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--- other:vb:update [2015/05/20 12:25] – Instructions to free some Linux disk space jypeter
+++ other:vb:update [2016/09/19 17:19] (current) – [Updating Linux] Improved... jypeter
@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 <note important>Important reminder:
+  * //VB// : VirtualBox
+  * //VM// : a Virtual Machine running inside VB
   * VB //host//: the machine and operating system where the VB program is running.
-  * VB //guest//: the operating system running **inside** VB.
+  * VB //guest//: the operating system running **inside** VB (aka //VM//).
 </note>
+===== When should you update the VB? =====
+<note warning>If you are not used to installing and debugging VB, you may want to play it safe and **not update VB**. Many things are fixed in a new version, but things can also break (e.g. network access, graphics, ...) and you may have to use the VB forum to get everything working again...
+It is safe to update the Linux running inside VB</note>
+VB will periodically check if a new version is available. You can also check that manually by doing: //File --> Check for updates...//
 ===== Updating the VirtualBox program on the host =====
-  * Download the latest version of VB, and the matching VB additions file from the [[https://www.virtualbox.org/|VirtualBox web site]]
+  * Click on the link that VB will display in a pop-up window when there is a new version, or download the latest version of VB from the [[https://www.virtualbox.org/|VirtualBox web site]]
-  * Execute the VirtualBox-NN1234-Win.exe installer
+    * If the host where you are updating VB has no network connection, you probably also want to download the matching //VB Extension Pack//
-  * Execute VB and download and install the updated //VirtualBox Extension Pack// if VB tells you that a new pack is available
+    * You can also download an updated version of the //User Manual// from the same page
-  * Do not forget to update the guest additions (see below)
+  * Make sure that:
+    * Your VB guest is in the //Powered Off// state (i.e. you have exited the guest with a proper Linux shut down last time you used the guest)
+    * VB is not running (e.g. you don't have an open //Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager// window)
+  * Execute the VirtualBox-vvvv-NNNN-Win.exe installer **as an Administrator** (e.g. right-click on the installer and select //run as Administrator//).
+    * Accept all the default settings
+    * Make sure you don't have another program using the network when the installer warns you about having to temporarily stop the network
+    * Choose to start VB at the end of the installation, and accept to download and install the updated //Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack// when VB tells you that a new pack is available
+  * Reboot the computer if VB asks for it (otherwise, you may get weird error messages when trying to restart the guest)
+  * Start the VM, optionally [[#updating_linux|update the linux guest]] and no not forget to [[#updating_the_linux_guest_additions|update the guest additions]]
 ==== Note about the manual update of the extension pack ====
@@ Line 22: / Line 41: @@
     * or  **2)** Go to the directory where the VM is installed (e.g. ''E:\VirtualBox\VirtualBox VMs\Fedora Core 20 CLIM_ESTIMR'') and double click on the ''XXXXX.vbox'' setting file located in this directory
+==== Cleaning up things ====
+After updating VB, you can remove the downloaded extension packs from ''C:\Users\your_login\.VirtualBox'' (i.e. all the ''Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-NNNN.vbox-extpack'' files)
 ===== Updating the Linux guest system =====
@@ Line 31: / Line 53: @@
     * On the LSCE network: **yum update**
     * Outside LSCE: **yum %%--%%disablerepo lsce update**
+Note: You will know you have updated the //Linux kernel//, if ''yum update'' displays something like the following:
+<code>Installing:
+ kernel                             x86_64 3.19.8-100.fc20             updates                 34 M
+ kernel-devel                       x86_64 3.19.8-100.fc20             updates                9.3 M
+ kernel-modules-extra               x86_64 3.19.8-100.fc20             updates                2.1 M</code>
 === Cleaning up things ===
@@ Line 47: / Line 76: @@
 du -sh /var/cache/yum
 </code>
+Recent machines (Fedora Core 22 and later) may use ''dnf'' instead of //yum//, and PackageKit. Use the following commands for cleaning the cache:
+  * **dnf** (/var/cache/dnf): ''dnf clean all''
+  * **PackageKit** (/var/cache/PackageKit): ''pkcon refresh force''
 It's also a good thing to clean the //journal// (note: limiting the journal size probably has to be done only once)
@@ Line 62: / Line 95: @@
 </code>
+Note: **abrt** ([[http://abrt.readthedocs.io/en/latest/|Automated Bug Reporting Tool]]) may also leave some big directories in several places on the system (/var/cache/abrt, /var/spool/abrt-upload, /var/tmp/abrt, ...). The content of /var/tmp/abrt can be cleaned by deleting the reports in ''gnome-abrt''...
-==== Updating the guest additions ====
+==== Updating the Linux guest additions ====
 The guest additions are extensions of the guest system that will allow a better integration of the guest and the host:
@@ Line 73: / Line 107: @@
   * //many other subtle things...//
-You have to update the guest additions when you update the Linux guest or you update the VB program running on the host
+You should update the guest additions:
+  * after updating the **Linux guest kernel** (no need to update the guest additions after non kernel updates)
+  * after updating the **main VirtualBox program** running on the host
-  * In the VB window (the one where the guest is running), select //Devices->Insert Guest Additions CD Image...//.
