/sources.list
Debian 10
su -
echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg] https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian buster contrib' >> /etc/apt/sources.list
Debian Testing
su -
echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg] https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian jammy contrib' >> /etc/apt/sources.list
After adding the repo to your system, you need to add the software key. This key is important, and without it, VirtualBox will not download.
wget -O- https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes --output /usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg
With the repo added to your system, you’ll need to run the apt update command. Then, you can install the software.
sudo apt update
Debian 11
sudo apt install virtualbox-7.0_7.0.6-155176~Debian~bullseye
Debian 10
sudo apt install virtualbox-7.0_7.0.6-155176~Debian~buster
Debian Testing
sudo apt install virtualbox-7.0_7.0.6-155176~Ubuntu~jammy
How to install older versions of VirtualBox on Debian
If you’re in need of older releases of VirtualBox for some reason, you can install older releases on your Debian system by doing the following. First, open up a terminal window. Once it is open, enter the following commands to enable the repo.
Debian 11
su -
echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg] https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian bullseye contrib' >> /etc/apt/sources.list
Debian 10
su -
echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg] https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian buster contrib' >> /etc/apt/sources.list
Debian Testing
su -
echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg] https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian jammy contrib' >> /etc/apt/sources.list
After adding the repo, add the key.
wget -O- https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes --output /usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg
Next, run the update command.
sudo apt update
Finally, type in the following command. When this command is entered, the Debian terminal will ask you which version of VirtualBox you wish to install. Select that version to install it.
sudo apt install virtualbox
