user_VBoxManage.xml@ 44978

Last change on this file since 44978 was 44948, checked in by vboxsync, 12 years ago
Main/SystemProperties+Machine: new config setting for default VM frontend. Frontend/VirtualBox+VBoxManage: changes to use the default VM frontend when starting a VM, other minor cleanups Main/xml/*.xsd: attempt to bring the XML schema close to reality doc/manual: document the new possibilities, and fix a few long standing inaccuracies
File size: 157.2 KB

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1	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2	<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
3	"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd">
4	<chapter id="vboxmanage">
5	<title>VBoxManage</title>
6
7	<sect1>
8	<title>Introduction</title>
9
10	<para>As briefly mentioned in <xref linkend="frontends" />, VBoxManage is
11	the command-line interface to VirtualBox. With it, you can completely
12	control VirtualBox from the command line of your host operating system.
13	VBoxManage supports all the features that the graphical user interface
14	gives you access to, but it supports a lot more than that. It exposes
15	really all the features of the virtualization engine, even those that
16	cannot (yet) be accessed from the GUI.</para>
17
18	<para>You will need to use the command line if you want to</para>
19
20	<para><itemizedlist>
21	<listitem>
22	<para>use a different user interface than the main GUI (for example,
23	VBoxSDL or the VBoxHeadless server);</para>
24	</listitem>
25
26	<listitem>
27	<para>control some of the more advanced and experimental
28	configuration settings for a VM.</para>
29	</listitem>
30	</itemizedlist></para>
31
32	<para>There are two main things to keep in mind when using
33	<computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput>: First,
34	<computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> must always be used with a
35	specific "subcommand", such as "list" or "createvm" or "startvm". All the
36	subcommands that <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> supports are
37	described in detail in <xref linkend="vboxmanage" />.</para>
38
39	<para>Second, most of these subcommands require that you specify a
40	particular virtual machine after the subcommand. There are two ways you
41	can do this:</para>
42
43	<itemizedlist>
44	<listitem>
45	<para>You can specify the VM name, as it is shown in the VirtualBox
46	GUI. Note that if that name contains spaces, then you must enclose the
47	entire name in double quotes (as it is always required with command
48	line arguments that contain spaces).</para>
49
50	<para>For example:<screen>VBoxManage startvm "Windows XP"</screen></para>
51	</listitem>
52
53	<listitem>
54	<para>You can specify the UUID, which is the internal unique
55	identifier that VirtualBox uses to refer to the virtual machine.
56	Assuming that the aforementioned VM called "Windows XP" has the UUID
57	shown below, the following command has the same effect as the
58	previous:<screen>VBoxManage startvm 670e746d-abea-4ba6-ad02-2a3b043810a5</screen></para>
59	</listitem>
60	</itemizedlist>
61
62	<para>You can type <computeroutput>VBoxManage list vms</computeroutput> to
63	have all currently registered VMs listed with all their settings,
64	including their respective names and UUIDs.</para>
65
66	<para>Some typical examples of how to control VirtualBox from the command
67	line are listed below:</para>
68
69	<itemizedlist>
70	<listitem>
71	<para>To create a new virtual machine from the command line and
72	immediately register it with VirtualBox, use
73	<computeroutput>VBoxManage createvm</computeroutput> with the
74	<computeroutput>--register</computeroutput> option,<footnote>
75	<para>For details, see <xref
76	linkend="vboxmanage-createvm" />.</para>
77	</footnote> like this:</para>
78
79	<screen>$ VBoxManage createvm --name "SUSE 10.2" --register
80	VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version $VBOX_VERSION_MAJOR.$VBOX_VERSION_MINOR.$VBOX_VERSION_BUILD
81	(C) 2005-$VBOX_C_YEAR $VBOX_VENDOR
82	All rights reserved.
83
84	Virtual machine 'SUSE 10.2' is created.
85	UUID: c89fc351-8ec6-4f02-a048-57f4d25288e5
86	Settings file: '/home/username/.config/VirtualBox/Machines/SUSE 10.2/SUSE 10.2.xml'
87	</screen>
88
89	<para>As can be seen from the above output, a new virtual machine has
90	been created with a new UUID and a new XML settings file.</para>
91	</listitem>
92
93	<listitem>
94	<para>To show the configuration of a particular VM, use
95	<computeroutput>VBoxManage showvminfo</computeroutput>; see <xref
96	linkend="vboxmanage-showvminfo" /> for details and an example.</para>
97	</listitem>
98
99	<listitem>
100	<para>To change settings while a VM is powered off, use
101	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>, e.g. as
102	follows:<screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows XP" --memory "512MB"</screen></para>
103
104	<para>For details, see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.</para>
105	</listitem>
106
107	<listitem>
108	<para>To change the storage configuration (e.g. to add a storage
109	controller and then a virtual disk), use <computeroutput>VBoxManage
110	storagectl</computeroutput> and <computeroutput>VBoxManage
111	storageattach</computeroutput>; see <xref
112	linkend="vboxmanage-storagectl" /> and <xref
113	linkend="vboxmanage-storageattach" /> for details.</para>
114	</listitem>
115
116	<listitem>
117	<para>To control VM operation, use one of the following:<itemizedlist>
118	<listitem>
119	<para>To start a VM that is currently powered off, use
120	<computeroutput>VBoxManage startvm</computeroutput>; see <xref
121	linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" /> for details.</para>
122	</listitem>
123
124	<listitem>
125	<para>To pause or save a VM that is currently running or change
126	some of its settings, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage
127	controlvm</computeroutput>; see <xref
128	linkend="vboxmanage-controlvm" /> for details.</para>
129	</listitem>
130	</itemizedlist></para>
131	</listitem>
132	</itemizedlist>
133	</sect1>
134
135	<sect1>
136	<title>Commands overview</title>
137
138	<para>When running VBoxManage without parameters or when supplying an
139	invalid command line, the below syntax diagram will be shown. Note that
140	the output will be slightly different depending on the host platform; when
141	in doubt, check the output of <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput>
142	for the commands available on your particular host.</para>
143
144	<screen>$VBOX_MANAGE_OUTPUT</screen>
145
146	<para>Each time VBoxManage is invoked, only one command can be executed.
147	However, a command might support several subcommands which then can be
148	invoked in one single call. The following sections provide detailed
149	reference information on the different commands.</para>
150	</sect1>
151
152	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-general">
153	<title>General options</title>
154	<para>
155	<itemizedlist>
156	<listitem>
157	<para><computeroutput>--version</computeroutput>: show the version of
158	this tool and exit.</para>
159	</listitem>
160	<listitem>
161	<para><computeroutput>--nologo</computeroutput>: suppress the output
162	of the logo information (useful for scripts)</para>
163	</listitem>
164	<listitem>
165	<para><computeroutput>--settingspw</computeroutput>: specifiy a settings
166	password</para>
167	</listitem>
168	<listitem>
169	<para><computeroutput>--settingspwfile</computeroutput>: specify a file
170	containing the settings password.</para>
171	</listitem>
172	</itemizedlist>
173	The settings password is used for certain settings which need to be
174	stored encrypted for security reasons. At the moment, the only encrypted
175	setting is the iSCSI initiator secret (see
176	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-storageattach" /> for details). As long as no
177	settings password is specified, this information is stored in
178	<emphasis role="bold">plain text</emphasis>. After using the
179	<computeroutput>--settingspw\|--settingspwfile</computeroutput> option
180	once, it must be always used, otherwise the encrypted setting cannot
181	be unencrypted.
182	</para>
183	</sect1>
184
185	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-list">
186	<title>VBoxManage list</title>
187
188	<para>The <computeroutput>list</computeroutput> command gives relevant
189	information about your system and information about VirtualBox's current
190	settings.</para>
191
192	<para>The following subcommands are available with
193	<computeroutput>VBoxManage list</computeroutput>: <itemizedlist>
194	<listitem>
195	<para><computeroutput>vms</computeroutput> lists all virtual
196	machines currently registered with VirtualBox. By default this
197	displays a compact list with each VM's name and UUID; if you also
198	specify <computeroutput>--long</computeroutput> or
199	<computeroutput>-l</computeroutput>, this will be a detailed list as
200	with the <computeroutput>showvminfo</computeroutput> command (see
201	below).</para>
202	</listitem>
203
204	<listitem>
205	<para><computeroutput>runningvms</computeroutput> lists all
206	currently running virtual machines by their unique identifiers
207	(UUIDs) in the same format as with
208	<computeroutput>vms</computeroutput>.</para>
209	</listitem>
210
211	<listitem>
212	<para><computeroutput>ostypes</computeroutput> lists all guest
213	operating systems presently known to VirtualBox, along with the
214	identifiers used to refer to them with the
215	<computeroutput>modifyvm</computeroutput> command.</para>
216	</listitem>
217
218	<listitem>
219	<para><computeroutput>hostdvds</computeroutput>,
220	<computeroutput>hostfloppies</computeroutput>, respectively, list
221	DVD, floppy, bridged networking and host-only networking interfaces
222	on the host, along with the name used to access them from within
223	VirtualBox.</para>
224	</listitem>
225
226	<listitem>
227	<para><computeroutput>bridgedifs</computeroutput>,
228	<computeroutput>hostonlyifs</computeroutput> and
229	<computeroutput>dhcpservers</computeroutput>, respectively, list
230	bridged network interfaces, host-only network interfaces and DHCP
231	servers currently available on the host. Please see <xref
232	linkend="networkingdetails" /> for details on these.</para>
233	</listitem>
234
235	<listitem>
236	<para><computeroutput>hostinfo</computeroutput> displays information
237	about the host system, such as CPUs, memory size and operating
238	system version.</para>
239	</listitem>
240
241	<listitem>
242	<para><computeroutput>hostcpuids</computeroutput> dumps the CPUID
243	parameters for the host CPUs. This can be used for a more fine
244	grained analyis of the host's virtualization capabilities.</para>
245	</listitem>
246
247	<listitem>
248	<para><computeroutput>hddbackends</computeroutput> lists all known
249	virtual disk back-ends of VirtualBox. For each such format (such as
250	VDI, VMDK or RAW), this lists the back-end's capabilities and
251	configuration.</para>
252	</listitem>
253
254	<listitem>
255	<para><computeroutput>hdds</computeroutput>,
256	<computeroutput>dvds</computeroutput> and
257	<computeroutput>floppies</computeroutput> all give you information
258	about virtual disk images currently in use by VirtualBox, including
259	all their settings, the unique identifiers (UUIDs) associated with
260	them by VirtualBox and all files associated with them. This is the
261	command-line equivalent of the Virtual Media Manager; see <xref
262	linkend="vdis" />.</para>
263	</listitem>
264
265	<listitem>
266	<para><computeroutput>usbhost</computeroutput> supplies information
267	about USB devices attached to the host, notably information useful
268	for constructing USB filters and whether they are currently in use
269	by the host.</para>
270	</listitem>
271
272	<listitem>
273	<para><computeroutput>usbfilters</computeroutput> lists all global
274	USB filters registered with VirtualBox -- that is, filters for
275	devices which are accessible to all virtual machines -- and displays
276	the filter parameters.</para>
277	</listitem>
278
279	<listitem>
280	<para><computeroutput>systemproperties</computeroutput> displays
281	some global VirtualBox settings, such as minimum and maximum guest
282	RAM and virtual hard disk size, folder settings and the current
283	authentication library in use.</para>
284	</listitem>
285
286	<listitem>
287	<para><computeroutput>extpacks</computeroutput> displays all
288	VirtualBox extension packs currently installed; see <xref
289	linkend="intro-installing" /> and <xref
290	linkend="vboxmanage-extpack" /> for more information.</para>
291	</listitem>
292	</itemizedlist></para>
293	</sect1>
294
295	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-showvminfo">
296	<title>VBoxManage showvminfo</title>
297
298	<para>The <computeroutput>showvminfo</computeroutput> command shows
299	information about a particular virtual machine. This is the same
300	information as <computeroutput>VBoxManage list vms --long</computeroutput>
301	would show for all virtual machines.</para>
302
303	<para>You will get information similar to the following:</para>
304
305	<para><screen>$ VBoxManage showvminfo "Windows XP"
306	VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version $VBOX_VERSION_MAJOR.$VBOX_VERSION_MINOR.$VBOX_VERSION_BUILD
307	(C) 2005-$VBOX_C_YEAR $VBOX_VENDOR
308	All rights reserved.
309
310	Name: Windows XP
311	Guest OS: Other/Unknown
312	UUID: 1bf3464d-57c6-4d49-92a9-a5cc3816b7e7
313	Config file: /home/username/.config/VirtualBox/Machines/Windows XP/Windows XP.xml
314	Memory size: 512MB
315	VRAM size: 12MB
316	Number of CPUs: 2
317	Synthetic Cpu: off
318	Boot menu mode: message and menu
319	Boot Device (1): DVD
320	Boot Device (2): HardDisk
321	Boot Device (3): Not Assigned
322	Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
323	ACPI: on
324	IOAPIC: on
325	PAE: on
326	Time offset: 0 ms
327	Hardw. virt.ext: on
328	Hardw. virt.ext exclusive: on
329	Nested Paging: on
330	VT-x VPID: off
331	State: powered off (since 2009-10-20T14:52:19.000000000)
332	Monitor count: 1
333	3D Acceleration: off
334	2D Video Acceleration: off
335	Teleporter Enabled: off
336	Teleporter Port: 0
337	Teleporter Address:
338	Teleporter Password:
339	Storage Controller (0): IDE Controller
340	Storage Controller Type (0): PIIX4
341	Storage Controller (1): Floppy Controller 1
342	Storage Controller Type (1): I82078
343	IDE Controller (0, 0): /home/user/windows.vdi (UUID: 46f6e53a-4557-460a-9b95-68b0f17d744b)
344	IDE Controller (0, 1): /home/user/openbsd-cd46.iso (UUID: 4335e162-59d3-4512-91d5-b63e94eebe0b)
345	Floppy Controller 1 (0, 0): /home/user/floppy.img (UUID: 62ac6ccb-df36-42f2-972e-22f836368137)
346	NIC 1: disabled
347	NIC 2: disabled
348	NIC 3: disabled
349	NIC 4: disabled
350	NIC 5: disabled
351	NIC 6: disabled
352	NIC 7: disabled
353	NIC 8: disabled
354	UART 1: disabled
355	UART 2: disabled
356	Audio: disabled (Driver: Unknown)
357	Clipboard Mode: Bidirectional
358	VRDE: disabled
359	USB: disabled
360
361	USB Device Filters:
362	<none>
363
364	Shared folders:
365	<none>
366
367	Statistics update: disabled
368	</screen></para>
369	</sect1>
370
371	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-registervm">
372	<title>VBoxManage registervm / unregistervm</title>
373
374	<para>The <computeroutput>registervm</computeroutput> command allows you
375	to import a virtual machine definition in an XML file into VirtualBox. The
376	machine must not conflict with one already registered in VirtualBox and it
377	may not have any hard or removable disks attached. It is advisable to
378	place the definition file in the machines folder before registering
379	it.<note>
380	<para>When creating a new virtual machine with
381	<computeroutput>VBoxManage createvm</computeroutput> (see below), you
382	can directly specify the <computeroutput>--register</computeroutput>
383	option to avoid having to register it separately.</para>
384	</note></para>
385
386	<para>The <computeroutput>unregistervm</computeroutput> command
387	unregisters a virtual machine. If
388	<computeroutput>--delete</computeroutput> is also specified, the following
389	files will automatically be deleted as well:<orderedlist>
390	<listitem>
391	<para>all hard disk image files, including differencing files, which
392	are used by the machine and not shared with other machines;</para>
393	</listitem>
394
395	<listitem>
396	<para>saved state files that the machine created, if any (one if the
397	machine was in "saved" state and one for each online
398	snapshot);</para>
399	</listitem>
400
401	<listitem>
402	<para>the machine XML file and its backups;</para>
403	</listitem>
404
405	<listitem>
406	<para>the machine log files, if any;</para>
407	</listitem>
408
409	<listitem>
410	<para>the machine directory, if it is empty after having deleted all
411	the above.</para>
412	</listitem>
413	</orderedlist></para>
414	</sect1>
415
416	<sect1>
417	<title id="vboxmanage-createvm">VBoxManage createvm</title>
418
419	<para>This command creates a new XML virtual machine definition
420	file.</para>
421
422	<para>The <computeroutput>--name <name></computeroutput> parameter
423	is required and must specify the name of the machine. Since this name is
424	used by default as the file name of the settings file (with the extension
425	<computeroutput>.xml</computeroutput>) and the machine folder (a subfolder
426	of the <computeroutput>.config/VirtualBox/Machines</computeroutput> folder - this folder name may vary depending on the operating system and the version of VirtualBox which you are using), it
427	must conform to your host operating system's requirements for file name
428	specifications. If the VM is later renamed, the file and folder names will
429	change automatically.</para>
430
431	<para>However, if the <computeroutput>--basefolder
432	<path></computeroutput> option is used, the machine folder will be
433	named <computeroutput><path></computeroutput>. In this case, the
434	names of the file and the folder will not change if the virtual machine is
435	renamed.</para>
436
437	<para>By default, this command only creates the XML file without
438	automatically registering the VM with your VirtualBox installation. To
439	register the VM instantly, use the optional
440	<computeroutput>--register</computeroutput> option, or run
441	<computeroutput>VBoxManage registervm</computeroutput> separately
442	afterwards.</para>
443	</sect1>
444
445	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm">
446	<title>VBoxManage modifyvm</title>
447
448	<para>This command changes the properties of a registered virtual machine
449	which is not running. Most of the properties that this command makes
450	available correspond to the VM settings that VirtualBox graphical user
451	interface displays in each VM's "Settings" dialog; these were described in
452	<xref linkend="BasicConcepts" />. Some of the more advanced settings,
453	however, are only available through the
454	<computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> interface.</para>
455
456	<para>These commands require that the machine is powered off (neither
457	running nor in "saved" state). Some machine settings can also be changed
458	while a machine is running; those settings will then have a corresponding
459	subcommand with the <computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm</computeroutput>
460	subcommand (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-controlvm" />).</para>
461
462	<sect2>
463	<title>General settings</title>
464
465	<para>The following general settings are available through
466	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>:<itemizedlist>
467	<listitem>
468	<para><computeroutput>--name <name></computeroutput>: This
469	changes the VM's name and possibly renames the internal virtual
470	machine files, as described with <computeroutput>VBoxManage
471	createvm</computeroutput> above.</para>
472	</listitem>
473
474	<listitem>
475	<para><computeroutput>--ostype <ostype></computeroutput>:
476	This specifies what guest operating system is supposed to run in
477	the VM. To learn about the various identifiers that can be used
478	here, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage list
479	ostypes</computeroutput>.</para>
480	</listitem>
481
482	<listitem>
483	<para><computeroutput>--memory
484	<memorysize></computeroutput>: This sets the amount of RAM,
485	in MB, that the virtual machine should allocate for itself from
486	the host. See the remarks in <xref linkend="gui-createvm" /> for
487	more information.</para>
488	</listitem>
489
490	<listitem>
491	<para><computeroutput>--vram <vramsize></computeroutput>:
492	This sets the amount of RAM that the virtual graphics card should
493	have. See <xref linkend="settings-display" /> for details.</para>
494	</listitem>
495
496	<listitem>
497	<para><computeroutput>--acpi on\|off</computeroutput>;
498	<computeroutput>--ioapic on\|off</computeroutput>: These two
499	determine whether the VM should have ACPI and I/O APIC support,
500	respectively; see <xref linkend="settings-motherboard" /> for
501	details.</para>
502	</listitem>
503
504	<listitem>
505	<para><computeroutput>--hardwareuuid
506	<uuid></computeroutput>: The UUID presented to the guest via
507	memory tables (DMI/SMBIOS), hardware and guest properties. By
508	default this is the same as the VM uuid. Useful when cloning a VM.
