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VBox 1b: Run VirtualBox on the host with a test guest #271
Description
Parent
What to build
The built VirtualBox runs on this host with a small Linux test guest that the integration harness can restore and introspect. Requires a host reboot: the agent must ping the user before rebooting.
Acceptance criteria
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6.8.0-146-genericis set as default kernel; the agent asks the user to reboot and does not reboot itself - VirtualBox kernel modules load and
/dev/vboxdrvis usable by the user - An Alpine x86_64 guest runs under VBoxHeadless from the build output, with a saved snapshot to restore
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VBoxManage debugvm <vm> dumpvmcoreproduces a core file of the paused guest - Dev notes document rebuild, module reload, VM restore, and how to switch the default kernel back to nyx
Activity
Wenzel commentedon Oct 11, 2026
Done locally in
~/vmi/vbox-dev/(outside both repos, so no PR):switch-kernel.sh generic|nyxsets the default GRUB kernel (original saved to/etc/default/grub.nyx.bak); host now runs6.8.0-146-generic.vm.sh modules|reloadinsmods vboxdrv/vboxnetflt/vboxnetadp from the build output;/dev/vboxdrvisroot:ops 0660. Reload tested.microvmi-alpine(Alpine 3.24.2 virt live ISO, 1 vCPU, 512 MiB,VBOX_USER_HOME=vbox-dev/vbox-home) runs under VBoxHeadless from the build output; snapshotbaseholds the booted guest at the login prompt.vm.sh restoretested from running and powered-off states.vm.sh dumpcorepauses the guest and runsdebugvm dumpvmcore: 549 MB ELF core, 17 LOAD segments, contains the guest'sLinux version 6.18.52-0-virtbanner.Fixed during testing:
poweroffreturns before VBoxHeadless drops the session lock, sorestorenow waits for it; the start poll useslist runningvms(takes no lock).Left open for maintainer review.
Wenzel commentedon Oct 11, 2026
Done (see comment above); closing as the work is verified and in use by later tickets.