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I have a Windows 10 host and I installed Ubuntu 18.04 on a VirtualBox (6.1.4).

I have mounted the guest additions and executed the autorun on my Ubuntu guest. No error displayed so all good.

However, the shared clipboard doesn't work. The weird thing is that the addition seems to be installed correctly because I can now drag and drop files between the host and the guest (in both ways). Both are enable in bidirectional in the VirtualBox configuration.

I have tried things from different forums the whole afternoon and still nothing. I couldn't enumerate all the things I've done but mainly install / uninstall different packages and reboots.

Here are some trouble that I can see that might be related:

/usr/bin/VBoxClient --checkhostversion
VBoxClient: error: No service specified. Quitting because nothing to do!

lsmod | grep vbox
vboxsf                 81920  1
vboxvideo              36864  0
ttm                   102400  2 vmwgfx,vboxvideo
drm_kms_helper        180224  2 vmwgfx,vboxvideo
drm                   491520  7 vmwgfx,drm_kms_helper,vboxvideo,ttm
vboxguest             335872  7 vboxsf

From what I've seen on some forums, it seems I'm missing a module called syscopyarea, is that right?

I noticed that VBox clipboard process doesn't stay alive very long after the boot on the guest. But even when it is still in the process list, the copy / paste doesn't work.

ps ax | grep VBox
  462 ?        I<     0:00 [iprt-VBoxWQueue]
  676 ?        Ss     0:00 avahi-daemon: running [aaVBox.local]
 1080 ?        S      0:00 VBoxClient --vmsvga
 1081 ?        S      0:00 VBoxClient --vmsvga
 1104 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/sbin/VBoxService --pidfile /var/run/vboxadd-service.sh
 1269 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --display
 1271 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --display
 1276 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
 1278 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
 1283 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
 1285 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
 2333 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --clipboard
 2334 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --clipboard
 2336 pts/0    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto VBox

And after a few minutes:

ps ax | grep VBox
  462 ?        I<     0:00 [iprt-VBoxWQueue]
  676 ?        Ss     0:00 avahi-daemon: running [aaVBox.local]
 1080 ?        S      0:00 VBoxClient --vmsvga
 1081 ?        S      0:00 VBoxClient --vmsvga
 1104 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/sbin/VBoxService --pidfile /var/run/vboxadd-service.sh
 1269 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --display
 1271 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --display
 1276 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
 1278 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
 1283 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
 1285 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
 2329 pts/0    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto VBox

The same thing is happening if I start the process myself with /usr/bin/VBoxClient --clipboard.

Also, maybe the issue comes from the host. Is there some specific options to setup on the host in order to enable the shared clipboard?

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It might be related to this bug in the last version of Guest Additions (VB 6.1.4): https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/19336

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  • Thanks! It is indeed an issue with the guest additions 6.1.4. Following you link, I installed the test build guest additions 6.1.5 from virtualbox.org/wiki/Testbuilds and it works! – Antho A Apr 1 '20 at 12:00

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