user_VBoxManage.xml@ 55214

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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'</screen>
87
88	<para>As can be seen from the above output, a new virtual machine has
89	been created with a new UUID and a new XML settings file.</para>
90	</listitem>
91
92	<listitem>
93	<para>To show the configuration of a particular VM, use
94	<computeroutput>VBoxManage showvminfo</computeroutput>; see <xref
95	linkend="vboxmanage-showvminfo" /> for details and an example.</para>
96	</listitem>
97
98	<listitem>
99	<para>To change settings while a VM is powered off, use
100	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>, e.g. as
101	follows:<screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows XP" --memory 512</screen></para>
102
103	<para>For details, see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.</para>
104	</listitem>
105
106	<listitem>
107	<para>To change the storage configuration (e.g. to add a storage
108	controller and then a virtual disk), use <computeroutput>VBoxManage
109	storagectl</computeroutput> and <computeroutput>VBoxManage
110	storageattach</computeroutput>; see <xref
111	linkend="vboxmanage-storagectl" /> and <xref
112	linkend="vboxmanage-storageattach" /> for details.</para>
113	</listitem>
114
115	<listitem>
116	<para>To control VM operation, use one of the following:<itemizedlist>
117	<listitem>
118	<para>To start a VM that is currently powered off, use
119	<computeroutput>VBoxManage startvm</computeroutput>; see <xref
120	linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" /> for details.</para>
121	</listitem>
122
123	<listitem>
124	<para>To pause or save a VM that is currently running or change
125	some of its settings, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage
126	controlvm</computeroutput>; see <xref
127	linkend="vboxmanage-controlvm" /> for details.</para>
128	</listitem>
129	</itemizedlist></para>
130	</listitem>
131	</itemizedlist>
132	</sect1>
133
134	<sect1>
135	<title>Commands overview</title>
136
137	<para>When running VBoxManage without parameters or when supplying an
138	invalid command line, the below syntax diagram will be shown. Note that
139	the output will be slightly different depending on the host platform; when
140	in doubt, check the output of <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput>
141	for the commands available on your particular host.</para>
142
143	<screen>$VBOX_MANAGE_OUTPUT</screen>
144
145	<para>Each time VBoxManage is invoked, only one command can be executed.
146	However, a command might support several subcommands which then can be
147	invoked in one single call. The following sections provide detailed
148	reference information on the different commands.</para>
149	</sect1>
150
151	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-general">
152	<title>General options</title>
153	<para>
154	<itemizedlist>
155	<listitem>
156	<para><computeroutput>--version</computeroutput>: show the version of
157	this tool and exit.</para>
158	</listitem>
159	<listitem>
160	<para><computeroutput>--nologo</computeroutput>: suppress the output
161	of the logo information (useful for scripts)</para>
162	</listitem>
163	<listitem>
164	<para><computeroutput>--settingspw</computeroutput>: specifiy a settings
165	password</para>
166	</listitem>
167	<listitem>
168	<para><computeroutput>--settingspwfile</computeroutput>: specify a file
169	containing the settings password.</para>
170	</listitem>
171	</itemizedlist>
172	The settings password is used for certain settings which need to be
173	stored encrypted for security reasons. At the moment, the only encrypted
174	setting is the iSCSI initiator secret (see
175	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-storageattach" /> for details). As long as no
176	settings password is specified, this information is stored in
177	<emphasis role="bold">plain text</emphasis>. After using the
178	<computeroutput>--settingspw\|--settingspwfile</computeroutput> option
179	once, it must be always used, otherwise the encrypted setting cannot
180	be unencrypted.
181	</para>
182	</sect1>
183
184	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-list">
185	<title>VBoxManage list</title>
186
187	<para>The <computeroutput>list</computeroutput> command gives relevant
188	information about your system and information about VirtualBox's current
189	settings.</para>
190
191	<para>The following subcommands are available with
192	<computeroutput>VBoxManage list</computeroutput>: <itemizedlist>
193	<listitem>
194	<para><computeroutput>vms</computeroutput> lists all virtual
195	machines currently registered with VirtualBox. By default this
196	displays a compact list with each VM's name and UUID; if you also
197	specify <computeroutput>--long</computeroutput> or
198	<computeroutput>-l</computeroutput>, this will be a detailed list as
199	with the <computeroutput>showvminfo</computeroutput> command (see
200	below).</para>
201	</listitem>
202
203	<listitem>
204	<para><computeroutput>runningvms</computeroutput> lists all
205	currently running virtual machines by their unique identifiers
206	(UUIDs) in the same format as with
207	<computeroutput>vms</computeroutput>.</para>
208	</listitem>
209
210	<listitem>
211	<para><computeroutput>ostypes</computeroutput> lists all guest
212	operating systems presently known to VirtualBox, along with the
213	identifiers used to refer to them with the
214	<computeroutput>modifyvm</computeroutput> command.</para>
215	</listitem>
216
217	<listitem>
218	<para><computeroutput>hostdvds</computeroutput>,
219	<computeroutput>hostfloppies</computeroutput>, respectively, list
220	DVD, floppy, bridged networking and host-only networking interfaces
221	on the host, along with the name used to access them from within
222	VirtualBox.</para>
223	</listitem>
224
225	<listitem>
226	<para><computeroutput>bridgedifs</computeroutput>,
227	<computeroutput>hostonlyifs</computeroutput> and
228	<computeroutput>dhcpservers</computeroutput>, respectively, list
229	bridged network interfaces, host-only network interfaces and DHCP
230	servers currently available on the host. Please see <xref
231	linkend="networkingdetails" /> for details on these.</para>
232	</listitem>
233
234	<listitem>
235	<para><computeroutput>hostinfo</computeroutput> displays information
236	about the host system, such as CPUs, memory size and operating
237	system version.</para>
238	</listitem>
239
240	<listitem>
241	<para><computeroutput>hostcpuids</computeroutput> dumps the CPUID
242	parameters for the host CPUs. This can be used for a more fine
243	grained analyis of the host's virtualization capabilities.</para>
244	</listitem>
245
246	<listitem>
247	<para><computeroutput>hddbackends</computeroutput> lists all known
248	virtual disk back-ends of VirtualBox. For each such format (such as
249	VDI, VMDK or RAW), this lists the back-end's capabilities and
250	configuration.</para>
251	</listitem>
252
253	<listitem>
254	<para><computeroutput>hdds</computeroutput>,
255	<computeroutput>dvds</computeroutput> and
256	<computeroutput>floppies</computeroutput> all give you information
257	about virtual disk images currently in use by VirtualBox, including
258	all their settings, the unique identifiers (UUIDs) associated with
259	them by VirtualBox and all files associated with them. This is the
260	command-line equivalent of the Virtual Media Manager; see <xref
261	linkend="vdis" />.</para>
262	</listitem>
263
264	<listitem>
265	<para><computeroutput>usbhost</computeroutput> supplies information
266	about USB devices attached to the host, notably information useful
267	for constructing USB filters and whether they are currently in use
268	by the host.</para>
269	</listitem>
270
271	<listitem>
272	<para><computeroutput>usbfilters</computeroutput> lists all global
273	USB filters registered with VirtualBox -- that is, filters for
274	devices which are accessible to all virtual machines -- and displays
275	the filter parameters.</para>
276	</listitem>
277
278	<listitem>
279	<para><computeroutput>systemproperties</computeroutput> displays
280	some global VirtualBox settings, such as minimum and maximum guest
281	RAM and virtual hard disk size, folder settings and the current
282	authentication library in use.</para>
283	</listitem>
284
285	<listitem>
286	<para><computeroutput>extpacks</computeroutput> displays all
287	VirtualBox extension packs currently installed; see <xref
288	linkend="intro-installing" /> and <xref
289	linkend="vboxmanage-extpack" /> for more information.</para>
290	</listitem>
291	</itemizedlist></para>
292	</sect1>
293
294	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-showvminfo">
295	<title>VBoxManage showvminfo</title>
296
297	<para>The <computeroutput>showvminfo</computeroutput> command shows
298	information about a particular virtual machine. This is the same
299	information as <computeroutput>VBoxManage list vms --long</computeroutput>
300	would show for all virtual machines.</para>
301
302	<para>You will get information similar to the following:</para>
303
304	<para><screen>$ VBoxManage showvminfo "Windows XP"
305	VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version $VBOX_VERSION_MAJOR.$VBOX_VERSION_MINOR.$VBOX_VERSION_BUILD
306	(C) 2005-$VBOX_C_YEAR $VBOX_VENDOR
307	All rights reserved.
308
309	Name: Windows XP
310	Guest OS: Other/Unknown
311	UUID: 1bf3464d-57c6-4d49-92a9-a5cc3816b7e7
312	Config file: /home/username/.config/VirtualBox/Machines/Windows XP/Windows XP.xml
313	Memory size: 512MB
314	VRAM size: 12MB
315	Number of CPUs: 2
316	Synthetic Cpu: off
317	Boot menu mode: message and menu
318	Boot Device (1): DVD
319	Boot Device (2): HardDisk
320	Boot Device (3): Not Assigned
321	Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
322	ACPI: on
323	IOAPIC: on
324	PAE: on
325	Time offset: 0 ms
326	Hardw. virt.ext: on
327	Nested Paging: on
328	VT-x VPID: off
329	State: powered off (since 2009-10-20T14:52:19.000000000)
330	Monitor count: 1
331	3D Acceleration: off
332	2D Video Acceleration: off
333	Teleporter Enabled: off
334	Teleporter Port: 0
335	Teleporter Address:
336	Teleporter Password:
337	Storage Controller (0): IDE Controller
338	Storage Controller Type (0): PIIX4
339	Storage Controller (1): Floppy Controller 1
340	Storage Controller Type (1): I82078
341	IDE Controller (0, 0): /home/user/windows.vdi (UUID: 46f6e53a-4557-460a-9b95-68b0f17d744b)
342	IDE Controller (0, 1): /home/user/openbsd-cd46.iso (UUID: 4335e162-59d3-4512-91d5-b63e94eebe0b)
343	Floppy Controller 1 (0, 0): /home/user/floppy.img (UUID: 62ac6ccb-df36-42f2-972e-22f836368137)
344	NIC 1: disabled
345	NIC 2: disabled
346	NIC 3: disabled
347	NIC 4: disabled
348	NIC 5: disabled
349	NIC 6: disabled
350	NIC 7: disabled
351	NIC 8: disabled
352	UART 1: disabled
353	UART 2: disabled
354	Audio: disabled (Driver: Unknown)
355	Clipboard Mode: Bidirectional
356	VRDE: disabled
357	USB: disabled
358
359	USB Device Filters:
360	<none>
361
362	Shared folders:
363	<none>
364
365	Statistics update: disabled</screen></para>
366	</sect1>
367
368	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-registervm">
369	<title>VBoxManage registervm / unregistervm</title>
370
371	<para>The <computeroutput>registervm</computeroutput> command allows you
372	to import a virtual machine definition in an XML file into VirtualBox. The
373	machine must not conflict with one already registered in VirtualBox and it
374	may not have any hard or removable disks attached. It is advisable to
375	place the definition file in the machines folder before registering
376	it.<note>
377	<para>When creating a new virtual machine with
378	<computeroutput>VBoxManage createvm</computeroutput> (see below), you
379	can directly specify the <computeroutput>--register</computeroutput>
380	option to avoid having to register it separately.</para>
381	</note></para>
382
383	<para>The <computeroutput>unregistervm</computeroutput> command
384	unregisters a virtual machine. If
385	<computeroutput>--delete</computeroutput> is also specified, the following
386	files will automatically be deleted as well:<orderedlist>
387	<listitem>
388	<para>all hard disk image files, including differencing files, which
389	are used by the machine and not shared with other machines;</para>
390	</listitem>
391
392	<listitem>
393	<para>saved state files that the machine created, if any (one if the
394	machine was in "saved" state and one for each online
395	snapshot);</para>
396	</listitem>
397
398	<listitem>
399	<para>the machine XML file and its backups;</para>
400	</listitem>
401
402	<listitem>
403	<para>the machine log files, if any;</para>
404	</listitem>
405
406	<listitem>
407	<para>the machine directory, if it is empty after having deleted all
408	the above.</para>
409	</listitem>
410	</orderedlist></para>
411	</sect1>
412
413	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-createvm">
414	<title>VBoxManage createvm</title>
415
416	<para>This command creates a new XML virtual machine definition
417	file.</para>
418
419	<para>The <computeroutput>--name <name></computeroutput> parameter
420	is required and must specify the name of the machine. Since this name is
421	used by default as the file name of the settings file (with the extension
422	<computeroutput>.xml</computeroutput>) and the machine folder (a subfolder
423	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
424	must conform to your host operating system's requirements for file name
425	specifications. If the VM is later renamed, the file and folder names will
426	change automatically.</para>
427
428	<para>However, if the <computeroutput>--basefolder
429	<path></computeroutput> option is used, the machine folder will be
430	named <computeroutput><path></computeroutput>. In this case, the
431	names of the file and the folder will not change if the virtual machine is
432	renamed.</para>
433
434	<para>By default, this command only creates the XML file without
435	automatically registering the VM with your VirtualBox installation. To
436	register the VM instantly, use the optional
437	<computeroutput>--register</computeroutput> option, or run
438	<computeroutput>VBoxManage registervm</computeroutput> separately
439	afterwards.</para>
440	</sect1>
441
442	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm">
443	<title>VBoxManage modifyvm</title>
444
445	<para>This command changes the properties of a registered virtual machine
446	which is not running. Most of the properties that this command makes
447	available correspond to the VM settings that VirtualBox graphical user
448	interface displays in each VM's "Settings" dialog; these were described in
449	<xref linkend="BasicConcepts" />. Some of the more advanced settings,
450	however, are only available through the
451	<computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> interface.</para>
452
453	<para>These commands require that the machine is powered off (neither
454	running nor in "saved" state). Some machine settings can also be changed
455	while a machine is running; those settings will then have a corresponding
456	subcommand with the <computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm</computeroutput>
457	subcommand (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-controlvm" />).</para>
458
459	<sect2>
460	<title>General settings</title>
461
462	<para>The following general settings are available through
463	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>:<itemizedlist>
464	<listitem>
465	<para><computeroutput>--name <name></computeroutput>: This
466	changes the VM's name and possibly renames the internal virtual
467	machine files, as described with <computeroutput>VBoxManage
468	createvm</computeroutput> above.</para>
469	</listitem>
470
471	<listitem>
472	<para><computeroutput>--groups <group>, ...</computeroutput>:
473	This changes the group membership of a VM. Groups always start with
474	a <computeroutput>/</computeroutput> and can be nested. By default
475	VMs are in group <computeroutput>/</computeroutput>.</para>
476	</listitem>
477
478	<listitem>
479	<para><computeroutput>--description <desc></computeroutput>:
480	This changes the VM's description, which is a way to record details
481	about the VM in a way which is meaningful for the user. The GUI
482	interprets HTML formatting, the command line allows arbitrary
483	strings potentially containing multiple lines.</para>
484	</listitem>
485
486	<listitem>
487	<para><computeroutput>--ostype <ostype></computeroutput>:
488	This specifies what guest operating system is supposed to run in
489	the VM. To learn about the various identifiers that can be used
490	here, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage list
491	ostypes</computeroutput>.</para>
492	</listitem>
493
494	<listitem>
495	<para><computeroutput>--memory
496	<memorysize></computeroutput>: This sets the amount of RAM,
497	in MB, that the virtual machine should allocate for itself from
498	the host. See the remarks in <xref linkend="gui-createvm" /> for
499	more information.</para>
500	</listitem>
501
502	<listitem>
503	<para><computeroutput>--vram <vramsize></computeroutput>:
504	This sets the amount of RAM that the virtual graphics card should
505	have. See <xref linkend="settings-display" /> for details.</para>
506	</listitem>
507
508	<listitem>
509	<para><computeroutput>--acpi on\|off</computeroutput>;
510	<computeroutput>--ioapic on\|off</computeroutput>: These two
511	determine whether the VM should have ACPI and I/O APIC support,
512	respectively; see <xref linkend="settings-motherboard" /> for
513	details.</para>
514	</listitem>
515
516	<listitem>
517	<para><computeroutput>--hardwareuuid
518	<uuid></computeroutput>: The UUID presented to the guest via
519	memory tables (DMI/SMBIOS), hardware and guest properties. By
520	default this is the same as the VM uuid. Useful when cloning a VM.
