Overview This article describes the error and its typical causes on Linux systems. From Genymotion Desktop 3.3.0 onward, Genymotion can use QEMU instead of the VirtualBox hypervisor. QEMU utilizes kvm which is generally installed by default on most popular Linux distributions. Tests have shown that using QEMU instead of VirtualBox on Linux provides better compatibility and better performance.
Causes and solutions Cause: Genymotion Desktop running in a virtual machine, a server or a Cloud instance Genymotion Desktop has been designed to run in a physical environment. Genymotion Desktop will not work if it runs in Linux VMs, Linux servers, or Linux Cloud instances. This limitation applies to AWS, GCP, Azure, and similar cloud services.
Cause: VPN and/or a restrictive firewall VPN clients and restrictive firewalls may interfere with VirtualBox and Genymotion Desktop. For more details, please refer to related articles about VPN usage and firewall settings.
Cause: VirtualBox has just been freshly installed If VirtualBox has just been installed, a system reboot is recommended.
Cause: vboxdrv kernel module is not installed Important: Genymotion highly recommends installing VirtualBox from the distribution repository. If VirtualBox is installed manually (from .deb, .rpm or source), the vboxdrv kernel module may not compile and Genymotion will not work. Ensure that the dkms package is installed and that it compiles VirtualBox kernel modules on kernel updates.
Check the loaded kernel module modinfo vboxdrv
If the vboxdrv kernel module is loaded, the command should return: filename: /lib/modules/5.11.0-40-generic/updates/dkms/vboxdrv.ko version: 6.1.26_Ubuntu r145957 (0x00300000) license: GPL description: Oracle VM VirtualBox Support Driver author: Oracle Corporation
Reload the kernel module if necessary sudo modprobe vboxdrv
If this does not work, rebuild VirtualBox kernel modules Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get --reinstall install virtualbox-dkms Fedora: sudo /sbin/vboxconfig
Reboot the system sudo reboot
Additional information For more information about VirtualBox, refer to the VirtualBox documentation. If the above steps do not help, remove VirtualBox entirely and reinstall it.
UEFI Secure Boot If the Linux system has UEFI secure boot enabled, the system will prompt for a password during the VirtualBox installation. The password is used when enrolling the Machine-Owner key (MOK) in the system firmware. Follow the prompts to enroll MOK, then reboot. After the reboot, perform MOK management as required and start VirtualBox again.
No host-only interface is accessible This issue occurs in rare cases, for example when VirtualBox has been updated from a 6.0.x or 5.x.x version. To fix this issue: Open VirtualBox. Go to File > Host Network Manager. Remove all host-only interfaces (vboxnet0, vboxnet1, etc.). Close VirtualBox. Launch Genymotion Desktop.
Additional notes If the error persists, refer to VirtualBox documentation and Genymotion support resources. Consider testing with QEMU (Genymotion Desktop 3.3.0 and later) as an alternative hypervisor.
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