hello
i tried recreating them but nothing
edit: the folders are there but i get “permission denied” errors.
edit: systemctl status vboxadd shows “could not be found”. it seems guest additions broke somehow.
how can i fix this?
thanks
Could you try updating your host’s VirtualBox to the latest released version (7.2.12 at time of writing)? VirtualBox 7.1 is no longer supported, either by Oracle upstream or by ourselves. We shipped a Guest Additions update that will give you VirtualBox 7.2.12 Guest Additions (or 7.2.10? Not entirely certain, would have to check the repos), so my guess is that the newer Guest Additions are not backward-compatible with the end-of-life VirtualBox version you’re currently using.
thanks for the reply
i thought about it but was a bit afraid of breaking the other vms that i have working and need
will post results after the update
Similar problem and the host is already fully updated, including VirtualBox 7.2.12.
The shared folder is properly set but in my case I don’t get any permission denied, the Whonix workstation simply doesn’t see it. It says “/media/sf_shared/ is not valid” and /mnt/shared only contains the default README instead of the shared folder.
This started with the updates that were released few days ago, I didn’t make any other changes.
Edit: The host is Kicksecure.
i updated to virtualbox 7.2.12
removed the shared folder
re added the shared folder (with auto mount)
the folder is not showing on /media
the folder is not showing on /mnt/shared
systemctl status vboxadd still shows “could not be found”
@arraybolt3 Any ideas ? This is 100% caused by the latest updates. It was working perfectly before.
Could you (or anyone else experiencing the issue) share the output of the following commands:
systemctl status mnt-shared-vbox.servicedpkg-query -s virtualbox-guest-additions-isosudo vbox-guest-installer (this one will likely need to be run from within a sysmaint session, it might magically fix the problem but it’s more likely to spit out error messages that will help me see why the problem is occurring)I’ve had no issues with VirtualBox guest additions on the systems I’ve updated, but I’ll try to reproduce this anyway. The above info may help me or another developer find the issue even if we can’t reproduce it here.
sudo vbox-guest-installer on the workstation fixed it for me! Thank you!
Great… did you manage to capture the output of the commands to share them here? 
(If not, it’s slightly too late now, so don’t worry about it, maybe @swift-dolphin2 can help there.)
I just attempted to reproduce this, by installing a Kicksecure 18.1.6.4 OVA (one of the older builds) into VirtualBox, adding a shared folder, ensuring the shared folder worked, then fully upgrading the system. The shared folder still works after the full upgrade on my end. All of the changes happened in the Kicksecure portion of the code, so I would have expected this to reproduce the issue… maybe Whonix’s apt configuration breaks things?
Edit: Could not reproduce this on Whonix either. Ironically, I ended up with the reverse symptoms; the Whonix image I downloaded (18.2.1.0) had folder sharing broken out of the box, and after the upgrade it started working.
Sorry, the VM rebooted automatically after running the installer so I couldn’t grab it, unless it’s logged somewhere.
I didn’t touch the Kicksecure host yet running that on the workstation was enough to fix it so yea, there must be some broken Whonix config.
Hello, I believe I ran into a related issue. On my end, an update was available and I applied it without any trouble. Right after that, a second update arrived and automatically removed the Guest Additions packages:
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
linux-headers-6.12.85+deb13-common linux-headers-6.12.88+deb13-amd64 linux-headers-6.12.88+deb13-common linux-image-6.12.88+deb13-amd64 linux-kbuild-6.12.85+deb13
linux-kbuild-6.12.88+deb13 xserver-xorg-core
Use ‘sudo apt autoremove’ to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED:
virtualbox-guest-utils virtualbox-guest-x11
The following NEW packages will be installed:
dist-vm-gui-all
The following packages will be upgraded:
whonix-workstation-vm-gui-lxqt
1 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 2 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
I haven’t checked whether shared folders work, but instead of that, after completing the second upgrade and rebooting, systemcheck began reporting the following error:
WARNING: System ready check (user) Result: Failed.
