Ubuntu – How to get Compiz to work in a VirtualBox VM

compizvirtualboxvirtualization

Is there any way to get Compiz'z fancy graphics to work in a VirtualBox VM.

…and would it be too slow via a virtual video-card?…

Is it possible to actually hook into the Host's own physical video card? .. or maybe use a second dedicated physical video card?

UPDATE
JanC's method works fine for me.
I had already installed virtualbox-guest-addition … (I'm using Lucid)
To uninstall this VirutalBox Addon pack, run its installer with uninstall added to the end of the command line. (the other packages JanC mentioned seems to replace its functionality)… In my case the command was: 

sudo VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run uninstall

Best Answer

In the VM configuration, go to the "Display" section, in the "Video" tab make sure "Enable 3D acceleration" is checked.

After installing Ubuntu inside the VM and starting it for the first time, install the 3 packages that start with virtualbox-ose-guest- inside the VM, then reboot Ubuntu inside the VM. (BTW: you don't want the package named virtualbox-guest-additions.)

If I do that, I can run Compiz without problems (Unity doesn't work though!).

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