Enabling Bluetooth in VirtualBox

VirtualBox guest OS doesn’t recognize Bluetooth adapter by default. Here is how to enable the built in Bluetooth adapter for Ubuntu guest on Windows host. OS and the version I used are below.

Host: Windows 10
Guest: Ubuntu 16.04

I tested the steps with Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Dell Precision 3510.

Here is the list of contents of this post.

Contents
– Assumptions
– Steps
1. Disable Bluetooth Adapter on Windows
2. Launch Ubuntu Linux
3. Enable Bluetooth Adapter on Windows
4. Enable Bluetooth Adapter on Ubuntu (Guest)
5. Verify
– Reference

Assumptions
There are some prerequisites before starting the steps.

• Windows PC with Bluetooth Adapter
• Ubuntu installed as VirtualBox guest OS and running on Windows PC
• VirtualBox Guest Additions installed on Ubuntu guest OS

Steps
1. Disable Bluetooth Adapter on Windows
1-1. Launch “Device Manager” (right-click on Windows icon at left bottom corner, then select “Device Manager”)

1-2. Disable Bluetooth adapter (right-click on your Bluetooth device and select “Disable device”)

2. Launch Ubuntu Linux
2-1. Launch “Oracle VM VirtualBox”.

2-2. Select your Ubuntu guest and click on “Start” icon on “Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager” window.

3. Enable Bluetooth Adapter on Windows
3-1. Go back to Device Manager, enable the Bluetooth adapter. (right-click on the Bluetooth device and select “Enable device”)

4. Enable Bluetooth Adapter on Ubuntu (Guest)
4-1. In “Oracle VM VirtualBox” window, select “Devices” > “USB” from the top menu bar.

4-2. Then, select Bluetooth adapter to enable.

5. Verify
5-1. Check if Bluetooth is enabled on Ubuntu by typing the command below.

hciconfig -a

If everything is fine, you should be able to see something like below. Be sure it says “UP RUNNING” (Line 4 in the example below).

$ hciconfig -a
hci0:	Type: BR/EDR  Bus: USB
	BD Address: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx  ACL MTU: 1021:7  SCO MTU: 240:3
	UP RUNNING 
	RX bytes:1039 acl:0 sco:0 events:54 errors:0
	TX bytes:2435 acl:0 sco:0 commands:54 errors:0
	Features: 0xff 0xfe 0x8f 0xfe 0xdb 0xff 0x7b 0x87
	Packet type: DM1 DM3 DM5 DH1 DH3 DH5 HV1 HV2 HV3 
	Link policy: RSWITCH HOLD SNIFF 
	Link mode: SLAVE ACCEPT 
	Name: 'vm'
	Class: 0x0c0000
	Service Classes: Rendering, Capturing
	Device Class: Miscellaneous, 
	HCI Version: 4.0 (0x6)  Revision: 0x8300
	LMP Version: 4.0 (0x6)  Subversion: 0x9172
	Manufacturer: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (72)

Reference
– How To Install Ubuntu Linux On Windows 10 In 24 Steps
https://www.lifewire.com/install-ubuntu-linux-windows-10-steps-2202108