Debugging information:
Command:
‘systemctl --user --wait is-system-running’
result: ‘degraded’WARNING: systemd ‘user’ units check result: One or more units failed to load.
A possible system issue was detected. There is no need to panic. This is not a serious security problem. However, it may
impact other system checks.Some systemd ‘user’ units may be stuck in a failed, activating, or deactivating state.
Output of ‘systemctl --user --no-pager --no-block --state=failed,activating,deactivating list-units’:########################################
UNIT LOAD ACTIVE SUB DESCRIPTIONvboxclient-wayland.service loaded failed failed VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland
Legend: LOAD → Reflects whether the unit definition was properly loaded.
ACTIVE → The high-level unit activation state, i.e. generalization of SUB.
SUB → The low-level unit activation state, values depend on unit type.1 loaded units listed.
########################################To check manually:
Open a terminal. (Start Menu → System → Terminal)
Run:
systemctl --user --no-pager --no-block --state=failed,activating,deactivating list-units
If you know what you are doing, feel free to disable this check. Create a file /etc/systemcheck.d/50_user.conf and add:
systemcheck_skip_functions+=" check_services_do "
Below is the output generated by the commands referenced by @arraybolt3:
[workstation sysmaint ~]% systemctl status mnt-shared-vbox.service
● mnt-shared-vbox.service - creates group “vboxsf” and adds account “user” to it
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mnt-shared-vbox.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/mnt-shared-vbox.service.d
└─30_grub-live.conf
Active: active (exited) since Wed 2026-07-22 06:28:51 UTC; 17min ago
Invocation:
Docs: GitHub - Kicksecure/vm-config-dist: Usability enhancements for Debian guest operating systems running inside virtual machines · GitHub
Process: 652 ExecStart=/usr/libexec/vm-config-dist/mount-shared vbox (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 652 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Mem peak: 16.1M
CPU: 343msWarning: some journal files were not opened due to insufficient permissions.
[workstation sysmaint ~]% dpkg-query -s virtualbox-guest-additions-iso
Package: virtualbox-guest-additions-iso
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: non-free/misc
Installed-Size: 52284
Maintainer: Patrick Schleizer adrelanos@kicksecure.com
Architecture: all
Version: 1:7.2.12.1-1
Conflicts: virtualbox-2.0, virtualbox-2.1, virtualbox-2.2, virtualbox-3.0, virtualbox-3.1, virtualbox-3.2, virtualbox-4.0, virtualbox-4.1, virtualbox-4.2, virtualbox-4.3, virtualbox-5.0, virtualbox-5.1, virtualbox-5.2, virtualbox-6.0, virtualbox-7.0, virtualbox-7.1, virtualbox-7.2
Description: guest additions iso image for VirtualBox
VirtualBox is a free x86 virtualization solution allowing a wide range of
x86 operating systems such as Windows, DOS, BSD or Linux to run on a
Linux system.
.
This package provides an iso image which contains the guest additions
for Linux, Solaris and Windows. Kicksecure uses this to install up-to-date
Guest Additions automatically.
Homepage: https://www.virtualbox.org
[workstation sysmaint ~]% sudo vbox-guest-installer
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer (part of package ‘vm-config-dist’) INFO: This is VirtualBox guest additions from Debian package ‘virtualbox-guest-additions-iso’ installation helper by Kicksecure developers.
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: VirtualBox guest additions package ‘virtualbox-guest-additions-iso’ installed.
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: Extracting file ‘/usr/share/virtualbox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso’ (from package ‘virtualbox-guest-additions-iso’) to folder ‘/var/cache/vm-config-dist/vbox-guest-additions-extracted-iso’ now…
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: Running ‘/var/cache/vm-config-dist/vbox-guest-additions-extracted-iso/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run --check’ now…
./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run does not contain an embedded SHA256 checksum.