521	Teleporting takes care of this automatically.</para>
522	</listitem>
523
524	<listitem>
525	<para><computeroutput>--cpus <cpucount></computeroutput>:
526	This sets the number of virtual CPUs for the virtual machine (see
527	<xref linkend="settings-processor" />). If CPU hot-plugging is
528	enabled (see below), this then sets the
529	<emphasis>maximum</emphasis> number of virtual CPUs that can be
530	plugged into the virtual machines.</para>
531	</listitem>
532
533	<listitem>
534	<para><computeroutput>--rtcuseutc on\|off</computeroutput>: This
535	option lets the real-time clock (RTC) operate in UTC time (see
536	<xref linkend="settings-motherboard" />).</para>
537	</listitem>
538
539	<listitem>
540	<para><computeroutput>--cpuhotplug on\|off</computeroutput>: This
541	enables CPU hot-plugging. When enabled, virtual CPUs can be added
542	to and removed from a virtual machine while it is running. See
543	<xref linkend="cpuhotplug" /> for more information.</para>
544	</listitem>
545
546	<listitem>
547	<para><computeroutput>--plugcpu\|unplugcpu
548	<id></computeroutput>: If CPU hot-plugging is enabled (see
549	above), this adds a virtual CPU to the virtual machines (or
550	removes one). <computeroutput><id></computeroutput>
551	specifies the index of the virtual CPU to be added or removed and
552	must be a number from 0 to the maximum no. of CPUs configured with
553	the <computeroutput>--cpus</computeroutput> option. CPU 0 can
554	never be removed.</para>
555	</listitem>
556
557	<listitem>
558	<para><computeroutput>--cpuexecutioncap
559	<1-100></computeroutput>: This setting controls how much cpu
560	time a virtual CPU can use. A value of 50 implies a single virtual
561	CPU can use up to 50% of a single host CPU.</para>
562	</listitem>
563
564	<listitem>
565	<para><computeroutput>--pae on\|off</computeroutput>: This
566	enables/disables PAE (see <xref
567	linkend="settings-processor" />).</para>
568	</listitem>
569
570	<listitem>
571	<para><computeroutput>--longmode on\|off</computeroutput>: This
572	enables/disables long mode (see <xref
573	linkend="settings-processor" />).</para>
574	</listitem>
575
576	<listitem>
577	<para><computeroutput>--synthcpu on\|off</computeroutput>: This
578	setting determines whether VirtualBox will expose a synthetic CPU
579	to the guest to allow live migration between host systems that
580	differ significantly.</para>
581	</listitem>
582
583	<listitem>
584	<para><computeroutput>--hpet on\|off</computeroutput>: This
585	enables/disables a High Precision Event Timer (HPET) which can
586	replace the legacy system timers. This is turned off by default.
587	Note that Windows supports a HPET only from Vista onwards.</para>
588	</listitem>
589
590	<listitem>
591	<para><computeroutput>--hwvirtex on\|off</computeroutput>: This
592	enables or disables the use of hardware virtualization extensions
593	(Intel VT-x or AMD-V) in the processor of your host system; see
594	<xref linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
595	</listitem>
596
597	<listitem>
598	<para><computeroutput>--triplefaultreset on\|off</computeroutput>:
599	This setting allows to reset the guest instead of triggering a
600	Guru Meditation. Some guests raise a triple fault to reset the
601	CPU so sometimes this is desired behavior. Works only for non-SMP
602	guests.</para>
603	</listitem>
604
605	<listitem>
606	<para><computeroutput>--paravirtprovider
607	none\|default\|legacy\|minimal\|hyperv\|kvm</computeroutput>: This
608	setting specifies which paravirtualization interface to provide to
609	the guest operating system. Specifying
610	<computeroutput>none</computeroutput> explicitly turns off exposing
611	any paravirtualization interface. The option
612	<computeroutput>default</computeroutput>, will pick an appropriate
613	interface depending on the guest OS type while starting the VM.
614	This is the default option chosen while creating new VMs. The
615	<computeroutput>legacy</computeroutput> option is chosen for VMs
616	which were created with older VirtualBox versions and will pick a
617	paravirtualization interface while starting the VM with VirtualBox
618	5.0 and newer. The <computeroutput>minimal</computeroutput> provider
619	is mandatory for Mac OS X guests, while
620	<computeroutput>kvm</computeroutput> and
621	<computeroutput>hyperv</computeroutput> are recommended for Linux
622	and Windows guests respectively. These options are explained in
623	detail under <xref linkend="gimproviders" />.</para>
624	</listitem>
625
626	<listitem>
627	<para><computeroutput>--nestedpaging on\|off</computeroutput>: If
628	hardware virtualization is enabled, this additional setting
629	enables or disables the use of the nested paging feature in the
630	processor of your host system; see <xref
631	linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
632	</listitem>
633
634	<listitem>
635	<para><computeroutput>--largepages on\|off</computeroutput>: If
636	hardware virtualization <emphasis>and</emphasis> nested paging are
637	enabled, for Intel VT-x only, an additional performance
638	improvement of up to 5% can be obtained by enabling this setting.
639	This causes the hypervisor to use large pages to reduce TLB use
640	and overhead.</para>
641	</listitem>
642
643	<listitem>
644	<para><computeroutput>--vtxvpid on\|off</computeroutput>: If
645	hardware virtualization is enabled, for Intel VT-x only, this
646	additional setting enables or disables the use of the tagged TLB
647	(VPID) feature in the processor of your host system; see <xref
648	linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
649	</listitem>
650
651	<listitem>
652	<para><computeroutput>--vtxux on\|off</computeroutput>: If
653	hardware virtualization is enabled, for Intel VT-x only, this
654	setting enables or disables the use of the unrestricted guest mode
655	feature for executing your guest.</para>
656	</listitem>
657
658	<listitem>
659	<para><computeroutput>--accelerate3d on\|off</computeroutput>: This
660	enables, if the Guest Additions are installed, whether hardware 3D
661	acceleration should be available; see <xref
662	linkend="guestadd-3d" />.</para>
663	</listitem>
664
665	<listitem>
666	<para>You can influence the BIOS logo that is displayed when a
667	virtual machine starts up with a number of settings. Per default,
668	a VirtualBox logo is displayed.</para>
669
670	<para>With <computeroutput>--bioslogofadein
671	on\|off</computeroutput> and <computeroutput>--bioslogofadeout
672	on\|off</computeroutput>, you can determine whether the logo should
673	fade in and out, respectively.</para>
674
675	<para>With <computeroutput>--bioslogodisplaytime
676	<msec></computeroutput> you can set how long the logo should
677	be visible, in milliseconds.</para>
678
679	<para>With <computeroutput>--bioslogoimagepath
680	<imagepath></computeroutput> you can, if you are so
681	inclined, replace the image that is shown, with your own logo. The
682	image must be an uncompressed 256 color BMP file without color
683	space information (Windows 3.0 format). The image must not be
684	bigger than 640 x 480.</para>
685	</listitem>
686
687	<listitem>
688	<para><computeroutput>--biosbootmenu
689	disabled\|menuonly\|messageandmenu</computeroutput>: This specifies
690	whether the BIOS allows the user to select a temporary boot
691	device. <computeroutput>menuonly</computeroutput> suppresses the
692	message, but the user can still press F12 to select a temporary
693	boot device.</para>
694	</listitem>
695
696	<listitem>
697	<para><computeroutput>--nicbootprio<1-N>
698	<priority></computeroutput>: This specifies the order in which
699	NICs are tried for booting over the network (using PXE). The
700	priority is an integer in the 0 to 4 range. Priority 1 is the
701	highest, priority 4 is low. Priority 0, which is the default unless
702	otherwise specified, is the lowest.
703	</para>
704	<para> Note that this option only has effect when the Intel PXE boot
705	ROM is used.
706	</para>
707	</listitem>
708
709	<listitem>
710	<para><computeroutput>--boot<1-4>
711	none\|floppy\|dvd\|disk\|net</computeroutput>: This specifies the boot
712	order for the virtual machine. There are four "slots", which the
713	VM will try to access from 1 to 4, and for each of which you can
714	set a device that the VM should attempt to boot from.</para>
715	</listitem>
716
717	<listitem>
718	<para><computeroutput>--snapshotfolder
719	default\|<path></computeroutput>: This allows you to specify
720	the folder in which snapshots will be kept for a virtual
721	machine.</para>
722	</listitem>
723
724	<listitem>
725	<para><computeroutput>--firmware efi\|bios</computeroutput>:
726	Specifies which firmware is used to boot particular virtual
727	machine: EFI or BIOS. Use EFI only if your fully understand what
728	you're doing.</para>
729	</listitem>
730
731	<listitem>
732	<para><computeroutput>--guestmemoryballoon
733	<size></computeroutput> sets the default size of the guest
734	memory balloon, that is, memory allocated by the VirtualBox Guest
735	Additions from the guest operating system and returned to the
736	hypervisor for re-use by other virtual machines.
737	<computeroutput><size></computeroutput> must be specified in
738	megabytes. The default size is 0 megabytes. For details,
739	see <xref linkend="guestadd-balloon" />.</para>
740	</listitem>
741
742	<listitem>
743	<para><computeroutput>--lptmode<1-N>
744	<Device></computeroutput>
745	Specifies the Device Name of the parallel port that
746	the Parallel Port feature will be using. Use this
747	<emphasis>before</emphasis> <computeroutput>--lpt</computeroutput>.
748	This feature is host operating system specific.</para>
749	</listitem>
750
751	<listitem>
752	<para><computeroutput>--lpt<1-N>
753	<I/O base> <IRQ></computeroutput>
754	Specifies the I/O address of the parallel port and the IRQ
755	number that the Parallel Port feature will be using. Use this
756	<emphasis>after</emphasis>
757	<computeroutput>--lptmod</computeroutput>. I/O base address and IRQ are
758	the values that guest sees i.e. the values avalable under guest Device Manager.</para>
759	</listitem>
760
761	<listitem>
762	<para><computeroutput>--defaultfrontend
763	default\|<name></computeroutput>: This allows you to specify
764	the default frontend which will be used when starting this VM; see
765	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" /> for details.</para>
766	</listitem>
767	</itemizedlist></para>
768	</sect2>
769
770	<sect2>
771	<title>Networking settings</title>
772
773	<para>The following networking settings are available through
774	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>. With all these
775	settings, the decimal number directly following the option name ("1-N"
776	in the list below) specifies the virtual network adapter whose settings
777	should be changed.<itemizedlist>
778	<listitem>
779	<para><computeroutput>--nic<1-N>
780	none\|null\|nat\|bridged\|intnet\|hostonly\|generic
781	</computeroutput>: With
782	this, you can set, for each of the VM's virtual network cards,
783	what type of networking should be available. They can be not
784	present (<computeroutput>none</computeroutput>), not connected to
785	the host (<computeroutput>null</computeroutput>), use network
786	address translation (<computeroutput>nat</computeroutput>),
787	bridged networking (<computeroutput>bridged</computeroutput>) or
788	communicate with other virtual machines using internal networking
789	(<computeroutput>intnet</computeroutput>), host-only networking
790	(<computeroutput>hostonly</computeroutput>), or access rarely used
791	sub-modes (<computeroutput>generic</computeroutput>).
792	These options correspond
793	to the modes which are described in detail in <xref
794	linkend="networkingmodes" />.</para>
795	</listitem>
796
797	<listitem>
798	<para><computeroutput>--nictype<1-N>
799	Am79C970A\|Am79C973\|82540EM\|82543GC\|82545EM\|virtio</computeroutput>:
800	This allows you, for each of the VM's virtual network cards, to
801	specify which networking hardware VirtualBox presents to the
802	guest; see <xref linkend="nichardware" />.</para>
803	</listitem>
804
805	<listitem>
806	<para><computeroutput>--cableconnected<1-N>
807	on\|off</computeroutput>: This allows you to temporarily disconnect
808	a virtual network interface, as if a network cable had been pulled
809	from a real network card. This might be useful for resetting
810	certain software components in the VM.</para>
811	</listitem>
812
813	<listitem>
814	<para>With the "nictrace" options, you can optionally trace
815	network traffic by dumping it to a file, for debugging
816	purposes.</para>
817
818	<para>With <computeroutput>--nictrace<1-N>
819	on\|off</computeroutput>, you can enable network tracing for a
820	particular virtual network card.</para>
821
822	<para>If enabled, you must specify with
823	<computeroutput>--nictracefile<1-N>
824	<filename></computeroutput> what file the trace should be
825	logged to.</para>
826	</listitem>
827
828	<listitem>
829	<para><computeroutput>--bridgeadapter<1-N>
830	none\|<devicename></computeroutput>: If bridged networking
831	has been enabled for a virtual network card (see the
832	<computeroutput>--nic</computeroutput> option above; otherwise
833	this setting has no effect), use this option to specify which host
834	interface the given virtual network interface will use. For
835	details, please see <xref linkend="network_bridged" />.</para>
836	</listitem>
837
838	<listitem>
839	<para><computeroutput>--hostonlyadapter<1-N>
840	none\|<devicename></computeroutput>: If host-only networking
841	has been enabled for a virtual network card (see the --nic option
842	above; otherwise this setting has no effect), use this option to
843	specify which host-only networking interface the given virtual
844	network interface will use. For details, please see <xref
845	linkend="network_hostonly" />.</para>
846	</listitem>
847
848	<listitem>
849	<para><computeroutput>--intnet<1-N>
850	network</computeroutput>: If internal networking has been enabled
851	for a virtual network card (see the
852	<computeroutput>--nic</computeroutput> option above; otherwise
853	this setting has no effect), use this option to specify the name
854	of the internal network (see <xref
855	linkend="network_internal" />).</para>
856	</listitem>
857
858	<listitem>
859	<para><computeroutput>--macaddress<1-N>
860	auto\|<mac></computeroutput>: With this option you can set
861	the MAC address of the virtual network card. Normally, each
862	virtual network card is assigned a random address by VirtualBox at
863	VM creation.</para>
864	</listitem>
865
866	<listitem>
867	<para><computeroutput>--nicgenericdrv<1-N>
868	<backend driver></computeroutput>: If generic networking has been
869	enabled for a virtual network card (see the
870	<computeroutput>--nic</computeroutput> option above; otherwise
871	this setting has no effect), this mode allows you to access
872	rarely used networking sub-modes, such as VDE network or UDP Tunnel.
