How To Install VirtualBox 4.2 On Ubuntu 12.10

VirtualBox 4.2 has been released and here is a guide to install it on Ubuntu 12.10.


VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. See “About VirtualBox” for an introduction.

Visit VirtualBox.org.


If you have VirtualBox 4.1 installed you need to remove it, to remove VirtualBox 4.1 open a terminal window (press Ctrl+Alt+T) and copy+paste the following line:

sudo apt-get remove virtualbox-4.1

Before installing VirtualBox 4.2 you need to add the VirtualBox repository, to add the repository and install VirtualBox 4.2 copy+paste the following lines:

echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -sc) contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list
wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install virtualbox-4.2

When installed download and double click on the VirtualBox extension pack to install it using VirtualBox.

Download VirtualBox 4.2 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack.

The VirtualBox extension pack is for support for USB 2.0 devices, VirtualBox RDP and PXE boot for Intel cards. See this chapter from the User Manual for an introduction to this Extension Pack. The Extension Pack binaries are released under the VirtualBox Personal Use and Evaluation License (PUEL).

To enable support for USB 2.0 devices you need to install the gnome system tools, to install the gnome system tools open a terminal window (press Ctrl+Alt+T) and copy+paste the following line:

sudo apt-get install gnome-system-tools

After installing the gnome system tools you need to log out and log back in. When logged in again you need to set up USB for VirtualBox manually, to do this open a terminal window (press Ctrl+Alt+T) and copy+paste the following line:

sudo gedit /etc/group

And search for the “vboxusers” group and add your username to that line, replace my username (tinuz) with your username and copy+paste the following line:

vboxusers:x:125:tinuz

When done save the file, log out and back in again. To have an USB device available each time you start a VM, open VirtualBox, select a VM, click on “Settings” and on the USB tab (this will display a list of your USB devices which you can add to your VM), click the “+” icon on the right and add the USB device.