Download VirtualBox 3.0.8

Sun Microsystems has released the fourth update for VirtualBox version 3.0, which was released at the end of June. This program can be used to install other operating systems on a computer in a virtual environment. That way, different OSes can be used on the same hardware. VirtualBox is available for Windows 2000 and above, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris, and can handle a variety of guest operating systems.

VirtualBox is available in two versions. The full version has additional functionality, such as support for USB ports and the remote display protocol, but it is only free for private use and evaluation purposes. This extra functionality is closed source and is therefore missing in the open source version. Version 3.0.8 contains a number of changes that should improve stability and performance. The changelog also mainly shows bug fixes:

The following items were fixed and/or added:

• VMM: fixed 64 bit guest on 32 bit host regression in 3.0.6 (VT-x only; bug #4947)
• VMM: fixed a recompiler triple fault guru meditation (VT-x & AMD-V only; bug #5058)
• VMM: fixed hang after guest state restore (AMD-V, 32 bits Windows guest and IO-APIC enabled only; bug #5059)
• VMM: fixed paging issue with OS/2 guests
• VMM: fixed guru meditation in rare cases (2.0 regression; software virtualization only)
• VMM: fixed release assertion during state restore when using the Sound Blaster 16 emulation (bug #5042)
• Security: fixed vulnerability that allowed to execute commands with root privileges
• Linux hosts: fixed runtime assertion in semaphore implementation which was triggered under certain conditions (bug #616)
• Linux hosts: change the default USB access mode on certain distributions (bugs #3394 and #4291)
• Linux hosts: on hardened Gentoo, the VBoxSVC daemon crashed by opening the VM network settings (bug #3732)
• Linux hosts, Solaris hosts: pass the XAUTHORITY variable along the DISPLAY variable when starting a VM from VBoxManage or from the VM selector (bug #5063)
• Linux hosts: use sysfs to enumerate host drives if hal is not available
• Solaris hosts: fixed a bug which would hang the host sporadically as interrupts were not re-enabled everytime
• Solaris hosts: fixed a kernel panic with bridged and host-only networking (bug #4775)
• Solaris hosts: fixed incorrectly persistent CD/DVD-ROMs when changing them (bug #5077)
• X11-based hosts: support additional function keys on Sun keyboards (bug #4907)
• Mac OS X hosts (Snow Leopard): fixed problem starting headless VMs without a graphical session (bug #5002)
• Mac OS X hosts: fixed problem listing host-only adapter names with trailing garbage (attached VMs won’t start)
• Windows Additions: now work with Vista 64-bit Home editions (bug #3865)
• Windows Additions: fixed screen corruption with ZoomText Magnifier
• Windows Additions: fixed NPGetUniversalName failure (bug #4853)
• Windows Additions: fixed Windows NT regression (bug #4946)
• Windows Additions: fixed VBoxService not running if no Shared Folders are installed
• Linux Additions: implemented ftrunctate (bug #4771)
• VRDP: start VM even if configured VRDP port is in use
• Networking: the PCnet network device stopped receiving under rare conditions (bug #4870)
• VBoxManage: implemented controlvm vrdpport command
• iSCSI: fixed issue with NetApp targets (#5072)
• SCSI: add support for virtual disks larger than 2TB
• USB: fixed potential crash when unplugging USB2 devices (bug #5089)
• NAT: IPSEC did not properly work with Linux guests (bug #4801)