509	Teleporting takes care of this automatically.</para>
510	</listitem>
511
512	<listitem>
513	<para><computeroutput>--cpus <cpucount></computeroutput>:
514	This sets the number of virtual CPUs for the virtual machine (see
515	<xref linkend="settings-processor" />). If CPU hot-plugging is
516	enabled (see below), this then sets the
517	<emphasis>maximum</emphasis> number of virtual CPUs that can be
518	plugged into the virtual machines.</para>
519	</listitem>
520
521	<listitem>
522	<para><computeroutput>--rtcuseutc on\|off</computeroutput>: This
523	option lets the real-time clock (RTC) operate in UTC time (see
524	<xref linkend="settings-motherboard" />).</para>
525	</listitem>
526
527	<listitem>
528	<para><computeroutput>--cpuhotplug on\|off</computeroutput>: This
529	enables CPU hot-plugging. When enabled, virtual CPUs can be added
530	to and removed from a virtual machine while it is running. See
531	<xref linkend="cpuhotplug" /> for more information.</para>
532	</listitem>
533
534	<listitem>
535	<para><computeroutput>--plugcpu\|unplugcpu
536	<id></computeroutput>: If CPU hot-plugging is enabled (see
537	above), this adds a virtual CPU to the virtual machines (or
538	removes one). <computeroutput><id></computeroutput>
539	specifies the index of the virtual CPU to be added or removed and
540	must be a number from 0 to the maximum no. of CPUs configured with
541	the <computeroutput>--cpus</computeroutput> option. CPU 0 can
542	never be removed.</para>
543	</listitem>
544
545	<listitem>
546	<para><computeroutput>--cpuexecutioncap
547	<1-100></computeroutput>: This setting controls how much cpu
548	time a virtual CPU can use. A value of 50 implies a single virtual
549	CPU can use up to 50% of a single host CPU.</para>
550	</listitem>
551
552	<listitem>
553	<para><computeroutput>--synthcpu on\|off</computeroutput>: This
554	setting determines whether VirtualBox will expose a synthetic CPU
555	to the guest to allow live migration between host systems that
556	differ significantly.</para>
557	</listitem>
558
559	<listitem>
560	<para><computeroutput>--pae on\|off</computeroutput>: This
561	enables/disables PAE (see <xref
562	linkend="settings-processor" />).</para>
563	</listitem>
564
565	<listitem>
566	<para><computeroutput>--hpet on\|off</computeroutput>: This
567	enables/disables a High Precision Event Timer (HPET) which can
568	replace the legacy system timers. This is turned off by default.
569	Note that Windows supports a HPET only from Vista onwards.</para>
570	</listitem>
571
572	<listitem>
573	<para><computeroutput>--hwvirtex on\|off</computeroutput>: This
574	enables or disables the use of hardware virtualization extensions
575	(Intel VT-x or AMD-V) in the processor of your host system; see
576	<xref linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
577	</listitem>
578
579	<listitem>
580	<para><computeroutput>--hwvirtexexcl on\|off</computeroutput>: This
581	specifies whether VirtualBox will make exclusive use of the
582	hardware virtualization extensions (Intel VT-x or AMD-V) in the
583	processor of your host system; see <xref linkend="hwvirt" />. If
584	you wish to simultaneously share these extensions with other
585	hypervisors, then you must disable this setting. Doing so has
586	negative performance implications.</para>
587	</listitem>
588
589	<listitem>
590	<para><computeroutput>--nestedpaging on\|off</computeroutput>: If
591	hardware virtualization is enabled, this additional setting
592	enables or disables the use of the nested paging feature in the
593	processor of your host system; see <xref
594	linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
595	</listitem>
596
597	<listitem>
598	<para><computeroutput>--largepages on\|off</computeroutput>: If
599	hardware virtualization <emphasis>and</emphasis> nested paging are
600	enabled, for Intel VT-x only, an additional performance
601	improvement of up to 5% can be obtained by enabling this setting.
602	This causes the hypervisor to use large pages to reduce TLB use
603	and overhead.</para>
604	</listitem>
605
606	<listitem>
607	<para><computeroutput>--vtxvpid on\|off</computeroutput>: If
608	hardware virtualization is enabled, for Intel VT-x only, this
609	additional setting enables or disables the use of the tagged TLB
610	(VPID) feature in the processor of your host system; see <xref
611	linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
612	</listitem>
613
614	<listitem>
615	<para><computeroutput>--accelerate3d on\|off</computeroutput>: This
616	enables, if the Guest Additions are installed, whether hardware 3D
617	acceleration should be available; see <xref
618	linkend="guestadd-3d" />.</para>
619	</listitem>
620
621	<listitem>
622	<para>You can influence the BIOS logo that is displayed when a
623	virtual machine starts up with a number of settings. Per default,
624	a VirtualBox logo is displayed.</para>
625
626	<para>With <computeroutput>--bioslogofadein
627	on\|off</computeroutput> and <computeroutput>--bioslogofadeout
628	on\|off</computeroutput>, you can determine whether the logo should
629	fade in and out, respectively.</para>
630
631	<para>With <computeroutput>--bioslogodisplaytime
632	<msec></computeroutput> you can set how long the logo should
633	be visible, in milliseconds.</para>
634
635	<para>With <computeroutput>--bioslogoimagepath
636	<imagepath></computeroutput> you can, if you are so
637	inclined, replace the image that is shown, with your own logo. The
638	image must be an uncompressed 256 color BMP file without color
639	space information (Windows 3.0 format). The image must not be
640	bigger than 640 x 480.</para>
641	</listitem>
642
643	<listitem>
644	<para><computeroutput>--biosbootmenu
645	disabled\|menuonly\|messageandmenu</computeroutput>: This specifies
646	whether the BIOS allows the user to select a temporary boot
647	device. <computeroutput>menuonly</computeroutput> suppresses the
648	message, but the user can still press F12 to select a temporary
649	boot device.</para>
650	</listitem>
651
652	<listitem>
653	<para><computeroutput>--nicbootprio<1-N>
654	<priority></computeroutput>: This specifies the order in which
655	NICs are tried for booting over the network (using PXE). The
656	priority is an integer in the 0 to 4 range. Priority 1 is the
657	highest, priority 4 is low. Priority 0, which is the default unless
658	otherwise specified, is the lowest.
659	</para>
660	<para> Note that this option only has effect when the Intel PXE boot
661	ROM is used.
662	</para>
663	</listitem>
664
665	<listitem>
666	<para><computeroutput>--boot<1-4>
667	none\|floppy\|dvd\|disk\|net</computeroutput>: This specifies the boot
668	order for the virtual machine. There are four "slots", which the
669	VM will try to access from 1 to 4, and for each of which you can
670	set a device that the VM should attempt to boot from.</para>
671	</listitem>
672
673	<listitem>
674	<para><computeroutput>--snapshotfolder
675	default\|<path></computeroutput>: This allows you to specify
676	the folder in which snapshots will be kept for a virtual
677	machine.</para>
678	</listitem>
679
680	<listitem>
681	<para><computeroutput>--firmware efi\|bios</computeroutput>:
682	Specifies which firmware is used to boot particular virtual
683	machine: EFI or BIOS. Use EFI only if your fully understand what
684	you're doing.</para>
685	</listitem>
686
687	<listitem>
688	<para><computeroutput>--guestmemoryballoon
689	<size></computeroutput> sets the default size of the guest
690	memory balloon, that is, memory allocated by the VirtualBox Guest
691	Additions from the guest operating system and returned to the
692	hypervisor for re-use by other virtual machines. <size> must
693	be specified in megabytes. The default size is 0 megabytes. For
694	details, see <xref linkend="guestadd-balloon" />.</para>
695	</listitem>
696
697	<listitem>
698	<para><computeroutput>--lptmode<1-N>
699	<Device></computeroutput>
700	Specifies the Device Name of the parallel port that
701	the Parallel Port feature will be using. Use this
702	<emphasis>before</emphasis> <computeroutput>--lpt</computeroutput>.
703	This feature is host operating system specific.</para>
704	</listitem>
705
706	<listitem>
707	<para><computeroutput>--lpt<1-N>
708	<I/O base> <IRQ></computeroutput>
709	Specifies the I/O address of the parallel port and the IRQ
710	number that the Parallel Port feature will be using. Use this
711	<emphasis>after</emphasis>
712	<computeroutput>--lptmod</computeroutput>. I/O base address and IRQ are
713	the values that guest sees i.e. the values avalable under guest Device Manager.</para>
714	</listitem>
715
716	<listitem>
717	<para><computeroutput>--defaultfrontend
718	default\|<name></computeroutput>: This allows you to specify
719	the default frontend which will be used when starting this VM; see
720	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" /> for details.</para>
721	</listitem>
722	</itemizedlist></para>
723	</sect2>
724
725	<sect2>
726	<title>Networking settings</title>
727
728	<para>The following networking settings are available through
729	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>. With all these
730	settings, the decimal number directly following the option name ("1-N"
731	in the list below) specifies the virtual network adapter whose settings
732	should be changed.<itemizedlist>
733	<listitem>
734	<para><computeroutput>--nic<1-N>
735	none\|null\|nat\|bridged\|intnet\|hostonly\|generic
736	</computeroutput>: With
737	this, you can set, for each of the VM's virtual network cards,
738	what type of networking should be available. They can be not
739	present (<computeroutput>none</computeroutput>), not connected to
740	the host (<computeroutput>null</computeroutput>), use network
741	address translation (<computeroutput>nat</computeroutput>),
742	bridged networking (<computeroutput>bridged</computeroutput>) or
743	communicate with other virtual machines using internal networking
744	(<computeroutput>intnet</computeroutput>), host-only networking
745	(<computeroutput>hostonly</computeroutput>), or access rarely used
746	sub-modes (<computeroutput>generic</computeroutput>).
747	These options correspond
748	to the modes which are described in detail in <xref
749	linkend="networkingmodes" />.</para>
750	</listitem>
751
752	<listitem>
753	<para><computeroutput>--nictype<1-N>
754	Am79C970A\|Am79C973\|82540EM\|82543GC\|82545EM\|virtio</computeroutput>:
755	This allows you, for each of the VM's virtual network cards, to
756	specify which networking hardware VirtualBox presents to the
757	guest; see <xref linkend="nichardware" />.</para>
758	</listitem>
759
760	<listitem>
761	<para><computeroutput>--cableconnected<1-N>
762	on\|off</computeroutput>: This allows you to temporarily disconnect
763	a virtual network interface, as if a network cable had been pulled
764	from a real network card. This might be useful for resetting
765	certain software components in the VM.</para>
766	</listitem>
767
768	<listitem>
769	<para>With the "nictrace" options, you can optionally trace
770	network traffic by dumping it to a file, for debugging
771	purposes.</para>
772
773	<para>With <computeroutput>--nictrace<1-N>
774	on\|off</computeroutput>, you can enable network tracing for a
775	particular virtual network card.</para>
776
777	<para>If enabled, you must specify with
778	<computeroutput>--nictracefile<1-N>
779	<filename></computeroutput> what file the trace should be
780	logged to.</para>
781	</listitem>
782
783	<listitem>
784	<para><computeroutput>--bridgeadapter<1-N>
785	none\|<devicename></computeroutput>: If bridged networking
786	has been enabled for a virtual network card (see the
787	<computeroutput>--nic</computeroutput> option above; otherwise
788	this setting has no effect), use this option to specify which host
789	interface the given virtual network interface will use. For
790	details, please see <xref linkend="network_bridged" />.</para>
791	</listitem>
792
793	<listitem>
794	<para><computeroutput>--hostonlyadapter<1-N>
795	none\|<devicename></computeroutput>: If host-only networking
796	has been enabled for a virtual network card (see the --nic option
797	above; otherwise this setting has no effect), use this option to
798	specify which host-only networking interface the given virtual
799	network interface will use. For details, please see <xref
800	linkend="network_hostonly" />.</para>
801	</listitem>
802
803	<listitem>
804	<para><computeroutput>--intnet<1-N>
805	network</computeroutput>: If internal networking has been enabled
806	for a virtual network card (see the
807	<computeroutput>--nic</computeroutput> option above; otherwise
808	this setting has no effect), use this option to specify the name
809	of the internal network (see <xref
810	linkend="network_internal" />).</para>
811	</listitem>
812
813	<listitem>
814	<para><computeroutput>--macaddress<1-N>
815	auto\|<mac></computeroutput>: With this option you can set
816	the MAC address of the virtual network card. Normally, each
817	virtual network card is assigned a random address by VirtualBox at
818	VM creation.</para>
819	</listitem>
820
821	<listitem>
822	<para><computeroutput>--nicgenericdrv<1-N>
823	<backend driver></computeroutput>: If generic networking has been
824	enabled for a virtual network card (see the
825	<computeroutput>--nic</computeroutput> option above; otherwise
826	this setting has no effect), this mode allows you to access
827	rarely used networking sub-modes, such as VDE network or UDP Tunnel.
828	</para>
829	</listitem>
830
831	<listitem>
832	<para><computeroutput>--nicproperty<1-N>
833	<paramname>="paramvalue"</computeroutput>:
834	This option, in combination with "nicgenericdrv" allows you to
835	pass parameters to rarely-used network backends.</para><para>
836	Those parameters are backend engine-specific, and are different
837	between UDP Tunnel and the VDE backend drivers. For example,
838	please see <xref linkend="network_udp_tunnel" />.
