I installed VirtualBox on my Windows 7 machine at work to do Linux testing. The installation of Ubuntu 14.04 went well and in no time I had a working install. But then I noticed the resolution: 640×480. Argh!

I then went online to figure out how to change the resolution since my only option was 640×480 resolution. I came across the VirtualBox forum and the solution was to install the Guest Additions software. So I did: Devices > Insert Guest Additions CD Image. But just my luck, that didn’t work. Instead I got an error message saying something to the effect that the Guest Additions CD image cannot be mounted. Argh!

I then proceeded to Google to find a solution and after a few days of searching, I found a solution that worked from the VirtualBox forum: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=63825.

Here are the steps needed to enable Guest Additions to work:

• Install dkms, build-essential and linux generic headers byt typing the following command in terminal:
  sudo apt-get install dkms build-essential linux-headers-generic
• Once completed, mount the Guest Additions CD Image by clicking
  Devices > Insert Guest Additions CD Image
• A terminal window should open up and start installing the software
• Once installed, reboot and you should now have a larger resolution for you VM

It took me a few days to find this information (probably because I’m not very good at searching) so this should save you a few days of searching. You’re welcome!

UPDATE

To avoid all of this stress, install Guest Additions as soon as your Ubuntu installation is complete by clicking on: Devices > Insert Guest Additions CD Image. It installs immediately without having to go through the process that I went through.

Tags: ubuntu, virtualbox