Arch Linux: Running VirtualBox (VM) without a window manager

virtualboxx11xinitxorg

In Arch Linux, I would like to run VirtualBox without a window manager.

As a root I can easily do:

xinit /usr/bin/VirtualBox  -- :0 vt1

As a non-root user I get a blank screen. If I open another terminal, kill VirtualBox and read 

~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log  ,

then it does not show any error and is basically the same as the "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" I get as a root.

UPDATE

As noted by Arkadiusz Drabczyk, the problem was with a bug in VB. It works with version 5.2.4-119785.
My final objective is to use VB kind of bare-metal, starting an OS in fullscreen and nothing else, that is:

xinit '/usr/bin/VirtualBox' --startvm "VM name" --fullscreen -- :0 vt1

Best Answer

I remember I was able to reproduce your problem with not being able to run Virtualbox as non-root user without window manager with older versions of Virtualbox but it works for me with 5.2.4-119785.

However, as stated in the comments you don't need to graphical interface at all. Virtualbox comes with command line interface, it's my preferred method of interacting with it. Say, to list virtual machines:

$ vboxmanage list vms
"ubuntu" {e7fe8912-5484-4b9d-b5fe-431ae648b2dd}
"slackware64-current" {a00e1925-9cb6-4330-8b04-bbce69b49c67}
"slackware-current" {636b85f2-1e02-497b-9c50-22eb285250a3}
"freebsd" {acb77ca6-b051-400a-92bb-b3b2f1905991}
"openindiana" {bdca01dd-ea5d-4323-9fd2-92665d311bda}
"slackware64-14.1" {f9db3ba6-2316-4f92-8264-4abc8e4f71b3}
"slackware-14.2" {ccb5ddba-4ea1-4469-8ebc-21c84b8ca825}
"slackware-14.1-pathes-test" {67bec56d-b7d5-4427-a726-de2b4c1ba700}
"Slackware_new_test" {2e9232b5-bab1-41fc-8db4-ff4aab56f94c}
"slackware64-14.2" {2084cd19-d286-48b5-8e7b-3d1bb7a94d93}
"alpine linux" {be56c6a7-5821-4815-984b-6b40a6367acb}
"openwrt_Chaos_Calmer" {a4fcb438-dfc7-4672-8976-0d21b34357e0}
"linux-mint" {6e5e99d8-2dd8-4798-93ac-ffbf14c6c9db}

To start a virtual machine:

$ vboxmanage startvm "slackware64-14.1" --type headless

You can then access a started virtual machine with ssh, telnet etc.

To remove a virtual machine:

$ vboxmanage unregistervm "slackware64-14.1" -delete

To show info on a given virtual machine:

$ vboxmanage showvminfo slackware64-14.1

To stop a virtual machine:

$ vboxmanage controlvm slackware64-14.1 poweroff

You can even create a new virtual machine in command line: https://gist.github.com/ardrabczyk/65b68d0121f2964cd99e

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