VirtualBox 5.1 Will No Longer Rely on DKMS for Kernel Module Rebuilding on Linux

[Batu69]

First Beta of VirtualBox 5.1 is now available for testing

Oracle announced the first Beta build of the upcoming VirtualBox 5.1 virtualization software is available for testing for all supported platforms.

Just by taking a quick at the changelog of VirtualBox 5.1 Beta 1 (attached at the end of the article for reference), we can notice that the upcoming major version will be exciting for everyone involved in the virtual machine ecosystem, whether you're a simple desktop user running Ubuntu or FreeBSD on a VM or a professional doing serious virtualization stuff for work.

While Oracle states in his latest blog post that the Beta 1 of VirtualBox 5.1 is a minor release, they also encourage users to take it for a test drive as it includes a large number of enhancements and fixes for the most annoying bugs and issues that have been reported since VirtualBox 5.0.

One of the things that caught our attention in this first test release of Oracle VM VirtualBox 5.1 is that the installer for Linux kernel-based operating system will no longer rely on the Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) framework for rebuilding the kernel modules, which is quite awesome because it will make things a lot easier when updating the kernel packages on your distribution.

Better Python 3 support, Qt5 porting, networking improvement

Among other interesting things coming to the VirtualBox 5.1 release, which should be out in the next few weeks, most probably after an RC (Release Candidate) build too, are better support for Python 3, porting of the GUI (Graphical User Interface) to the latest Qt5 technologies, and huge performance improvements thanks to the implementation of new APIC and I/O APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller).

Other than that, there will support for Hyper-V paravirtualized debugging of Windows guests, the implementation of a NVMHCI-compatible storage controller, lots of EFI improvements, such as the ability to boot from USB (finally!), and dozens of other much-neede fixes. Again, check out the changelog below if you're curious to know what exactly has been changed.

You can download Oracle VM VirtualBox 5.1 Beta 1 right now for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows operating system and taking for a test drive, but keep in mind that this is a pre-release version, not ready for production use.

VirtualBox 5.1 Beta1 Changelog

Here is an incomplete list of changes:

 VMM: new APIC and I/O APIC implementations that result in significantly improved performance in certain situations (for example with networking, bug #15295)
 VMM: added support for Hyper-V paravirtualized debugging of Windows guests
 VMM: emulate even more MMIO and shadow pagetable exits without going back to user mode
 GUI: overall migration to Qt5
 GUI: passive API event listener improving the VM GUI performance and response time
 better support for Python 3

In addition, the following items were fixed and/or added:

 VMM: many fixes
 GUI: the Detach UI action is now a part of the VM Machine menu
 GUI: reworked session information window
 GUI: the new VM wizard now allows to choose the VM location for the VM which is being created
 GUI: various bugfixes and internal cleanup
 Storage: use fallocate or similar if present to speed up creating fixed-sized disk images
 Storage: implemented NVMHCI-compatible storage controller
 EFI: many improvements, for example allow to boot from USB
 OVF: improved handling of signed manifests
 Windows hosts: rework COM proxy (e.g. bug #8298)
 Linux installers: no longer rely on DKMS for module rebuilding

 

Article source

 

Also can download here -> http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.1.0_BETA1/

[Pequi]

Just a note. I run XP on Debian 8 Virtualbox, usually for debugging programs I'm not too sure of. I try to avoid this as it's terribly slow with the 256MB of memory I can afford to allocate to it. And it ALWAYS phones home when I load my image.

Check this by running Wireshark on the Linux host.

Obviously not for updates, because the Linux version can't be updated from within the program. And the destination is an Oracle IP.

The stuff is encrypted, I have no idea what is being sent.

Advice - keep an eye on it.

Disclaimer - I'm sure Oracle is as trustworthy as Microsoft or Facebook. Nothing to worry about.

;)

[Hated On Mostly]

13 hours ago, Pequi said:

Just a note. I run XP on Debian 8 Virtualbox, usually for debugging programs I'm not too sure of. I try to avoid this as it's terribly slow with the 256MB of memory I can afford to allocate to it. And it ALWAYS phones home when I load my image.

Check this by running Wireshark on the Linux host.

Obviously not for updates, because the Linux version can't be updated from within the program. And the destination is an Oracle IP.

The stuff is encrypted, I have no idea what is being sent.

Advice - keep an eye on it.

Disclaimer - I'm sure Oracle is as trustworthy as Microsoft or Facebook. Nothing to worry about.

 

Can you post the Oracle IP addresses that you found being used?

 

Thanks

[Pequi]

On sábado, 4 de junho de 2016 at 8:06 PM, Hated On Mostly said:

Can you post the Oracle IP addresses that you found being used?

 

Thanks

Sure

137.254.0.0/16 and
23.4.53.0/20

A coincidence, I'm sure, but my wife's pressure cooker phones home to the same addresses.

She complained to the manufacturers, but they said it was for her "security", they only gather information like her address, the model number, what she cooks in it etc , nothing to worry about.

When she asked if it was to check for new models of the pressure cooker they said: Of couse not, you buy your pressure cookers at Apt-Get (our local hardware store), and they never have the latest version, why on earth would we check ?

Why indeed ?

;)

</irony>