Continuing on with the PC migration saga and getting my new toy working a few days ago I bumped into a problem whose solution I share here. This time, it was with Virtualbox Extension Packs.
Summary
Problem: It was impossible to install Virtualbox Extension Packs. I got the error:“The installer failed with exit code 1: VBoxExtPackHelperApp.exe: error: Failed to rename the temporary directory to the final one: VERR_ACCESS_DENIED“
Solution:
- Decompress the contents of the .vbox-extpack file to a specific Virtualbox folder:
C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\ExtensionPacks\Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack - Restart Virtualbox
Details for those with more time
After a small fight to have the VMs and virtual hard disks all sorted I could not run some of them with the error:
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Failed to open a session for the virtual machine ....
Implementation of the USB 2.0 controller not found!
Because the USB 2.0 controller state is part of the saved VM state, the VM cannot be started. To fix this problem, either install the 'Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack' or disable USB 2.0 support in the VM settings.
Note! This error could also mean that an incompatible version of the 'Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack' is installed (VERR_NOT_FOUND).
Result Code: E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component: ConsoleWrap
Interface: IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}
---------------------------------------------------
Reading through, its clear the VM needs Extension Packs for Virtualbox because it had them and uses its features from the last time it was run. I downloaded the appropriate file for my version (5.1.18), double clicked on it to install and:
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Failed to install te Extension Pack...
The installer failed with exit code 1: VBoxExtPackHelperApp.exe: error: Failed to rename the temporary directory to the final one: VERR_ACCESS_DENIED ('C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\ExtensionPacks\Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-_-inst-7052' -> 'C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\ExtensionPacks\Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack')
rcExit=1.
Result Code: E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component: ExtPackManagerWrap
Interface: IExtPackManager {edba9d10-45d8-b440-1712-46ac0c9bc4c5}
---------------------------------------------------
Our dear friend Google took me to a 2011 ticket where the comments focused on writing permissions to the Extension Pack folder. The solution to that problem was to either change the user’s permissions in the folder to Full Control or to disable anti-virus software.
But what if the proposed solutions don’t work or you don’t have enough privileges to make those changes? There was a single Virtualbox forum post that caught my eye. In it, the solution was to uncompress the contents of .vbox-extpack file (the extension pack installer) to a specific folder of the Virtualbox installation. That was the solution I decided to adopt.
The Extension Pack file is compressed in “2 levels”. In my specific case, 5.1.18, the internal file structure was:
Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-5.1.18-114002.vbox-extpack
+--Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-5.1.18-114002
+-- Extension pack files and folders
+-- ...
+-- ...
Inside the Virtualbox installation folder (C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\ExtensionPacks) create a folder called Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack. This is the folder where the uncompressed contents of the extension pack should be copied to.
The end result:
After copying the files, its just a matter of restarting Virtualbox and confirming that the extension pack was installed in File – Preferences – Extensions.
The “sick” VMs are now “cured”.
Success!!!
What are Virtualbox Extension Packs?
Extension Packs were created in Virtualbox 4 as a new way to extetend the functionality of the VirtualBox base package. Currently, Oracle provides one extension pack and provides added functionality that includes:
- Virtual USB2.0 and 3.0 devices
- Virtualbox Remote Desktop Protocol VRDP
- Host webcam passthrough
- Virtual hard disk encryption
Thanks, It works!
Hi Denwer, glad it helped. I remember how crazy I got when it happened to me.
Thanks a ton for the solution!
Saved me a couple of hours.
I have a McAfee installed which I am not authorized to turn off.
I used Double Commander running it as an admin user to extract the files. But created the “Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack” folder first!
Hi Alex, glad it was helpful. Only after trying this solution I found out that in my case it was also McAfee doing the “damage”
awesome,great man it worked!!!
Glad it was helpful Harsh
Seems to be missing how to decompress the file.
Using WinRAR or 7-zip works well on both archives.
Doesnt work in Windows 10 shows problem in extension pack
Daniel
Have you figured out how to make this work in Windows 10? I have not found an answer I can make work.
Thank you very muhc it really worked.
I’m not sure if this is a universal fix, but all I had to do was create the “Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack” folder under the empty “VirtualBox/ExtensionPacks” folder and run the installer for the extension pack. The prompt that appeared was for a ‘downgrade’ instead of an install, but clicking through and running the install worked like a charm.
Keep in mind I had already set Full Control to the machine Users account on the VirtualBox folder, so that may have had an impact, but the access rights alone did not allow me to run the installer. I could not disable my anti-virus (corporate system).
Thanks for posting your fix, it led me to my solution 🙂
Thank you so much! Simple to follow steps that really worked 😀
I see your fix is for windows. I have the problem using Linux mint. Any advice??
Hi. I am not a regular Linux user but a similar concept should apply. The folder where extension packs are stored should be different though
Fixed in Windows 10 Pro. I had (re) installed VirtualBox 6.0.14 on an SSD that was set aside for VBox. Everything was on the root of the SSD so there was no “c:\program files\Oracle\VirtualBox\ExtensionPacks” path or folder. I created the ExtensionPacks folder in the root and created the folder “Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack” in that. I than ran VirtualBox, went to Preferences and when I clicked on Extensions the Extension Pack iso was the and installed correctly.
Its working for me wonderful
thanks a lot