VirtualBox: Shared clipboard between Windows 10 host and Ubuntu 18.04 guest


Anto A

I have a Windows 10 host and I have Ubuntu 18.04 installed on VirtualBox (6.1.4).

I have installed guest additions and executed an autorun on my Ubuntu guest. No errors are displayed so everything is fine.

However, shared clipboard doesn't work. Oddly, the add seems to be installed correctly as I can now drag and drop files between host and guest (both ways). Both are enabled bidirectionally in the VirtualBox configuration.

I've tried stuff from different forums all afternoon and still nothing. I can't enumerate all the things I've done, but mostly install/uninstall different packages and reboot.

Here are some possibly related questions that I can see:

/usr/bin/VBoxClient --checkhostversion
VBoxClient: error: No service specified. Quitting because nothing to do!
lsmod | grep vbox
vboxsf                 81920  1
vboxvideo              36864  0
ttm                   102400  2 vmwgfx,vboxvideo
drm_kms_helper        180224  2 vmwgfx,vboxvideo
drm                   491520  7 vmwgfx,drm_kms_helper,vboxvideo,ttm
vboxguest             335872  7 vboxsf

From what I've seen on some forums, it looks like I'm missing a module named syscopyarea?

I've noticed that the VBox clipboard process doesn't stay active long after the guest starts. But even though it's still in the process list, copy/paste doesn't work.

ps ax | grep VBox
  462 ?        I<     0:00 [iprt-VBoxWQueue]
  676 ?        Ss     0:00 avahi-daemon: running [aaVBox.local]
 1080 ?        S      0:00 VBoxClient --vmsvga
 1081 ?        S      0:00 VBoxClient --vmsvga
 1104 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/sbin/VBoxService --pidfile /var/run/vboxadd-service.sh
 1269 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --display
 1271 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --display
 1276 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
 1278 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
 1283 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
 1285 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
 2333 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --clipboard
 2334 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --clipboard
 2336 pts/0    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto VBox

A few minutes later:

ps ax | grep VBox
  462 ?        I<     0:00 [iprt-VBoxWQueue]
  676 ?        Ss     0:00 avahi-daemon: running [aaVBox.local]
 1080 ?        S      0:00 VBoxClient --vmsvga
 1081 ?        S      0:00 VBoxClient --vmsvga
 1104 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/sbin/VBoxService --pidfile /var/run/vboxadd-service.sh
 1269 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --display
 1271 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --display
 1276 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
 1278 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
 1283 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
 1285 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
 2329 pts/0    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto VBox

If I use it myself /usr/bin/VBoxClient --clipboard.

Also, maybe the problem comes from the host. Are there any specific options that need to be set on the host in order to enable shared clipboard?

Anastasia Yurshina

It might be related to this bug in the latest version of Guest Additions (VB 6.1.4 ) : https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/19336

Related


VirtualBox shared folder Windows 10 host, Ubuntu guest

Didaufen I'm using Virtual Box 6.0.14, Windows 10 version 1903 and Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS I'm trying to set a shared folder as my guest OS in Ubuntu, but for some reason I can't I have installed Virtual Box's Guest Additions, Virtual Box Extension Pack and still n

Transfer image clipboard between host and VirtualBox guest?

Xie Jilai Is there anyway to transfer clipboard contents in image format, JPEG, bitmap or other formats to or from a VirtualBox guest instance? dwarf In fact, VirtualBox's support for clipboard sharing still lacks official support for graphics. Currently, it o

Transfer image clipboard between host and VirtualBox guest?

Xie Jilai Is there anyway to transfer clipboard contents in image format, JPEG, bitmap or other formats to or from a VirtualBox guest instance? dwarf In fact, VirtualBox's support for clipboard sharing still lacks official support for graphics. Currently, it o

VirtualBox, host: Ubuntu 18.04, guest: Windows 10, screen resize

Didaufen I just installed Windows 10 in a VirtualBox VM using Ubuntu 18.04 as the host OS. I want to resize the VM screen (in a VirtualBox window) to fit the entire host's screen. How can I do this? Jesus Ha original In order to be able to use your VM on full-

VirtualBox, host: Ubuntu 18.04, guest: Windows 10, screen resize

Didaufen I just installed Windows 10 in a VirtualBox VM using Ubuntu 18.04 as the host OS. I want to resize the VM screen (in a VirtualBox window) to fit the entire host's screen. How can I do this? Jesus Ha original In order to be able to use your VM on full-

Host and guest are shared in Virtualbox

Mascarpone cheese Since Ubuntu 11.10 uses a new kernel, it's hard to get decent support for virtualization. VirtualBox doesn't support guest additions for ubuntu 11.10, so I definitely can't copy back and forth between the ubuntu desktop and windows, and FreeB

Virtualbox: Mount shared folder in Guest FreeBSD from host Ubuntu

user34260 I have Ubuntu 12.10 as host OS and FreeBSD 9 as guest OS in Virtualbox 4.1.18. I have Samba installed in both Ubuntu and FreeBSD and shared some folders from virtualbox with the automountoption ticked as well. I also did it in right click and shareUb

Virtualbox: Mount shared folder in Guest FreeBSD from host Ubuntu

user34260 I have Ubuntu 12.10 as host OS and FreeBSD 9 as guest OS in Virtualbox 4.1.18. I have Samba installed in both Ubuntu and FreeBSD and shared some folders from virtualbox with the automountoption ticked as well. I also did it in right click and shareUb

Ubuntu host cannot Ping Guest Windows 10

Ragnason I have the following components: Host: Ubuntu 16.04.4 LTS. Guest: Windows 10 virtual machine. In the "Virtual" box, I've selected " " Bridged Adapterfor this Windows VM , and I've also changed the VM's static IP so that it matches my host Ubuntu. But

Ubuntu host cannot Ping Guest Windows 10

Ragnason I have the following components: Host: Ubuntu 16.04.4 LTS. Guest: Windows 10 virtual machine. In the "Virtual" box, I've selected " " Bridged Adapterfor this Windows VM , and I've also changed the VM's static IP so that it matches my host Ubuntu. But

Access VirtualBox Mac OS guest on Windows 10 host network

Shahzad Latif | I have a Windows 10 host with an IP address of 192.168.8.101, a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and a gateway of 192.168.8.1. I also have Mac OS Sierra installed on VirtualBox on this Windows host. This guest macOS has an IP like 10.0.2.15 and a g

Access VirtualBox Mac OS guest on Windows 10 host network

Shahzad Latif | I have a Windows 10 host with an IP address of 192.168.8.101, a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and a gateway of 192.168.8.1. I also have Mac OS Sierra installed on VirtualBox on this Windows host. This guest macOS has an IP like 10.0.2.15 and a g

Access VirtualBox Mac OS guest on Windows 10 host network

Shahzad Latif | I have a Windows 10 host with an IP address of 192.168.8.101, a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and a gateway of 192.168.8.1. I also have Mac OS Sierra installed on VirtualBox on this Windows host. This guest macOS has an IP like 10.0.2.15 and a g

Audio doesn't work on VirtualBox Windows 10 guest (macOS host)

Ahmed Alps Balkans I'm running on a Windows 10 Home guest OS on a VirtualBox VM , the MacOS host running 10.13.6 High Sierra with VirtualBox 5.2.23. The audio worked a few times and then stopped working. (Not sure, maybe due to virtualbox version update or my