100%
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: Extracting file ‘/var/cache/vm-config-dist/vbox-guest-additions-extracted-iso/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run’ to folder ‘/var/cache/vm-config-dist/vbox-guest-additions-extracted-makeself’ now…
Creating directory /var/cache/vm-config-dist/vbox-guest-additions-extracted-makeself
Verifying archive integrity… 100% MD5 checksums are OK. All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox 7.2.12 Guest Additions for Linux 100%
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: Running ‘/var/cache/vm-config-dist/vbox-guest-additions-extracted-makeself/install.sh force force’ now…
VirtualBox Guest Additions installer
touch: cannot touch ‘/var/lib/VBoxGuestAdditions/skip-6.12.88+deb13-amd64’: No such file or directory
touch: cannot touch ‘/var/lib/VBoxGuestAdditions/skip-6.12.95+deb13-amd64’: No such file or directory
touch: cannot touch ‘/var/lib/VBoxGuestAdditions/skip-6.12.96+deb13-amd64’: No such file or directory
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Setting up modules
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel
modules. This may take a while.
VirtualBox Guest Additions: To build modules for other installed kernels, run
VirtualBox Guest Additions: /sbin/rcvboxadd quicksetup
VirtualBox Guest Additions: or
VirtualBox Guest Additions: /sbin/rcvboxadd quicksetup all
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Building the Guest Additions 7.2.12 modules for
kernel 6.12.96+deb13-amd64.
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Building the main module.
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Building the shared folder support module.
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Building the graphics driver module.
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Updating initramfs
dracut[I]: Executing: /usr/bin/dracut -f --logfile /tmp/PdQkzu --kver 6.12.96+deb13-amd64
dracut[I]: 62bluetooth: Could not find any command of ‘/usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd /usr/libexec/bluetooth/bluetoothd’!
dracut[I]: 62bluetooth: Could not find any command of ‘/usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd /usr/libexec/bluetooth/bluetoothd’!
dracut[I]: *** Including module: dash ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-ask-password ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-battery-check ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-initrd ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-journald ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-modules-load ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-pcrphase ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-sysctl ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-tmpfiles ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-udevd ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: console-setup ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: i18n ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: systemd-sysusers ***
Creating group ‘tty’ with GID 5.
Creating group ‘disk’ with GID 6.
Creating group ‘man’ with GID 12.
Creating group ‘kmem’ with GID 15.
Creating group ‘dialout’ with GID 20.
Creating group ‘fax’ with GID 21.
Creating group ‘voice’ with GID 22.
Creating group ‘cdrom’ with GID 24.
Creating group ‘floppy’ with GID 25.
Creating group ‘tape’ with GID 26.
Creating group ‘sudo’ with GID 27.
Creating group ‘audio’ with GID 29.
Creating group ‘dip’ with GID 30.
Creating group ‘operator’ with GID 37.
Creating group ‘src’ with GID 40.
Creating group ‘shadow’ with GID 42.
Creating group ‘video’ with GID 44.
Creating group ‘sasl’ with GID 45.
Creating group ‘plugdev’ with GID 46.
Creating group ‘staff’ with GID 50.
Creating group ‘games’ with GID 60.
Creating group ‘users’ with GID 100.
Creating group ‘nogroup’ with GID 65534.
Creating group ‘systemd-journal’ with GID 999.
Creating user ‘root’ (n/a) with UID 0 and GID 0.
Creating group ‘daemon’ with GID 1.
Creating user ‘daemon’ (n/a) with UID 1 and GID 1.
Creating group ‘bin’ with GID 2.
Creating user ‘bin’ (n/a) with UID 2 and GID 2.
Creating group ‘sys’ with GID 3.
Creating user ‘sys’ (n/a) with UID 3 and GID 3.
Creating user ‘sync’ (n/a) with UID 4 and GID 65534.
Creating user ‘games’ (n/a) with UID 5 and GID 60.
Creating user ‘man’ (n/a) with UID 6 and GID 12.
Creating group ‘lp’ with GID 7.
Creating user ‘lp’ (n/a) with UID 7 and GID 7.
Creating group ‘mail’ with GID 8.
Creating user ‘mail’ (n/a) with UID 8 and GID 8.
Creating group ‘news’ with GID 9.
Creating user ‘news’ (n/a) with UID 9 and GID 9.
