What does this message from kernel mean?

Question

When I start VirtualBox, I got warning: VirtualBox' uses 32-bit capabilities (legacy support in use)

It seems harmless though, but I still would like to know what that means? And why did I get that?

I run a 64bit Arch Linux with Intel VT (i5 CPU), VT enabled.

While checking 32bit files in /usr/lib/virtualbox, I got:

%> find . -type f -exec is32elf {} \;
./VBoxDD2GC.gc
./VMMGC.gc
./VBoxDDGC.gc
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.amd64/VBoxEhciRC.rc
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.x86/VBoxPuelMain.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.x86/VBoxEhciR0.r0
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.x86/VBoxPciRawR0.r0
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.x86/VBoxVRDP.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.x86/VBoxEhciRC.rc
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.x86/VBoxEhciR3.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.x86/VBoxPciRawDrv.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.x86/VBoxUsbCardReaderR3.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.x86/VBoxPciRawR3.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/solaris.x86/VBoxPuelMain.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/solaris.x86/VBoxEhciR0.r0
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/solaris.x86/VBoxVRDP.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/solaris.x86/VBoxEhciRC.rc
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/solaris.x86/VBoxEhciR3.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/solaris.x86/VBoxUsbCardReaderR3.so
./ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/solaris.amd64/VBoxEhciRC.rc

Maybe that can explain something?

might seem like a dumb question but: VT is enabled in your BIOS right? also what OS are you running? — h3rrmiller, Oct 28 '12 at 14:54
I'm pretty sure it has to do with a kernel header version mismatch. You're right, it is completely harmless though. — h3rrmiller, Oct 28 '12 at 15:02

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 28 '12 at 15:05

9

It just means that virtualbox uses the old Linux capability API. It's deprecated but still supported, and the warning is there to tell virtualbox developers to move on and use the new one.

answered Oct 28 '12 at 15:05

Stéphane Chazelas

544,893

What does this message from kernel mean?

1 Answers1