839	</para>
840	</listitem>
841	</itemizedlist></para>
842
843	<sect3>
844	<title>NAT Networking settings.</title>
845
846	<para>The following NAT networking settings are available through
847	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>. With all these
848	settings, the decimal number directly following the option name ("1-N"
849	in the list below) specifies the virtual network adapter whose
850	settings should be changed.<itemizedlist>
851	<listitem>
852	<para><computeroutput>--natpf<1-N>
853	[<name>],tcp\|udp,[<hostip>],<hostport>,[<guestip>],
854	<guestport></computeroutput>: This option defines a NAT
855	port-forwarding rule (please see <xref linkend="natforward" />
856	for details).</para>
857	</listitem>
858
859	<listitem>
860	<para><computeroutput>--natpf<1-N> delete
861	<name></computeroutput>: This option deletes a NAT
862	port-forwarding rule (please see <xref linkend="natforward" />
863	for details).</para>
864	</listitem>
865
866	<listitem>
867	<para><computeroutput>--nattftpprefix<1-N>
868	<prefix></computeroutput>: This option defines a prefix
869	for the built-in TFTP server, i.e. where the boot file is
870	located (please see <xref linkend="nat-tftp" /> and <xref
871	linkend="nat-adv-tftp" /> for details).</para>
872	</listitem>
873
874	<listitem>
875	<para><computeroutput>--nattftpfile<1-N>
876	<bootfile></computeroutput>: This option defines the TFT
877	boot file (please see <xref linkend="nat-adv-tftp" /> for
878	details).</para>
879	</listitem>
880
881	<listitem>
882	<para><computeroutput>--nattftpserver<1-N>
883	<tftpserver></computeroutput>: This option defines the
884	TFTP server address to boot from (please see <xref
885	linkend="nat-adv-tftp" /> for details).</para>
886	</listitem>
887
888	<listitem>
889	<para><computeroutput>--natdnspassdomain<1-N>
890	on\|off</computeroutput>: This option specifies whether the
891	built-in DHCP server passes the domain name for network name
892	resolution.</para>
893	</listitem>
894
895	<listitem>
896	<para><computeroutput>--natdnsproxy<1-N>
897	on\|off</computeroutput>: This option makes the NAT engine proxy
898	all guest DNS requests to the host's DNS servers (please see
899	<xref linkend="nat-adv-dns" /> for details).</para>
900	</listitem>
901
902	<listitem>
903	<para><computeroutput>--natdnshostresolver<1-N>
904	on\|off</computeroutput>: This option makes the NAT engine use
905	the host's resolver mechanisms to handle DNS requests (please
906	see <xref linkend="nat-adv-dns" /> for details).</para>
907	</listitem>
908
909	<listitem>
910	<para><computeroutput>--natnatsettings<1-N>
911	[<mtu>],[<socksnd>],[<sockrcv>],[<tcpsnd>],
912	[<tcprcv>]</computeroutput>: This option controls several
913	NAT settings (please see <xref linkend="nat-adv-settings" /> for
914	details).</para>
915	</listitem>
916
917	<listitem>
918	<para><computeroutput>--nataliasmode<1-N>
919	default\|[log],[proxyonly],[sameports]</computeroutput>: This
920	option defines behaviour of NAT engine core: log - enables
921	logging, proxyonly - switches of aliasing mode makes NAT
922	transparent, sameports enforces NAT engine to send packets via
923	the same port as they originated on, default - disable all
924	mentioned modes above . (please see <xref
925	linkend="nat-adv-alias" /> for details).</para>
926	</listitem>
927	</itemizedlist></para>
928	</sect3>
929	</sect2>
930
931	<sect2 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm-other">
932	<title>Serial port, audio, clipboard and USB settings</title>
933
934	<para>The following other hardware settings are available through
935	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>:<itemizedlist>
936	<listitem>
937	<para><computeroutput>--uart<1-N> off\|<I/O base>
938	<IRQ></computeroutput>: With this option you can configure
939	virtual serial ports for the VM; see <xref
940	linkend="serialports" /> for an introduction.</para>
941	</listitem>
942
943	<listitem>
944	<para><computeroutput>--uartmode<1-N>
945	<arg></computeroutput>: This setting controls how VirtualBox
946	connects a given virtual serial port (previously configured with
947	the <computeroutput>--uartX</computeroutput> setting, see above)
948	to the host on which the virtual machine is running. As described
949	in detail in <xref linkend="serialports" />, for each such port,
950	you can specify <computeroutput><arg></computeroutput> as
951	one of the following options:<itemizedlist>
952	<listitem>
953	<para><computeroutput>disconnected</computeroutput>: Even
954	though the serial port is shown to the guest, it has no
955	"other end" -- like a real COM port without a cable.</para>
956	</listitem>
957
958	<listitem>
959	<para><computeroutput>server
960	<pipename></computeroutput>: On a Windows host, this
961	tells VirtualBox to create a named pipe on the host named
962	<computeroutput><pipename></computeroutput> and
963	connect the virtual serial device to it. Note that Windows
964	requires that the name of a named pipe begin with
965	<computeroutput>\\.\pipe\</computeroutput>.</para>
966
967	<para>On a Linux host, instead of a named pipe, a local
968	domain socket is used.</para>
969	</listitem>
970
971	<listitem>
972	<para><computeroutput>client
973	<pipename></computeroutput>: This operates just like
974	<computeroutput>server ...</computeroutput>, except that the
975	pipe (or local domain socket) is not created by VirtualBox,
976	but assumed to exist already.</para>
977	</listitem>
978
979	<listitem>
980	<para><computeroutput><devicename></computeroutput>:
981	If, instead of the above, the device name of a physical
982	hardware serial port of the host is specified, the virtual
983	serial port is connected to that hardware port. On a Windows
984	host, the device name will be a COM port such as
985	<computeroutput>COM1</computeroutput>; on a Linux host, the
986	device name will look like
987	<computeroutput>/dev/ttyS0</computeroutput>. This allows you
988	to "wire" a real serial port to a virtual machine.</para>
989	</listitem>
990	</itemizedlist></para>
991	</listitem>
992
993	<listitem>
994	<para><computeroutput>--audio none\|null\|oss</computeroutput>: With
995	this option, you can set whether the VM should have audio
996	support.</para>
997	</listitem>
998
999	<listitem>
1000	<para><computeroutput>--clipboard
1001	disabled\|hosttoguest\|guesttohost\|bidirectional</computeroutput>:
1002	With this setting, you can select whether the guest operating
1003	system's clipboard should be shared with the host; see <xref
1004	linkend="generalsettings" />. This requires that the Guest
1005	Additions be installed in the virtual machine.</para>
1006	</listitem>
1007
1008	<listitem>
1009	<para><computeroutput>--monitorcount
1010	<count></computeroutput>: This enables multi-monitor
1011	support; see <xref linkend="settings-display" />.</para>
1012	</listitem>
1013
1014	<listitem>
1015	<para><computeroutput>--usb on\|off</computeroutput>: This option
1016	enables or disables the VM's virtual USB controller; see <xref
1017	linkend="settings-usb" /> for details.</para>
1018	</listitem>
1019
1020	<listitem>
1021	<para><computeroutput>--usbehci on\|off</computeroutput>: This
1022	option enables or disables the VM's virtual USB 2.0 controller;
1023	see <xref linkend="settings-usb" /> for details.</para>
1024	</listitem>
1025	</itemizedlist></para>
1026	</sect2>
1027
1028	<sect2>
1029	<title>Remote machine settings</title>
1030
1031	<para>The following settings that affect remote machine behavior are
1032	available through <computeroutput>VBoxManage
1033	modifyvm</computeroutput>:<itemizedlist>
1034	<listitem>
1035	<para><computeroutput>--vrde on\|off</computeroutput>: With the
1036	VirtualBox graphical user interface, this enables or disables the
1037	VirtualBox remote desktop extension (VRDE) server. Note that if
1038	you are using <computeroutput>VBoxHeadless</computeroutput> (see
1039	<xref linkend="vboxheadless" />), VRDE is enabled by
1040	default.</para>
1041	</listitem>
1042
1043	<listitem>
1044	<para><computeroutput>--vrdeport
1045	default\|<ports></computeroutput>: A port or a range of ports
1046	the VRDE server can bind to; "default" or "0" means port 3389, the
1047	standard port for RDP. You can specify a comma-separated list of
1048	ports or ranges of ports. Use a dash between two port numbers to
1049	specify a range. The VRDE server will bind to <emphasis
1050	role="bold">one</emphasis> of available ports from the specified
1051	list. Only one machine can use a given port at a time. For
1052	example, the option <computeroutput> --vrdeport
1053	5000,5010-5012</computeroutput> will tell the server to bind to
1054	one of following ports: 5000, 5010, 5011 or 5012.</para>
1055	</listitem>
1056
1057	<listitem>
1058	<para><computeroutput>--vrdeaddress <IP
1059	address></computeroutput>: The IP address of the host network
1060	interface the VRDE server will bind to. If specified, the server
1061	will accept connections only on the specified host network
1062	interface.</para>
1063	</listitem>
1064
1065	<listitem>
1066	<para><computeroutput>--vrdeauthtype
1067	null\|external\|guest</computeroutput>: This allows you to choose
1068	whether and how authorization will be performed; see <xref
1069	linkend="vbox-auth" /> for details.</para>
1070	</listitem>
1071
1072	<listitem>
1073	<para><computeroutput>--vrdemulticon on\|off</computeroutput>: This
1074	enables multiple connections to the same VRDE server, if the
1075	server supports this feature; see <xref lang=""
1076	linkend="vrde-multiconnection" />.</para>
1077	</listitem>
1078
1079	<listitem>
1080	<para><computeroutput>--vrdereusecon on\|off</computeroutput>: This
1081	specifies the VRDE server behavior when multiple connections are
1082	disabled. When this option is enabled, the server will allow a new
1083	client to connect and will drop the existing connection. When this
1084	option is disabled (this is the default setting), a new connection
1085	will not be accepted if there is already a client connected to the
1086	server.</para>
1087	</listitem>
1088
1089	<listitem>
1090	<para><computeroutput>--vrdevideochannel on\|off</computeroutput>:
1091	This enables video redirection, if it is supported by the VRDE
1092	server; see <xref lang="" linkend="vrde-videochannel" />.</para>
1093	</listitem>
1094
1095	<listitem>
1096	<para><computeroutput>--vrdevideochannelquality
1097	<percent></computeroutput>: Sets the image quality for video
1098	redirection; see <xref lang=""
1099	linkend="vrde-videochannel" />.</para>
1100	</listitem>
1101	</itemizedlist></para>
1102	</sect2>
1103
1104	<sect2 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm-teleport">
1105	<title>Teleporting settings</title>
1106
1107	<para>With the following commands for <computeroutput>VBoxManage
1108	modifyvm</computeroutput> you can configure a machine to be a target for
1109	teleporting. See <xref linkend="teleporting" /> for an
1110	introduction.<itemizedlist>
1111	<listitem>
1112	<para><computeroutput>--teleporter on\|off</computeroutput>: With
1113	this setting you turn on or off whether a machine waits for a
1114	teleporting request to come in on the network when it is started.
1115	If "on", when the machine is started, it does not boot the virtual
1116	machine as it would normally; instead, it then waits for a
1117	teleporting request to come in on the port and address listed with
1118	the next two parameters.</para>
1119	</listitem>
1120
1121	<listitem>
1122	<para><computeroutput>--teleporterport
1123	<port></computeroutput>, <computeroutput>--teleporteraddress
1124	<address></computeroutput>: these must be used with
1125	--teleporter and tell the virtual machine on which port and
1126	address it should listen for a teleporting request from another
1127	virtual machine. <computeroutput><port></computeroutput> can
1128	be any free TCP/IP port number (e.g. 6000);
1129	<computeroutput><address></computeroutput> can be any IP
1130	address or hostname and specifies the TCP/IP socket to bind to.
1131	The default is "0.0.0.0", which means any address.</para>
1132	</listitem>
1133
1134	<listitem>
1135	<para><computeroutput>--teleporterpassword
1136	<password></computeroutput>: if this optional argument is
1137	given, then the teleporting request will only succeed if the
1138	source machine specifies the same password as the one given with
1139	this command.</para>
1140	</listitem>
1141
1142	<listitem>
1143	<para><computeroutput>--teleporterpasswordfile
1144	<password></computeroutput>: if this optional argument is
1145	given, then the teleporting request will only succeed if the
1146	source machine specifies the same password as the one specified
1147	in the file give with this command. Use <computeroutput>stdin</computeroutput>
1148	to read the password from stdin.</para>
1149	</listitem>
1150
1151	<listitem>
1152	<para><computeroutput>--cpuid <leaf> <eax> <ebx>
1153	<ecx> <edx></computeroutput>: Advanced users can use
1154	this command before a teleporting operation to restrict the
1155	virtual CPU capabilities that VirtualBox presents to the guest
1156	operating system. This must be run on both the source and the
1157	target machines involved in the teleporting and will then modify
1158	what the guest sees when it executes the
1159	<computeroutput>CPUID</computeroutput> machine instruction. This
1160	might help with misbehaving applications that wrongly assume that
1161	certain CPU capabilities are present. The meaning of the
1162	parameters is hardware dependent; please refer to the AMD or Intel
1163	processor manuals.</para>
1164	</listitem>
1165	</itemizedlist></para>
1166	</sect2>
1167	</sect1>
1168
1169	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-clonevm">
1170	<title>VBoxManage clonevm</title>
1171
1172	<para>This command creates a full or linked copy of an existing virtual
1173	machine.</para>
1174
1175	<para>The <computeroutput>clonevm</computeroutput> subcommand takes at
1176	least the name of the virtual machine which should be cloned. The following
1177	additional settings can be used to further configure the clone VM
1178	operation:</para>
1179
1180	<itemizedlist>
1181	<listitem>
1182	<para><computeroutput>--snapshot <uuid>\|<name></computeroutput>:
1183	Select a specific snapshot where the clone operation should refer
1184	to. Default is referring to the current state.</para>
1185	</listitem>
1186	<listitem>
1187	<para><computeroutput>--mode machine\|machineandchildren\|all</computeroutput>:
1188	Selects the cloning mode of the operation. If
1189	<computeroutput>machine</computeroutput> is selected (the default),
1190	the current state of the VM without any snapshots is cloned. In the
1191	<computeroutput>machineandchildren</computeroutput> mode the snapshot
1192	provided by <computeroutput>--snapshot</computeroutput> and all
1193	child snapshots are cloned. If <computeroutput>all</computeroutput>
1194	is the selected mode all snapshots and the current state are cloned.
1195	</para>
1196	</listitem>
1197	<listitem>
1198	<para><computeroutput>--options link\|keepallmacs\|keepnatmacs\|keepdisknames</computeroutput>:
1199	Allows additional fine tuning of the clone operation. The first
1200	option defines that a linked clone should be created, which is
1201	only possible for a machine clone from a snapshot. The next two
1202	options allow to define how the MAC addresses of every virtual
1203	network card should be handled. They can either be reinitialized
1204	(the default), left unchanged
1205	(<computeroutput>keepallmacs</computeroutput>) or left unchanged
1206	when the network type is NAT
1207	(<computeroutput>keepnatmacs</computeroutput>). If you add
1208	<computeroutput>keepdisknames</computeroutput> all new disk images
1209	are called like the original once, otherwise they are
1210	renamed.</para>
1211	</listitem>
1212	<listitem>
1213	<para><computeroutput>--name <name></computeroutput>: Select a
1214	new name for the new virtual machine. Default is "Original Name
1215	Clone".</para>
1216	</listitem>
1217	<listitem>
1218	<para><computeroutput>--basefolder <basefolder></computeroutput>:
1219	Select the folder where the new virtual machine configuration should
1220	be saved in.</para>
1221	</listitem>
1222	<listitem>
1223	<para><computeroutput>--uuid <uuid></computeroutput>:
1224	Select the UUID the new VM should have. This id has to be unique in
1225	the VirtualBox instance this clone should be registered. Default is
1226	creating a new UUID.</para>
1227	</listitem>
1228	<listitem>
1229	<para><computeroutput>--register</computeroutput>:
1230	Automatically register the new clone in this VirtualBox
1231	installation. If you manually want register the new VM later, see
1232	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-registervm" /> for instructions how to do
1233	so.</para>
1234	</listitem>
1235	</itemizedlist>
1236	</sect1>
1237
1238	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-import">
1239	<title>VBoxManage import</title>
1240
1241	<para>This command imports a virtual appliance in OVF format by copying
1242	the virtual disk images and creating virtual machines in VirtualBox. See
1243	<xref linkend="ovf" /> for an introduction to appliances.</para>
1244
1245	<para>The <computeroutput>import</computeroutput> subcommand takes at
1246	least the path name of an OVF file as input and expects the disk images,
1247	if needed, in the same directory as the OVF file. A lot of additional
1248	command-line options are supported to control in detail what is being
1249	imported and modify the import parameters, but the details depend on the
1250	content of the OVF file.</para>
1251
1252	<para>It is therefore recommended to first run the import subcommand with
1253	the <computeroutput>--dry-run</computeroutput> or
1254	<computeroutput>-n</computeroutput> option. This will then print a
1255	description of the appliance's contents to the screen how it would be
1256	imported into VirtualBox, together with the optional command-line options
1257	to influence the import behavior.</para>
1258
1259	<para>As an example, here is the screen output with a sample appliance
1260	containing a Windows XP guest:<screen>VBoxManage import WindowsXp.ovf --dry-run
1261	Interpreting WindowsXp.ovf...
1262	OK.
1263	Virtual system 0:
1264	0: Suggested OS type: "WindowsXP"
1265	(change with "--vsys 0 --ostype <type>"; use "list ostypes" to list all)
1266	1: Suggested VM name "Windows XP Professional_1"
1267	(change with "--vsys 0 --vmname <name>")
1268	3: Number of CPUs: 1
1269	(change with "--vsys 0 --cpus <n>")
1270	4: Guest memory: 956 MB (change with "--vsys 0 --memory <MB>")
1271	5: Sound card (appliance expects "ensoniq1371", can change on import)
1272	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 5 --ignore")
1273	6: USB controller
1274	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 6 --ignore")
1275	7: Network adapter: orig bridged, config 2, extra type=bridged
1276	8: Floppy
1277	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 8 --ignore")
1278	9: SCSI controller, type BusLogic
1279	(change with "--vsys 0 --unit 9 --scsitype {BusLogic\|LsiLogic}";
1280	disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 9 --ignore")
1281	10: IDE controller, type PIIX4
1282	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 10 --ignore")
1283	11: Hard disk image: source image=WindowsXp.vmdk,
1284	target path=/home/user/disks/WindowsXp.vmdk, controller=9;channel=0
1285	(change controller with "--vsys 0 --unit 11 --controller <id>";
1286	disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 11 --ignore")</screen></para>
1287
1288	<para>As you can see, the individual configuration items are numbered, and
1289	depending on their type support different command-line options. The import
1290	subcommand can be directed to ignore many such items with a
1291	<computeroutput>--vsys X --unit Y --ignore</computeroutput> option, where
1292	X is the number of the virtual system (zero unless there are several
1293	virtual system descriptions in the appliance) and Y the item number, as
1294	printed on the screen.</para>
1295
1296	<para>In the above example, Item #1 specifies the name of the target
1297	machine in VirtualBox. Items #9 and #10 specify hard disk controllers,
1298	respectively. Item #11 describes a hard disk image; in this case, the
1299	additional <computeroutput>--controller</computeroutput> option indicates
1300	which item the disk image should be connected to, with the default coming
1301	from the OVF file.</para>
1302
1303	<para>You can combine several items for the same virtual system behind the
1304	same <computeroutput>--vsys</computeroutput> option. For example, to
1305	import a machine as described in the OVF, but without the sound card and
1306	without the USB controller, and with the disk image connected to the IDE
1307	controller instead of the SCSI controller, use this:<screen>VBoxManage import WindowsXp.ovf
1308	--vsys 0 --unit 5 --ignore --unit 6 --ignore --unit 11 --controller 10</screen></para>
1309	</sect1>
1310
1311	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-export">
1312	<title>VBoxManage export</title>
1313
1314	<para>This command exports one or more virtual machines from VirtualBox
1315	into a virtual appliance in OVF format, including copying their virtual
1316	disk images to compressed VMDK. See <xref linkend="ovf" /> for an
1317	introduction to appliances.</para>
1318
1319	<para>The <computeroutput>export</computeroutput> command is simple to
1320	use: list the machine (or the machines) that you would like to export to
1321	the same OVF file and specify the target OVF file after an additional
1322	<computeroutput>--output</computeroutput> or
1323	<computeroutput>-o</computeroutput> option. Note that the directory of the
1324	target OVF file will also receive the exported disk images in the
1325	compressed VMDK format (regardless of the original format) and should have
1326	enough disk space left for them.</para>
1327
1328	<para>Beside a simple export of a given virtual machine, you can append
1329	several product information to the appliance file. Use
1330	<computeroutput>--product</computeroutput>,
1331	<computeroutput>--producturl</computeroutput>,
1332	<computeroutput>--vendor</computeroutput>,
1333	<computeroutput>--vendorurl</computeroutput> and
1334	<computeroutput>--version</computeroutput> to specify this additional
1335	information. For legal reasons you may add a license text or the content
1336	of a license file by using the <computeroutput>--eula</computeroutput> and
1337	<computeroutput>--eulafile</computeroutput> option respectively. As with
1338	OVF import, you must use the <computeroutput>--vsys X</computeroutput>
1339	option to direct the previously mentioned options to the correct virtual
1340	machine.</para>
1341
1342	<para>For virtualization products which aren't fully compatible with the
1343	OVF standard 1.0 you can enable a OVF 0.9 legacy mode with the
1344	<computeroutput>--legacy09</computeroutput> option.</para>
1345	</sect1>
1346
1347	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-startvm">
1348	<title>VBoxManage startvm</title>
1349
1350	<para>This command starts a virtual machine that is currently in the
1351	"Powered off" or "Saved" states.</para>
1352
1353	<para>The optional <computeroutput>--type</computeroutput> specifier
1354	determines whether the machine will be started in a window or whether the
1355	output should go through <computeroutput>VBoxHeadless</computeroutput>,
1356	with VRDE enabled or not; see <xref linkend="vboxheadless" /> for more
1357	information. The list of types is subject to change, and it's not
1358	guaranteed that all types are accepted by any product variant.</para>
1359
1360	<para>The global or per-VM default value for the VM frontend type will be
1361	taken if the type is not explicitly specified. If none of these are set,
1362	the GUI variant will be started.</para>
1363
1364	<para>The following values are allowed:</para>
1365
1366	<glosslist>
1367	<glossentry>
1368	<glossterm>gui</glossterm>
1369
1370	<glossdef>
1371	<para>Starts a VM showing a GUI window. This is the default.</para>
1372	</glossdef>
1373	</glossentry>
1374
1375	<glossentry>
1376	<glossterm>headless</glossterm>
1377
1378	<glossdef>
1379	<para>Starts a VM without a window for remote display only.</para>
1380	</glossdef>
1381	</glossentry>
1382
1383	<glossentry>
1384	<glossterm>sdl</glossterm>
1385
1386	<glossdef>
1387	<para>Starts a VM with a minimal GUI and limited features.</para>
1388	</glossdef>
1389	</glossentry>
1390	</glosslist>
1391
1392	<note>
1393	<para>If you experience problems with starting virtual machines with
1394	particular frontends and there is no conclusive error information,
1395	consider starting virtual machines directly by running the respective
1396	front-end, as this can give additional error information.</para>
1397	</note>
1398	</sect1>
1399
1400	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-controlvm">
1401	<title>VBoxManage controlvm</title>
1402
1403	<para>The <computeroutput>controlvm</computeroutput> subcommand allows you
1404	to change the state of a virtual machine that is currently running. The
1405	following can be specified:</para>
1406
1407	<para><itemizedlist>
1408	<listitem>
1409	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1410	pause</computeroutput> temporarily puts a virtual machine on hold,
1411	without changing its state for good. The VM window will be painted
1412	in gray to indicate that the VM is currently paused. (This is
1413	equivalent to selecting the "Pause" item in the "Machine" menu of
1414	the GUI.)</para>
1415	</listitem>
1416
1417	<listitem>
1418	<para>Use <computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1419	resume</computeroutput> to undo a previous
1420	<computeroutput>pause</computeroutput> command. (This is equivalent
1421	to selecting the "Resume" item in the "Machine" menu of the
1422	GUI.)</para>
1423	</listitem>
1424
1425	<listitem>
1426	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1427	reset</computeroutput> has the same effect on a virtual machine as
1428	pressing the "Reset" button on a real computer: a cold reboot of the
1429	virtual machine, which will restart and boot the guest operating
1430	system again immediately. The state of the VM is not saved
1431	beforehand, and data may be lost. (This is equivalent to selecting
1432	the "Reset" item in the "Machine" menu of the GUI.)</para>
1433	</listitem>
1434
1435	<listitem>
1436	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1437	poweroff</computeroutput> has the same effect on a virtual machine
1438	as pulling the power cable on a real computer. Again, the state of
1439	the VM is not saved beforehand, and data may be lost. (This is
1440	equivalent to selecting the "Close" item in the "Machine" menu of
1441	the GUI or pressing the window's close button, and then selecting
1442	"Power off the machine" in the dialog.)</para>
1443
1444	<para>After this, the VM's state will be "Powered off". From there,
1445	it can be started again; see <xref
1446	linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />.</para>
1447	</listitem>
1448
1449	<listitem>
1450	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1451	savestate</computeroutput> will save the current state of the VM to
1452	disk and then stop the VM. (This is equivalent to selecting the
1453	"Close" item in the "Machine" menu of the GUI or pressing the
1454	window's close button, and then selecting "Save the machine state"
1455	in the dialog.)</para>
1456
1457	<para>After this, the VM's state will be "Saved". From there, it can
1458	be started again; see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />.</para>
1459	</listitem>
1460
1461	<listitem>
1462	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm> teleport
1463	--hostname <name> --port <port> [--passwordfile
1464	<file> \| --password <password>]</computeroutput> makes
1465	the machine the source of a teleporting operation and initiates a
1466	teleport to the given target. See <xref linkend="teleporting" /> for
1467	an introduction. If the optional password is specified, it must match
1468	the password that was given to the
1469	<computeroutput>modifyvm</computeroutput> command for the target
1470	machine; see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm-teleport" /> for
1471	details.</para>
1472	</listitem>
1473	</itemizedlist></para>
1474
1475	<para>A few extra options are available with
1476	<computeroutput>controlvm</computeroutput> that do not directly affect the
1477	VM's running state:</para>
1478
1479	<itemizedlist>
1480	<listitem>
1481	<para>The <computeroutput>setlinkstate<1-N></computeroutput>
1482	operation connects or disconnects virtual network cables from their
1483	network interfaces.</para>
1484	</listitem>
1485
1486	<listitem>
1487	<para><computeroutput>nic<1-N>
1488	null\|nat\|bridged\|intnet\|hostonly\|generic</computeroutput>: With this, you can
1489	set, for each of the VM's virtual network cards, what type of
1490	networking should be available. They can be not connected to the host
1491	(<computeroutput>null</computeroutput>), use network address
1492	translation (<computeroutput>nat</computeroutput>), bridged networking
1493	(<computeroutput>bridged</computeroutput>) or communicate with other
1494	virtual machines using internal networking
1495	(<computeroutput>intnet</computeroutput>) or host-only networking
1496	(<computeroutput>hostonly</computeroutput>) or access to rarely used
1497	sub-modes
1498	(<computeroutput>generic</computeroutput>). These options correspond
1499	to the modes which are described in detail in <xref
1500	linkend="networkingmodes" />.</para>
1501	</listitem>
1502
1503	<listitem>
1504	<para><computeroutput>usbattach</computeroutput> and
1505	<computeroutput>usbdettach</computeroutput> make host USB devices
1506	visible to the virtual machine on the fly, without the need for
1507	creating filters first. The USB devices can be specified by UUID
1508	(unique identifier) or by address on the host system.</para>
1509
1510	<para>You can use <computeroutput>VBoxManage list
1511	usbhost</computeroutput> to locate this information.</para>
1512	</listitem>
1513
1514	<listitem>
1515	<para><computeroutput>vrde on\|off</computeroutput> lets you enable or
1516	disable the VRDE server, if it is installed.</para>
1517	</listitem>
1518
1519	<listitem>
1520	<para><computeroutput>vrdeport default\|<ports></computeroutput>
1521	changes the port or a range of ports that the VRDE server can bind to;
1522	"default" or "0" means port 3389, the standard port for RDP. For
1523	details, see the description for the
1524	<computeroutput>--vrdeport</computeroutput> option in <xref
1525	linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm-other" />.</para>
1526	</listitem>
1527
1528	<listitem>
1529	<para><computeroutput>setvideomodehint</computeroutput> requests that
1530	the guest system change to a particular video mode. This requires that
1531	the Guest Additions be installed, and will not work for all guest
1532	systems.</para>
1533	</listitem>
1534
1535	<listitem>
1536	<para><computeroutput>screenshotpng</computeroutput> takes a screenshot
1537	of the guest display and saves it in PNG format.</para>
1538	</listitem>
1539
1540	<listitem>
1541	<para>The <computeroutput>setcredentials</computeroutput> operation is
1542	used for remote logons in Windows guests. For details, please refer to
1543	<xref linkend="autologon" />.</para>
1544	</listitem>
1545
1546	<listitem>
1547	<para>The <computeroutput>guestmemoryballoon</computeroutput>
1548	operation changes the size of the guest memory balloon, that is,
1549	memory allocated by the VirtualBox Guest Additions from the guest
1550	operating system and returned to the hypervisor for re-use by other
1551	virtual machines. This must be specified in megabytes. For details,
1552	see <xref linkend="guestadd-balloon" />.</para>
1553	</listitem>
1554
1555	<listitem>
1556	<para>The <computeroutput>cpuexecutioncap
1557	<1-100></computeroutput>: This operation controls how much cpu
1558	time a virtual CPU can use. A value of 50 implies a single virtual CPU
1559	can use up to 50% of a single host CPU.</para>
1560	</listitem>
1561	</itemizedlist>
1562	</sect1>
1563
1564	<sect1>
1565	<title>VBoxManage discardstate</title>
1566
1567	<para>This command discards the saved state of a virtual machine which is
1568	not currently running, which will cause its operating system to restart
1569	next time you start it. This is the equivalent of pulling out the power
1570	cable on a physical machine, and should be avoided if possible.</para>
1571	</sect1>
1572
1573	<sect1>
1574	<title>VBoxManage adoptstate</title>
1575
1576	<para>If you have a saved state file (<computeroutput>.sav</computeroutput>)
1577	that is seperate from the VM configuration, you can use this command to
1578	"adopt" the file. This will change the VM to saved state and when you
1579	start it, VirtualBox will attempt to restore it from the saved state file
1580	you indicated. This command should only be used in special setups.</para>
1581	</sect1>
1582
1583	<sect1>
1584	<title>VBoxManage snapshot</title>
1585
1586	<para>This command is used to control snapshots from the command line. A
1587	snapshot consists of a complete copy of the virtual machine settings,
1588	copied at the time when the snapshot was taken, and optionally a virtual
1589	machine saved state file if the snapshot was taken while the machine was
1590	running. After a snapshot has been taken, VirtualBox creates differencing
1591	hard disk for each normal hard disk associated with the machine so that
1592	when a snapshot is restored, the contents of the virtual machine's virtual
1593	hard disks can be quickly reset by simply dropping the pre-existing
1594	differencing files.</para>
1595
1596	<para>The <computeroutput>take</computeroutput> operation takes a snapshot
1597	of the current state of the virtual machine. You must supply a name for
1598	the snapshot and can optionally supply a description. The new snapshot is
1599	inserted into the snapshots tree as a child of the current snapshot and
1600	then becomes the new current snapshot.</para>
1601
1602	<para>The <computeroutput>delete</computeroutput> operation deletes a
1603	snapshot (specified by name or by UUID). This can take a while to finish
1604	since the differencing images associated with the snapshot might need to
1605	be merged with their child differencing images.</para>
1606
1607	<para>The <computeroutput>restore</computeroutput> operation will restore
1608	the given snapshot (specified by name or by UUID) by resetting the virtual
1609	machine's settings and current state to that of the snapshot. The previous
1610	current state of the machine will be lost. After this, the given snapshot
1611	becomes the new "current" snapshot so that subsequent snapshots are
1612	inserted under the snapshot from which was restored.</para>
1613
1614	<para>The <computeroutput>restorecurrent</computeroutput> operation is a
1615	shortcut to restore the current snapshot (i.e. the snapshot from which the
1616	current state is derived). This subcommand is equivalent to using the
1617	"restore" subcommand with the name or UUID of the current snapshot, except
1618	that it avoids the extra step of determining that name or UUID.</para>
1619
1620	<para>With the <computeroutput>edit</computeroutput> operation, you can
1621	change the name or description of an existing snapshot.</para>
1622
1623	<para>With the <computeroutput>showvminfo</computeroutput> operation, you
1624	can view the virtual machine settings that were stored with an existing
1625	snapshot.</para>
1626	</sect1>
1627
1628	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-closemedium">
1629	<title>VBoxManage closemedium</title>
1630
1631	<para>This commands removes a hard disk, DVD or floppy image from a
1632	VirtualBox media registry.<footnote>
1633	<para>Before VirtualBox 4.0, it was necessary to call VBoxManage
1634	openmedium before a medium could be attached to a virtual machine;
1635	that call "registered" the medium with the global VirtualBox media
1636	registry. With VirtualBox 4.0 this is no longer necessary; media are
1637	added to media registries automatically. The "closemedium" call has
1638	been retained, however, to allow for explicitly removing a medium from
1639	a registry.</para>
1640	</footnote></para>
1641
1642	<para>Optionally, you can request that the image be deleted. You will get
1643	appropriate diagnostics that the deletion failed, however the image will
1644	become unregistered in any case.</para>
1645	</sect1>
1646
1647	<sect1>
1648	<title id="vboxmanage-storageattach">VBoxManage storageattach</title>
1649
1650	<para>This command attaches/modifies/removes a storage medium connected to
1651	a storage controller that was previously added with the
1652	<computeroutput>storagectl</computeroutput> command (see the previous
1653	section). The syntax is as follows:</para>
1654
1655	<screen>VBoxManage storageattach <uuid\|vmname>
1656	--storagectl <name>
1657	[--port <number>]
1658	[--device <number>]
1659	[--type dvddrive\|hdd\|fdd]
1660	[--medium none\|emptydrive\|
1661	<uuid>\|<filename>\|host:<drive>\|iscsi]
1662	[--mtype normal\|writethrough\|immutable\|shareable]
1663	[--comment <text>]
1664	[--setuuid <uuid>]
1665	[--setparentuuid <uuid>]
1666	[--passthrough on\|off]
1667	[--tempeject on\|off]
1668	[--nonrotational on\|off]
1669	[--discard on\|off]
1670	[--bandwidthgroup name\|none]
1671	[--forceunmount]
1672	[--server <name>\|<ip>]
1673	[--target <target>]
1674	[--tport <port>]
1675	[--lun <lun>]
1676	[--encodedlun <lun>]
1677	[--username <username>]
1678	[--password <password>]
1679	[--initiator <initiator>]
1680	[--intnet]
1681	</screen>
1682
1683	<para>A number of parameters are commonly required; the ones at the end of
1684	the list are required only for iSCSI targets (see below).</para>
1685
1686	<para>The common parameters are:<glosslist>
1687	<glossentry>
1688	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
1689
1690	<glossdef>
1691	<para>The VM UUID or VM Name. Mandatory.</para>
1692	</glossdef>
1693	</glossentry>
1694
1695	<glossentry>
1696	<glossterm>storagectl</glossterm>
1697
1698	<glossdef>
1699	<para>Name of the storage controller. Mandatory. The list of the
1700	storage controllers currently attached to a VM can be obtained
1701	with <computeroutput>VBoxManage showvminfo</computeroutput>; see
1702	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-showvminfo" />.</para>
1703	</glossdef>
1704	</glossentry>
1705
1706	<glossentry>
1707	<glossterm>port</glossterm>
1708
1709	<glossdef>
1710	<para>The number of the storage controller's port which is to be
1711	modified. Mandatory, unless the storage controller has only a
1712	single port.</para>
1713	</glossdef>
1714	</glossentry>
1715
1716	<glossentry>
1717	<glossterm>device</glossterm>
1718
1719	<glossdef>
1720	<para>The number of the port's device which is to be modified.
1721	Mandatory, unless the storage controller has only a single device
1722	per port.</para>
1723	</glossdef>
1724	</glossentry>
1725
1726	<glossentry>
1727	<glossterm>type</glossterm>
1728
1729	<glossdef>
1730	<para>Define the type of the drive to which the medium is being
1731	attached/detached/modified. This argument can only be omitted if
1732	the type of medium can be determined from either the medium given
1733	with the <computeroutput>--medium</computeroutput> argument or
1734	from a previous medium attachment.</para>
1735	</glossdef>
1736	</glossentry>
1737
1738	<glossentry>
1739	<glossterm>medium</glossterm>
1740
1741	<glossdef>
1742	<para>Specifies what is to be attached. The following values are
1743	supported:<itemizedlist>
1744	<listitem>
1745	<para>"none": Any existing device should be removed from the
1746	given slot.</para>
1747	</listitem>
1748
1749	<listitem>
1750	<para>"emptydrive": For a virtual DVD or floppy drive only,
1751	this makes the device slot behaves like a removeable drive
1752	into which no media has been inserted.</para>
1753	</listitem>
1754
1755	<listitem>
1756	<para>"additions": For a virtual DVD drive only, this
1757	attaches the <emphasis>VirtualBox Guest Additions</emphasis>
1758	image to the given device slot.</para>
1759	</listitem>
1760
1761	<listitem>
1762	<para>If a UUID is specified, it must be the UUID of a
1763	storage medium that is already known to VirtualBox (e.g.
1764	because it has been attached to another virtual machine).
1765	See <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> for how to list known
1766	media. This medium is then attached to the given device
1767	slot.</para>
1768	</listitem>
1769
1770	<listitem>
1771	<para>If a filename is specified, it must be the full path
1772	of an existing disk image (ISO, RAW, VDI, VMDK or other),
1773	which is then attached to the given device slot.</para>
1774	</listitem>
1775
1776	<listitem>
1777	<para>"host:<drive>": For a virtual DVD or floppy
1778	drive only, this connects the given device slot to the
1779	specified DVD or floppy drive on the host computer.</para>
1780	</listitem>
1781
1782	<listitem>
1783	<para>"iscsi": For virtual hard disks only, this allows for
1784	specifying an iSCSI target. In this case, more parameters
1785	must be given; see below.</para>
1786	</listitem>
1787	</itemizedlist></para>
1788
1789	<para>Some of the above changes, in particular for removeable
1790	media (floppies and CDs/DVDs), can be effected while a VM is
1791	running. Others (device changes or changes in hard disk device
1792	slots) require the VM to be powered off.</para>
1793	</glossdef>
1794	</glossentry>
1795
1796	<glossentry>
1797	<glossterm>mtype</glossterm>
1798
1799	<glossdef>
1800	<para>Defines how this medium behaves with respect to snapshots
1801	and write operations. See <xref linkend="hdimagewrites" /> for
1802	details.</para>
1803	</glossdef>
1804	</glossentry>
1805
1806	<glossentry>
1807	<glossterm>comment</glossterm>
1808
1809	<glossdef>
1810	<para>Any description that you want to have stored with this
1811	medium (optional; for example, for an iSCSI target, "Big storage
1812	server downstairs"). This is purely descriptive and not needed for
1813	the medium to function correctly.</para>
1814	</glossdef>
1815	</glossentry>
1816
1817	<glossentry>
1818	<glossterm>setuuid, setparentuuid</glossterm>
1819
1820	<glossdef>
1821	<para>Modifies the UUID or parent UUID of a medium before
1822	attaching it to a VM. This is an expert option. Inappropriate use
1823	can make the medium unusable or lead to broken VM configurations
1824	if any other VM is referring to the same media already. The most
1825	frequently used variant is <code>--setuuid ""</code>, which assigns
1826	a new (random) UUID to an image. This is useful to resolve the
1827	duplicate UUID errors if one duplicated an image using file copy
1828	utilities.</para>
1829	</glossdef>
1830	</glossentry>
1831
1832	<glossentry>
1833	<glossterm>passthrough</glossterm>
1834
1835	<glossdef>
1836	<para>For a virtual DVD drive only, you can enable DVD writing
1837	support (currently experimental; see <xref
1838	linkend="storage-cds" />).</para>
1839	</glossdef>
1840	</glossentry>
1841
1842	<glossentry>
1843	<glossterm>tempeject</glossterm>
1844
1845	<glossdef>
1846	<para>For a virtual DVD drive only, you can configure the behavior
1847	for guest-triggered medium eject. If this is set to "on", the eject
1848	has only temporary effects. If the VM is powered off and restarted
1849	the originally configured medium will be still in the drive.</para>
1850	</glossdef>
1851	</glossentry>
1852
1853	<glossentry>
1854	<glossterm>nonrotational</glossterm>
1855
1856	<glossdef>
1857	<para>This switch allows to enable the non-rotational flag for virtual
1858	hard disks. Some guests (i.e. Windows 7+) treat such disks like SSDs
1859	and don't perform disk fragmentation on such media.
1860	</para>
1861	</glossdef>
1862	</glossentry>
1863
1864	<glossentry>
1865	<glossterm>bandwidthgroup</glossterm>
1866
1867	<glossdef>
1868	<para>Sets the bandwidth group to use for the given device; see
1869	<xref linkend="storage-bandwidth-limit" />.</para>
1870	</glossdef>
1871	</glossentry>
1872
1873	<glossentry>
1874	<glossterm>forceunmount</glossterm>
1875
1876	<glossdef>
1877	<para>For a virtual DVD or floppy drive only, this forcibly
1878	unmounts the DVD/CD/Floppy or mounts a new DVD/CD/Floppy even if
1879	the previous one is locked down by the guest for reading. Again,
1880	see <xref linkend="storage-cds" /> for details.</para>
1881	</glossdef>
1882	</glossentry>
1883	</glosslist></para>
1884
1885	<para>When "iscsi" is used with the
1886	<computeroutput>--medium</computeroutput> parameter for iSCSI support --
1887	see <xref linkend="storage-iscsi" /> --, additional parameters must or can
1888	be used:<glosslist>
1889	<glossentry>
1890	<glossterm>server</glossterm>
1891
1892	<glossdef>
1893	<para>The host name or IP address of the iSCSI target;
1894	required.</para>
1895	</glossdef>
1896	</glossentry>
1897
1898	<glossentry>
1899	<glossterm>target</glossterm>
1900
1901	<glossdef>
1902	<para>Target name string. This is determined by the iSCSI target
1903	and used to identify the storage resource; required.</para>
1904	</glossdef>
1905	</glossentry>
1906
1907	<glossentry>
1908	<glossterm>tport</glossterm>
1909
1910	<glossdef>
1911	<para>TCP/IP port number of the iSCSI service on the target
1912	(optional).</para>
1913	</glossdef>
1914	</glossentry>
1915
1916	<glossentry>
1917	<glossterm>lun</glossterm>
1918
1919	<glossdef>
1920	<para>Logical Unit Number of the target resource (optional).
1921	Often, this value is zero.</para>
1922	</glossdef>
1923	</glossentry>
1924
1925	<glossentry>
1926	<glossterm>username, password</glossterm>
1927
1928	<glossdef>
1929	<para>Username and password (initiator secret) for target
1930	authentication, if required (optional).<note>
1931	<para>Username and password are stored without
1932	encryption (i.e. in clear text) in the XML machine
1933	configuration file if no settings password is provided.
1934	When a settings password was specified the first time,
1935	the password is stored encrypted.</para>
1936	</note></para>
1937	</glossdef>
1938	</glossentry>
1939
1940	<glossentry>
1941	<glossterm>intnet</glossterm>
1942
1943	<glossdef>
1944	<para>If specified, connect to the iSCSI target via Internal
1945	Networking. This needs further configuration which is described in
1946	<xref linkend="iscsi-intnet" />.</para>
1947	</glossdef>
1948	</glossentry>
1949	</glosslist></para>
1950	</sect1>
1951
1952	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-storagectl">
1953	<title>VBoxManage storagectl</title>
1954
1955	<para>This command attaches/modifies/removes a storage controller. After
1956	this, virtual media can be attached to the controller with the
1957	<computeroutput>storageattach</computeroutput> command (see the next
1958	section).</para>
1959
1960	<para>The syntax is as follows:</para>
1961
1962	<screen>VBoxManage storagectl <uuid\|vmname>
1963	--name <name>
1964	[--add <ide/sata/scsi/floppy>]
1965	[--controller <LsiLogic\|LSILogicSAS\|BusLogic\|
1966	IntelAhci\|PIIX3\|PIIX4\|ICH6\|I82078>]
1967	[--sataportcount <1-30>]
1968	[--hostiocache on\|off]
1969	[--bootable on\|off]
1970	[--remove]</screen>
1971
1972	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
1973	<glossentry>
1974	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
1975
1976	<glossdef>
1977	<para>The VM UUID or VM Name. Mandatory.</para>
1978	</glossdef>
1979	</glossentry>
1980
1981	<glossentry>
1982	<glossterm>name</glossterm>
1983
1984	<glossdef>
1985	<para>Name of the storage controller. Mandatory.</para>
1986	</glossdef>
1987	</glossentry>
1988
1989	<glossentry>
1990	<glossterm>add</glossterm>
1991
1992	<glossdef>
1993	<para>Define the type of the system bus to which the storage
1994	controller must be connected.</para>
1995	</glossdef>
1996	</glossentry>
1997
1998	<glossentry>
1999	<glossterm>controller</glossterm>
2000
2001	<glossdef>
2002	<para>Allows to choose the type of chipset being emulated for the
2003	given storage controller.</para>
2004	</glossdef>
2005	</glossentry>
2006
2007	<glossentry>
2008	<glossterm>sataportcount</glossterm>
2009
2010	<glossdef>
2011	<para>This determines how many ports the SATA controller should
2012	support.</para>
2013	</glossdef>
2014	</glossentry>
2015
2016	<glossentry>
2017	<glossterm>hostiocache</glossterm>
2018
2019	<glossdef>
2020	<para>Configures the use of the host I/O cache for all disk images
2021	attached to this storage controller. For details, please see <xref
2022	linkend="iocaching" />.</para>
2023	</glossdef>
2024	</glossentry>
2025
2026	<glossentry>
2027	<glossterm>bootable</glossterm>
2028
2029	<glossdef>
2030	<para>Selects whether this controller is bootable.</para>
2031	</glossdef>
2032	</glossentry>
2033
2034	<glossentry>
2035	<glossterm>remove</glossterm>
2036
2037	<glossdef>
2038	<para>Removes the storage controller from the VM config.</para>
2039	</glossdef>
2040	</glossentry>
2041	</glosslist></para>
2042	</sect1>
2043
2044	<sect1>
2045	<title>VBoxManage bandwidthctl</title>
2046
2047	<para>This command creates/deletes/modifies/shows bandwidth groups of the given
2048	virtual machine:<screen>VBoxManage bandwidthctl <uuid\|vmname>
2049	add <name> --type disk\|network --limit <megabytes per second>[k\|m\|g\|K\|M\|G] \|
2050	set <name> --limit <megabytes per second>[k\|m\|g\|K\|M\|G] \|
2051	remove <name> \|
2052	list [--machinereadable]</screen></para>
2053
2054	<para>The following subcommands are available:<itemizedlist>
2055	<listitem>
2056	<para><computeroutput>add</computeroutput>, creates a new bandwidth
2057	group of given type.</para>
2058	</listitem>
2059	<listitem>
2060	<para><computeroutput>set</computeroutput>, modifies the limit for an
2061	existing bandwidth group.</para>
2062	</listitem>
2063	<listitem>
2064	<para><computeroutput>remove</computeroutput>, destroys a bandwidth
2065	group.</para>
2066	</listitem>
2067	<listitem>
2068	<para><computeroutput>list</computeroutput>, shows all bandwidth groups
2069	defined for the given VM.</para>
2070	</listitem>
2071	</itemizedlist>
2072	</para>
2073	<para>The parameters mean:<glosslist>
2074	<glossentry>
2075	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
2076
2077	<glossdef>
2078	<para>The VM UUID or VM Name. Mandatory.</para>
2079	</glossdef>
2080	</glossentry>
2081
2082	<glossentry>
2083	<glossterm>name</glossterm>
2084
2085	<glossdef>
2086	<para>Name of the bandwidth group. Mandatory.</para>
2087	</glossdef>
2088	</glossentry>
2089
2090	<glossentry>
2091	<glossterm>type</glossterm>
2092
2093	<glossdef>
2094	<para>Type of the bandwidth group. Mandatory. Two types are
2095	supported: <computeroutput>disk</computeroutput> and
2096	<computeroutput>network</computeroutput>. See
2097	<xref linkend="storage-bandwidth-limit" /> or
2098	<xref linkend="network_bandwidth_limit" /> for a description of a
2099	particular type.</para>
2100	</glossdef>
2101	</glossentry>
2102
2103	<glossentry>
2104	<glossterm>limit</glossterm>
2105
2106	<glossdef>
2107	<para>Specifies the limit for the given group. Can be changed
2108	while the VM is running. The default unit is megabytes per
2109	second. The unit can be changed by specifying one of the
2110	following suffixes: <computeroutput>k</computeroutput> for kilobits/s, <computeroutput>m</computeroutput> for megabits/s, <computeroutput>g</computeroutput> for gigabits/s, <computeroutput>K</computeroutput> for kilobytes/s, <computeroutput>M</computeroutput> for megabytes/s, <computeroutput>G</computeroutput> for gigabytes/s.</para>
2111	</glossdef>
2112	</glossentry>
2113	</glosslist>
2114	<note>
2115	<para>The network bandwidth limits apply only to the traffic being sent by
2116	virtual machines. The traffic being received by VMs is unlimited.</para>
2117	</note>
2118	<note>
2119	<para>To remove a bandwidth group it must not be referenced by any disks
2120	or adapters in running VM.</para>
2121	</note>
2122	</para>
2123	</sect1>
2124
2125	<sect1>
2126	<title>VBoxManage showhdinfo</title>
2127
2128	<para>This command shows information about a virtual hard disk image,
2129	notably its size, its size on disk, its type and the virtual machines
2130	which use it.<note>
2131	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2132	"showvdiinfo" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2133	"showhdinfo" command.</para>
2134	</note></para>
2135	<para>The disk image must be specified either by its UUID (if the medium
2136	is registered) or by its filename. Registered images can be listed by
2137	<computeroutput>VBoxManage list hdds</computeroutput> (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" />
2138	for more information). A filename must be specified as valid path, either
2139	as an absolute path or as a relative path starting from the current
2140	directory.</para>
2141	</sect1>
2142
2143	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-createvdi">
2144	<title>VBoxManage createhd</title>
2145
2146	<para>This command creates a new virtual hard disk image. The syntax is as
2147	follows:</para>
2148
2149	<screen>VBoxManage createhd --filename <filename>
2150	--size <megabytes>
2151	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD] (default: VDI)
2152	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]</screen>
2153
2154	<para>where the parameters mean:<glosslist>
2155	<glossentry>
2156	<glossterm>filename</glossterm>
2157
2158	<glossdef>
2159	<para>Allows to choose a file name. Mandatory.</para>
2160	</glossdef>
2161	</glossentry>
2162
2163	<glossentry>
2164	<glossterm>size</glossterm>
2165
2166	<glossdef>
2167	<para>Allows to define the image capacity, in 1 MiB units.
2168	Mandatory.</para>
2169	</glossdef>
2170	</glossentry>
2171
2172	<glossentry>
2173	<glossterm>format</glossterm>
2174
2175	<glossdef>
2176	<para>Allows to choose a file format for the output file different
2177	from the file format of the input file.</para>
2178	</glossdef>
2179	</glossentry>
2180
2181	<glossentry>
2182	<glossterm>variant</glossterm>
2183
2184	<glossdef>
2185	<para>Allows to choose a file format variant for the output file.
2186	It is a comma-separated list of variant flags. Not all
2187	combinations are supported, and specifying inconsistent flags will
2188	result in an error message.</para>
2189	</glossdef>
2190	</glossentry>
2191	</glosslist> <note>
2192	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2193	"createvdi" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2194	"createhd" command.</para>
2195	</note></para>
2196	</sect1>
2197
2198	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-modifyvdi">
2199	<title>VBoxManage modifyhd</title>
2200
2201	<para>With the <computeroutput>modifyhd</computeroutput> command, you can
2202	change the characteristics of a disk image after it has been
2203	created:<screen>VBoxManage modifyhd <uuid>\|<filename>
2204	[--type normal\|writethrough\|immutable\|shareable\|
2205	readonly\|multiattach]
2206	[--autoreset on\|off]
2207	[--compact]
2208	[--resize <megabytes>\|--resizebyte <bytes>]</screen><note>
2209	<para>Despite the "hd" in the subcommand name, the command works with
2210	all disk images, not only hard disks. For compatibility with earlier
2211	versions of VirtualBox, the "modifyvdi" command is also supported and
2212	mapped internally to the "modifyhd" command.</para>
2213	</note></para>
2214
2215	<para>The disk image to modify must be specified either by its UUID
2216	(if the medium is registered) or by its filename. Registered images
2217	can be listed by <computeroutput>VBoxManage list hdds</computeroutput>
2218	(see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> for more information).
2219	A filename must be specified as valid path, either as an absolute path
2220	or as a relative path starting from the current directory.</para>
2221	<para>The following options are available:<itemizedlist>
2222	<listitem>
2223	<para>With the <computeroutput>--type</computeroutput> argument, you
2224	can change the type of an existing image between the normal,
2225	immutable, write-through and other modes; see <xref
2226	linkend="hdimagewrites" /> for details.</para>
2227	</listitem>
2228
2229	<listitem>
2230	<para>For immutable (differencing) hard disks only, the
2231	<computeroutput>--autoreset on\|off</computeroutput> option
2232	determines whether the disk is automatically reset on every VM
2233	startup (again, see <xref linkend="hdimagewrites" />). The default
2234	is "on".</para>
2235	</listitem>
2236
2237	<listitem>
2238	<para>With the <computeroutput>--compact</computeroutput> option,
2239	can be used to compact disk images, i.e. remove blocks that only
2240	contains zeroes. This will shrink a dynamically allocated image
2241	again; it will reduce the <emphasis>physical</emphasis> size of the
2242	image without affecting the logical size of the virtual disk.
2243	Compaction works both for base images and for diff images created as
2244	part of a snapshot.</para>
2245
2246	<para>For this operation to be effective, it is required that free
2247	space in the guest system first be zeroed out using a suitable
2248	software tool. For Windows guests, you can use the
2249	<computeroutput>sdelete</computeroutput> tool provided by Microsoft.
2250	Execute <computeroutput>sdelete -z</computeroutput> in the guest to
2251	zero the free disk space before compressing the virtual disk
2252	image. For Linux, use the <code>zerofree</code> utility which
2253	supports ext2/ext3 filesystems. For Mac OS X guests, use the
2254	<emphasis>Erase Free Space</emphasis> feature of the built-in
2255	<emphasis>Disk Utility</emphasis>. Use
2256	<emphasis>Zero Out Data</emphasis> there.</para>
2257
2258	<para>Please note that compacting is currently only available for
2259	VDI images. A similar effect can be achieved by zeroing out free
2260	blocks and then cloning the disk to any other dynamically allocated
2261	format. You can use this workaround until compacting is also
2262	supported for disk formats other than VDI.</para>
2263	</listitem>
2264
2265	<listitem>
2266	<para>The <computeroutput>--resize x</computeroutput> option (where x
2267	is the desired new total space in <emphasis role="bold">megabytes</emphasis>)
2268	allows you to change the capacity of an existing image; this adjusts the
2269	<emphasis>logical</emphasis> size of a virtual disk without affecting
2270	the physical size much.<footnote>
2271	<para>Image resizing was added with VirtualBox 4.0.</para>
2272	</footnote> This currently works only for VDI and VHD formats, and only
2273	for the dynamically allocated variants, and can only be used to expand
2274	(not shrink) the capacity.
2275	For example, if you originally created a 10G disk which is now full,
2276	you can use the <computeroutput>--resize 15360</computeroutput>
2277	command to change the capacity to 15G (15,360MB) without having to create a new
2278	image and copy all data from within a virtual machine. Note however that
2279	this only changes the drive capacity; you will typically next need to use
2280	a partition management tool inside the guest to adjust the main partition
2281	to fill the drive.</para><para>The <computeroutput>--resizebyte x</computeroutput>
2282	option does almost the same thing, except that x is expressed in bytes
2283	instead of megabytes.</para>
2284	</listitem>
2285	</itemizedlist></para>
2286	</sect1>
2287
2288	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-clonevdi">
2289	<title>VBoxManage clonehd</title>
2290
2291	<para>This command duplicates a registered virtual hard disk image to a
2292	new image file with a new unique identifier (UUID). The new image can be
2293	transferred to another host system or imported into VirtualBox again using
2294	the Virtual Media Manager; see <xref linkend="vdis" /> and <xref
2295	linkend="cloningvdis" />. The syntax is as follows:</para>
2296
2297	<screen>VBoxManage clonehd <uuid>\|<filename> <outputfile>
2298	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD\|RAW\|<other>]
2299	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]
2300	[--existing]</screen>
2301
2302	<para>The disk image to clone as well as the target image must be described
2303	either by its UUIDs (if the mediums are registered) or by its filename.
2304	Registered images can be listed by <computeroutput>VBoxManage list hdds</computeroutput>
2305	(see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> for more information).
2306	A filename must be specified as valid path, either as an absolute path or
2307	as a relative path starting from the current directory.</para>
2308	<para>The following options are available:<glosslist>
2309	<glossentry>
2310	<glossterm>format</glossterm>
2311
2312	<glossdef>
2313	<para>Allow to choose a file format for the output file different
2314	from the file format of the input file.</para>
2315	</glossdef>
2316	</glossentry>
2317
2318	<glossentry>
2319	<glossterm>variant</glossterm>
2320
2321	<glossdef>
2322	<para>Allow to choose a file format variant for the output file.
2323	It is a comma-separated list of variant flags. Not all
2324	combinations are supported, and specifying inconsistent flags will
2325	result in an error message.</para>
2326	</glossdef>
2327	</glossentry>
2328
2329	<glossentry>
2330	<glossterm>existing</glossterm>
2331
2332	<glossdef>
2333	<para>Perform the clone operation to an already existing
2334	destination medium. Only the portion of the source medium which
2335	fits into the destination medium is copied. This means if the
2336	destination medium is smaller than the source only a part of it is
2337	copied, and if the destination medium is larger than the source
2338	the remaining part of the destination medium is unchanged.</para>
2339	</glossdef>
2340	</glossentry>
2341	</glosslist> <note>
2342	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2343	"clonevdi" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2344	"clonehd" command.</para>
2345	</note></para>
2346	</sect1>
2347
2348	<sect1>
2349	<title>VBoxManage convertfromraw</title>
2350
2351	<para>This command converts a raw disk image to a VirtualBox Disk Image
2352	(VDI) file. The syntax is as follows:</para>
2353
2354	<screen>VBoxManage convertfromraw <filename> <outputfile>
2355	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD]
2356	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]
2357	[--uuid <uuid>]
2358	VBoxManage convertfromraw stdin <outputfile> <bytes>
2359	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD]
2360	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]
2361	[--uuid <uuid>]</screen>
2362
2363	<para>where the parameters mean:<glosslist>
2364	<glossentry>
2365	<glossterm>bytes</glossterm>
2366
2367	<glossdef>
2368	<para>The size of the image file, in bytes, provided through
2369	stdin.</para>
2370	</glossdef>
2371	</glossentry>
2372
2373	<glossentry>
2374	<glossterm>format</glossterm>
2375
2376	<glossdef>
2377	<para>Select the disk image format to create. Default is
2378	VDI.</para>
2379	</glossdef>
2380	</glossentry>
2381
2382	<glossentry>
2383	<glossterm>variant</glossterm>
2384
2385	<glossdef>
2386	<para>Allow to choose a file format variant for the output file.
2387	It is a comma-separated list of variant flags. Not all
2388	combinations are supported, and specifying inconsistent flags will
2389	result in an error message.</para>
2390	</glossdef>
2391	</glossentry>
2392
2393	<glossentry>
2394	<glossterm>uuid</glossterm>
2395
2396	<glossdef>
2397	<para>Allow to specifiy the UUID of the output file.</para>
2398	</glossdef>
2399	</glossentry>
2400	</glosslist> The second form forces VBoxManage to read the content for
2401	the disk image from standard input (useful for using that command in a
2402	pipe).</para>
2403
2404	<para><note>
2405	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2406	"convertdd" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2407	"convertfromraw" command.</para>
2408	</note></para>
2409	</sect1>
2410
2411	<sect1>
2412	<title>VBoxManage getextradata/setextradata</title>
2413
2414	<para>These commands let you attach and retrieve string data to a virtual
2415	machine or to a VirtualBox configuration (by specifying
2416	<computeroutput>global</computeroutput> instead of a virtual machine
2417	name). You must specify a key (as a text string) to associate the data
2418	with, which you can later use to retrieve it. For example:</para>
2419
2420	<screen>VBoxManage setextradata Fedora5 installdate 2006.01.01
2421	VBoxManage setextradata SUSE10 installdate 2006.02.02</screen>
2422
2423	<para>would associate the string "2006.01.01" with the key installdate for
2424	the virtual machine Fedora5, and "2006.02.02" on the machine SUSE10. You
2425	could retrieve the information as follows:</para>
2426
2427	<screen>VBoxManage getextradata Fedora5 installdate</screen>
2428
2429	<para>which would return</para>
2430
2431	<screen>VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version $VBOX_VERSION_MAJOR.$VBOX_VERSION_MINOR.$VBOX_VERSION_BUILD
2432	(C) 2005-$VBOX_C_YEAR $VBOX_VENDOR
2433	All rights reserved.
2434
2435	Value: 2006.01.01</screen>
2436	<para>To remove a key, the <computeroutput>setextradata</computeroutput>
2437	command must be run without specifying data (only the key), for example:
2438	</para>
2439
2440	<screen>VBoxManage setextradata Fedora5 installdate</screen>
2441
2442	</sect1>
2443
2444	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-setproperty">
2445	<title>VBoxManage setproperty</title>
2446
2447	<para>This command is used to change global settings which affect the
2448	entire VirtualBox installation. Some of these correspond to the settings
2449	in the "Global settings" dialog in the graphical user interface. The
2450	following properties are available:<glosslist>
2451	<glossentry>
2452	<glossterm>machinefolder</glossterm>
2453
2454	<glossdef>
2455	<para>This specifies the default folder in which virtual machine
2456	definitions are kept; see <xref linkend="vboxconfigdata" /> for
2457	details.</para>
2458	</glossdef>
2459	</glossentry>
2460
2461	<glossentry>
2462	<glossterm>vrdeauthlibrary</glossterm>
2463
2464	<glossdef>
2465	<para>This specifies which library to use when "external"
2466	authentication has been selected for a particular virtual machine;
2467	see <xref linkend="vbox-auth" /> for details.</para>
2468	</glossdef>
2469	</glossentry>
2470
2471	<glossentry>
2472	<glossterm>websrvauthlibrary</glossterm>
2473
2474	<glossdef>
2475	<para>This specifies which library the web service uses to
2476	authenticate users. For details about the VirtualBox web service,
2477	please refer to the separate VirtualBox SDK reference (see <xref
2478	linkend="VirtualBoxAPI" />).</para>
2479	</glossdef>
2480	</glossentry>
2481
2482	<glossentry>
2483	<glossterm>vrdeextpack</glossterm>
2484
2485	<glossdef>
2486	<para>This specifies which library implements the VirtualBox
2487	Remote Desktop Extension.</para>
2488	</glossdef>
2489	</glossentry>
2490
2491	<glossentry>
2492	<glossterm>loghistorycount</glossterm>
2493
2494	<glossdef>
2495	<para>This selects how many rotated (old) VM logs are kept.</para>
2496	</glossdef>
2497	</glossentry>
2498
2499	<glossentry>
2500	<glossterm>autostartdbpath</glossterm>
2501
2502	<glossdef>
2503	<para>This selects the path to the autostart database. See
2504	<xref linkend="autostart" />.</para>
2505	</glossdef>
2506	</glossentry>
2507
2508	<glossentry>
2509	<glossterm>defaultfrontend</glossterm>
2510
2511	<glossdef>
2512	<para>This selects the global default VM frontend setting. See
2513	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />.</para>
2514	</glossdef>
2515	</glossentry>
2516	</glosslist></para>
2517	</sect1>
2518
2519	<sect1>
2520	<title>VBoxManage usbfilter add/modify/remove</title>
2521
2522	<para>The <computeroutput>usbfilter</computeroutput> commands are used for
2523	working with USB filters in virtual machines, or global filters which
2524	affect the whole VirtualBox setup. Global filters are applied before
2525	machine-specific filters, and may be used to prevent devices from being
2526	captured by any virtual machine. Global filters are always applied in a
2527	particular order, and only the first filter which fits a device is
2528	applied. So for example, if the first global filter says to hold (make
2529	available) a particular Kingston memory stick device and the second to
2530	ignore all Kingston devices, that memory stick will be available to any
2531	machine with an appropriate filter, but no other Kingston device
2532	will.</para>
2533
2534	<para>When creating a USB filter using <computeroutput>usbfilter
2535	add</computeroutput>, you must supply three or four mandatory parameters.
2536	The index specifies the position in the list at which the filter should be
2537	placed. If there is already a filter at that position, then it and the
2538	following ones will be shifted back one place. Otherwise the new filter
2539	will be added onto the end of the list. The
2540	<computeroutput>target</computeroutput> parameter selects the virtual
2541	machine that the filter should be attached to or use "global" to apply it
2542	to all virtual machines. <computeroutput>name</computeroutput> is a name
2543	for the new filter and for global filters,
2544	<computeroutput>action</computeroutput> says whether to allow machines
2545	access to devices that fit the filter description ("hold") or not to give
2546	them access ("ignore"). In addition, you should specify parameters to
2547	filter by. You can find the parameters for devices attached to your system
2548	using <computeroutput>VBoxManage list usbhost</computeroutput>. Finally,
2549	you can specify whether the filter should be active, and for local
2550	filters, whether they are for local devices, remote (over an RDP
2551	connection) or either.</para>
2552
2553	<para>When you modify a USB filter using <computeroutput>usbfilter
2554	modify</computeroutput>, you must specify the filter by index (see the
2555	output of <computeroutput>VBoxManage list usbfilters</computeroutput> to
2556	find global filter indexes and that of <computeroutput>VBoxManage
2557	showvminfo</computeroutput> to find indexes for individual machines) and
2558	by target, which is either a virtual machine or "global". The properties
2559	which can be changed are the same as for <computeroutput>usbfilter
2560	add</computeroutput>. To remove a filter, use <computeroutput>usbfilter
2561	remove</computeroutput> and specify the index and the target.</para>
2562	</sect1>
2563
2564	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-sharedfolder">
2565	<title>VBoxManage sharedfolder add/remove</title>
2566
2567	<para>This command allows you to share folders on the host computer with
2568	guest operating systems. For this, the guest systems must have a version
2569	of the VirtualBox Guest Additions installed which supports this
2570	functionality.</para>
2571
2572	<para>Shared folders are described in detail in <xref
2573	linkend="sharedfolders" />.</para>
2574	</sect1>
2575
2576	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-guestproperty">
2577	<title>VBoxManage guestproperty</title>
2578
2579	<para>The "guestproperty" commands allow you to get or set properties of a
2580	running virtual machine. Please see <xref linkend="guestadd-guestprops" />
2581	for an introduction. As explained there, guest properties are arbitrary
2582	key/value string pairs which can be written to and read from by either the
2583	guest or the host, so they can be used as a low-volume communication
2584	channel for strings, provided that a guest is running and has the Guest
2585	Additions installed. In addition, a number of values whose keys begin with
2586	"/VirtualBox/" are automatically set and maintained by the Guest
2587	Additions.</para>
2588
2589	<para>The following subcommands are available (where
2590	<computeroutput><vm></computeroutput>, in each case, can either be a
2591	VM name or a VM UUID, as with the other VBoxManage commands):<itemizedlist>
2592	<listitem>
2593	<para><computeroutput>enumerate <vm> [--patterns
2594	<pattern>]</computeroutput>: This lists all the guest
2595	properties that are available for the given VM, including the value.
2596	This list will be very limited if the guest's service process cannot
2597	be contacted, e.g. because the VM is not running or the Guest
2598	Additions are not installed.</para>
2599
2600	<para>If <computeroutput>--patterns <pattern></computeroutput>
2601	is specified, it acts as a filter to only list properties that match
2602	the given pattern. The pattern can contain the following wildcard
2603	characters:<itemizedlist>
2604	<listitem>
2605	<para><computeroutput>*</computeroutput> (asterisk):
2606	represents any number of characters; for example,
2607	"<computeroutput>/VirtualBox*</computeroutput>" would match
2608	all properties beginning with "/VirtualBox".</para>
2609	</listitem>
2610
2611	<listitem>
2612	<para><computeroutput>?</computeroutput> (question mark):
2613	represents a single arbitrary character; for example,
2614	"<computeroutput>fo?</computeroutput>" would match both "foo"
2615	and "for".</para>
2616	</listitem>
2617
2618	<listitem>
2619	<para><computeroutput>\|</computeroutput> (pipe symbol): can be
2620	used to specify multiple alternative patterns; for example,
2621	"<computeroutput>s\|t</computeroutput>" would match anything
2622	starting with either "s" or "t".</para>
2623	</listitem>
2624	</itemizedlist></para>
2625	</listitem>
2626
2627	<listitem>
2628	<para><computeroutput>get <vm></computeroutput>: This
2629	retrieves the value of a single property only. If the property
2630	cannot be found (e.g. because the guest is not running), this will
2631	print <screen>No value set!</screen></para>
2632	</listitem>
2633
2634	<listitem>
2635	<para><computeroutput>set <vm> <property> [<value>
2636	[--flags <flags>]]</computeroutput>: This allows you to set a
2637	guest property by specifying the key and value. If
2638	<computeroutput><value></computeroutput> is omitted, the
2639	property is deleted. With <computeroutput>--flags</computeroutput>
2640	you can optionally specify additional behavior (you can combine
2641	several by separating them with commas):<itemizedlist>
2642	<listitem>
2643	<para><computeroutput>TRANSIENT</computeroutput>: the value
2644	will not be stored with the VM data when the VM exits;</para>
2645	</listitem>
2646
2647	<listitem>
2648	<para><computeroutput>TRANSRESET</computeroutput>: the value
2649	will be deleted as soon as the VM restarts and/or exits;</para>
2650	</listitem>
2651
2652	<listitem>
2653	<para><computeroutput>RDONLYGUEST</computeroutput>: the value
2654	can only be changed by the host, but the guest can only read
2655	it;</para>
2656	</listitem>
2657
2658	<listitem>
2659	<para><computeroutput>RDONLYHOST</computeroutput>: reversely,
2660	the value can only be changed by the guest, but the host can
2661	only read it;</para>
2662	</listitem>
2663
2664	<listitem>
2665	<para><computeroutput>READONLY</computeroutput>: a combination
2666	of the two, the value cannot be changed at all.</para>
2667	</listitem>
2668	</itemizedlist></para>
2669	</listitem>
2670
2671	<listitem>
2672	<para><computeroutput>wait <vm> <pattern> --timeout
2673	<timeout></computeroutput>: This waits for a particular value
2674	described by "pattern" to change or to be deleted or created. The
2675	pattern rules are the same as for the "enumerate" subcommand
2676	above.</para>
2677	</listitem>
2678
2679	<listitem>
2680	<para><computeroutput>delete <vm> <property>
2681	</computeroutput>: Deletes a formerly set guest property.
2682	</para></listitem>
2683	</itemizedlist></para>
2684	</sect1>
2685
2686	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-guestcontrol">
2687	<title>VBoxManage guestcontrol</title>
2688
2689	<para>The "guestcontrol" commands allow you to control certain things
2690	inside a guest from the host. Please see <xref
2691	linkend="guestadd-guestcontrol" /> for an introduction.</para>
2692
2693	<para>Generally, the syntax is as follows:</para>
2694
2695	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <command></screen>
2696
2697	<para>The following subcommands are available (where
2698	<computeroutput><vm></computeroutput>, in each case, can either be a
2699	VM name or a VM UUID, as with the other VBoxManage commands):<itemizedlist>
2700	<listitem>
2701	<para><computeroutput>execute</computeroutput>, which allows for
2702	executing a program/script (process) which already is installed and
2703	runnable on the guest. This command only works while a VM is up and
2704	running and has the following syntax:</para>
2705
2706	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <vmname>\|<uuid> exec[ute]
2707	--image <path to program> --username <name>
2708	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
2709	[--environment "<NAME>=<VALUE> [<NAME>=<VALUE>]"]
2710	[--verbose] [--timeout <msec>]
2711	[--wait-exit] [--wait-stdout] [--wait-stderr]
2712	[--dos2unix] [--unix2dos]
2713	-- [[<argument1>] ... [<argumentN>]]</screen>
2714
2715	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
2716	<glossentry>
2717	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
2718
2719	<glossdef>
2720	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
2721	</glossdef>
2722	</glossentry>
2723
2724	<glossentry>
2725	<glossterm>--image "<path to program>"</glossterm>
2726
2727	<glossdef>
2728	<para>Absolute path and process name of process to execute
2729	in the guest, e.g.
2730	<computeroutput>C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe</computeroutput></para>
2731	</glossdef>
2732	</glossentry>
2733
2734	<glossentry>
2735	<glossterm>--username <name></glossterm>
2736
2737	<glossdef>
2738	<para>Name of the user the process should run under. This
2739	user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
2740	</glossdef>
2741	</glossentry>
2742
2743	<glossentry>
2744	<glossterm>--passwordfile <file></glossterm>
2745
2746	<glossdef>
2747	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
2748	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
2749	assumed.</para>
2750	</glossdef>
2751	</glossentry>
2752
2753	<glossentry>
2754	<glossterm>--password <password></glossterm>
2755
2756	<glossdef>
2757	<para>Password of the user account specified with
2758	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
2759	an empty password is assumed.</para>
2760	</glossdef>
2761	</glossentry>
2762
2763	<glossentry>
2764	<glossterm>--dos2unix</glossterm>
2765
2766	<glossdef>
2767	Converts output from DOS/Windows guests to UNIX-compatible
2768	line endings (CR + LF -> LF). Not implemented yet.
2769	</glossdef>
2770	</glossentry>
2771
2772	<glossentry>
2773	<glossterm>--environment
2774	"<NAME>=<VALUE>"</glossterm>
2775
2776	<glossdef>
2777	<para>One or more environment variables to be set or
2778	unset.</para>
2779
2780	<para>By default, the new process in the guest will be
2781	created with the standard environment of the guest OS. This
2782	option allows for modifying that environment. To set/modify
2783	a variable, a pair of
2784	<computeroutput>NAME=VALUE</computeroutput> must be
2785	specified; to unset a certain variable, the name with no
2786	value must set, e.g.
2787	<computeroutput>NAME=</computeroutput>.</para>
2788
2789	<para>Arguments containing spaces must be enclosed in
2790	quotation marks. More than one
2791	<computeroutput>--environment</computeroutput> at a time can
2792	be specified to keep the command line tidy.</para>
2793	</glossdef>
2794	</glossentry>
2795
2796	<glossentry>
2797	<glossterm>--timeout <msec></glossterm>
2798
2799	<glossdef>
2800	<para>Value (in milliseconds) that specifies the time how
2801	long the started process is allowed to run and how long
2802	VBoxManage waits for getting output from that process. If no
2803	timeout is specified, VBoxManage will wait forever until the
2804	started process ends or an error occured.</para>
2805	</glossdef>
2806	</glossentry>
2807
2808	<glossentry>
2809	<glossterm>--unix2dos</glossterm>
2810
2811	<glossdef>
2812	Converts output from a UNIX/Linux guests to DOS-/Windows-compatible
2813	line endings (LF -> CR + LF). Not implemented yet.
2814	</glossdef>
2815	</glossentry>
2816
2817	<glossentry>
2818	<glossterm>--verbose</glossterm>
2819
2820	<glossdef>
2821	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
2822	</glossdef>
2823	</glossentry>
2824
2825	<glossentry>
2826	<glossterm>--wait-exit</glossterm>
2827
2828	<glossdef>
2829	<para>Waits until the process ends and outputs its
2830	exit code along with the exit reason/flags.</para>
2831	</glossdef>
2832	</glossentry>
2833
2834	<glossentry>
2835	<glossterm>--wait-stdout</glossterm>
2836
2837	<glossdef>
2838	<para>Waits until the process ends and outputs its
2839	exit code along with the exit reason/flags. While waiting
2840	VBoxManage retrieves the process output collected from stdout.</para>
2841	</glossdef>
2842	</glossentry>
2843
2844	<glossentry>
2845	<glossterm>--wait-stderr</glossterm>
2846
2847	<glossdef>
2848	<para>Waits until the process ends and outputs its
2849	exit code along with the exit reason/flags. While waiting
2850	VBoxManage retrieves the process output collected from stderr.</para>
2851	</glossdef>
2852	</glossentry>
2853
2854	<glossentry>
2855	<glossterm>[-- [<argument1s>] ... [<argumentNs>]]</glossterm>
2856
2857	<glossdef>
2858	<para>One or more arguments to pass to the process being
2859	executed.</para>
2860	<para>Arguments containing spaces must be enclosed in
2861	quotation marks.</para>
2862	</glossdef>
2863	</glossentry>
2864
2865	</glosslist></para>
2866
2867	<para><note>
2868	<para>On Windows there are certain limitations for graphical
2869	applications; please see <xref linkend="KnownIssues" /> for more
2870	information.</para>
2871	</note> Examples: <screen>VBoxManage --nologo guestcontrol "My VM" execute --image "/bin/ls"
2872	--username foo --passwordfile bar.txt --wait-exit --wait-stdout -- -l /usr</screen> <screen>VBoxManage --nologo guestcontrol "My VM" execute --image "c:\\windows\\system32\\ipconfig.exe"
2873	--username foo --passwordfile bar.txt --wait-exit --wait-stdout</screen> Note that
2874	the double backslashes in the second example are only required on
2875	Unix hosts.</para>
2876
2877	<para><note>
2878	<para>For certain commands a user name of an existing user account on the guest
2879	must be specified; anonymous executions are not supported for security reasons. A
2880	user account password, however, is optional and depends on the guest's OS security
2881	policy or rules. If no password is specified for a given user name, an empty password
2882	will be used. On certain OSes like Windows the security policy may needs to be adjusted
2883	in order to allow user accounts with an empty password set. Also, global domain rules might
2884	apply and therefore cannot be changed.</para>
2885	</note></para>
2886
2887	<para>Starting at VirtualBox 4.1.2 guest process execution by default is limited
2888	to serve up to 5 guest processes at a time. If a new guest process gets started
2889	which would exceed this limit, the oldest not running guest process will be discarded
2890	in order to be able to run that new process. Also, retrieving output from this
2891	old guest process will not be possible anymore then. If all 5 guest processes
2892	are still active and running, starting a new guest process will result in an
2893	appropriate error message.</para>
2894
2895	<para>To raise or lower the guest process execution limit, either the guest
2896	property <computeroutput>/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/VBoxService/--control-procs-max-kept</computeroutput>
2897	or VBoxService' command line by specifying <computeroutput>--control-procs-max-kept</computeroutput>
2898	needs to be modified. A restart of the guest OS is required afterwards. To serve unlimited
2899	guest processes, a value of <computeroutput>0</computeroutput> needs to be set (not recommended).</para>
2900	</listitem>
2901
2902	<listitem>
2903	<para><computeroutput>copyto</computeroutput>, which allows copying
2904	files from the host to the guest (only with installed Guest
2905	Additions 4.0 and later).</para>
2906
2907	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <vmname>\|<uuid> copyto\|cp
2908	<guest source> <host dest> --username <name>
2909	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
2910	[--dryrun] [--follow] [--recursive] [--verbose]</screen>
2911
2912	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
2913	<glossentry>
2914	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
2915
2916	<glossdef>
2917	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
2918	</glossdef>
2919	</glossentry>
2920
2921	<glossentry>
2922	<glossterm>source on host</glossterm>
2923
2924	<glossdef>
2925	<para>Absolute path of source file(s) on host to copy over
2926	to the guest, e.g.
2927	<computeroutput>C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe</computeroutput>.
2928	This also can be a wildcard expression, e.g.
2929	<computeroutput>C:\Windows\System32\*.dll</computeroutput></para>
2930	</glossdef>
2931	</glossentry>
2932
2933	<glossentry>
2934	<glossterm>destination on guest</glossterm>
2935
2936	<glossdef>
2937	<para>Absolute destination path on the guest, e.g.
2938	<computeroutput>C:\Temp</computeroutput></para>
2939	</glossdef>
2940	</glossentry>
2941
2942	<glossentry>
2943	<glossterm>--username <name></glossterm>
2944
2945	<glossdef>
2946	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
2947	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
2948	</glossdef>
2949	</glossentry>
2950
2951	<glossentry>
2952	<glossterm>--passwordfile <file></glossterm>
2953
2954	<glossdef>
2955	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
2956	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
2957	assumed.</para>
2958	</glossdef>
2959	</glossentry>
2960
2961	<glossentry>
2962	<glossterm>--password <password></glossterm>
2963
2964	<glossdef>
2965	<para>Password of the user account specified with
2966	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
2967	an empty password is assumed.</para>
2968	</glossdef>
2969	</glossentry>
2970
2971	<glossentry>
2972	<glossterm>--dryrun</glossterm>
2973
2974	<glossdef>
2975	<para>Tells VBoxManage to only perform a dry run instead of
2976	really copying files to the guest.</para>
2977	</glossdef>
2978	</glossentry>
2979
2980	<glossentry>
2981	<glossterm>--follow</glossterm>
2982
2983	<glossdef>
2984	<para>Enables following symlinks on the host's
2985	source.</para>
2986	</glossdef>
2987	</glossentry>
2988
2989	<glossentry>
2990	<glossterm>--recursive</glossterm>
2991
2992	<glossdef>
2993	<para>Recursively copies files/directories of the specified
2994	source.</para>
2995	</glossdef>
2996	</glossentry>
2997
2998	<glossentry>
2999	<glossterm>--verbose</glossterm>
3000
3001	<glossdef>
3002	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3003	</glossdef>
3004	</glossentry>
3005
3006	<glossentry>
3007	<glossterm>--flags <flags></glossterm>
3008
3009	<glossdef>
3010	<para>Additional flags to set. This is not used at the
3011	moment.</para>
3012	</glossdef>
3013	</glossentry>
3014	</glosslist></para>
3015	</listitem>
3016
3017	<listitem>
3018	<para><computeroutput>copyfrom</computeroutput>, which allows copying
3019	files from the guest to the host (only with installed Guest
3020	Additions 4.0 and later). It has the same parameters as
3021	<computeroutput>copyto</computeroutput> above.</para>
3022	</listitem>
3023
3024	<listitem>
3025	<para><computeroutput>createdirectory</computeroutput>, which allows
3026	copying files from the host to the guest (only with installed Guest
3027	Additions 4.0 and later).</para>
3028
3029	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <vmname>\|<uuid> createdir[ectory]\|mkdir\|md
3030	<guest directory>... --username <name>
3031	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
3032	[--parents] [--mode <mode>] [--verbose]</screen>
3033
3034	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3035	<glossentry>
3036	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
3037
3038	<glossdef>
3039	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3040	</glossdef>
3041	</glossentry>
3042
3043	<glossentry>
3044	<glossterm>directory to create on guest</glossterm>
3045
3046	<glossdef>
3047	<para>Absolute path of directory/directories to create on
3048	guest, e.g. <computeroutput>D:\Foo\Bar</computeroutput>.
3049	Parent directories need to exist (e.g. in this example
3050	<computeroutput>D:\Foo</computeroutput>) when switch
3051	<computeroutput>--parents</computeroutput> is omitted. The
3052	specified user must have appropriate rights to create the
3053	specified directory.</para>
3054	</glossdef>
3055	</glossentry>
3056
3057	<glossentry>
3058	<glossterm>--username <name></glossterm>
3059
3060	<glossdef>
3061	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
3062	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
3063	</glossdef>
3064	</glossentry>
3065
3066	<glossentry>
3067	<glossterm>--passwordfile <file></glossterm>
3068
3069	<glossdef>
3070	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
3071	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
3072	assumed.</para>
3073	</glossdef>
3074	</glossentry>
3075
3076	<glossentry>
3077	<glossterm>--password <password></glossterm>
3078
3079	<glossdef>
3080	<para>Password of the user account specified with
3081	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
3082	an empty password is assumed.</para>
3083	</glossdef>
3084	</glossentry>
3085
3086	<glossentry>
3087	<glossterm>--parents</glossterm>
3088
3089	<glossdef>
3090	<para>Also creates not yet existing parent directories of
3091	the specified directory, e.g. if the directory
3092	<computeroutput>D:\Foo</computeroutput> of
3093	<computeroutput>D:\Foo\Bar</computeroutput> does not exist
3094	yet it will be created. Without specifying
3095	<computeroutput>--parent</computeroutput> the action would
3096	have failed.</para>
3097	</glossdef>
3098	</glossentry>
3099
3100	<glossentry>
3101	<glossterm>--mode <mode></glossterm>
3102
3103	<glossdef>
3104	<para>Sets the permission mode of the specified directory.
3105	Only octal modes (e.g.
3106	<computeroutput>0755</computeroutput>) are supported right
3107	now.</para>
3108	</glossdef>
3109	</glossentry>
3110
3111	<glossentry>
3112	<glossterm>--verbose</glossterm>
3113
3114	<glossdef>
3115	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3116	</glossdef>
3117	</glossentry>
3118	</glosslist></para>
3119	</listitem>
3120
3121	<listitem>
3122	<para><computeroutput>stat</computeroutput>, which displays file
3123	or file system status on the guest.</para>
3124
3125	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <vmname>\|<uuid> stat
3126	<file>... --username <name>
3127	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
3128	[--verbose]</screen>
3129
3130	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3131	<glossentry>
3132	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
3133
3134	<glossdef>
3135	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3136	</glossdef>
3137	</glossentry>
3138
3139	<glossentry>
3140	<glossterm>file element(s) to check on guest</glossterm>
3141
3142	<glossdef>
3143	<para>Absolute path of directory/directories to check on
3144	guest, e.g. <computeroutput>/home/foo/a.out</computeroutput>.
3145	The specified user must have appropriate rights to access
3146	the given file element(s).</para>
3147	</glossdef>
3148	</glossentry>
3149
3150	<glossentry>
3151	<glossterm>--username <name></glossterm>
3152
3153	<glossdef>
3154	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
3155	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
3156	</glossdef>
3157	</glossentry>
3158
3159	<glossentry>
3160	<glossterm>--passwordfile <file></glossterm>
3161
3162	<glossdef>
3163	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
3164	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
3165	assumed.</para>
3166	</glossdef>
3167	</glossentry>
3168
3169	<glossentry>
3170	<glossterm>--password <password></glossterm>
3171
3172	<glossdef>
3173	<para>Password of the user account specified with
3174	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
3175	an empty password is assumed.</para>
3176	</glossdef>
3177	</glossentry>
3178
3179	<glossentry>
3180	<glossterm>--verbose</glossterm>
3181
3182	<glossdef>
3183	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3184	</glossdef>
3185	</glossentry>
3186	</glosslist></para>
3187	</listitem>
3188
3189	<listitem>
3190	<para><computeroutput>updateadditions</computeroutput>, which allows
3191	for updating an already installed Guest Additions version on the
3192	guest (only already installed Guest Additions 4.0 and later).</para>
3193
3194	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <vmname>\|<uuid> updateadditions
3195	[--source "<guest additions .ISO file to use>"] [--verbose]
3196	[--wait-start]</screen>
3197
3198	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3199	<glossentry>
3200	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
3201
3202	<glossdef>
3203	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3204	</glossdef>
3205	</glossentry>
3206
3207	<glossentry>
3208	<glossterm>--source "<guest additions .ISO file to
3209	use>"</glossterm>
3210
3211	<glossdef>
3212	<para>Full path to an alternative VirtualBox Guest Additions
3213	.ISO file to use for the Guest Additions update.</para>
3214	</glossdef>
3215	</glossentry>
3216
3217	<glossentry>
3218	<glossterm>--verbose</glossterm>
3219
3220	<glossdef>
3221	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3222	</glossdef>
3223	</glossentry>
3224
3225	<glossentry>
3226	<glossterm>--wait-start</glossterm>
3227	<glossdef>
3228	<para>Starts the regular updating process and waits until the
3229	actual Guest Additions update inside the guest was started.
3230	This can be necessary due to needed interaction with the
3231	guest OS during the installation phase.</para>
3232	<para>When omitting this flag VBoxManage will wait for the
3233	whole Guest Additions update to complete.</para>
3234	</glossdef>
3235	</glossentry>
3236	</glosslist></para>
3237	</listitem>
3238	</itemizedlist></para>
3239	</sect1>
3240
3241	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-debugvm">
3242	<title>VBoxManage debugvm</title>
3243
3244	<para>The "debugvm" commands are for experts who want to tinker with the
3245	exact details of virtual machine execution. Like the VM debugger described
3246	in <xref linkend="ts_debugger" />, these commands are only useful if you are
3247	very familiar with the details of the PC architecture and how to debug
3248	software.</para>
3249
3250	<para>The subcommands of "debugvm" all operate on a running virtual
3251	machine. The following are available:<itemizedlist>
3252	<listitem>
3253	<para>With <computeroutput>dumpguestcore --filename
3254	<name></computeroutput>, you can create a system dump of the
3255	running VM, which will be written into the given file. This file
3256	will have the standard ELF core format (with custom sections); see
3257	<xref linkend="ts_guest-core-format" />.</para>
3258
3259	<para>This corresponds to the
3260	<computeroutput>writecore</computeroutput> command in the debugger.
3261	</para>
3262	</listitem>
3263
3264	<listitem>
3265	<para>The <computeroutput>info</computeroutput> command is used to
3266	display info items relating to the VMM, device emulations and
3267	associated drivers. This command takes one or two arguments: the
3268	name of the info item, optionally followed by a string containing
3269	arguments specific to the info item.
3270	The <computeroutput>help</computeroutput> info item provides a
3271	listning of the available items and hints about any optional
3272	arguments.</para>
3273
3274	<para>This corresponds to the <computeroutput>info</computeroutput>
3275	command in the debugger.</para>
3276	</listitem>
3277
3278	<listitem>
3279	<para>The <computeroutput>injectnmi</computeroutput> command causes
3280	a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) in the guest, which might be useful
3281	for certain debugging scenarios. What happens exactly is dependent
3282	on the guest operating system, but an NMI can crash the whole guest
3283	operating system. Do not use unless you know what you're
3284	doing.</para>
3285	</listitem>
3286
3287	<listitem>
3288	<para>The <computeroutput>osdetect</computeroutput> command makes the
3289	VMM's debugger facility (re-)detection the guest operation
3290	system.</para>
3291
3292	<para>This corresponds to the <computeroutput>detect</computeroutput>
3293	command in the debugger.</para>
3294	</listitem>
3295
3296	<listitem>
3297	<para>The <computeroutput>osinfo</computeroutput> command is used to
3298	display info about the operating system (OS) detected by the VMM's
3299	debugger facility.</para>
3300	</listitem>
3301
3302	<listitem>
3303	<para>The <computeroutput>getregisters</computeroutput> command is
3304	used to display CPU and device registers. The command takes a list
3305	of registers, each having one of the following forms:
3306	<itemizedlist>
3307	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name.sub-field</computeroutput></listitem>
3308	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name</computeroutput></listitem>
3309	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name.sub-field</computeroutput></listitem>
3310	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name</computeroutput></listitem>
3311	<listitem><computeroutput>all</computeroutput></listitem>
3312	</itemizedlist>
3313	The <computeroutput>all</computeroutput> form will cause all
3314	registers to be shown (no sub-fields). The registers names are
3315	case-insensitive. When requesting a CPU register the register set
3316	can be omitted, it will be selected using the value of the
3317	<computeroutput>--cpu</computeroutput> option (defaulting to 0).
3318	</para>
3319	</listitem>
3320
3321	<listitem>
3322	<para>The <computeroutput>setregisters</computeroutput> command is
3323	used to change CPU and device registers. The command takes a list
3324	of register assignments, each having one of the following forms:
3325	<itemizedlist>
3326	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name.sub-field=value</computeroutput></listitem>
3327	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name=value</computeroutput></listitem>
3328	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name.sub-field=value</computeroutput></listitem>
3329	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name=value</computeroutput></listitem>
3330	</itemizedlist>
3331	The value format should be in the same style as what
3332	<computeroutput>getregisters</computeroutput> displays, with the
3333	exception that both octal and decimal can be used instead of
3334	hexadecimal. The register naming and the default CPU register set
3335	are handled the same way as with the
3336	<computeroutput>getregisters</computeroutput> command.</para>
3337	</listitem>
3338
3339	<listitem>
3340	<para>The <computeroutput>statistics</computeroutput> command can be
3341	used to display VMM statistics on the command line. The
3342	<computeroutput>--reset</computeroutput> option will reset
3343	statistics. The affected statistics can be filtered with the
3344	<computeroutput>--pattern</computeroutput> option, which accepts
3345	DOS/NT-style wildcards (<computeroutput>?</computeroutput> and
3346	<computeroutput>*</computeroutput>).</para>
3347	</listitem>
3348	</itemizedlist></para>
3349	</sect1>
3350
3351	<sect1>
3352	<title id="metrics">VBoxManage metrics</title>
3353
3354	<para>This command supports monitoring the usage of system resources.
3355	Resources are represented by various metrics associated with the host
3356	system or a particular VM. For example, the host system has a
3357	<computeroutput>CPU/Load/User</computeroutput> metric that shows the
3358	percentage of time CPUs spend executing in user mode over a specific
3359	sampling period.</para>
3360
3361	<para>Metric data is collected and retained internally; it may be
3362	retrieved at any time with the <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics
3363	query</computeroutput> subcommand. The data is available as long as the
3364	background <computeroutput>VBoxSVC</computeroutput> process is alive. That
3365	process terminates shortly after all VMs and frontends have been
3366	closed.</para>
3367
3368	<para>By default no metrics are collected at all. Metrics collection does
3369	not start until <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics setup</computeroutput>
3370	is invoked with a proper sampling interval and the number of metrics to be
3371	retained. The interval is measured in seconds. For example, to enable
3372	collecting the host processor and memory usage metrics every second and
3373	keeping the 5 most current samples, the following command can be
3374	used:</para>
3375
3376	<screen>VBoxManage metrics setup --period 1 --samples 5 host CPU/Load,RAM/Usage</screen>
3377
3378	<para>Metric collection can only be enabled for started VMs. Collected
3379	data and collection settings for a particular VM will disappear as soon as
3380	it shuts down. Use <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics list
3381	</computeroutput> subcommand to see which metrics are currently available.
3382	You can also use <computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> option with any
3383	subcommand that modifies metric settings to find out which metrics were
3384	affected.</para>
3385
3386	<para>Note that the <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics
3387	setup</computeroutput> subcommand discards all samples that may have been
3388	previously collected for the specified set of objects and metrics.</para>
3389
3390	<para>To enable or disable metrics collection without discarding the data
3391	<computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics enable</computeroutput> and
3392	<computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics disable</computeroutput> subcommands
3393	can be used. Note that these subcommands expect metrics, not submetrics,
3394	like <code>CPU/Load</code> or <code>RAM/Usage</code> as parameters. In
3395	other words enabling <code>CPU/Load/User</code> while disabling
3396	<code>CPU/Load/Kernel</code> is not supported.</para>
3397
3398	<para>The host and VMs have different sets of associated metrics.
3399	Available metrics can be listed with <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics
3400	list</computeroutput> subcommand.</para>
3401
3402	<para>A complete metric name may include an aggregate function. The name
3403	has the following form:
3404	<computeroutput>Category/Metric[/SubMetric][:aggregate]</computeroutput>.
3405	For example, <computeroutput>RAM/Usage/Free:min</computeroutput> stands
3406	for the minimum amount of available memory over all retained data if
3407	applied to the host object.</para>
3408
3409	<para>Subcommands may apply to all objects and metrics or can be limited
3410	to one object or/and a list of metrics. If no objects or metrics are given
3411	in the parameters, the subcommands will apply to all available metrics of
3412	all objects. You may use an asterisk
3413	("<computeroutput>*</computeroutput>") to explicitly specify that the
3414	command should be applied to all objects or metrics. Use "host" as the
3415	object name to limit the scope of the command to host-related metrics. To
3416	limit the scope to a subset of metrics, use a metric list with names
3417	separated by commas.</para>
3418
3419	<para>For example, to query metric data on the CPU time spent in user and
3420	kernel modes by the virtual machine named "test", you can use the
3421	following command:</para>
3422
3423	<screen>VBoxManage metrics query test CPU/Load/User,CPU/Load/Kernel</screen>
3424
3425	<para>The following list summarizes the available subcommands:</para>
3426
3427	<glosslist>
3428	<glossentry>
3429	<glossterm>list</glossterm>
3430
3431	<glossdef>
3432	<para>This subcommand shows the parameters of the currently existing
3433	metrics. Note that VM-specific metrics are only available when a
3434	particular VM is running.</para>
3435	</glossdef>
3436	</glossentry>
3437
3438	<glossentry>
3439	<glossterm>setup</glossterm>
3440
3441	<glossdef>
3442	<para>This subcommand sets the interval between taking two samples
3443	of metric data and the number of samples retained internally. The
3444	retained data is available for displaying with the
3445	<code>query</code> subcommand. The <computeroutput>--list
3446	</computeroutput> option shows which metrics have been modified as
3447	the result of the command execution.</para>
3448	</glossdef>
3449	</glossentry>
3450
3451	<glossentry>
3452	<glossterm>enable</glossterm>
3453
3454	<glossdef>
3455	<para>This subcommand "resumes" data collection after it has been
3456	stopped with <code>disable</code> subcommand. Note that specifying
3457	submetrics as parameters will not enable underlying metrics. Use
3458	<computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> to find out if the command
3459	did what was expected.</para>
3460	</glossdef>
3461	</glossentry>
3462
3463	<glossentry>
3464	<glossterm>disable</glossterm>
3465
3466	<glossdef>
3467	<para>This subcommand "suspends" data collection without affecting
3468	collection parameters or collected data. Note that specifying
3469	submetrics as parameters will not disable underlying metrics. Use
3470	<computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> to find out if the command
3471	did what was expected.</para>
3472	</glossdef>
3473	</glossentry>
3474
3475	<glossentry>
3476	<glossterm>query</glossterm>
3477
3478	<glossdef>
3479	<para>This subcommand retrieves and displays the currently retained
3480	metric data.<note>
3481	<para>The <code>query</code> subcommand does not remove or
3482	"flush" retained data. If you query often enough you will see
3483	how old samples are gradually being "phased out" by new
3484	samples.</para>
3485	</note></para>
3486	</glossdef>
3487	</glossentry>
3488
3489	<glossentry>
3490	<glossterm>collect</glossterm>
3491
3492	<glossdef>
3493	<para>This subcommand sets the interval between taking two samples
3494	of metric data and the number of samples retained internally. The
3495	collected data is displayed periodically until Ctrl-C is pressed
3496	unless the <computeroutput>--detach</computeroutput> option is
3497	specified. With the <computeroutput>--detach</computeroutput>
3498	option, this subcommand operates the same way as <code>setup</code>
3499	does. The <computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> option shows which
3500	metrics match the specified filter.</para>
3501	</glossdef>
3502	</glossentry>
3503	</glosslist>
3504	</sect1>
3505
3506	<sect1>
3507	<title>VBoxManage hostonlyif</title>
3508
3509	<para>With "hostonlyif" you can change the IP configuration of a host-only
3510	network interface. For a description of host-only networking, please
3511	refer to <xref linkend="network_hostonly" />. Each host-only interface is
3512	identified by a name and can either use the internal DHCP server or a
3513	manual IP configuration (both IP4 and IP6).</para>
3514	</sect1>
3515
3516	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-dhcpserver">
3517	<title>VBoxManage dhcpserver</title>
3518
3519	<para>The "dhcpserver" commands allow you to control the DHCP server that
3520	is built into VirtualBox. You may find this useful when using internal or
3521	host-only networking. (Theoretically, you can enable it for a bridged
3522	network as well, but that will likely cause conflicts with other DHCP
3523	servers in your physical network.)</para>
3524
3525	<para>Use the following command line options:<itemizedlist>
3526	<listitem>
3527	<para>If you use internal networking for a virtual network adapter
3528	of a virtual machine, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver add
3529	--netname <network_name></computeroutput>, where
3530	<computeroutput><network_name></computeroutput> is the same
3531	network name you used with <computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm
3532	<vmname> --intnet<X>
3533	<network_name></computeroutput>.</para>
3534	</listitem>
3535
3536	<listitem>
3537	<para>If you use host-only networking for a virtual network adapter
3538	of a virtual machine, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver add
3539	--ifname <hostonly_if_name></computeroutput> instead, where
3540	<computeroutput><hostonly_if_name></computeroutput> is the
3541	same host-only interface name you used with
3542	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm <vmname>
3543	--hostonlyadapter<X>
3544	<hostonly_if_name></computeroutput>.</para>
3545
3546	<para>Alternatively, you can also use the --netname option as with
3547	internal networks if you know the host-only network's name; you can
3548	see the names with <computeroutput>VBoxManage list
3549	hostonlyifs</computeroutput> (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" />
3550	above).</para>
3551	</listitem>
3552	</itemizedlist></para>
3553
3554	<para>The following additional parameters are required when first adding a
3555	DHCP server:<itemizedlist>
3556	<listitem>
3557	<para>With <computeroutput>--ip</computeroutput>, specify the IP
3558	address of the DHCP server itself.</para>
3559	</listitem>
3560
3561	<listitem>
3562	<para>With <computeroutput>--netmask</computeroutput>, specify the
3563	netmask of the network.</para>
3564	</listitem>
3565
3566	<listitem>
3567	<para>With <computeroutput>--lowerip</computeroutput> and
3568	<computeroutput>--upperip</computeroutput>, you can specify the
3569	lowest and highest IP address, respectively, that the DHCP server
3570	will hand out to clients.</para>
3571	</listitem>
3572	</itemizedlist></para>
3573
3574	<para>Finally, you must specify <computeroutput>--enable</computeroutput>
3575	or the DHCP server will be created in the disabled state, doing
3576	nothing.</para>
3577
3578	<para>After this, VirtualBox will automatically start the DHCP server for
3579	given internal or host-only network as soon as the first virtual machine
3580	which uses that network is started.</para>
3581
3582	<para>Reversely, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver
3583	remove</computeroutput> with the given <computeroutput>--netname
3584	<network_name></computeroutput> or <computeroutput>--ifname
3585	<hostonly_if_name></computeroutput> to remove the DHCP server again
3586	for the given internal or host-only network.</para>
3587
3588	<para>To modify the settings of a DHCP server created earlier with
3589	<computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver add</computeroutput>, you can use
3590	<computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver modify</computeroutput> for a given
3591	network or host-only interface name.</para>
3592	</sect1>
3593
3594	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-extpack">
3595	<title>VBoxManage extpack</title>
3596
3597	<para>The "extpack" command allows you to add or remove VirtualBox
3598	extension packs, as described in <xref
3599	linkend="intro-installing" />.<itemizedlist>
3600	<listitem>
3601	<para>To add a new extension pack, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage
3602	extpack install <.vbox-extpack></computeroutput>. This command
3603	will fail if an older version of the same extension pack is already
3604	installed. The optional <computeroutput>--replace</computeroutput>
3605	parameter can be used to uninstall the old package before the new
3606	package is installed.</para>
3607	</listitem>
3608
3609	<listitem>
3610	<para>To remove a previously installed extension pack, use
3611	<computeroutput>VBoxManage extpack uninstall
3612	<name></computeroutput>. You can use
3613	<computeroutput>VBoxManage list extpacks</computeroutput> to show
3614	the names of the extension packs which are currently installed;
3615	please see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> also. The optional
3616	<computeroutput>--force</computeroutput> parameter can be used to
3617	override the refusal of an extension pack to be uninstalled.</para>
3618	</listitem>
3619
3620	<listitem>
3621	<para>The <computeroutput>VBoxManage extpack
3622	cleanup</computeroutput> command can be used to remove temporary
3623	files and directories that may have been left behind if a previous
3624	install or uninstall command failed.</para>
3625	</listitem>
3626	</itemizedlist></para>
3627	<para>The following commands show examples how to list extension packs and
3628	remove one:<screen>
3629	$ VBoxManage list extpacks
3630	Extension Packs: 1
3631	Pack no. 0: Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack
3632	Version: 4.1.12
3633	Revision: 77218
3634	Edition:
3635	Description: USB 2.0 Host Controller, VirtualBox RDP, PXE ROM with E1000 support.
3636	VRDE Module: VBoxVRDP
3637	Usable: true
3638	Why unusable:
3639	$ VBoxManage extpack uninstall "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack"
3640	0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
3641	Successfully uninstalled "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack".</screen></para>
3642	</sect1>
3643	</chapter>

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