Creating group ‘uucp’ with GID 10.
Creating user ‘uucp’ (n/a) with UID 10 and GID 10.
Creating group ‘proxy’ with GID 13.
Creating user ‘proxy’ (n/a) with UID 13 and GID 13.
Creating group ‘www-data’ with GID 33.
Creating user ‘www-data’ (n/a) with UID 33 and GID 33.
Creating group ‘backup’ with GID 34.
Creating user ‘backup’ (n/a) with UID 34 and GID 34.
Creating group ‘list’ with GID 38.
Creating user ‘list’ (n/a) with UID 38 and GID 38.
Creating group ‘irc’ with GID 39.
Creating user ‘irc’ (n/a) with UID 39 and GID 39.
Creating user ‘_apt’ (n/a) with UID 42 and GID 65534.
Creating user ‘nobody’ (n/a) with UID 65534 and GID 65534.
dracut[I]: *** Including module: kernel-modules ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: kernel-modules-extra ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: overlay-root ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: rootfs-block ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: terminfo ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: udev-rules ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: dracut-systemd ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: usrmount ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: base ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: fs-lib ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: shell-interpreter ***
dracut[I]: *** Including module: shutdown ***
dracut[I]: *** Including modules done ***
dracut[I]: *** Installing kernel module dependencies ***
dracut[I]: *** Installing kernel module dependencies done ***
dracut[I]: *** Resolving executable dependencies ***
dracut[I]: *** Resolving executable dependencies done ***
dracut[I]: *** Hardlinking files ***
dracut[I]: *** Hardlinking files done ***
dracut[I]: *** Generating early-microcode cpio image ***
dracut[I]: *** Store current command line parameters ***
dracut[I]: Stored kernel commandline:
dracut[I]: root=UUID=
rootfstype=ext4 rootflags=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro
dracut[I]: *** Stripping files ***
dracut[I]: *** Stripping files done ***
dracut[I]: *** Creating image file ‘/boot/initrd.img-6.12.96+deb13-amd64’ ***
dracut[I]: *** Creating initramfs image file ‘/boot/initrd.img-6.12.96+deb13-amd64’ done ***
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Running kernel modules will not be replaced until
the system is restarted or ‘rcvboxadd reload’ triggered
VirtualBox Guest Additions: Starting.
VirtualBox Guest Additions: reloading kernel modules and services
VirtualBox Guest Additions: kernel modules and services 7.2.12 r174389 reloaded
VirtualBox Guest Additions: NOTE: you may still consider to re-login if some
user session specific services (Shared Clipboard, Drag and Drop, Seamless or
Guest Screen Resize) were not restarted automatically
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: /var/cache/vm-config-dist/vbox-guest-additions-extracted-makeself/install.sh exited with exit code ‘2’.
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: Success, installed VirtualBox guest additions from package ‘virtualbox-guest-additions-iso’./usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: This is not about security.
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: This is about usability only.
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: If you do not need or have no issues with full screen, clipboard sharing, mouse capture or shared folder this can be safely ignored.
/usr/bin/vbox-guest-installer INFO: For more information, see:
https://www.kicksecure.com/wiki/ga
In my case, running sudo vbox-guest-installer also resolved the issue. This occurred on both the gateway and the workstation.
@gubw Interesting. Can you please also share the output of sudo journalctl --unit=vboxclient-wayland.service? That should have useful info even though the issue has been fixed on your end already.
@Mooncake666 There actually is some info that would be useful to have; can you share the output of sudo journalctl --unit=mnt-shared-vbox.service? (I don’t believe this command will output any sensitive info, but double-check the logs for anything that needs redacting.) That might show me the error message that previously occurred when attempting to mount the shared folder.
The command returns no entries. I reproduced the error by rolling back to a previous snapshot, and the output remains empty. I’ve saved the VM state while the error is active, so I can gather other diagnostics if needed.
That’s strange, a failed unit should at least have logs indicating that the unit failed. Does sudo systemctl status vboxclient-wayland.service show the unit as failed, and if so, do you get a snippet of log output underneath the state information?
