Changes/VirtualBox Guest Integration

VirtualBox Guest Integration

Summary

VirtualBox is popular, easy to use virtual-machine software. The purpose of this change is to ship the VirtualBox guest-drivers and -tools by default in the Fedora workstation product.

Owner

• Name: Hans de Goede
• Email: hdegoede@redhat.com
• Release notes ticket: #70
• Product: Workstation

Current status

• Targeted release: Fedora 28
• Last updated: 2018-03-02
• Tracker bug: #1534595

Detailed Description

VirtualBox runs on Windows. MacOS and Linux and is used by many users to try it Linux for the first time. As such it is important for Fedora to work well in VirtualBox virtual-machines. Like other virtual-machines VirtualBox virtual-machines can offer an enhanced user-experience when some VirtualBox specific guest-drivers and guest-tools are installed. This change is about adding the guest-drivers to the Fedora kernel package, packaging the userspace-tools (VirtualBox Guest Additions) and adding the VirtualBox Guest Additions package to the default package list for the Workstation product.

Benefit to Fedora

Better integration with VirtualBox leads to a much better user-experience for users who decide to run Fedora under VirtualBox. Also see the extra features this enables below under "User Experience".

Scope

• Proposal owners:
  • The VirtualBox guest drivers have been merged into linux-next and will be in 4.16, the kernel-release with which F28 will ship. The separate vboxsf kernel-driver has been submitted upstream and is awaiting review upstream. If the vboxsf driver does not get accepted upstream in time we can ship with VirtualBox guest integration without shared-folder support.
  • Package VirtualBox Guest Additions userspace parts (Review Request)
  • Add VirtualBox Guest Additions package to the default package list for the Workstation product
• Other developers: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
• Release engineering: [1] (a check of an impact with Release Engineering is needed)
  • List of deliverables: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
• Policies and guidelines: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
• Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)

Upgrade/compatibility impact

Upgrade paths which automatically install new default packages will automatically get this feature enabled. Users using other upgrade paths (e.g. a manual dnf update) will need to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions package manually to get this feature enabled.

How To Test

1. Install Fedora 28 into a VirtualBox virtual-machine.
2. Test the features listed below under "User Experience".

User Experience

Users running Fedora under VirtualBox will gain the following features:

• Automatic resizing of the guest desktop-resolution to the vm's window-size
• Seamless mode support (only show guest windows, hide guest background)
• Copy and paste between guest and host
• 3D passthrough
• Folder sharing

Dependencies

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Contingency Plan

• Contingency mechanism:
  • The proposal owner will remove the VirtualBox Guest Additions package from the default package list for the Workstation product if it is not working properly
  • If the vboxsf kernel driver is not yet ready we can ship with VirtualBox guest integration without shared-folder support.
• Contingency deadline: Beta Freeze
• Blocks release? No
• Blocks product? Workstation

Documentation

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Release Notes

TODO