873	</para>
874	</listitem>
875
876	<listitem>
877	<para><computeroutput>--nicproperty<1-N>
878	<paramname>="paramvalue"</computeroutput>:
879	This option, in combination with "nicgenericdrv" allows you to
880	pass parameters to rarely-used network backends.</para><para>
881	Those parameters are backend engine-specific, and are different
882	between UDP Tunnel and the VDE backend drivers. For example,
883	please see <xref linkend="network_udp_tunnel" />.
884	</para>
885	</listitem>
886	</itemizedlist></para>
887
888	<sect3>
889	<title>NAT Networking settings.</title>
890
891	<para>The following NAT networking settings are available through
892	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>. With all these
893	settings, the decimal number directly following the option name ("1-N"
894	in the list below) specifies the virtual network adapter whose
895	settings should be changed.<itemizedlist>
896	<listitem>
897	<para><computeroutput>--natpf<1-N>
898	[<name>],tcp\|udp,[<hostip>],<hostport>,[<guestip>],
899	<guestport></computeroutput>: This option defines a NAT
900	port-forwarding rule (please see <xref linkend="natforward" />
901	for details).</para>
902	</listitem>
903
904	<listitem>
905	<para><computeroutput>--natpf<1-N> delete
906	<name></computeroutput>: This option deletes a NAT
907	port-forwarding rule (please see <xref linkend="natforward" />
908	for details).</para>
909	</listitem>
910
911	<listitem>
912	<para><computeroutput>--nattftpprefix<1-N>
913	<prefix></computeroutput>: This option defines a prefix
914	for the built-in TFTP server, i.e. where the boot file is
915	located (please see <xref linkend="nat-tftp" /> and <xref
916	linkend="nat-adv-tftp" /> for details).</para>
917	</listitem>
918
919	<listitem>
920	<para><computeroutput>--nattftpfile<1-N>
921	<bootfile></computeroutput>: This option defines the TFT
922	boot file (please see <xref linkend="nat-adv-tftp" /> for
923	details).</para>
924	</listitem>
925
926	<listitem>
927	<para><computeroutput>--nattftpserver<1-N>
928	<tftpserver></computeroutput>: This option defines the
929	TFTP server address to boot from (please see <xref
930	linkend="nat-adv-tftp" /> for details).</para>
931	</listitem>
932
933	<listitem>
934	<para><computeroutput>--natdnspassdomain<1-N>
935	on\|off</computeroutput>: This option specifies whether the
936	built-in DHCP server passes the domain name for network name
937	resolution.</para>
938	</listitem>
939
940	<listitem>
941	<para><computeroutput>--natdnsproxy<1-N>
942	on\|off</computeroutput>: This option makes the NAT engine proxy
943	all guest DNS requests to the host's DNS servers (please see
944	<xref linkend="nat-adv-dns" /> for details).</para>
945	</listitem>
946
947	<listitem>
948	<para><computeroutput>--natdnshostresolver<1-N>
949	on\|off</computeroutput>: This option makes the NAT engine use
950	the host's resolver mechanisms to handle DNS requests (please
951	see <xref linkend="nat-adv-dns" /> for details).</para>
952	</listitem>
953
954	<listitem>
955	<para><computeroutput>--natsettings<1-N>
956	[<mtu>],[<socksnd>],[<sockrcv>],[<tcpsnd>],
957	[<tcprcv>]</computeroutput>: This option controls several
958	NAT settings (please see <xref linkend="nat-adv-settings" /> for
959	details).</para>
960	</listitem>
961
962	<listitem>
963	<para><computeroutput>--nataliasmode<1-N>
964	default\|[log],[proxyonly],[sameports]</computeroutput>: This
965	option defines behaviour of NAT engine core: log - enables
966	logging, proxyonly - switches of aliasing mode makes NAT
967	transparent, sameports enforces NAT engine to send packets via
968	the same port as they originated on, default - disable all
969	mentioned modes above . (please see <xref
970	linkend="nat-adv-alias" /> for details).</para>
971	</listitem>
972	</itemizedlist></para>
973	</sect3>
974	</sect2>
975
976	<sect2 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm-other">
977	<title>Miscellaneous settings</title>
978
979	<para>The following other hardware settings, such as serial port, audio,
980	clipboard, drag'n drop, monitor and USB settings are available through
981	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>:<itemizedlist>
982	<listitem>
983	<para><computeroutput>--uart<1-N> off\|<I/O base>
984	<IRQ></computeroutput>: With this option you can configure
985	virtual serial ports for the VM; see <xref
986	linkend="serialports" /> for an introduction.</para>
987	</listitem>
988
989	<listitem>
990	<para><computeroutput>--uartmode<1-N>
991	<arg></computeroutput>: This setting controls how VirtualBox
992	connects a given virtual serial port (previously configured with
993	the <computeroutput>--uartX</computeroutput> setting, see above)
994	to the host on which the virtual machine is running. As described
995	in detail in <xref linkend="serialports" />, for each such port,
996	you can specify <computeroutput><arg></computeroutput> as
997	one of the following options:<itemizedlist>
998	<listitem>
999	<para><computeroutput>disconnected</computeroutput>: Even
1000	though the serial port is shown to the guest, it has no
1001	"other end" -- like a real COM port without a cable.</para>
1002	</listitem>
1003
1004	<listitem>
1005	<para><computeroutput>server
1006	<pipename></computeroutput>: On a Windows host, this
1007	tells VirtualBox to create a named pipe on the host named
1008	<computeroutput><pipename></computeroutput> and
1009	connect the virtual serial device to it. Note that Windows
1010	requires that the name of a named pipe begin with
1011	<computeroutput>\\.\pipe\</computeroutput>.</para>
1012
1013	<para>On a Linux host, instead of a named pipe, a local
1014	domain socket is used.</para>
1015	</listitem>
1016
1017	<listitem>
1018	<para><computeroutput>client
1019	<pipename></computeroutput>: This operates just like
1020	<computeroutput>server ...</computeroutput>, except that the
1021	pipe (or local domain socket) is not created by VirtualBox,
1022	but assumed to exist already.</para>
1023	</listitem>
1024
1025	<listitem>
1026	<para><computeroutput><devicename></computeroutput>:
1027	If, instead of the above, the device name of a physical
1028	hardware serial port of the host is specified, the virtual
1029	serial port is connected to that hardware port. On a Windows
1030	host, the device name will be a COM port such as
1031	<computeroutput>COM1</computeroutput>; on a Linux host, the
1032	device name will look like
1033	<computeroutput>/dev/ttyS0</computeroutput>. This allows you
1034	to "wire" a real serial port to a virtual machine.</para>
1035	</listitem>
1036	</itemizedlist></para>
1037	</listitem>
1038
1039	<listitem>
1040	<para><computeroutput>--audio none\|null\|oss</computeroutput>: With
1041	this option, you can set whether the VM should have audio
1042	support.</para>
1043	</listitem>
1044
1045	<listitem>
1046	<para><computeroutput>--clipboard
1047	disabled\|hosttoguest\|guesttohost\|bidirectional</computeroutput>:
1048	With this setting, you can select if and how the guest or host
1049	operating system's clipboard should be shared with the host or guest;
1050	see <xref linkend="generalsettings" />. This requires that the Guest
1051	Additions be installed in the virtual machine.</para>
1052	</listitem>
1053
1054	<listitem>
1055	<para><computeroutput>--draganddrop
1056	disabled\|hosttoguest\|guesttohost\|bidirectional</computeroutput>:
1057	With this setting, you can select the current drag'n drop mode
1058	being used between the host and the virtual machine;
1059	see <xref linkend="guestadd-dnd" />. This requires that the Guest
1060	Additions be installed in the virtual machine.</para>
1061	</listitem>
1062
1063	<listitem>
1064	<para><computeroutput>--monitorcount
1065	<count></computeroutput>: This enables multi-monitor
1066	support; see <xref linkend="settings-display" />.</para>
1067	</listitem>
1068
1069	<listitem>
1070	<para><computeroutput>--usb on\|off</computeroutput>: This option
1071	enables or disables the VM's virtual USB controller; see <xref
1072	linkend="settings-usb" /> for details.</para>
1073	</listitem>
1074
1075	<listitem>
1076	<para><computeroutput>--usbehci on\|off</computeroutput>: This
1077	option enables or disables the VM's virtual USB 2.0 controller;
1078	see <xref linkend="settings-usb" /> for details.</para>
1079	</listitem>
1080	</itemizedlist></para>
1081
1082	<!-- @todo r=andy Document tracing-* commands -->
1083	</sect2>
1084
1085	<sect2 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm-vrde">
1086	<title>Remote machine settings</title>
1087
1088	<para>The following settings that affect remote machine behavior are
1089	available through <computeroutput>VBoxManage
1090	modifyvm</computeroutput>:<itemizedlist>
1091	<listitem>
1092	<para><computeroutput>--vrde on\|off</computeroutput>: With the
1093	VirtualBox graphical user interface, this enables or disables the
1094	VirtualBox remote desktop extension (VRDE) server. Note that if
1095	you are using <computeroutput>VBoxHeadless</computeroutput> (see
1096	<xref linkend="vboxheadless" />), VRDE is enabled by
1097	default.</para>
1098	</listitem>
1099
1100	<!-- @todo r=andy Document vrdeproperty -->
1101
1102	<listitem>
1103	<para><computeroutput>--vrdeport
1104	default\|<ports></computeroutput>: A port or a range of ports
1105	the VRDE server can bind to; "default" or "0" means port 3389, the
1106	standard port for RDP. You can specify a comma-separated list of
1107	ports or ranges of ports. Use a dash between two port numbers to
1108	specify a range. The VRDE server will bind to <emphasis
1109	role="bold">one</emphasis> of available ports from the specified
1110	list. Only one machine can use a given port at a time. For
1111	example, the option <computeroutput> --vrdeport
1112	5000,5010-5012</computeroutput> will tell the server to bind to
1113	one of following ports: 5000, 5010, 5011 or 5012.</para>
1114	</listitem>
1115
1116	<listitem>
1117	<para><computeroutput>--vrdeaddress <IP
1118	address></computeroutput>: The IP address of the host network
1119	interface the VRDE server will bind to. If specified, the server
1120	will accept connections only on the specified host network
1121	interface.</para>
1122	<para>The setting can be used to specify whether the VRDP server
1123	should accept either IPv4 or IPv6 or both connections:
1124	<itemizedlist>
1125	<listitem>
1126	<para>only IPv4: <computeroutput>--vrdeaddress "0.0.0.0"
1127	</computeroutput></para>
1128	</listitem>
1129	<listitem>
1130	<para>only IPv6: <computeroutput>--vrdeaddress "::"
1131	</computeroutput></para>
1132	</listitem>
1133	<listitem>
1134	<para>both IPv6 and IPv4 (default): <computeroutput>--vrdeaddress ""
1135	</computeroutput></para>
1136	</listitem>
1137	</itemizedlist></para>
1138	</listitem>
1139
1140	<listitem>
1141	<para><computeroutput>--vrdeauthtype
1142	null\|external\|guest</computeroutput>: This allows you to choose
1143	whether and how authorization will be performed; see <xref
1144	linkend="vbox-auth" /> for details.</para>
1145	</listitem>
1146
1147	<listitem>
1148	<para><computeroutput>--vrdemulticon on\|off</computeroutput>: This
1149	enables multiple connections to the same VRDE server, if the
1150	server supports this feature; see <xref lang=""
1151	linkend="vrde-multiconnection" />.</para>
1152	</listitem>
1153
1154	<listitem>
1155	<para><computeroutput>--vrdereusecon on\|off</computeroutput>: This
1156	specifies the VRDE server behavior when multiple connections are
1157	disabled. When this option is enabled, the server will allow a new
1158	client to connect and will drop the existing connection. When this
1159	option is disabled (this is the default setting), a new connection
1160	will not be accepted if there is already a client connected to the
1161	server.</para>
1162	</listitem>
1163
1164	<listitem>
1165	<para><computeroutput>--vrdevideochannel on\|off</computeroutput>:
1166	This enables video redirection, if it is supported by the VRDE
1167	server; see <xref lang="" linkend="vrde-videochannel" />.</para>
1168	</listitem>
1169
1170	<listitem>
1171	<para><computeroutput>--vrdevideochannelquality
1172	<percent></computeroutput>: Sets the image quality for video
1173	redirection; see <xref lang=""
1174	linkend="vrde-videochannel" />.</para>
1175	</listitem>
1176	</itemizedlist></para>
1177	</sect2>
1178
1179	<sect2 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm-teleport">
1180	<title>Teleporting settings</title>
1181
1182	<para>With the following commands for <computeroutput>VBoxManage
1183	modifyvm</computeroutput> you can configure a machine to be a target for
1184	teleporting. See <xref linkend="teleporting" /> for an
1185	introduction.<itemizedlist>
1186	<listitem>
1187	<para><computeroutput>--teleporter on\|off</computeroutput>: With
1188	this setting you turn on or off whether a machine waits for a
1189	teleporting request to come in on the network when it is started.
1190	If "on", when the machine is started, it does not boot the virtual
1191	machine as it would normally; instead, it then waits for a
1192	teleporting request to come in on the port and address listed with
1193	the next two parameters.</para>
1194	</listitem>
1195
1196	<listitem>
1197	<para><computeroutput>--teleporterport
1198	<port></computeroutput>, <computeroutput>--teleporteraddress
1199	<address></computeroutput>: these must be used with
1200	--teleporter and tell the virtual machine on which port and
1201	address it should listen for a teleporting request from another
1202	virtual machine. <computeroutput><port></computeroutput> can
1203	be any free TCP/IP port number (e.g. 6000);
1204	<computeroutput><address></computeroutput> can be any IP
1205	address or hostname and specifies the TCP/IP socket to bind to.