No, the service appears to have been removed from the system rather than just failing:
[workstation sysmaint ~]% sudo journalctl --unit=vboxclient-wayland.service
– No entries –
[workstation sysmaint ~]% sudo systemctl status vboxclient-wayland.service
Unit vboxclient-wayland.service could not be found.
zsh: exit 4 sudo systemctl status vboxclient-wayland.service
[workstation sysmaint ~]% dpkg -l | grep virtualbox-guest
ii virtualbox-guest-additions-iso 1:7.2.12.1-1 all guest additions iso image for VirtualBox
rc virtualbox-guest-utils 7.2.6-dfsg-3~fto13+1 amd64 x86 virtualization solution - non-X11 guest utilities
rc virtualbox-guest-x11 7.2.6-dfsg-3~fto13+1 amd64 x86 virtualization solution - X11 guest utilities
Here is the APT history log from that session, in case it helps identify what triggered the removal:
[workstation sysmaint ~]% grep -i “virtualbox-guest” /var/log/apt/history.log
Upgrade: virtualbox-guest-x11:amd64 (7.2.4-dfsg-1, 7.2.6-dfsg-3~fto13+1), virtualbox-guest-additions-iso:amd64 (7.2.4-1, 7.2.6-1~fto13+1), virtualbox-guest-utils:amd64 (7.2.4-dfsg-1, 7.2.6-dfsg-3~fto13+1)
Upgrade: apparmor-profile-dist:amd64 (3:10.1-1, 3:10.2-1), swap-file-creator:amd64 (3:9.6-1, 3:9.7-1), whonix-firewall:amd64 (3:17.5-1, 3:18.9-1), security-misc-shared:amd64 (3:51.8-1, 3:53.0-1), python3.13:amd64 (3.13.5-2+deb13u3, 3.13.5-2+deb13u4), tor-ctrl:amd64 (3:6.6-1, 3:7.1-1), bind9-host:amd64 (1:9.20.23-1~deb13u1, 1:9.20.26-1~deb13u1), dist-general-cli:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), legacy-dist:amd64 (3:20.3-1, 3:20.9-1), grub-live-dracut:amd64 (3:11.0-1, 3:11.3-1), kloak:amd64 (0.6.9-1, 0:0.8.5-1), grub-live:amd64 (3:11.0-1, 3:11.3-1), lxqt-wayland-session:amd64 (0.2.8-1, 0.3.0-1), ntfs-3g:amd64 (1:2022.10.3-5+deb13u1, 1:2022.10.3-5+deb13u2), dist-base-files:amd64 (3:15.8-1, 3:15.9-1), dist-nonqubes-cli:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), whonix-workstation-vm-cli:amd64 (3:27.1-1, 3:27.4-1), damngpl:amd64 (3:4.8-1, 3:4.9-1), whonix-workstation-general-gui-lxqt:amd64 (3:27.1-1, 3:27.4-1), uwt:amd64 (3:10.0-1, 3:10.2-1), whonix-welcome-page:amd64 (3:8.2-1, 3:8.3-1), whonix-general-gui-all:amd64 (3:27.1-1, 3:27.4-1), systemcheck:amd64 (3:51.2-1, 3:52.2-1), helper-scripts:amd64 (3:49.2-1, 3:53.2-1), initializer-dist:amd64 (3:8.6-1, 3:8.7-1), virtualbox-guest-additions-iso:amd64 (7.2.6-1~fto13+1, 1:7.2.12.1-1), bindp:amd64 (3:4.5-1, 3:4.8-1), whonix-workstation-nonqubes-gui-lxqt:amd64 (3:27.1-1, 3:27.4-1), dummy-dependency-lxqt-policykit:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), libpython3.13-stdlib:amd64 (3.13.5-2+deb13u3, 3.13.5-2+deb13u4), setup-wizard-dist:amd64 (3:13.3-1, 3:13.4-1), libtiff6:amd64 (4.7.0-3+deb13u2, 4.7.0-3+deb13u3), open-link-confirmation:amd64 (3:8.3-1, 3:8.9-1), timesanitycheck:amd64 (3:9.0-1, 3:10.1-1), linux-headers-amd64:amd64 (6.12.95-1, 6.12.96-1), libpython3.13-minimal:amd64 (3.13.5-2+deb13u3, 