VirtualBox libvpx7 error in Mint 22.3

[BillTheCatz]

I upgraded from Mint 21.3 to 22.3 and encountered an issue with VirtualBox. The upgrade of VirtualBox didn't go smoothly. Also, attempting to upgrade VirtualBox using the repository failed for all versions greater than 7.0 due to libvpx7 not being available (see attached photo)

I did finally get VirtualBox 7.2 installed from the .deb file from Oracle.

The migration to VB7.2 is not straightforward. The repository packages are broken due to a missing element, and the only VirtualBox repository version that works out of the repository is the ancient 7.0, which is unacceptable. I still don't understand why the Oracle release of VB 7.2.6 installs fine without the libvpx7, but the Linux Mint repository build of the same VirtualBox 7.2.6 requires it. Obviously, the two VirtualBox 7.2.6 releases are not the same, even though they have the same version number.

Before you do anything, BACKUP YOUR VIRTUAL MACHINES! Take a Timeshift snapshot and a home directory backup snapshot.

Using the 7.0 version, export all the appliances. This will take some time and disk space
This is your recovery option of last resort.

Execute apt purge virtualbox. Apt purge virtualbox does not remove everything. It leaves a lot of stuff scattered in the filesystem.
You must also do apt purge virtualbox-dkms and manually delete the ~/.config/virtualbox directory, if one still exists.
Then, go through the entire filesystem and manually delete all the remaining pieces that the purge commands left behind. These may have a variety of naming conventions, such as vbox..., VirtualBox..., vb..., etc. The removal commands do not remove everything, and this is important to avoid conflicts when getting VB7.2 to work.

ONLY the Oracle VirtualBox 7.2 will work. ALL 7.1 or higher repository installs will still fail with the libvpx7 error.
Install the Oracle VirtualBox deb file.

If you get a UUID error in VirtualBox when trying to open a VM, you probably forgot to remove the ~/.config/virtualbox directory.

I finally have 7.2 running fine with my old virtual machines. I would prefer to use the repository install to keep current with updates but, until they fix that library issue, that doesn't appear to be happening.

While you're at it, grab the Guest Addons iso when you download the .deb file.

Thank you for your help.

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