I learned that Oracle has released version 7.0 (7.0.2, actually) of their free virtualization software Virtualbox. I been running version 6.x for quite a while, updating when I'm notified.
The download instructions per Oracle are outdated and some of the links (e.g. the .gpg key) are inoperable. So, I've successfully installed and update it via sudo dpkg -i [name].deb
The version 6 does not inform me that version 7 exists. I downloaded the .deb file and attempted to install it over v6.x, but the package manager (correctly) informs me
dpkg: regarding virtualbox-7.0_7.0.2-154219~Ubuntu~focal_amd64.deb containing virtualbox-7.0:
virtualbox-7.0 conflicts with virtualbox
virtualbox-6.1 provides virtualbox and is present and installed.dpkg: error processing archive virtualbox-7.0_7.0.2-154219~Ubuntu~focal_amd64.deb (--install):
conflicting packages - not installing virtualbox-7.0
My next step would be to remove the current version via dpkg --remove or --deinstall (probably preferred, as preferences would be preserved). What I don't want is for my previously configured and used virtual machines to be rendered inoperative.
Is there a way to upgrade the package in place rather than removing and installing the new one? I can't find any documentation on the virtualbox site or elsewhere.