3.13.5-2+deb13u4), apparmor-profiles-kicksecure:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), setup-dist:amd64 (3:12.2-1, 3:12.3-1), privleap:amd64 (3:5.4-1, 3:6.1-1), vm-config-dist:amd64 (3:16.0-1, 3:16.9-1), usability-misc:amd64 (3:37.1-1, 3:40.6-1), apparmor-profile-thunderbird:amd64 (3:6.2-1, 3:6.3-1), libxfont2:amd64 (1:2.0.6-1+b3, 1:2.0.6-1+deb13u1), dist-vm-cli:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), desktop-config-dist-dependencies:amd64 (3:17.6-1, 3:17.9-1), rads:amd64 (3:8.6-1, 3:8.8-1), dummy-dependency-mta:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), bootclockrandomization:amd64 (3:8.0-1, 3:8.1-1), dist-general-gui-lxqt:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), whonix-ws-network-conf:amd64 (3:5.0-1, 3:5.1-1), sysmaint-panel:amd64 (3:5.0-1, 3:5.1-1), libpython3.13:amd64 (3.13.5-2+deb13u3, 3.13.5-2+deb13u4), linux-image-amd64:amd64 (6.12.95-1, 6.12.96-1), repository-dist:amd64 (3:13.4-1, 3:13.6-1), dist-general-gui-all:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), kicksecure-welcome-page:amd64 (3:7.8-1, 3:7.9-1), bind9-dnsutils:amd64 (1:9.20.23-1~deb13u1, 1:9.20.26-1~deb13u1), sdwdate:amd64 (3:27.8-1, 3:28.5-1), icon-pack-dist:amd64 (3:5.3-1, 3:5.4-1), apparmor-profile-torbrowser:amd64 (3:9.8-1, 3:10.0-1), msgcollector:amd64 (3:16.2-1, 3:17.3-1), sdwdate-gui:amd64 (1:14.0-1, 1:15.2-1), desktop-config-dist:amd64 (3:17.6-1, 3:17.9-1), anon-apt-sources-list:amd64 (3:7.6-1, 3:7.8-1), whonix-base-files:amd64 (3:12.0-1, 3:12.2-1), bind9-libs:amd64 (1:9.20.23-1~deb13u1, 1:9.20.26-1~deb13u1), python3.13-minimal:amd64 (3.13.5-2+deb13u3, 3.13.5-2+deb13u4), user-sysmaint-split:amd64 (3:12.0-1, 3:12.7-1), whonix-general-cli:amd64 (3:27.1-1, 3:27.4-1), whonix-workstation-packages-dependencies-pre:amd64 (3:27.1-1, 3:27.4-1), libntfs-3g89t64:amd64 (1:2022.10.3-5+deb13u1, 1:2022.10.3-5+deb13u2), tb-starter:amd64 (3:18.6-1, 3:18.8-1), repository-dist-wizard:amd64 (3:13.4-1, 3:13.6-1), anon-apps-config:amd64 (3:10.2-1, 3:10.3-1), dummy-dependency-sway:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), anon-ws-disable-stacked-tor:amd64 (3:11.2-1, 3:11.3-1), whonix-workstation-general-cli:amd64 (3:27.1-1, 3:27.4-1), dist-nonqubes-gui-all:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), anon-ws-base-files:amd64 (3:7.3-1, 3:7.4-1), apparmor-profile-hexchat:amd64 (3:5.6-1, 3:5.7-1), whonix-workstation-nonqubes-cli:amd64 (3:27.1-1, 3:27.4-1), whonix-workstation-general-gui-all:amd64 (3:27.1-1, 3:27.4-1), security-misc-desktop:amd64 (3:51.8-1, 3:53.0-1), tb-updater:amd64 (3:44.5-1, 3:47.0-1), msgcollector-gui:amd64 (3:16.2-1, 3:17.3-1), dist-nonqubes-gui-lxqt:amd64 (3:36.7-1, 3:37.0-1), linux-libc-dev:amd64 (6.12.95-1, 6.12.96-1)
Remove: virtualbox-guest-x11:amd64 (7.2.6-dfsg-3~fto13+1), virtualbox-guest-utils:amd64 (7.2.6-dfsg-3~fto13+1)
To confirm, I captured this output before applying the fix, while the service was still missing.
