diff --git a/vagrantSandbox/README b/vagrantSandbox/README
index ca36ba2ab..4517f92b2 100644
--- a/vagrantSandbox/README
+++ b/vagrantSandbox/README
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@
   These virtual machines require
   - VirtualBox :: for running from [[https://www.virtualbox.org]]
   - Vagrant :: to automatically set them up from [[http://www.vagrantup.com]]
+  To make sure that for the boxes the have the newest
+  VirtualBox-additions do
+: vagrant plugin install vagrant-vbguest
+  This installs a plugin that tries to update the guest addition if
+  they are for an older version of VirtualBox
 * Starting
   A virtual machine is set up with
 : vagrant up <machineName>
@@ -38,6 +43,8 @@
   - freebsd10 :: FreeBSD 10.0 32-big machine. Currently does not boot
                  properly
   - opensuse12 :: OpenSUSE 12.3 machine. Boots but is not provisioned
+  Some machines (read: the BSD-boxes) need the =VirtualBox Extension
+  Pack= installed (because they have USB 2.0)
 * Scripts
   In the home directory these scripts are found
   - bootstrapFoam.sh :: A script whose aim it is to compile Foam and
diff --git a/vagrantSandbox/initFreeBSDScript.sh b/vagrantSandbox/initFreeBSDScript.sh
index 0dd703394..48f738557 100755
--- a/vagrantSandbox/initFreeBSDScript.sh
+++ b/vagrantSandbox/initFreeBSDScript.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,19 @@ echo
 echo "Init script for $boxName"
 echo
 
+pkg install -fy virtualbox-ose-additions
+
+neededPackages=(mercurial git flex bison ccache rpm wget)
+bonusPackages=(emacs24  zsh)
+
+for p in ${neededPackages[@]}; do
+    pkg install -y $p
+done
+
+for p in ${bonusPackages[@]}; do
+    pkg install -y $p
+done
+
 echo
 echo "FreeBSD-specific ended. Now doing general stuff"
 echo
diff --git a/vagrantSandbox/initGeneralScript.sh b/vagrantSandbox/initGeneralScript.sh
index 93e2034ae..672f49af0 100755
--- a/vagrantSandbox/initGeneralScript.sh
+++ b/vagrantSandbox/initGeneralScript.sh
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ OFDIR=/home/vagrant/foam/
 mkdir -vp $OFDIR
 chown -R vagrant:vagrant $OFDIR
 
+# for distros that don't have group vagrant
+chown -R vagrant $OFDIR
+
 OFClone=$OFDIR/foam-extend-3.0
 OFReference=$OFClone-parent
 
diff --git a/vagrantSandbox/initOpenSUSEScript.sh b/vagrantSandbox/initOpenSUSEScript.sh
index 0dd703394..d4be5b834 100755
--- a/vagrantSandbox/initOpenSUSEScript.sh
+++ b/vagrantSandbox/initOpenSUSEScript.sh
@@ -6,8 +6,24 @@ echo
 echo "Init script for $boxName"
 echo
 
+# Otherwise python/mercurial won't install
+zypper -n remove patterns-openSUSE-minimal_base-conflicts
+
+# patterns-openSUSE-devel_python
+
+neededPackages=(gcc-c++ mercurial git flex bison make ccache zlib-devel rpm-build)
+bonusPackages=(emacs csh tcsh zsh)
+
+for p in ${neededPackages[@]}; do
+    zypper -n install $p
+done
+
+for p in ${bonusPackages[@]}; do
+    zypper -n install $p
+done
+
 echo
-echo "FreeBSD-specific ended. Now doing general stuff"
+echo "OpenSUSE-specific ended. Now doing general stuff"
 echo
 
 /vagrant/initGeneralScript.sh