this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2023
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I use virt-manager, since it uses KVM which should already be present in the kernel.
How similar to VirtualBox is virt-manager? I've only ever used VirtualBox but if virt-manager is easy to use, I have no problem trying it out.
Gnome's Boxes is pretty easy to use and of course uses qemu + KVM. This would be a type 1 hypervisor vs. Virtualbox's type 2. It is point and click like Virtualbox. You don't need to use Gnome's DE to use Boxes.
I have seen people post about your specific error for years when using the virtualbox website's repository instead of their own distro's repository (if it exists).
I just tried Gnome Boxes and it seems to work mostly fine but the only problem I’m having is that I’m trying to run a Windows XP virtual machine but I can’t figure out how to get files from my host to the guest. Apparently, I need some software to be running on the guest but the website that I need to download the software from doesn’t work in internet explorer and I obviously can’t just download it on the host and transfer it to the guest.
In Boxes, power down your XP VM, click Settings -> Sharing Panel -> Enable Sharing toggle. Click File Sharing and enable File Sharing. Power on the VM.
At that point you should be able to drag and drop from your host direct into your VM for a file transfer.
You can also click the vertical dots menu in the Guest's console "screen" and click Send File... menu option.
In the same menu you can click Devices & Shares -> Realtek USB or whatever -> Local Folder -> Select from the dropdown for the Host's folder that you'd like to share -> Save -> Make sure Toggle on the right is on.
Then your folder, I believe in XP, will show up as a removable drive like a USB drive would.
Ok so I've already determined a solution for Boxes but I should mention that none what you said works for me. I'm not sure if I have a different version of Boxes than you (even though the only version that seems to exist is the one on flathub) but there is no sharing panel in settings. The only three options in settings is keyboard shortcuts, help and about boxes. When I'm running a VM, the option for "send file" is grayed out and can't be selected.
For "devices & shares" that is, at least for me, located in the preferences for each VM. I can't use USB devices because it's not supported in the flatpak version and if I try to use the shared folders option, the folder I specified doesn't show up in the VM. From what I can tell this might be an issue specific to some guests, like Windows XP, because Boxes links to a specific program that the guest needs to be running but when I try to run it in Windows XP, I get an error message stating that Windows XP isn't a supported guest.
The only solution that seems to work for me, is taking the files I want to use in the VM and compress them into an iso file (if they're not already) and mount it to the VM. It might be tedious but it's the only thing that seems to be working for me.
I probably wouldn't describe it as similar, but virt-manager is fairly simple but powerful at the same time (like it will let you expose more advanced KVM/QEMU features like PCIe passthrough and similar).
But like the other guy said, gnome boxes is very straight forward and probably more similar in it's simplicity.
They both use QEMU + KVM, so you can have both virt-manager and boxes installed at once, and I believe virt-manager (probably boxes too) easily let you use existing VirtualBox .vdi files, if you've got an existing VM you want to run. Also like I said before, KVM is already mainlined into the Linux kernel, so you don't have to install sketchy kernel modules and stuff.
I've only used VirtualBox once though, so I can't really compare them.
Afaik Boxes it not developed anymore? May be wrong
I tried both virt-manager and Gnome Boxes but I'm having issues with both of them.
Gnome Boxes works mostly fine but I can't seem to get files from the host to the guest. It says that the guest is supposed to have some special software but I'm trying to use Windows XP and I can't seem to figure out how to get the required software because the website doesn't work in internet explorer and I obviously can't just download it from the host and transfer it over.
For virt-manager, it's giving me an error message about not being able to connect to "libvirt qemu:///system" and it wont let me install a virtual machine. I'm assuming that I'm supposed to download "libvirtd", but I can't figure out how to install it. I think it wants me to build it from the source but there doesn't seem to be a guide on how to do that.
That sounds like virtio-win. I usually use the iso and mount it from virt-manager, but if the internet is working then I guess you can download the exe.
Just searched it up, something like this should work:
sudo apt install qemu-kvm libvirt-clients libvirt-daemon-system bridge-utils virtinst libvirt-daemon
Sorry I don't have too much experience with gnome boxes either, I mostly use virt-manager.
So I tried virt-manager but it's giving me an error message about not being able to connect to "libvirt qemu:///system" and it wont let me install a virtual machine. I'm assuming that I'm supposed to download "libvirtd", but I can't figure out how to install it. I think it wants me to build it from the source but there doesn't seem to be a guide on how to do that.