Gah, this is because I’m telling you to run the wrong commands. vboxclient-wayland.service is a user unit, not a system unit. Try these commands instead:
systemctl --user status vboxclient-wayland.servicejournalctl --user --unit=vboxclient-wayland.serviceThese should be run in whatever user account you noticed Guest Additions breakage in first (i.e. probably run these in a user session, not a sysmaint session).
Ah, right. Here is the output:
[workstation user ~]% systemctl --user status vboxclient-wayland.service
× vboxclient-wayland.service - VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/vboxclient-wayland.service; static)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sat 2026-07-25 09:45:11 UTC; 5min ago
Invocation: 4b72a3ae0677461681e4428fa4aa83de
Process: 3023 ExecStart=/usr/bin/VBoxClient --foreground --wayland (code=exited, status=203/EXEC)
Main PID: 3023 (code=exited, status=203/EXEC)Jul 25 09:45:11 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
Jul 25 09:45:11 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Jul 25 09:45:11 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
Jul 25 09:45:11 host systemd[1830]: Failed to start vboxclient-wayland.service - VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland.
zsh: exit 3 systemctl --user status vboxclient-wayland.service
[workstation user ~]% journalctl --user --unit=vboxclient-wayland.service
Jul 25 09:45:04 host systemd[1830]: Starting vboxclient-wayland.service - VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland…
Jul 25 09:45:04 host (oxClient)[2133]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Unable to locate executable ‘/usr/bin/VBoxClient’: No such file or directory
Jul 25 09:45:04 host (oxClient)[2133]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Failed at step EXEC spawning /usr/bin/VBoxClient: No such file or directory
Jul 25 09:45:04 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=203/EXEC
Jul 25 09:45:04 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
Jul 25 09:45:04 host systemd[1830]: Failed to start vboxclient-wayland.service - VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland.
Jul 25 09:45:07 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
Jul 25 09:45:07 host systemd[1830]: Starting vboxclient-wayland.service - VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland…
Jul 25 09:45:07 host (oxClient)[3020]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Unable to locate executable ‘/usr/bin/VBoxClient’: No such file or directory
Jul 25 09:45:07 host (oxClient)[3020]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Failed at step EXEC spawning /usr/bin/VBoxClient: No such file or directory
Jul 25 09:45:07 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=203/EXEC
Jul 25 09:45:07 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
Jul 25 09:45:07 host systemd[1830]: Failed to start vboxclient-wayland.service - VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland.
Jul 25 09:45:09 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 2.
Jul 25 09:45:09 host systemd[1830]: Starting vboxclient-wayland.service - VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland…
Jul 25 09:45:09 host (oxClient)[3023]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Unable to locate executable ‘/usr/bin/VBoxClient’: No such file or directory
Jul 25 09:45:09 host (oxClient)[3023]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Failed at step EXEC spawning /usr/bin/VBoxClient: No such file or directory
Jul 25 09:45:09 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=203/EXEC
Jul 25 09:45:09 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
Jul 25 09:45:09 host systemd[1830]: Failed to start vboxclient-wayland.service - VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland.
Jul 25 09:45:11 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
Jul 25 09:45:11 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Jul 25 09:45:11 host systemd[1830]: vboxclient-wayland.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
Jul 25 09:45:11 host systemd[1830]: Failed to start vboxclient-wayland.service - VirtualBox clipboard sharing for Wayland.
@arraybolt3 sudo vbox-guest-installer fixed it, folders are showing and working
thank you for the support