Connect your iPhone to iTunes in Ubuntu with VirtualBox

iTunes media library, online radio broadcaster, and mobile device management application developed by Apple Inc. It is used to play, download, and organize digital audio and video (as well as other types of media available on the iTunes Store) .

iTunes does not have native support for Linux but can be used by booting into virtual environment with the help of VirtualBox. If it's not already install on your PC follow this tutorial to install A. VirtualBox  and B. VirtualBox 5.0.12 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack .

(Note: If your PC  had  Win 7/8/8.1/10 pre-installed before you switched to Ubuntu you could use your product key to avoid the grey areas of licensing when using a VM)

Make sure you add user  to to vboxuser in order for VirtualBox to work properly . To do that open a terminal and install gnome-system-tools :

sudo apt-get install gnome-system-tools

Once installed launch it from Dash .

Click on Advanced Settings and check the "Use VirtualBox virtualization solution".

Before launching VirtualBox make sure your iPhone is connected to the PC . Once you have VirtualBox installed and you have the virtual OS up and running , download itunes and install . 

In this tutorial we will be restoring a jailbroken iPhone 4 to its original firmware (iOS 7.1.2) as well as restoring and iPhone 5s (iOS 9.2) . If you do not succeed retry the same process  making sure your device is connected to iTunes by clicking the usb icon  and reconnecting the iPhone to the virtual 

environment . As an iPhone user I must say this is not the ideal method of synchronizing  files , restoring or backing up your phone , however it has proven to be the most reliable one .

iPhone 4

iPhone 5s

In addition to the iPhone 4 and 5s this tutorial has been tested successfully on an iPod touch 3rd generation as well.