1206	The default is "0.0.0.0", which means any address.</para>
1207	</listitem>
1208
1209	<listitem>
1210	<para><computeroutput>--teleporterpassword
1211	<password></computeroutput>: if this optional argument is
1212	given, then the teleporting request will only succeed if the
1213	source machine specifies the same password as the one given with
1214	this command.</para>
1215	</listitem>
1216
1217	<listitem>
1218	<para><computeroutput>--teleporterpasswordfile
1219	<password></computeroutput>: if this optional argument is
1220	given, then the teleporting request will only succeed if the
1221	source machine specifies the same password as the one specified
1222	in the file give with this command. Use <computeroutput>stdin</computeroutput>
1223	to read the password from stdin.</para>
1224	</listitem>
1225
1226	<listitem>
1227	<para><computeroutput>--cpuid <leaf> <eax> <ebx>
1228	<ecx> <edx></computeroutput>: Advanced users can use
1229	this command before a teleporting operation to restrict the
1230	virtual CPU capabilities that VirtualBox presents to the guest
1231	operating system. This must be run on both the source and the
1232	target machines involved in the teleporting and will then modify
1233	what the guest sees when it executes the
1234	<computeroutput>CPUID</computeroutput> machine instruction. This
1235	might help with misbehaving applications that wrongly assume that
1236	certain CPU capabilities are present. The meaning of the
1237	parameters is hardware dependent; please refer to the AMD or Intel
1238	processor manuals.</para>
1239	</listitem>
1240	</itemizedlist></para>
1241	</sect2>
1242	</sect1>
1243
1244	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-clonevm">
1245	<title>VBoxManage clonevm</title>
1246
1247	<para>This command creates a full or linked copy of an existing virtual
1248	machine.</para>
1249
1250	<para>The <computeroutput>clonevm</computeroutput> subcommand takes at
1251	least the name of the virtual machine which should be cloned. The following
1252	additional settings can be used to further configure the clone VM
1253	operation:</para>
1254
1255	<itemizedlist>
1256	<listitem>
1257	<para><computeroutput>--snapshot <uuid>\|<name></computeroutput>:
1258	Select a specific snapshot where the clone operation should refer
1259	to. Default is referring to the current state.</para>
1260	</listitem>
1261	<listitem>
1262	<para><computeroutput>--mode machine\|machineandchildren\|all</computeroutput>:
1263	Selects the cloning mode of the operation. If
1264	<computeroutput>machine</computeroutput> is selected (the default),
1265	the current state of the VM without any snapshots is cloned. In the
1266	<computeroutput>machineandchildren</computeroutput> mode the snapshot
1267	provided by <computeroutput>--snapshot</computeroutput> and all
1268	child snapshots are cloned. If <computeroutput>all</computeroutput>
1269	is the selected mode all snapshots and the current state are cloned.
1270	</para>
1271	</listitem>
1272	<listitem>
1273	<para><computeroutput>--options link\|keepallmacs\|keepnatmacs\|keepdisknames</computeroutput>:
1274	Allows additional fine tuning of the clone operation. The first
1275	option defines that a linked clone should be created, which is
1276	only possible for a machine clone from a snapshot. The next two
1277	options allow to define how the MAC addresses of every virtual
1278	network card should be handled. They can either be reinitialized
1279	(the default), left unchanged
1280	(<computeroutput>keepallmacs</computeroutput>) or left unchanged
1281	when the network type is NAT
1282	(<computeroutput>keepnatmacs</computeroutput>). If you add
1283	<computeroutput>keepdisknames</computeroutput> all new disk images
1284	are called like the original ones, otherwise they are
1285	renamed.</para>
1286	</listitem>
1287	<listitem>
1288	<para><computeroutput>--name <name></computeroutput>: Select a
1289	new name for the new virtual machine. Default is "Original Name
1290	Clone".</para>
1291	</listitem>
1292	<listitem>
1293	<para><computeroutput>--basefolder <basefolder></computeroutput>:
1294	Select the folder where the new virtual machine configuration should
1295	be saved in.</para>
1296	</listitem>
1297	<listitem>
1298	<para><computeroutput>--uuid <uuid></computeroutput>:
1299	Select the UUID the new VM should have. This id has to be unique in
1300	the VirtualBox instance this clone should be registered. Default is
1301	creating a new UUID.</para>
1302	</listitem>
1303	<listitem>
1304	<para><computeroutput>--register</computeroutput>:
1305	Automatically register the new clone in this VirtualBox
1306	installation. If you manually want to register the new VM later, see
1307	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-registervm" /> for instructions how to do
1308	so.</para>
1309	</listitem>
1310	</itemizedlist>
1311	</sect1>
1312
1313	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-import">
1314	<title>VBoxManage import</title>
1315
1316	<para>This command imports a virtual appliance in OVF format by copying
1317	the virtual disk images and creating virtual machines in VirtualBox. See
1318	<xref linkend="ovf" /> for an introduction to appliances.</para>
1319
1320	<para>The <computeroutput>import</computeroutput> subcommand takes at
1321	least the path name of an OVF file as input and expects the disk images,
1322	if needed, in the same directory as the OVF file. A lot of additional
1323	command-line options are supported to control in detail what is being
1324	imported and modify the import parameters, but the details depend on the
1325	content of the OVF file.</para>
1326
1327	<para>It is therefore recommended to first run the import subcommand with
1328	the <computeroutput>--dry-run</computeroutput> or
1329	<computeroutput>-n</computeroutput> option. This will then print a
1330	description of the appliance's contents to the screen how it would be
1331	imported into VirtualBox, together with the optional command-line options
1332	to influence the import behavior.</para>
1333
1334	<para>As an example, here is the screen output with a sample appliance
1335	containing a Windows XP guest:<screen>VBoxManage import WindowsXp.ovf --dry-run
1336	Interpreting WindowsXp.ovf...
1337	OK.
1338	Virtual system 0:
1339	0: Suggested OS type: "WindowsXP"
1340	(change with "--vsys 0 --ostype <type>"; use "list ostypes" to list all)
1341	1: Suggested VM name "Windows XP Professional_1"
1342	(change with "--vsys 0 --vmname <name>")
1343	3: Number of CPUs: 1
1344	(change with "--vsys 0 --cpus <n>")
1345	4: Guest memory: 956 MB (change with "--vsys 0 --memory <MB>")
1346	5: Sound card (appliance expects "ensoniq1371", can change on import)
1347	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 5 --ignore")
1348	6: USB controller
1349	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 6 --ignore")
1350	7: Network adapter: orig bridged, config 2, extra type=bridged
1351	8: Floppy
1352	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 8 --ignore")
1353	9: SCSI controller, type BusLogic
1354	(change with "--vsys 0 --unit 9 --scsitype {BusLogic\|LsiLogic}";
1355	disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 9 --ignore")
1356	10: IDE controller, type PIIX4
1357	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 10 --ignore")
1358	11: Hard disk image: source image=WindowsXp.vmdk,
1359	target path=/home/user/disks/WindowsXp.vmdk, controller=9;channel=0
1360	(change controller with "--vsys 0 --unit 11 --controller <id>";
1361	disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 11 --ignore")</screen></para>
1362
1363	<para>As you can see, the individual configuration items are numbered, and
1364	depending on their type support different command-line options. The import
1365	subcommand can be directed to ignore many such items with a
1366	<computeroutput>--vsys X --unit Y --ignore</computeroutput> option, where
1367	X is the number of the virtual system (zero unless there are several
1368	virtual system descriptions in the appliance) and Y the item number, as
1369	printed on the screen.</para>
1370
1371	<para>In the above example, Item #1 specifies the name of the target
1372	machine in VirtualBox. Items #9 and #10 specify hard disk controllers,
1373	respectively. Item #11 describes a hard disk image; in this case, the
1374	additional <computeroutput>--controller</computeroutput> option indicates
1375	which item the disk image should be connected to, with the default coming
1376	from the OVF file.</para>
1377
1378	<para>You can combine several items for the same virtual system behind the
1379	same <computeroutput>--vsys</computeroutput> option. For example, to
1380	import a machine as described in the OVF, but without the sound card and
1381	without the USB controller, and with the disk image connected to the IDE
1382	controller instead of the SCSI controller, use this:<screen>VBoxManage import WindowsXp.ovf
1383	--vsys 0 --unit 5 --ignore --unit 6 --ignore --unit 11 --controller 10</screen></para>
1384	</sect1>
1385
1386	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-export">
1387	<title>VBoxManage export</title>
1388
1389	<para>This command exports one or more virtual machines from VirtualBox
1390	into a virtual appliance in OVF format, including copying their virtual
1391	disk images to compressed VMDK. See <xref linkend="ovf" /> for an
1392	introduction to appliances.</para>
1393
1394	<para>The <computeroutput>export</computeroutput> command is simple to
1395	use: list the machine (or the machines) that you would like to export to
1396	the same OVF file and specify the target OVF file after an additional
1397	<computeroutput>--output</computeroutput> or
1398	<computeroutput>-o</computeroutput> option. Note that the directory of the
1399	target OVF file will also receive the exported disk images in the
1400	compressed VMDK format (regardless of the original format) and should have
1401	enough disk space left for them.</para>
1402
1403	<para>Beside a simple export of a given virtual machine, you can append
1404	several product information to the appliance file. Use
1405	<computeroutput>--product</computeroutput>,
1406	<computeroutput>--producturl</computeroutput>,
1407	<computeroutput>--vendor</computeroutput>,
1408	<computeroutput>--vendorurl</computeroutput> and
1409	<computeroutput>--version</computeroutput> to specify this additional
1410	information. For legal reasons you may add a license text or the content
1411	of a license file by using the <computeroutput>--eula</computeroutput> and
1412	<computeroutput>--eulafile</computeroutput> option respectively. As with
1413	OVF import, you must use the <computeroutput>--vsys X</computeroutput>
1414	option to direct the previously mentioned options to the correct virtual
1415	machine.</para>
1416
1417	<para>For virtualization products which aren't fully compatible with the
1418	OVF standard 1.0 you can enable a OVF 0.9 legacy mode with the
1419	<computeroutput>--legacy09</computeroutput> option.</para>
1420
1421	<para>To specify options controlling the exact content of the appliance
1422	file, you can use <computeroutput>--option</computeroutput> to request the
1423	creation of a manifest file (encouraged, allows detection of corrupted
1424	appliances on import), the additional export of DVD images, and the
1425	exclusion of MAC addresses. You can specify a list of options, e.g.
1426	<computeroutput>--option manifest,nomacs</computeroutput>. For details,
1427	check the help output of <computeroutput>VBoxManage export</computeroutput>.</para>
1428	</sect1>
1429
1430	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-startvm">
1431	<title>VBoxManage startvm</title>
1432
1433	<para>This command starts a virtual machine that is currently in the
1434	"Powered off" or "Saved" states.</para>
1435
1436	<para>The optional <computeroutput>--type</computeroutput> specifier
1437	determines whether the machine will be started in a window or whether the
1438	output should go through <computeroutput>VBoxHeadless</computeroutput>,
1439	with VRDE enabled or not; see <xref linkend="vboxheadless" /> for more
1440	information. The list of types is subject to change, and it's not
1441	guaranteed that all types are accepted by any product variant.</para>
1442
1443	<para>The global or per-VM default value for the VM frontend type will be
1444	taken if the type is not explicitly specified. If none of these are set,
1445	the GUI variant will be started.</para>
1446
1447	<para>The following values are allowed:</para>
1448
1449	<glosslist>
1450	<glossentry>
1451	<glossterm><computeroutput>gui</computeroutput></glossterm>
1452
1453	<glossdef>
1454	<para>Starts a VM showing a GUI window. This is the default.</para>
1455	</glossdef>
1456	</glossentry>
1457
1458	<glossentry>
1459	<glossterm><computeroutput>headless</computeroutput></glossterm>
1460
1461	<glossdef>
1462	<para>Starts a VM without a window for remote display only.</para>
1463	</glossdef>
1464	</glossentry>
1465
1466	<glossentry>
1467	<glossterm><computeroutput>sdl</computeroutput></glossterm>
1468
1469	<glossdef>
1470	<para>Starts a VM with a minimal GUI and limited features.</para>
1471	</glossdef>
1472	</glossentry>
1473
1474	<glossentry>
1475	<glossterm><computeroutput>separate</computeroutput></glossterm>
1476
1477	<glossdef>
1478	<para>Starts a VM with detachable UI (technically it is a headless VM
1479	with user interface in a separate process). This is an experimental
1480	feature as it lacks certain functionality at the moment (e.g. 3D
1481	acceleration will not work).</para>
1482	</glossdef>
1483	</glossentry>
1484	</glosslist>
1485
1486	<note>
1487	<para>If you experience problems with starting virtual machines with
1488	particular frontends and there is no conclusive error information,
1489	consider starting virtual machines directly by running the respective
1490	front-end, as this can give additional error information.</para>
1491	</note>
1492	</sect1>
1493
1494	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-controlvm">
1495	<title>VBoxManage controlvm</title>
1496
1497	<para>The <computeroutput>controlvm</computeroutput> subcommand allows you
1498	to change the state of a virtual machine that is currently running. The
1499	following can be specified:</para>
1500
1501	<para><itemizedlist>
1502	<listitem>
1503	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1504	pause</computeroutput> temporarily puts a virtual machine on hold,
1505	without changing its state for good. The VM window will be painted
1506	in gray to indicate that the VM is currently paused. (This is
1507	equivalent to selecting the "Pause" item in the "Machine" menu of
1508	the GUI.)</para>
1509	</listitem>
1510
1511	<listitem>
1512	<para>Use <computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1513	resume</computeroutput> to undo a previous
1514	<computeroutput>pause</computeroutput> command. (This is equivalent
1515	to selecting the "Resume" item in the "Machine" menu of the
1516	GUI.)</para>
1517	</listitem>
1518
1519	<listitem>
1520	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1521	reset</computeroutput> has the same effect on a virtual machine as
1522	pressing the "Reset" button on a real computer: a cold reboot of the
1523	virtual machine, which will restart and boot the guest operating
1524	system again immediately. The state of the VM is not saved
1525	beforehand, and data may be lost. (This is equivalent to selecting
1526	the "Reset" item in the "Machine" menu of the GUI.)</para>
1527	</listitem>
1528
1529	<listitem>
1530	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1531	poweroff</computeroutput> has the same effect on a virtual machine
1532	as pulling the power cable on a real computer. Again, the state of
1533	the VM is not saved beforehand, and data may be lost. (This is
1534	equivalent to selecting the "Close" item in the "Machine" menu of
1535	the GUI or pressing the window's close button, and then selecting
1536	"Power off the machine" in the dialog.)</para>
1537
1538	<para>After this, the VM's state will be "Powered off". From there,
1539	it can be started again; see <xref
1540	linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />.</para>
1541	</listitem>
1542
1543	<listitem>
1544	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1545	savestate</computeroutput> will save the current state of the VM to
1546	disk and then stop the VM. (This is equivalent to selecting the
1547	"Close" item in the "Machine" menu of the GUI or pressing the
1548	window's close button, and then selecting "Save the machine state"
1549	in the dialog.)</para>
1550
1551	<para>After this, the VM's state will be "Saved". From there, it can
1552	be started again; see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />.</para>
1553	</listitem>
1554
1555	<listitem>
1556	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm "VM name" teleport
1557	--hostname <name> --port <port> [--passwordfile
1558	<file> \| --password <password>]</computeroutput> makes
1559	the machine the source of a teleporting operation and initiates a
1560	teleport to the given target. See <xref linkend="teleporting" /> for
1561	an introduction. If the optional password is specified, it must match
1562	the password that was given to the
1563	<computeroutput>modifyvm</computeroutput> command for the target
1564	machine; see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm-teleport" /> for
1565	details.</para>
1566	</listitem>
1567	</itemizedlist></para>
1568
1569	<para>A few extra options are available with
1570	<computeroutput>controlvm</computeroutput> that do not directly affect the
1571	VM's running state:</para>
1572
1573	<itemizedlist>
1574	<!-- @todo r=andy Document keyboardputscancode -->
1575
1576	<listitem>
1577	<para>The <computeroutput>setlinkstate<1-N></computeroutput>
1578	operation connects or disconnects virtual network cables from their
1579	network interfaces.</para>
1580	</listitem>
1581
1582	<listitem>
1583	<para><computeroutput>nic<1-N>
1584	null\|nat\|bridged\|intnet\|hostonly\|generic</computeroutput>: With this, you can
1585	set, for each of the VM's virtual network cards, what type of
1586	networking should be available. They can be not connected to the host
1587	(<computeroutput>null</computeroutput>), use network address
1588	translation (<computeroutput>nat</computeroutput>), bridged networking
1589	(<computeroutput>bridged</computeroutput>) or communicate with other
1590	virtual machines using internal networking
1591	(<computeroutput>intnet</computeroutput>) or host-only networking
1592	(<computeroutput>hostonly</computeroutput>) or access to rarely used
1593	sub-modes
1594	(<computeroutput>generic</computeroutput>). These options correspond
1595	to the modes which are described in detail in <xref
1596	linkend="networkingmodes" />.</para>
1597	</listitem>
1598
1599	<listitem>
1600	<para>With the "nictrace" options, you can optionally trace
1601	network traffic by dumping it to a file, for debugging
1602	purposes.</para>
1603
1604	<para>With <computeroutput>--nictrace<1-N>
1605	on\|off</computeroutput>, you can enable network tracing for a
1606	particular virtual network card.</para>
1607
1608	<para>If enabled, you must specify with
1609	<computeroutput>--nictracefile<1-N>
1610	<filename></computeroutput> what file the trace should be
1611	logged to.</para>
1612	</listitem>
1613
1614	<!-- @todo r=andy Document nicpromisc -->
1615
1616	<listitem>
1617	<para><computeroutput>nicproperty<1-N>
1618	<paramname>="paramvalue"</computeroutput>:
1619	This option, in combination with "nicgenericdrv" allows you to
1620	pass parameters to rarely-used network backends.</para><para>
1621	Those parameters are backend engine-specific, and are different
1622	between UDP Tunnel and the VDE backend drivers. For example,
1623	please see <xref linkend="network_udp_tunnel" />.
