How To Download and Install VirtualBox 6.0 on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

April 28, 2019 Kavinda

According to VirtualBox official site “VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware, targeted at server, desktop and embedded use.” This is a step by step tutorial to Download and Install VirtualBox on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

Quick Guide to Download and Install VirtualBox 6.0 on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Step 1 – Update current packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 2 – Setup Repository

wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian bionic contrib"

Step 3 – Install VirtualBox

sudo apt update
sudo apt install virtualbox-6.0

Step 4 – Launch VirtualBox

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Detailed Guide to Download and Install VirtualBox 6.0 on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Step 1- Update current packages

Before installing VirtualBox check whether you have the latest version of your packages.

sudo apt update

Then after Ubuntu retrieve packages to update, update them using following command.

sudo apt upgrade

Then type Y and press enter to confirm upgrade. This may take a while depending on your internet connection speed.

Step 2 – Setup Repository

By default Ubuntu doesn’t know where to download VirtualBOx from. Therefore we have to tell it to where to find the repository. First we have to add the keys Linux use to authenticate packages.

wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Then we can add the repository to download VirtualBox

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian bionic contrib"

Alternatively you can edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file and add the repository at the end of the file.

deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian bionic contrib

Step 3 – Install VirtualBox

Update the Ubuntu system with the packages in newly added repository.

sudo apt update

Then install VirtualBox using following command

sudo apt install virtualbox-6.0

You can replace virtualbox-6.0 with virtualbox-5.2 to install latest VirtualBox 5.2 build

Type Y and press enter to install VirtualBox

Press Y to Download and Install VirtualBox

Step 4 – Launch VirtualBox

Use following command to launch VirtualBox after installing.

virtualbox &

Troubleshooting

If you get a error like The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG … run the following code.

# sudo -s -H
# apt-get clean
# rm /var/lib/apt/lists/*
# rm /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/*
# apt-get clean
# apt-get update

More information about installing VirtualBox can be found here

What does virtualizaion means?

“For one thing, it installs on your existing Intel or AMD-based computers, whether they are running Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, or Oracle Solaris operating systems (OSes). Secondly, it extends the capabilities of your existing computer so that it can run multiple OSes, inside multiple virtual machines, at the same time. As an example, you can run Windows and Linux on your Mac, run Windows Server 2016 on your Linux server, run Linux on your Windows PC, and so on, all alongside your existing applications. You can install and run as many virtual machines as you like. The only practical limits are disk space and memory. “
VirtualBox User Manual