When trying to start an Oracle virtual box, the start fails with the following error:

Oracle VirtualBox error : kernel driver not installed(rc=-1908)

Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908)

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver (vboxdrv) is either not loaded or there is a
permission problem with /dev/vboxdrv. Please reinstall the kernel module by
executing

‘/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup’

as root. If it is available in your distribution, you should install the DKMS package first. This package keeps track of Linux kernel changes and recompiles the vboxdrv
kernel module if necessary.

 

How to Resolve

running

/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup

as suggested by the error did not resolve the problem.

You need to do the following:

sudo apt-get remove virtualbox-dkms
sudo apt-get install virtualbox-dkms

The Oracle virtual box machine can then be started without error.