1624	</para>
1625	</listitem>
1626
1627	<listitem>
1628	<para>The <computeroutput>guestmemoryballoon</computeroutput>
1629	operation changes the size of the guest memory balloon, that is,
1630	memory allocated by the VirtualBox Guest Additions from the guest
1631	operating system and returned to the hypervisor for re-use by other
1632	virtual machines. This must be specified in megabytes. For details,
1633	see <xref linkend="guestadd-balloon" />.</para>
1634	</listitem>
1635
1636	<listitem>
1637	<para><computeroutput>usbattach</computeroutput> and
1638	<computeroutput>usbdettach</computeroutput> make host USB devices
1639	visible to the virtual machine on the fly, without the need for
1640	creating filters first. The USB devices can be specified by UUID
1641	(unique identifier) or by address on the host system.</para>
1642
1643	<para>You can use <computeroutput>VBoxManage list
1644	usbhost</computeroutput> to locate this information.</para>
1645	</listitem>
1646
1647	<listitem>
1648	<para><computeroutput>clipboard
1649	disabled\|hosttoguest\|guesttohost\|bidirectional</computeroutput>:
1650	With this setting, you can select if and how the guest or host
1651	operating system's clipboard should be shared with the host or guest;
1652	see <xref linkend="generalsettings" />. This requires that the Guest
1653	Additions be installed in the virtual machine.</para>
1654	</listitem>
1655
1656	<listitem>
1657	<para><computeroutput>draganddrop
1658	disabled\|hosttoguest\|guesttohost\|bidirectional</computeroutput>:
1659	With this setting, you can select the current drag'n drop mode
1660	being used between the host and the virtual machine;
1661	see <xref linkend="guestadd-dnd" />. This requires that the Guest
1662	Additions be installed in the virtual machine.</para>
1663	</listitem>
1664
1665	<listitem>
1666	<para><computeroutput>vrde on\|off</computeroutput> lets you enable or
1667	disable the VRDE server, if it is installed.</para>
1668	</listitem>
1669
1670	<listitem>
1671	<para><computeroutput>vrdeport default\|<ports></computeroutput>
1672	changes the port or a range of ports that the VRDE server can bind to;
1673	"default" or "0" means port 3389, the standard port for RDP. For
1674	details, see the description for the
1675	<computeroutput>--vrdeport</computeroutput> option in <xref
1676	linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm-other" />.</para>
1677	</listitem>
1678
1679
1680	<listitem>
1681	<para><computeroutput>setvideomodehint</computeroutput> requests that
1682	the guest system change to a particular video mode. This requires that
1683	the Guest Additions be installed, and will not work for all guest
1684	systems.</para>
1685	</listitem>
1686
1687	<listitem>
1688	<para><computeroutput>screenshotpng</computeroutput> takes a screenshot
1689	of the guest display and saves it in PNG format.</para>
1690	</listitem>
1691
1692	<listitem>
1693	<para><computeroutput>videocap on\|off</computeroutput> enables or disables
1694	recording a VM session into a WebM/VP8 file.</para>
1695	</listitem>
1696
1697	<listitem>
1698	<para><computeroutput>videocapscreens all\|<screen ID> [<screen ID> ...]]</computeroutput>
1699	allows to specify which screens of the VM are being recorded. This setting
1700	cannot be changed while video capturing is enabled.</para>
1701	</listitem>
1702
1703	<listitem>
1704	<para><computeroutput>videocapfile <file></computeroutput> sets the filename
1705	VirtualBox uses to save the recorded content. This setting cannot be changed
1706	while video capturing is enabled.</para>
1707	</listitem>
1708
1709	<listitem>
1710	<para><computeroutput>videocapres <width> <height></computeroutput>
1711	sets the resolution (in pixels) of the recorded video. This setting cannot be
1712	changed while video capturing is enabled.</para>
1713	</listitem>
1714
1715	<listitem> <!-- @todo r=andy Clarify rate. -->
1716	<para><computeroutput>videocaprate <rate></computeroutput> sets the
1717	bitrate in kilobits (kb) per second. Increasing this value makes the video
1718	look better for the cost of an increased file size. This setting cannot be
1719	changed while video capturing is enabled.</para>
1720	</listitem>
1721
1722	<listitem>
1723	<para><computeroutput>videocapfps <fps></computeroutput> sets the
1724	maximum number of frames per second (FPS) to be recorded. Frames with a
1725	higher frequency will be skipped. Reducing this value increases the number
1726	of skipped frames and reduces the file size. This setting cannot be changed
1727	while video capturing is enabled.</para>
1728	</listitem>
1729
1730	<listitem> <!-- @todo r=andy Clarify time format. -->
1731	<para><computeroutput>videocapmaxtime <time></computeroutput> sets
1732	the maximum time the video capturing will take place since activation.
1733	The capturing stops when the defined time interval has elapsed. If this
1734	value is zero the capturing is not limited by time. This setting cannot
1735	be changed while video capturing is enabled.</para>
1736	</listitem>
1737
1738	<listitem>
1739	<para><computeroutput>videocapmaxsize <MB></computeroutput> limits
1740	the maximum size of the captured video file (in MB). The capturing stops
1741	when file size has reached the specified size. If this value is zero
1742	the capturing will not be limited by file size. This setting cannot be
1743	changed while video capturing is enabled.</para>
1744	</listitem>
1745
1746	<listitem>
1747	<para><computeroutput>videocapopts <key=value> [<key=value> ...]</computeroutput>
1748	can be used to specify additional video capturing options. These options
1749	only are for advanced users and must be specified in a comma-separated
1750	key=value format, e.g. <computeroutput>foo=bar,a=b</computeroutput>.
1751	This setting cannot be changed while video capturing is enabled.</para>
1752	</listitem>
1753
1754	<listitem>
1755	<para>The <computeroutput>setcredentials</computeroutput> operation is
1756	used for remote logons in Windows guests. For details, please refer to
1757	<xref linkend="autologon" />.</para>
1758	</listitem>
1759
1760	<!-- @todo r=andy Document teleport! -->
1761
1762	<listitem>
1763	<para><computeroutput>--plugcpu\|unplugcpu
1764	<id></computeroutput>: If CPU hot-plugging is enabled, this adds
1765	a virtual CPU to the virtual machines (or removes one).
1766	<computeroutput><id></computeroutput> specifies the index of
1767	the virtual CPU to be added or removed and must be a number from 0
1768	to the maximum no. of CPUs configured. CPU 0 can never be removed.</para>
1769	</listitem>
1770
1771	<listitem>
1772	<para>The <computeroutput>cpuexecutioncap
1773	<1-100></computeroutput>: This operation controls how much cpu
1774	time a virtual CPU can use. A value of 50 implies a single virtual CPU
1775	can use up to 50% of a single host CPU.</para>
1776	</listitem>
1777
1778	<!-- @todo r=andy Document webcam! -->
1779
1780	</itemizedlist>
1781	</sect1>
1782
1783	<sect1>
1784	<title>VBoxManage discardstate</title>
1785
1786	<para>This command discards the saved state of a virtual machine which is
1787	not currently running, which will cause its operating system to restart
1788	next time you start it. This is the equivalent of pulling out the power
1789	cable on a physical machine, and should be avoided if possible.</para>
1790	</sect1>
1791
1792	<sect1>
1793	<title>VBoxManage adoptstate</title>
1794
1795	<para>If you have a saved state file (<computeroutput>.sav</computeroutput>)
1796	that is separate from the VM configuration, you can use this command to
1797	"adopt" the file. This will change the VM to saved state and when you
1798	start it, VirtualBox will attempt to restore it from the saved state file
1799	you indicated. This command should only be used in special setups.</para>
1800	</sect1>
1801
1802	<sect1>
1803	<title>VBoxManage snapshot</title>
1804
1805	<para>This command is used to control snapshots from the command line. A
1806	snapshot consists of a complete copy of the virtual machine settings,
1807	copied at the time when the snapshot was taken, and optionally a virtual
1808	machine saved state file if the snapshot was taken while the machine was
1809	running. After a snapshot has been taken, VirtualBox creates differencing
1810	hard disk for each normal hard disk associated with the machine so that
1811	when a snapshot is restored, the contents of the virtual machine's virtual
1812	hard disks can be quickly reset by simply dropping the pre-existing
1813	differencing files.</para>
1814
1815	<para>The <computeroutput>take</computeroutput> operation takes a snapshot
1816	of the current state of the virtual machine. You must supply a name for
1817	the snapshot and can optionally supply a description. The new snapshot is
1818	inserted into the snapshots tree as a child of the current snapshot and
1819	then becomes the new current snapshot. The
1820	<computeroutput>--description</computeroutput> parameter allows to
1821	describe the snapshot. If <computeroutput>--live</computeroutput>
1822	is specified, the VM will not be stopped during the snapshot creation
1823	(live smapshotting).</para>
1824
1825	<para>The <computeroutput>delete</computeroutput> operation deletes a
1826	snapshot (specified by name or by UUID). This can take a while to finish
1827	since the differencing images associated with the snapshot might need to
1828	be merged with their child differencing images.</para>
1829
1830	<para>The <computeroutput>restore</computeroutput> operation will restore
1831	the given snapshot (specified by name or by UUID) by resetting the virtual
1832	machine's settings and current state to that of the snapshot. The previous
1833	current state of the machine will be lost. After this, the given snapshot
1834	becomes the new "current" snapshot so that subsequent snapshots are
1835	inserted under the snapshot from which was restored.</para>
1836
1837	<para>The <computeroutput>restorecurrent</computeroutput> operation is a
1838	shortcut to restore the current snapshot (i.e. the snapshot from which the
1839	current state is derived). This subcommand is equivalent to using the
1840	"restore" subcommand with the name or UUID of the current snapshot, except
1841	that it avoids the extra step of determining that name or UUID.</para>
1842
1843	<para>With the <computeroutput>edit</computeroutput> operation, you can
1844	change the name or description of an existing snapshot.</para>
1845
1846	<para>With the <computeroutput>showvminfo</computeroutput> operation, you
1847	can view the virtual machine settings that were stored with an existing
1848	snapshot.</para>
1849	</sect1>
1850
1851	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-closemedium">
1852	<title>VBoxManage closemedium</title>
1853
1854	<para>This commands removes a hard disk, DVD or floppy image from a
1855	VirtualBox media registry.<footnote>
1856	<para>Before VirtualBox 4.0, it was necessary to call VBoxManage
1857	openmedium before a medium could be attached to a virtual machine;
1858	that call "registered" the medium with the global VirtualBox media
1859	registry. With VirtualBox 4.0 this is no longer necessary; media are
1860	added to media registries automatically. The "closemedium" call has
1861	been retained, however, to allow for explicitly removing a medium from
1862	a registry.</para>
1863	</footnote></para>
1864
1865	<para>Optionally, you can request that the image be deleted. You will get
1866	appropriate diagnostics that the deletion failed, however the image will
1867	become unregistered in any case.</para>
1868	</sect1>
1869
1870	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-storageattach">
1871	<title>VBoxManage storageattach</title>
1872
1873	<para>This command attaches/modifies/removes a storage medium connected to
1874	a storage controller that was previously added with the
1875	<computeroutput>storagectl</computeroutput> command (see the previous
1876	section). The syntax is as follows:</para>
1877
1878	<screen>VBoxManage storageattach <uuid\|vmname>
1879	--storagectl <name>
1880	[--port <number>]
1881	[--device <number>]
1882	[--type dvddrive\|hdd\|fdd]
1883	[--medium none\|emptydrive\|
1884	<uuid>\|<filename>\|host:<drive>\|iscsi]
1885	[--mtype normal\|writethrough\|immutable\|shareable]
1886	[--comment <text>]
1887	[--setuuid <uuid>]
1888	[--setparentuuid <uuid>]
1889	[--passthrough on\|off]
1890	[--tempeject on\|off]
1891	[--nonrotational on\|off]
1892	[--discard on\|off]
1893	[--bandwidthgroup name\|none]
1894	[--forceunmount]
1895	[--server <name>\|<ip>]
1896	[--target <target>]
1897	[--tport <port>]
1898	[--lun <lun>]
1899	[--encodedlun <lun>]
1900	[--username <username>]
1901	[--password <password>]
1902	[--initiator <initiator>]
1903	[--intnet]</screen>
1904
1905	<para>A number of parameters are commonly required; the ones at the end of
1906	the list are required only for iSCSI targets (see below).</para>
1907
1908	<para>The common parameters are:<glosslist>
1909	<glossentry>
1910	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
1911
1912	<glossdef>
1913	<para>The VM UUID or VM Name. Mandatory.</para>
1914	</glossdef>
1915	</glossentry>
1916
1917	<glossentry>
1918	<glossterm><computeroutput>--storagectl</computeroutput></glossterm>
1919
1920	<glossdef>
1921	<para>Name of the storage controller. Mandatory. The list of the
1922	storage controllers currently attached to a VM can be obtained
1923	with <computeroutput>VBoxManage showvminfo</computeroutput>; see
1924	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-showvminfo" />.</para>
1925	</glossdef>
1926	</glossentry>
1927
1928	<glossentry>
1929	<glossterm><computeroutput>--port</computeroutput></glossterm>
1930
1931	<glossdef>
1932	<para>The number of the storage controller's port which is to be
1933	modified. Mandatory, unless the storage controller has only a
1934	single port.</para>
1935	</glossdef>
1936	</glossentry>
1937
1938	<glossentry>
1939	<glossterm><computeroutput>--device</computeroutput></glossterm>
1940
1941	<glossdef>
1942	<para>The number of the port's device which is to be modified.
1943	Mandatory, unless the storage controller has only a single device
1944	per port.</para>
1945	</glossdef>
1946	</glossentry>
1947
1948	<glossentry>
1949	<glossterm><computeroutput>--type</computeroutput></glossterm>
1950
1951	<glossdef>
1952	<para>Define the type of the drive to which the medium is being
1953	attached/detached/modified. This argument can only be omitted if
1954	the type of medium can be determined from either the medium given
1955	with the <computeroutput>--medium</computeroutput> argument or
1956	from a previous medium attachment.</para>
1957	</glossdef>
1958	</glossentry>
1959
1960	<glossentry>
1961	<glossterm><computeroutput>--medium</computeroutput></glossterm>
1962
1963	<glossdef>
1964	<para>Specifies what is to be attached. The following values are
1965	supported:<itemizedlist>
1966	<listitem>
1967	<para>"none": Any existing device should be removed from the
1968	given slot.</para>
1969	</listitem>
1970
1971	<listitem>
1972	<para>"emptydrive": For a virtual DVD or floppy drive only,
1973	this makes the device slot behaves like a removeable drive
1974	into which no media has been inserted.</para>
1975	</listitem>
1976
1977	<listitem>
1978	<para>"additions": For a virtual DVD drive only, this
1979	attaches the <emphasis>VirtualBox Guest Additions</emphasis>
1980	image to the given device slot.</para>
1981	</listitem>
1982
1983	<listitem>
1984	<para>If a UUID is specified, it must be the UUID of a
1985	storage medium that is already known to VirtualBox (e.g.
1986	because it has been attached to another virtual machine).
1987	See <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> for how to list known
1988	media. This medium is then attached to the given device
1989	slot.</para>
1990	</listitem>
1991
1992	<listitem>
1993	<para>If a filename is specified, it must be the full path
1994	of an existing disk image (ISO, RAW, VDI, VMDK or other),
1995	which is then attached to the given device slot.</para>
1996	</listitem>
1997
1998	<listitem>
1999	<para>"host:<drive>": For a virtual DVD or floppy
2000	drive only, this connects the given device slot to the
2001	specified DVD or floppy drive on the host computer.</para>
2002	</listitem>
2003
2004	<listitem>
2005	<para>"iscsi": For virtual hard disks only, this allows for
2006	specifying an iSCSI target. In this case, more parameters
2007	must be given; see below.</para>
2008	</listitem>
2009	</itemizedlist></para>
2010
2011	<para>Some of the above changes, in particular for removeable
2012	media (floppies and CDs/DVDs), can be effected while a VM is
2013	running. Others (device changes or changes in hard disk device
2014	slots) require the VM to be powered off.</para>
2015	</glossdef>
2016	</glossentry>
2017
2018	<glossentry>
2019	<glossterm><computeroutput>--mtype</computeroutput></glossterm>
2020
2021	<glossdef>
2022	<para>Defines how this medium behaves with respect to snapshots
2023	and write operations. See <xref linkend="hdimagewrites" /> for
2024	details.</para>
2025	</glossdef>
2026	</glossentry>
2027
2028	<glossentry>
2029	<glossterm><computeroutput>--comment</computeroutput></glossterm>
2030
2031	<glossdef>
2032	<para>Any description that you want to have stored with this
2033	medium (optional; for example, for an iSCSI target, "Big storage
2034	server downstairs"). This is purely descriptive and not needed for
2035	the medium to function correctly.</para>
2036	</glossdef>
2037	</glossentry>
2038
2039	<glossentry>
2040	<glossterm><computeroutput>--setuuid, --setparentuuid</computeroutput></glossterm>
2041
2042	<glossdef>
2043	<para>Modifies the UUID or parent UUID of a medium before
2044	attaching it to a VM. This is an expert option. Inappropriate use
2045	can make the medium unusable or lead to broken VM configurations
2046	if any other VM is referring to the same media already. The most
2047	frequently used variant is <code>--setuuid ""</code>, which assigns
2048	a new (random) UUID to an image. This is useful to resolve the
2049	duplicate UUID errors if one duplicated an image using file copy
2050	utilities.</para>
2051	</glossdef>
2052	</glossentry>
2053
2054	<glossentry>
2055	<glossterm><computeroutput>--passthrough</computeroutput></glossterm>
2056
2057	<glossdef>
2058	<para>For a virtual DVD drive only, you can enable DVD writing
2059	support (currently experimental; see <xref
2060	linkend="storage-cds" />).</para>
2061	</glossdef>
2062	</glossentry>
2063
2064	<glossentry>
2065	<glossterm><computeroutput>--tempeject</computeroutput></glossterm>
2066
2067	<glossdef>
2068	<para>For a virtual DVD drive only, you can configure the behavior
2069	for guest-triggered medium eject. If this is set to "on", the eject
2070	has only temporary effects. If the VM is powered off and restarted
2071	the originally configured medium will be still in the drive.</para>
2072	</glossdef>
2073	</glossentry>
2074
2075	<glossentry>
2076	<glossterm><computeroutput>--nonrotational</computeroutput></glossterm>
2077
2078	<glossdef>
2079	<para>This switch allows to enable the non-rotational flag for virtual
2080	hard disks. Some guests (i.e. Windows 7+) treat such disks like SSDs
2081	and don't perform disk fragmentation on such media.
2082	</para>
2083	</glossdef>
2084	</glossentry>
2085
2086	<glossentry>
2087	<glossterm><computeroutput>--bandwidthgroup</computeroutput></glossterm>
2088
2089	<glossdef>
2090	<para>Sets the bandwidth group to use for the given device; see
2091	<xref linkend="storage-bandwidth-limit" />.</para>
2092	</glossdef>
2093	</glossentry>
2094
2095	<glossentry>
2096	<glossterm><computeroutput>--forceunmount</computeroutput></glossterm>
2097
2098	<glossdef>
2099	<para>For a virtual DVD or floppy drive only, this forcibly
2100	unmounts the DVD/CD/Floppy or mounts a new DVD/CD/Floppy even if
2101	the previous one is locked down by the guest for reading. Again,
2102	see <xref linkend="storage-cds" /> for details.</para>
2103	</glossdef>
2104	</glossentry>
2105	</glosslist></para>
2106
2107	<para>When "iscsi" is used with the
2108	<computeroutput>--medium</computeroutput> parameter for iSCSI support --
2109	see <xref linkend="storage-iscsi" /> --, additional parameters must or can
2110	be used:<glosslist>
2111	<glossentry>
2112	<glossterm><computeroutput>--server</computeroutput></glossterm>
2113
2114	<glossdef>
2115	<para>The host name or IP address of the iSCSI target;
2116	required.</para>
2117	</glossdef>
2118	</glossentry>
2119
2120	<glossentry>
2121	<glossterm><computeroutput>--target</computeroutput></glossterm>
2122
2123	<glossdef>
2124	<para>Target name string. This is determined by the iSCSI target
2125	and used to identify the storage resource; required.</para>
2126	</glossdef>
2127	</glossentry>
2128
2129	<glossentry>
2130	<glossterm><computeroutput>--tport</computeroutput></glossterm>
2131
2132	<glossdef>
2133	<para>TCP/IP port number of the iSCSI service on the target
2134	(optional).</para>
2135	</glossdef>
2136	</glossentry>
2137
2138	<glossentry>
2139	<glossterm><computeroutput>--lun</computeroutput></glossterm>
2140
2141	<glossdef>
2142	<para>Logical Unit Number of the target resource (optional).
2143	Often, this value is zero.</para>
2144	</glossdef>
2145	</glossentry>
2146
2147	<glossentry>
2148	<glossterm><computeroutput>--username, --password</computeroutput></glossterm>
2149
2150	<glossdef>
2151	<para>Username and password (initiator secret) for target
2152	authentication, if required (optional).<note>
2153	<para>Username and password are stored without
2154	encryption (i.e. in clear text) in the XML machine
2155	configuration file if no settings password is provided.
2156	When a settings password was specified the first time,
2157	the password is stored encrypted.</para>
2158	</note></para>
2159	</glossdef>
2160	</glossentry>
2161
2162	<glossentry>
2163	<glossterm><computeroutput>--intnet</computeroutput></glossterm>
2164
2165	<glossdef>
2166	<para>If specified, connect to the iSCSI target via Internal
2167	Networking. This needs further configuration which is described in
2168	<xref linkend="iscsi-intnet" />.</para>
2169	</glossdef>
2170	</glossentry>
2171	</glosslist></para>
2172	</sect1>
2173
2174	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-storagectl">
2175	<title>VBoxManage storagectl</title>
2176
2177	<para>This command attaches/modifies/removes a storage controller. After
2178	this, virtual media can be attached to the controller with the
2179	<computeroutput>storageattach</computeroutput> command (see the next
2180	section).</para>
2181
2182	<para>The syntax is as follows:</para>
2183
2184	<screen>VBoxManage storagectl <uuid\|vmname>
2185	--name <name>
2186	[--add <ide/sata/scsi/floppy>]
2187	[--controller <LsiLogic\|LSILogicSAS\|BusLogic\|
2188	IntelAhci\|PIIX3\|PIIX4\|ICH6\|I82078\|usb>]
2189	[--sataportcount <1-30>]
2190	[--hostiocache on\|off]
2191	[--bootable on\|off]
2192	[--remove]</screen>
2193
2194	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
2195	<glossentry>
2196	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
2197
2198	<glossdef>
2199	<para>The VM UUID or VM Name. Mandatory.</para>
2200	</glossdef>
2201	</glossentry>
2202
2203	<glossentry>
2204	<glossterm><computeroutput>--name</computeroutput></glossterm>
2205
2206	<glossdef>
2207	<para>Name of the storage controller. Mandatory.</para>
2208	</glossdef>
2209	</glossentry>
2210
2211	<glossentry>
2212	<glossterm><computeroutput>--add</computeroutput></glossterm>
2213
2214	<glossdef>
2215	<para>Define the type of the system bus to which the storage
2216	controller must be connected.</para>
2217	</glossdef>
2218	</glossentry>
2219
2220	<glossentry>
2221	<glossterm><computeroutput>--controller</computeroutput></glossterm>
2222
2223	<glossdef>
2224	<para>Allows to choose the type of chipset being emulated for the
2225	given storage controller.</para>
2226	</glossdef>
2227	</glossentry>
2228
2229	<glossentry>
2230	<glossterm><computeroutput>--sataportcount</computeroutput></glossterm>
2231
2232	<glossdef>
2233	<para>This determines how many ports the SATA controller should
2234	support.</para>
2235	</glossdef>
2236	</glossentry>
2237
2238	<glossentry>
2239	<glossterm><computeroutput>--hostiocache</computeroutput></glossterm>
2240
2241	<glossdef>
2242	<para>Configures the use of the host I/O cache for all disk images
2243	attached to this storage controller. For details, please see <xref
2244	linkend="iocaching" />.</para>
2245	</glossdef>
2246	</glossentry>
2247
2248	<glossentry>
2249	<glossterm><computeroutput>--bootable</computeroutput></glossterm>
2250
2251	<glossdef>
2252	<para>Selects whether this controller is bootable.</para>
2253	</glossdef>
2254	</glossentry>
2255
2256	<glossentry>
2257	<glossterm><computeroutput>--remove</computeroutput></glossterm>
2258
2259	<glossdef>
2260	<para>Removes the storage controller from the VM config.</para>
2261	</glossdef>
2262	</glossentry>
2263	</glosslist></para>
2264	</sect1>
2265
2266	<sect1>
2267	<title>VBoxManage bandwidthctl</title>
2268
2269	<para>This command creates/deletes/modifies/shows bandwidth groups of the given
2270	virtual machine:<screen>VBoxManage bandwidthctl <uuid\|vmname>
2271	add <name> --type disk\|network --limit <megabytes per second>[k\|m\|g\|K\|M\|G] \|
2272	set <name> --limit <megabytes per second>[k\|m\|g\|K\|M\|G] \|
2273	remove <name> \|
2274	list [--machinereadable]</screen></para>
2275
2276	<para>The following subcommands are available:<itemizedlist>
2277	<listitem>
2278	<para><computeroutput>add</computeroutput>, creates a new bandwidth
2279	group of given type.</para>
2280	</listitem>
2281	<listitem>
2282	<para><computeroutput>set</computeroutput>, modifies the limit for an
2283	existing bandwidth group.</para>
2284	</listitem>
2285	<listitem>
2286	<para><computeroutput>remove</computeroutput>, destroys a bandwidth
2287	group.</para>
2288	</listitem>
2289	<listitem>
2290	<para><computeroutput>list</computeroutput>, shows all bandwidth groups
2291	defined for the given VM.</para>
2292	</listitem>
2293	</itemizedlist>
2294	</para>
2295	<para>The parameters mean:<glosslist>
2296	<glossentry>
2297	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
2298
2299	<glossdef>
2300	<para>The VM UUID or VM Name. Mandatory.</para>
2301	</glossdef>
2302	</glossentry>
2303
2304	<glossentry>
2305	<glossterm><computeroutput>--name</computeroutput></glossterm>
2306
2307	<glossdef>
2308	<para>Name of the bandwidth group. Mandatory.</para>
2309	</glossdef>
2310	</glossentry>
2311
2312	<glossentry>
2313	<glossterm><computeroutput>--type</computeroutput></glossterm>
2314
2315	<glossdef>
2316	<para>Type of the bandwidth group. Mandatory. Two types are
2317	supported: <computeroutput>disk</computeroutput> and
2318	<computeroutput>network</computeroutput>. See
2319	<xref linkend="storage-bandwidth-limit" /> or
2320	<xref linkend="network_bandwidth_limit" /> for a description of a
2321	particular type.</para>
2322	</glossdef>
2323	</glossentry>
2324
2325	<glossentry>
2326	<glossterm><computeroutput>--limit</computeroutput></glossterm>
2327
2328	<glossdef>
2329	<para>Specifies the limit for the given group. Can be changed
2330	while the VM is running. The default unit is megabytes per
2331	second. The unit can be changed by specifying one of the
2332	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>
2333	</glossdef>
2334	</glossentry>
2335	</glosslist>
2336	<note>
2337	<para>The network bandwidth limits apply only to the traffic being sent by
2338	virtual machines. The traffic being received by VMs is unlimited.</para>
2339	</note>
2340	<note>
2341	<para>To remove a bandwidth group it must not be referenced by any disks
2342	or adapters in running VM.</para>
2343	</note>
2344	</para>
2345	</sect1>
2346
2347	<sect1>
2348	<title>VBoxManage showhdinfo</title>
2349
2350	<para>This command shows information about a virtual hard disk image,
2351	notably its size, its size on disk, its type and the virtual machines
2352	which use it.<note>
2353	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2354	"showvdiinfo" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2355	"showhdinfo" command.</para>
2356	</note></para>
2357	<para>The disk image must be specified either by its UUID (if the medium
2358	is registered) or by its filename. Registered images can be listed by
2359	<computeroutput>VBoxManage list hdds</computeroutput> (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" />
2360	for more information). A filename must be specified as valid path, either
2361	as an absolute path or as a relative path starting from the current
2362	directory.</para>
2363	</sect1>
2364
2365	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-createvdi">
2366	<title>VBoxManage createhd</title>
2367
2368	<para>This command creates a new virtual hard disk image. The syntax is as
2369	follows:</para>
2370
2371	<screen>VBoxManage createhd --filename <filename>
2372	--size <megabytes>
2373	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD] (default: VDI)
2374	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]</screen>
2375
2376	<para>where the parameters mean:<glosslist>
2377	<glossentry>
2378	<glossterm><computeroutput>--filename</computeroutput></glossterm>
2379
2380	<glossdef>
2381	<para>Allows to choose a file name. Mandatory.</para>
2382	</glossdef>
2383	</glossentry>
2384
2385	<glossentry>
2386	<glossterm><computeroutput>--size</computeroutput></glossterm>
2387
2388	<glossdef>
2389	<para>Allows to define the image capacity, in 1 MiB units.
2390	Mandatory.</para>
2391	</glossdef>
2392	</glossentry>
2393
2394	<glossentry>
2395	<glossterm><computeroutput>--format</computeroutput></glossterm>
2396
2397	<glossdef>
2398	<para>Allows to choose a file format for the output file different
2399	from the file format of the input file.</para>
2400	</glossdef>
2401	</glossentry>
2402
2403	<glossentry>
2404	<glossterm><computeroutput>--variant</computeroutput></glossterm>
2405
2406	<glossdef>
2407	<para>Allows to choose a file format variant for the output file.
2408	It is a comma-separated list of variant flags. Not all
2409	combinations are supported, and specifying inconsistent flags will
2410	result in an error message.</para>
2411	</glossdef>
2412	</glossentry>
2413	</glosslist> <note>
2414	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2415	"createvdi" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2416	"createhd" command.</para>
2417	</note></para>
2418	</sect1>
2419
2420	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-modifyvdi">
2421	<title>VBoxManage modifyhd</title>
2422
2423	<para>With the <computeroutput>modifyhd</computeroutput> command, you can
2424	change the characteristics of a disk image after it has been
2425	created:<screen>VBoxManage modifyhd <uuid\|filename>
2426	[--type normal\|writethrough\|immutable\|shareable\|
2427	readonly\|multiattach]
2428	[--autoreset on\|off]
2429	[--compact]
2430	[--resize <megabytes>\|--resizebyte <bytes>]</screen><note>
2431	<para>Despite the "hd" in the subcommand name, the command works with
2432	all disk images, not only hard disks. For compatibility with earlier
2433	versions of VirtualBox, the "modifyvdi" command is also supported and
2434	mapped internally to the "modifyhd" command.</para>
2435	</note></para>
2436
2437	<para>The disk image to modify must be specified either by its UUID
2438	(if the medium is registered) or by its filename. Registered images
2439	can be listed by <computeroutput>VBoxManage list hdds</computeroutput>
2440	(see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> for more information).
2441	A filename must be specified as valid path, either as an absolute path
2442	or as a relative path starting from the current directory.</para>
2443	<para>The following options are available:<itemizedlist>
2444	<listitem>
2445	<para>With the <computeroutput>--type</computeroutput> argument, you
2446	can change the type of an existing image between the normal,
2447	immutable, write-through and other modes; see <xref
2448	linkend="hdimagewrites" /> for details.</para>
2449	</listitem>
2450
2451	<listitem>
2452	<para>For immutable (differencing) hard disks only, the
2453	<computeroutput>--autoreset on\|off</computeroutput> option
2454	determines whether the disk is automatically reset on every VM
2455	startup (again, see <xref linkend="hdimagewrites" />). The default
2456	is "on".</para>
2457	</listitem>
2458
2459	<listitem>
2460	<para>With the <computeroutput>--compact</computeroutput> option,
2461	can be used to compact disk images, i.e. remove blocks that only
2462	contains zeroes. This will shrink a dynamically allocated image
2463	again; it will reduce the <emphasis>physical</emphasis> size of the
2464	image without affecting the logical size of the virtual disk.
2465	Compaction works both for base images and for diff images created as
2466	part of a snapshot.</para>
2467
2468	<para>For this operation to be effective, it is required that free
2469	space in the guest system first be zeroed out using a suitable
2470	software tool. For Windows guests, you can use the
2471	<computeroutput>sdelete</computeroutput> tool provided by Microsoft.
2472	Execute <computeroutput>sdelete -z</computeroutput> in the guest to
2473	zero the free disk space before compressing the virtual disk
2474	image. For Linux, use the <code>zerofree</code> utility which
2475	supports ext2/ext3 filesystems. For Mac OS X guests, use the
2476	<emphasis>Erase Free Space</emphasis> feature of the built-in
2477	<emphasis>Disk Utility</emphasis>. Use
2478	<emphasis>Zero Out Data</emphasis> there.</para>
2479
2480	<para>Please note that compacting is currently only available for
2481	VDI images. A similar effect can be achieved by zeroing out free
2482	blocks and then cloning the disk to any other dynamically allocated
2483	format. You can use this workaround until compacting is also
2484	supported for disk formats other than VDI.</para>
2485	</listitem>
2486
2487	<listitem>
2488	<para>The <computeroutput>--resize x</computeroutput> option (where x
2489	is the desired new total space in <emphasis role="bold">megabytes</emphasis>)
2490	allows you to change the capacity of an existing image; this adjusts the
2491	<emphasis>logical</emphasis> size of a virtual disk without affecting
2492	the physical size much.<footnote>
2493	<para>Image resizing was added with VirtualBox 4.0.</para>
2494	</footnote> This currently works only for VDI and VHD formats, and only
2495	for the dynamically allocated variants, and can only be used to expand
2496	(not shrink) the capacity.
2497	For example, if you originally created a 10G disk which is now full,
2498	you can use the <computeroutput>--resize 15360</computeroutput>
2499	command to change the capacity to 15G (15,360MB) without having to create a new
2500	image and copy all data from within a virtual machine. Note however that
2501	this only changes the drive capacity; you will typically next need to use
2502	a partition management tool inside the guest to adjust the main partition
2503	to fill the drive.</para><para>The <computeroutput>--resizebyte x</computeroutput>
2504	option does almost the same thing, except that x is expressed in bytes
2505	instead of megabytes.</para>
2506	</listitem>
2507	</itemizedlist></para>
2508	</sect1>
2509
2510	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-clonevdi">
2511	<title>VBoxManage clonehd</title>
2512
2513	<para>This command duplicates a registered virtual hard disk image to a
2514	new image file with a new unique identifier (UUID). The new image can be
2515	transferred to another host system or imported into VirtualBox again using
2516	the Virtual Media Manager; see <xref linkend="vdis" /> and <xref
2517	linkend="cloningvdis" />. The syntax is as follows:</para>
2518
2519	<screen>VBoxManage clonehd <uuid\|inutfile> <uuid\|outputfile>
2520	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD\|RAW\|<other>]
2521	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]
2522	[--existing]</screen>
2523
2524	<para>The disk image to clone as well as the target image must be described
2525	either by its UUIDs (if the mediums are registered) or by its filename.
2526	Registered images can be listed by <computeroutput>VBoxManage list hdds</computeroutput>
2527	(see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> for more information).
2528	A filename must be specified as valid path, either as an absolute path or
2529	as a relative path starting from the current directory.</para>
2530	<para>The following options are available:<glosslist>
2531	<glossentry>
2532	<glossterm><computeroutput>--format</computeroutput></glossterm>
2533
2534	<glossdef>
2535	<para>Allow to choose a file format for the output file different
2536	from the file format of the input file.</para>
2537	</glossdef>
2538	</glossentry>
2539
2540	<glossentry>
2541	<glossterm><computeroutput>--variant</computeroutput></glossterm>
2542
2543	<glossdef>
2544	<para>Allow to choose a file format variant for the output file.
2545	It is a comma-separated list of variant flags. Not all
2546	combinations are supported, and specifying inconsistent flags will
2547	result in an error message.</para>
2548	</glossdef>
2549	</glossentry>
2550
2551	<glossentry>
2552	<glossterm><computeroutput>--existing</computeroutput></glossterm>
2553
2554	<glossdef>
2555	<para>Perform the clone operation to an already existing
2556	destination medium. Only the portion of the source medium which
2557	fits into the destination medium is copied. This means if the
2558	destination medium is smaller than the source only a part of it is
2559	copied, and if the destination medium is larger than the source
2560	the remaining part of the destination medium is unchanged.</para>
2561	</glossdef>
2562	</glossentry>
2563	</glosslist> <note>
2564	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2565	"clonevdi" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2566	"clonehd" command.</para>
2567	</note></para>
2568	</sect1>
2569
2570	<sect1>
2571	<title>VBoxManage convertfromraw</title>
2572
2573	<para>This command converts a raw disk image to a VirtualBox Disk Image
2574	(VDI) file. The syntax is as follows:</para>
2575
2576	<screen>VBoxManage convertfromraw <filename> <outputfile>
2577	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD]
2578	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]
2579	[--uuid <uuid>]
2580	VBoxManage convertfromraw stdin <outputfile> <bytes>
2581	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD]
2582	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]
2583	[--uuid <uuid>]</screen>
2584
2585	<para>where the parameters mean:<glosslist>
2586	<glossentry>
2587	<glossterm><computeroutput>--bytes</computeroutput></glossterm>
2588
2589	<glossdef>
2590	<para>The size of the image file, in bytes, provided through
2591	stdin.</para>
2592	</glossdef>
2593	</glossentry>
2594
2595	<glossentry>
2596	<glossterm><computeroutput>--format</computeroutput></glossterm>
2597
2598	<glossdef>
2599	<para>Select the disk image format to create. Default is
2600	VDI.</para>
2601	</glossdef>
2602	</glossentry>
2603
2604	<glossentry>
2605	<glossterm><computeroutput>--variant</computeroutput></glossterm>
2606
2607	<glossdef>
2608	<para>Allow to choose a file format variant for the output file.
2609	It is a comma-separated list of variant flags. Not all
2610	combinations are supported, and specifying inconsistent flags will
2611	result in an error message.</para>
2612	</glossdef>
2613	</glossentry>
2614
2615	<glossentry>
2616	<glossterm><computeroutput>--uuid</computeroutput></glossterm>
2617
2618	<glossdef>
2619	<para>Allow to specifiy the UUID of the output file.</para>
2620	</glossdef>
2621	</glossentry>
2622	</glosslist> The second form forces VBoxManage to read the content for
2623	the disk image from standard input (useful for using that command in a
2624	pipe).</para>
2625
2626	<para><note>
2627	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2628	"convertdd" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2629	"convertfromraw" command.</para>
2630	</note></para>
2631	</sect1>
2632
2633	<sect1>
2634	<title>VBoxManage getextradata/setextradata</title>
2635
2636	<para>These commands let you attach and retrieve string data to a virtual
2637	machine or to a VirtualBox configuration (by specifying
2638	<computeroutput>global</computeroutput> instead of a virtual machine
2639	name). You must specify a key (as a text string) to associate the data
2640	with, which you can later use to retrieve it. For example:</para>
2641
2642	<screen>VBoxManage setextradata Fedora5 installdate 2006.01.01
2643	VBoxManage setextradata SUSE10 installdate 2006.02.02</screen>
2644
2645	<para>would associate the string "2006.01.01" with the key installdate for
2646	the virtual machine Fedora5, and "2006.02.02" on the machine SUSE10. You
2647	could retrieve the information as follows:</para>
2648
2649	<screen>VBoxManage getextradata Fedora5 installdate</screen>
2650
2651	<para>which would return</para>
2652
2653	<screen>VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version $VBOX_VERSION_MAJOR.$VBOX_VERSION_MINOR.$VBOX_VERSION_BUILD
2654	(C) 2005-$VBOX_C_YEAR $VBOX_VENDOR
2655	All rights reserved.
2656
2657	Value: 2006.01.01</screen>
2658	<para>To remove a key, the <computeroutput>setextradata</computeroutput>
2659	command must be run without specifying data (only the key), for example:
2660	</para>
2661
2662	<screen>VBoxManage setextradata Fedora5 installdate</screen>
2663
2664	</sect1>
2665
2666	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-setproperty">
2667	<title>VBoxManage setproperty</title>
2668
2669	<para>This command is used to change global settings which affect the
2670	entire VirtualBox installation. Some of these correspond to the settings
2671	in the "Global settings" dialog in the graphical user interface. The
2672	following properties are available:<glosslist>
2673	<glossentry>
2674	<glossterm><computeroutput>machinefolder</computeroutput></glossterm>
2675
2676	<glossdef>
2677	<para>This specifies the default folder in which virtual machine
2678	definitions are kept; see <xref linkend="vboxconfigdata" /> for
2679	details.</para>
2680	</glossdef>
2681	</glossentry>
2682
2683	<glossentry>
2684	<glossterm><computeroutput>hwvirtexclusive</computeroutput></glossterm>
2685	<para>This specifies whether VirtualBox will make exclusive use of
2686	the hardware virtualization extensions (Intel VT-x or AMD-V) of the
2687	host system's processor; see <xref linkend="hwvirt" />. If you wish to
2688	share these extensions with other hypervisors running at the same time,
2689	you must disable this setting. Doing so has negative performance implications.