+Guest additions updating steps:
+  * If you have just updated the Linux kernel (when doing a Linux update), make sure you reboot the Linux guest before you reinstall the guest additions, so that the new kernel is running when you install the guest additions!
+  * In the VB window (the one where the guest is running), select //Devices->Insert Guest Additions CD Image...//. A //virtual// CD icon should appear on the desktop of the Linux guest
     * Click on //Force unmount// in the popup Window, if a previous virtual CD is still present
+    * Right-click on the CD icon and choose //Mount Volume//
     * Click on //Cancel// if you get a popup window displaying //This medium contains software intended to be automatically started. Would you like to run it?//
-  * Become root in a window: **sudo su -**
+  * Become root in a window: ''sudo su -''
-  * Check where the CD image has been installed: **df -h**\\ The CD should be available in ///run/media/your_login/VBOXADDITIONS_NNNN//
+  * Check where the CD image has been installed: ''df -h''
-  * Go to the additions' directory: **cd /run/media/your_login/VBOXADDITIONS_NNNN**
+    * The CD should be available in ''/run/media/your_login/VBOXADDITIONS_vvvv_NNNN''
-  * Run the installation script: **./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run**
+    * If the CD icon has appeared on the Linux desktop, but you don't see any subdirectory in ''/run/media'', right-click on the CD icon and select //Mount volume//
-  * Reboot: **shutdown -r now**
+  * Go to the additions' directory: ''cd /run/media/your_login/VBOXADDITIONS_vvvv_NNNN''
-  * Virtually eject the CD image by selecting in the VB window, //Device->CD/DVD Devices->Remove disk from virtual drive//
+  * Run the installation script: ''./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run''
+  * Reboot: ''shutdown -r now''
+  * Log in
+  * Virtually eject the CD image by selecting in the VB window, //Device->Optical Drives->Remove disk from virtual drive//
     * Note: click in //Force unmount// in the popup Window, if necessary
+    * The //virtual// CD icon should disappear from the desktop of the Linux guest
   * **After rebooting**, if you get a smaller VB window and you get a notification telling you that the graphics are running in software rendering mode (and that was not already the case before updating), and when you open a terminal and move the window around, the window is moving more slowly than before, see the note below to check if the guest additions are running or not
 Note: you can check the status or force the re-installation of the guest additions with
-  * Status (running or not): **/etc/init.d/vboxadd status**
+  * Status (running or not): ''/etc/init.d/vboxadd status''
-  * Starting manually the //guest additions service//: **/etc/init.d/vboxadd start**\\ Use the //setup// line below to reinstall the guest additions if you get an error message when trying the //start// command
+  * Starting manually the //guest additions service//: ''/etc/init.d/vboxadd start''\\ Use the //setup// line below to reinstall the guest additions if you get an error message when trying the //start// command
-  * Install: **/etc/init.d/vboxadd setup**
+  * Install: ''/etc/init.d/vboxadd setup''
+==== The Linux guest and the host graphics card ====
-Note: if you want some details about how the graphics are handled by the current installation of you VB (i.e. **is your VM using the graphics card of the Windows host** or is it running is it use the sloooow software mode?), you can use the following commands
+If you want some details about how the graphics are handled by the current installation of you VB (i.e. **is your VM using the graphics card of the Windows host** or is it running is it use the sloooow software mode?), you can use the following commands
-  * **glxgears**: if things work correctly, you will get a window with smoothly rotating gears (you can make the window fullscreen and check that it is still working) and the terminal will display some frames per second statistics
+  * ''modinfo vboxvideo'' will give you some information about the video driver provided by VB. Theoretically, //vboxvideo// should also appear when you type ''lsmod''
+  * ''glxgears'': if things work correctly, you will get a window with smoothly rotating gears (you can make the window fullscreen and check that it is still working) and the terminal will display some frames per second statistics
     * You may get some warning and error messages, but you should be good if the gears are rotating smoothly
-  * You can run the //glxinfo// command and you should see a reference to your graphics card if the video is indeed using it\\ **glxinfo | \grep -i opengl**\\ OpenGL vendor string: Humper\\ OpenGL renderer string: Chromium \\ OpenGL version string: 2.1 Chromium 1.9\\ **NVIDIA card =>** OpenGL shading language version string: 4.40 **NVIDIA** via Cg compiler\\ **Intel HD Graphics xxxx card =>** OpenGL shading language version string: 4.00 - **Build 10.18.10.3993**\\ OpenGL extensions:
+  * You can run the //glxinfo// command and you should see a reference to your graphics card if the video is indeed using it\\ ''glxinfo | \grep -i opengl''\\ OpenGL vendor string: Humper\\ OpenGL renderer string: Chromium \\ OpenGL version string: 2.1 Chromium 1.9\\ **NVIDIA card =>** OpenGL shading language version string: 4.40 **NVIDIA** via Cg compiler\\ **Intel HD Graphics xxxx card =>** OpenGL shading language version string: 4.00 - **Build 10.18.10.3993**\\ OpenGL extensions:
-  * You can get some additional information (including the screen resolution) with the //xdpyinfo//\\ **xdpyinfo | less**
+  * You can get some additional information (including the screen resolution) with the //xdpyinfo//\\ ''xdpyinfo | less''
-==== In case of weird graphics problems... ====
+=== In case of weird graphics problems... ===
 There seems to be some problems linked to some combination of: