/etc/default/virtualbox usage gives "Wrong owner of /tmp/.vbox-*-ipc"

[Charles]

Hello :)

After creating /etc/default/virtualbox to shut down any VMs still running during host shutdown, these error messages appear during shutdown if a VM has been started and shutdown before shutting down the host:

Sending ACPI power button event to remaining VMsWrong owner (1000) of '/tmp/.vbox-c-ipc'.
Wrong owner (1000) of '/tmp/.vbox-c-ipc'.
ERROR: failed to create the VirtualBox object!
ERROR: code NS_ERROR_FACTORY_NOT_REGISTERED (0x80040154) - Class not registered (extended info not available)
Most likely, the VirtualBox COM server is not running or failed to start.
Wrong owner (1000) of '/tmp/.vbox-c-ipc'.
[Repeated from "Wrong owner ..." ~40 times]
 ...done.
Waiting for 30 seconds for VM shutdown ...done

This use of /etc/default/virtualbox is not documented in the 3.2.12 User Manual which only mentions using the file during automated installations. The source of information was the comment before the shudown_vms function in /etc/rc.d/rc.virtualbox shown below. The full function is shown because of its possibly relevant comment, # don't create the ipcd directory with wrong permissions!

    # enter the following variables in /etc/default/virtualbox:
    #   SHUTDOWN_USERS="foo bar" 
    #     check for running VMs of user foo and user bar
    #   SHUTDOWN=poweroff
    #   SHUTDOWN=acpibutton
    #   SHUTDOWN=savestate
    #     select one of these shutdown methods for running VMs
    stop_vms()
    {
        wait=0
        for i in $SHUTDOWN_USERS; do
            # don't create the ipcd directory with wrong permissions!
            if [ -d /tmp/.vbox-$i-ipc ]; then
                export VBOX_IPC_SOCKETID="$i"
                VMS=`$VBOXMANAGE --nologo list runningvms | sed -e 's/^".*".*{\(.*\)}/\1/' 2>/dev/null`
                if [ -n "$VMS" ]; then
                    if [ "$SHUTDOWN" = "poweroff" ]; then
                        begin_msg "Powering off remaining VMs"
                        for v in $VMS; do
                            $VBOXMANAGE --nologo controlvm $v poweroff
                        done
                        succ_msg
                    elif [ "$SHUTDOWN" = "acpibutton" ]; then
                        begin_msg "Sending ACPI power button event to remaining VMs"
                        for v in $VMS; do
                            $VBOXMANAGE --nologo controlvm $v acpipowerbutton
                            wait=30
                        done
                        succ_msg
                    elif [ "$SHUTDOWN" = "savestate" ]; then
                        begin_msg "Saving state of remaining VMs"
                        for v in $VMS; do
                            $VBOXMANAGE --nologo controlvm $v savestate
                        done
                        succ_msg
                    fi
                fi
            fi
        done
        # wait for some seconds when doing ACPI shutdown
        if [ "$wait" -ne 0 ]; then
            begin_msg "Waiting for $wait seconds for VM shutdown"
            sleep $wait
            succ_msg
        fi

My /etc/default/virtualbox looks like this

    # /etc/default/virtualbox

    # Configuration file for /etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv

    # 5dec10 Charles
    #    * Created, based on comment in /etc/default/virtualbox:

    # Check for running VMs of user c
    SHUTDOWN_USERS="c" 

    # Shutdown method to use on any running VMs
    SHUTDOWN=acpibutton

Searching for "wrong owner of" finds only 6 pages, none of which are about VirtualBox.

Versions: the host is Slackware64 13.1 running VirtualBox PUEL 3.2.12 (first encountered running 3.2.8), used by user c. The guest is Windows XP.

This problem was reported at ​http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=36772&p=164873#p164873 which did not get any replies. The same problem is discussed (Debian? Ubuntu?) at ​http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-virtualization-90/virtualbox-howto-start-a-new-machine-on-boot-and-then-stop-it-on-halt-849449/

Best

Charles