Note: This document is deprecated in favor enabling VirtualBox support on Windows
and macOS (Intel only)
We added support for VirtualBox, primarily to lower the requirements of Multipass on Windows. Now anywhere VirtualBox runs, Multipass will, too.
It’s a separate environment so your instances from Hyper-V or HyperKit (the default backends on Windows and macOS, respectively) will not move over, but you can switch between the backends freely.
To enable the preview VirtualBox support, follow the steps below:
Windows
ensure Hyper-V is disabled in Windows Features
install Multipass and VirtualBox
in Admin Powershell:
multipass set local.driver=virtualbox
reboot
MacOS
install Multipass and VirtualBox
in Terminal:
sudo multipass set local.driver=virtualbox
To go back to the default backend:
Windows
in Admin Powershell:
multipass set local.driver=hyperv
enable Hyper-V in Windows Features
reboot
MacOS
in Terminal:
sudo multipass set local.driver=hyperkit
Please let us know any successes (and failures, too)
Any pros/cons feature wise running Multipass in Windows with Hyper-V versus Virtualbox? Any differences in performance? (I think virtualbox can use the Hyper-V core anyway?).
Local driver has been set to virtualbox using commands mentioned on this page.
When I create an instance (bionic) using multipass launch, it does not show up on VirtualBox UI. VBoxManage list vms also does not list the multipass launched instance.
I am trying to add a new disk for swap support (to run a squid docker container within that instance).
Damn ! As soon as I post the question, a thought of invoking VBoxManage using sudo comes to mind … and I see the instance. Hope this helps any other multipass novice.
I just wanted to report the VirtualBox driver doesn’t seem to be working as of November 2021.
I have tried launching primary and custom VMs on two different Mac laptops with the Intel chips and I’ve had no luck with it.
This is what I’m getting when I run multipass launch:
[2021-11-05T20:31:20.320] [error] [rousing-diamondback] Could not unregister VM:
VBoxManage: error: Could not find a registered machine named 'rousing-diamondback'
VBoxManage: error: Details: code VBOX_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND (0x80bb0001), component VirtualBoxWrap, interface IVirtualBox, callee nsISupports
VBoxManage: error: Context: "FindMachine(Bstr(VMName).raw(), machine.asOutParam())" at line 150 of file VBoxManageMisc.cpp
launch failed: Conversion of image to VDI failed (Process returned exit code: 1) with the following output:
qemu-img: Unknown file format 'vdi'
Hi guys, I have the same problem, I tried with that installer but it doesn’t work either, I have the same error described above. Hopefully the next update will fix it.
@jaimesolis see #2328 for details, but the short of it is that VirtualBox is messed up on macOS Monterey, you’re better off using the default hyperkit driver, or better yet, qemu, which will replace it in time.
