[Solved] How to stop kernel workqueues [iprt-VBoxWQueue] and [iprt-VboxTscthread]

[admiincomp]

I am running Debian 12 with 2 processes running from start up.

iprt-VBoxWQueue
iprt-VboxTscthread

I believe these are Virtualbox processes but they start without me activating Virtualbox. I would like to find where they start from. is it possible to determine what starts these processes ?

[lindi]

You can use the command

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sudo systemctl status

to see what processes are part of each service. For example on my system I see

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─bolt.service
 └─937 /usr/libexec/boltd
─colord.service
 └─1063 /usr/libexec/colord
─cron.service
 └─867 /usr/sbin/cron -f

Note that virtualbox is not part of the official Debian distribution (main).

[pbear]

I have both Virt-Manager and VirtualBox installed (Deb12). At startup, lindi's command shows two leasehelper services for VirtMan, nothing for VBox. When I open VBox, these services appear:

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   CGroup: /
           └─user.slice
             └─user-1000.slice
               ├─session-1.scope
               │ ├─2633 /usr/lib/virtualbox/VirtualBox
               │ ├─2659 /usr/lib/virtualbox/VBoxXPCOMIPCD
               │ └─2665 /usr/lib/virtualbox/VBoxSVC --auto-shutdown

When I close VBox, they disappear.

[Aki]

Hello,

[..]

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iprt-VBoxWQueue
iprt-VboxTscthread

I believe these are Virtualbox processes but they start without me activating Virtualbox. I would like to find where they start from. is it possible to determine what starts these processes ?

They are kernel workqueues (something like process threads, but in kernel space) [1]; this is the source code [2]:

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[..]
DECLHIDDEN(int) rtR0InitNative(void)
{
    int rc = VINF_SUCCESS;
    IPRT_LINUX_SAVE_EFL_AC();

#if RTLNX_VER_MIN(2,5,41)
 #if RTLNX_VER_MIN(2,6,13)
    g_prtR0LnxWorkQueue = create_workqueue("iprt-VBoxWQueue");
 #else
    g_prtR0LnxWorkQueue = create_workqueue("iprt-VBoxQ");
 #endif
    if (!g_prtR0LnxWorkQueue)
        rc = VERR_NO_MEMORY;
#endif

    IPRT_LINUX_RESTORE_EFL_AC();
    return rc;
}
[..]

Therefore, they are started by the VirtualBox kernel modules that are started by the Debian GNU/Linux kernel.

Hope this helps.

---
[1] https://docs.kernel.org/core-api/workqueue.html
[2] https://codesearch.debian.net/show?file ... c&line=113

[pbear]

For comparison, I'm using the stock kernel, 6.1.0-20 as of today.

[admiincomp]

I wanted to identify the process file that starts up automatically so I can stop the process.
if i run the command systemctl list-units --type=service
I see the services even though Virtualbox is not running.

vboxautostart-service.service >
vboxballoonctrl-service.service >
vboxdrv.service >
vboxweb-service.service

Where are these services starting from ?

[Aki]

Hello,

These services are started by the init process (systemd).

As an example, these are commands to stop them:

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$ pgrep -lf iprt
5753 iprt-VBoxWQueue

$ sudo systemctl stop vboxdrv.service

$ pgrep -lf iprt

Of course, if you do not want them to start the next time you boot, you will have to disable these services; i.e.:

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sudo systemctl disable vboxdrv.service

[admiincomp]

Thank you.

[Aki]

I'm glad you sorted it out. :)

I updated the subject of the first post from:

• [Solved] finding start up process

to:

• [Solved] How to stop kernel workqueues [iprt-VBoxWQueue] and [iprt-VboxTscthread]