Ubuntu 18.04 (and 19.03) has an older version of the VirtualBox Guest Additions preinstalled. The "normal" method of using the VirtualBox Guest Additions image (VBoxGuestAdditions.iso
) to upgrade doesn't work unless the preinstalled Guest Additions are removed first.
-
Run the following commands:
sudo apt remove virtualbox-guest-utils sudo apt purge virtualbox-guest-utils
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Reboot the VM
Before installing the current Guest Additions, run the following command to install the packages needed to build kernel modules:
sudo apt install gcc make perl
The .iso image can then be used to install the current version of the Guest Additions.