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I've been running VirtualBox 5.2.4 with no problem for months on Ubuntu 16.04. Today it wouldn't start and recommended running /sbin/vboxconfig which failed. It complained about the permissions on the file /dev/vboxdrv, which didn't exist.

I removed virtualbox and downloaded and installed the latest version (5.2.14) using the Ubuntu Software Installer. It still fails to start. I removed it using the Software Installer.

If I run sudo dpkg -l | grep virtualbox it shows virtualbox packages still exist. I run sudo apt-get remove virtualbox but it shows nothing to remove. Running purge also leaves these files intact:

 $ sudo dpkg -l | grep virtualbox
ii  unity-scope-virtualbox                      0.1+13.10.20130723-0ubuntu1                  all          VirtualBox scope for Unity
rc  virtualbox-5.1                              5.1.18-114002~Ubuntu~xenial                  amd64        Oracle VM VirtualBox
rc  virtualbox-5.2                              5.2.14-123301~Ubuntu~xenial                  amd64        Oracle VM VirtualBox
ii  virtualbox-dkms                             5.1.34-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.2                 all          x86 virtualization solution - kernel module sources for dkms
rc  virtualbox-qt                               5.1.34-dfsg-0ubuntu1.16.04.2                 amd64        x86 virtualization solution - Qt based user interface

It looks like I've got old virtualbox packages that can't be removed or purged are interfering with a new install. Or dpkg and apt-get are showing different things.

Is anyone else suddenly having problems running VirtualBox on Ubuntu 16?

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The solution presented here worked. Purge all virtualbox packages -- especially unity-scope-virtualbox -- and then install the latest .deb package from Oracle. These were the steps I took:

sudo apt-get purge virtualbox
sudo apt-get purge virtualbox-5.1
sudo apt-get purge virtualbox-5.2
sudo apt-get purge virtualbox-qt
sudo apt-get purge virtualbox-dkms
sudo apt-get purge unity-scope-virtualbox

sudo dpkg -i virtualbox-5.2_5.2.14-123301_Ubuntu_xenial_amd64.deb

Be sure to install from the command line. I don't trust Ubuntu's Software Manager any longer.

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  • Please make an answer that details the steps that you took. It helps preserve the answer in case the link becomes dead in the future.
    – DrZoo
    Commented Jul 3, 2018 at 20:58

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