2690	</para>
2691	</glossentry>
2692
2693
2694	<glossentry>
2695	<glossterm><computeroutput>vrdeauthlibrary</computeroutput></glossterm>
2696
2697	<glossdef>
2698	<para>This specifies which library to use when "external"
2699	authentication has been selected for a particular virtual machine;
2700	see <xref linkend="vbox-auth" /> for details.</para>
2701	</glossdef>
2702	</glossentry>
2703
2704	<glossentry>
2705	<glossterm><computeroutput>websrvauthlibrary</computeroutput></glossterm>
2706
2707	<glossdef>
2708	<para>This specifies which library the web service uses to
2709	authenticate users. For details about the VirtualBox web service,
2710	please refer to the separate VirtualBox SDK reference (see <xref
2711	linkend="VirtualBoxAPI" />).</para>
2712	</glossdef>
2713	</glossentry>
2714
2715	<glossentry>
2716	<glossterm><computeroutput>vrdeextpack</computeroutput></glossterm>
2717
2718	<glossdef>
2719	<para>This specifies which library implements the VirtualBox
2720	Remote Desktop Extension.</para>
2721	</glossdef>
2722	</glossentry>
2723
2724	<glossentry>
2725	<glossterm><computeroutput>loghistorycount</computeroutput></glossterm>
2726
2727	<glossdef>
2728	<para>This selects how many rotated (old) VM logs are kept.</para>
2729	</glossdef>
2730	</glossentry>
2731
2732	<glossentry>
2733	<glossterm><computeroutput>autostartdbpath</computeroutput></glossterm>
2734
2735	<glossdef>
2736	<para>This selects the path to the autostart database. See
2737	<xref linkend="autostart" />.</para>
2738	</glossdef>
2739	</glossentry>
2740
2741	<glossentry>
2742	<glossterm><computeroutput>defaultfrontend</computeroutput></glossterm>
2743
2744	<glossdef>
2745	<para>This selects the global default VM frontend setting. See
2746	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />.</para>
2747	</glossdef>
2748	</glossentry>
2749	</glosslist></para>
2750	</sect1>
2751
2752	<sect1>
2753	<title>VBoxManage usbfilter add/modify/remove</title>
2754
2755	<para>The <computeroutput>usbfilter</computeroutput> commands are used for
2756	working with USB filters in virtual machines, or global filters which
2757	affect the whole VirtualBox setup. Global filters are applied before
2758	machine-specific filters, and may be used to prevent devices from being
2759	captured by any virtual machine. Global filters are always applied in a
2760	particular order, and only the first filter which fits a device is
2761	applied. So for example, if the first global filter says to hold (make
2762	available) a particular Kingston memory stick device and the second to
2763	ignore all Kingston devices, that memory stick will be available to any
2764	machine with an appropriate filter, but no other Kingston device
2765	will.</para>
2766
2767	<para>When creating a USB filter using <computeroutput>usbfilter
2768	add</computeroutput>, you must supply three or four mandatory parameters.
2769	The index specifies the position in the list at which the filter should be
2770	placed. If there is already a filter at that position, then it and the
2771	following ones will be shifted back one place. Otherwise the new filter
2772	will be added onto the end of the list. The
2773	<computeroutput>target</computeroutput> parameter selects the virtual
2774	machine that the filter should be attached to or use "global" to apply it
2775	to all virtual machines. <computeroutput>name</computeroutput> is a name
2776	for the new filter and for global filters,
2777	<computeroutput>action</computeroutput> says whether to allow machines
2778	access to devices that fit the filter description ("hold") or not to give
2779	them access ("ignore"). In addition, you should specify parameters to
2780	filter by. You can find the parameters for devices attached to your system
2781	using <computeroutput>VBoxManage list usbhost</computeroutput>. Finally,
2782	you can specify whether the filter should be active, and for local
2783	filters, whether they are for local devices, remote (over an RDP
2784	connection) or either.</para>
2785
2786	<para>When you modify a USB filter using <computeroutput>usbfilter
2787	modify</computeroutput>, you must specify the filter by index (see the
2788	output of <computeroutput>VBoxManage list usbfilters</computeroutput> to
2789	find global filter indexes and that of <computeroutput>VBoxManage
2790	showvminfo</computeroutput> to find indexes for individual machines) and
2791	by target, which is either a virtual machine or "global". The properties
2792	which can be changed are the same as for <computeroutput>usbfilter
2793	add</computeroutput>. To remove a filter, use <computeroutput>usbfilter
2794	remove</computeroutput> and specify the index and the target.</para>
2795	</sect1>
2796
2797	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-sharedfolder">
2798	<title>VBoxManage sharedfolder add/remove</title>
2799
2800	<para>This command allows you to share folders on the host computer with
2801	guest operating systems. For this, the guest systems must have a version
2802	of the VirtualBox Guest Additions installed which supports this
2803	functionality.</para>
2804
2805	<para>Shared folders are described in detail in <xref
2806	linkend="sharedfolders" />.</para>
2807	</sect1>
2808
2809	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-guestproperty">
2810	<title>VBoxManage guestproperty</title>
2811
2812	<para>The "guestproperty" commands allow you to get or set properties of a
2813	running virtual machine. Please see <xref linkend="guestadd-guestprops" />
2814	for an introduction. As explained there, guest properties are arbitrary
2815	key/value string pairs which can be written to and read from by either the
2816	guest or the host, so they can be used as a low-volume communication
2817	channel for strings, provided that a guest is running and has the Guest
2818	Additions installed. In addition, a number of values whose keys begin with
2819	"/VirtualBox/" are automatically set and maintained by the Guest
2820	Additions.</para>
2821
2822	<para>The following subcommands are available (where
2823	<computeroutput><vm></computeroutput>, in each case, can either be a
2824	VM name or a VM UUID, as with the other VBoxManage commands):<itemizedlist>
2825	<listitem>
2826	<para><computeroutput>enumerate <vm> [--patterns
2827	<pattern>]</computeroutput>: This lists all the guest
2828	properties that are available for the given VM, including the value.
2829	This list will be very limited if the guest's service process cannot
2830	be contacted, e.g. because the VM is not running or the Guest
2831	Additions are not installed.</para>
2832
2833	<para>If <computeroutput>--patterns <pattern></computeroutput>
2834	is specified, it acts as a filter to only list properties that match
2835	the given pattern. The pattern can contain the following wildcard
2836	characters:<itemizedlist>
2837	<listitem>
2838	<para><computeroutput>*</computeroutput> (asterisk):
2839	represents any number of characters; for example,
2840	"<computeroutput>/VirtualBox*</computeroutput>" would match
2841	all properties beginning with "/VirtualBox".</para>
2842	</listitem>
2843
2844	<listitem>
2845	<para><computeroutput>?</computeroutput> (question mark):
2846	represents a single arbitrary character; for example,
2847	"<computeroutput>fo?</computeroutput>" would match both "foo"
2848	and "for".</para>
2849	</listitem>
2850
2851	<listitem>
2852	<para><computeroutput>\|</computeroutput> (pipe symbol): can be
2853	used to specify multiple alternative patterns; for example,
2854	"<computeroutput>s\|t</computeroutput>" would match anything
2855	starting with either "s" or "t".</para>
2856	</listitem>
2857	</itemizedlist></para>
2858	</listitem>
2859
2860	<listitem>
2861	<para><computeroutput>get <vm> <property>
2862	</computeroutput>: This
2863	retrieves the value of a single property only. If the property
2864	cannot be found (e.g. because the guest is not running), this will
2865	print <screen>No value set!</screen></para>
2866	</listitem>
2867
2868	<listitem>
2869	<para><computeroutput>set <vm> <property> [<value>
2870	[--flags <flags>]]</computeroutput>: This allows you to set a
2871	guest property by specifying the key and value. If
2872	<computeroutput><value></computeroutput> is omitted, the
2873	property is deleted. With <computeroutput>--flags</computeroutput>
2874	you can optionally specify additional behavior (you can combine
2875	several by separating them with commas):<itemizedlist>
2876	<listitem>
2877	<para><computeroutput>TRANSIENT</computeroutput>: the value
2878	will not be stored with the VM data when the VM exits;</para>
2879	</listitem>
2880
2881	<listitem>
2882	<para><computeroutput>TRANSRESET</computeroutput>: the value
2883	will be deleted as soon as the VM restarts and/or exits;</para>
2884	</listitem>
2885
2886	<listitem>
2887	<para><computeroutput>RDONLYGUEST</computeroutput>: the value
2888	can only be changed by the host, but the guest can only read
2889	it;</para>
2890	</listitem>
2891
2892	<listitem>
2893	<para><computeroutput>RDONLYHOST</computeroutput>: reversely,
2894	the value can only be changed by the guest, but the host can
2895	only read it;</para>
2896	</listitem>
2897
2898	<listitem>
2899	<para><computeroutput>READONLY</computeroutput>: a combination
2900	of the two, the value cannot be changed at all.</para>
2901	</listitem>
2902	</itemizedlist></para>
2903	</listitem>
2904
2905	<listitem>
2906	<para><computeroutput>wait <vm> <pattern> --timeout
2907	<timeout></computeroutput>: This waits for a particular value
2908	described by "pattern" to change or to be deleted or created. The
2909	pattern rules are the same as for the "enumerate" subcommand
2910	above.</para>
2911	</listitem>
2912
2913	<listitem>
2914	<para><computeroutput>delete <vm> <property>
2915	</computeroutput>: Deletes a formerly set guest property.
2916	</para></listitem>
2917	</itemizedlist></para>
2918	</sect1>
2919
2920	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-guestcontrol">
2921	<title>VBoxManage guestcontrol</title>
2922
2923	<para>The <computeroutput>guestcontrol</computeroutput> commands allow you
2924	to control certain things inside a guest from the host. Please see <xref
2925	linkend="guestadd-guestcontrol" /> for an introduction.</para>
2926
2927	<para>Generally, the syntax is as follows:</para>
2928
2929	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> <command></screen>
2930
2931	<para>The following subcommands are available (where
2932	<computeroutput><uuid\|vmname></computeroutput>, in each case, can either be a
2933	VM name or a VM UUID, as with the other VBoxManage commands):<itemizedlist>
2934	<listitem>
2935	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>execute</computeroutput></emphasis>,
2936	which allows for
2937	executing a program/script (process) which already is installed and
2938	runnable on the guest. This command only works while a VM is up and
2939	running and has the following syntax:</para>
2940
2941	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> exec[ute]
2942	--image <path to program> --username <name>
2943	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
2944	[--environment "<NAME>=<VALUE> [<NAME>=<VALUE>]"]
2945	[--verbose] [--timeout <msec>]
2946	[--wait-exit] [--wait-stdout] [--wait-stderr]
2947	[--dos2unix] [--unix2dos]
2948	-- [[<argument1>] ... [<argumentN>]]</screen>
2949
2950	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
2951	<glossentry>
2952	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
2953
2954	<glossdef>
2955	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
2956	</glossdef>
2957	</glossentry>
2958
2959	<glossentry>
2960	<glossterm><computeroutput>--image "<path to program>"</computeroutput></glossterm>
2961
2962	<glossdef>
2963	<para>Absolute path and process name of process to execute
2964	in the guest, e.g.
2965	<computeroutput>C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe</computeroutput></para>
2966	</glossdef>
2967	</glossentry>
2968
2969	<glossentry>
2970	<glossterm><computeroutput>--username <name></computeroutput></glossterm>
2971
2972	<glossdef>
2973	<para>Name of the user the process should run under. This
2974	user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
2975	</glossdef>
2976	</glossentry>
2977
2978	<glossentry>
2979	<glossterm><computeroutput>--passwordfile <file></computeroutput></glossterm>
2980
2981	<glossdef>
2982	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
2983	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
2984	assumed.</para>
2985	</glossdef>
2986	</glossentry>
2987
2988	<glossentry>
2989	<glossterm><computeroutput>--password <password></computeroutput></glossterm>
2990
2991	<glossdef>
2992	<para>Password of the user account specified with
2993	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
2994	an empty password is assumed.</para>
2995	</glossdef>
2996	</glossentry>
2997
2998	<glossentry>
2999	<glossterm><computeroutput>--dos2unix</computeroutput></glossterm>
3000
3001	<glossdef>
3002	Converts output from DOS/Windows guests to UNIX-compatible
3003	line endings (CR + LF -> LF). Not implemented yet.
3004	</glossdef>
3005	</glossentry>
3006
3007	<glossentry>
3008	<glossterm><computeroutput>--environment
3009	"<NAME>=<VALUE>"</computeroutput></glossterm>
3010
3011	<glossdef>
3012	<para>One or more environment variables to be set or
3013	unset.</para>
3014
3015	<para>By default, the new process in the guest will be
3016	created with the standard environment of the guest OS. This
3017	option allows for modifying that environment. To set/modify
3018	a variable, a pair of
3019	<computeroutput>NAME=VALUE</computeroutput> must be
3020	specified; to unset a certain variable, the name with no
3021	value must set, e.g.
3022	<computeroutput>NAME=</computeroutput>.</para>
3023
3024	<para>Arguments containing spaces must be enclosed in
3025	quotation marks. More than one
3026	<computeroutput>--environment</computeroutput> at a time can
3027	be specified to keep the command line tidy.</para>
3028	</glossdef>
3029	</glossentry>
3030
3031	<glossentry>
3032	<glossterm><computeroutput>--timeout <msec></computeroutput></glossterm>
3033
3034	<glossdef>
3035	<para>Value (in milliseconds) that specifies the time how
3036	long the started process is allowed to run and how long
3037	VBoxManage waits for getting output from that process. If no
3038	timeout is specified, VBoxManage will wait forever until the
3039	started process ends or an error occured.</para>
3040	</glossdef>
3041	</glossentry>
3042
3043	<glossentry>
3044	<glossterm><computeroutput>--unix2dos</computeroutput></glossterm>
3045
3046	<glossdef>
3047	Converts output from a UNIX/Linux guests to DOS-/Windows-compatible
3048	line endings (LF -> CR + LF). Not implemented yet.
3049	</glossdef>
3050	</glossentry>
3051
3052	<glossentry>
3053	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3054
3055	<glossdef>
3056	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3057	</glossdef>
3058	</glossentry>
3059
3060	<glossentry>
3061	<glossterm><computeroutput>--wait-exit</computeroutput></glossterm>
3062
3063	<glossdef>
3064	<para>Waits until the process ends and outputs its
3065	exit code along with the exit reason/flags.</para>
3066	</glossdef>
3067	</glossentry>
3068
3069	<glossentry>
3070	<glossterm><computeroutput>--wait-stdout</computeroutput></glossterm>
3071
3072	<glossdef>
3073	<para>Waits until the process ends and outputs its
3074	exit code along with the exit reason/flags. While waiting
3075	VBoxManage retrieves the process output collected from stdout.</para>
3076	</glossdef>
3077	</glossentry>
3078
3079	<glossentry>
3080	<glossterm><computeroutput>--wait-stderr</computeroutput></glossterm>
3081
3082	<glossdef>
3083	<para>Waits until the process ends and outputs its
3084	exit code along with the exit reason/flags. While waiting
3085	VBoxManage retrieves the process output collected from stderr.</para>
3086	</glossdef>
3087	</glossentry>
3088
3089	<glossentry>
3090	<glossterm><computeroutput>[-- [<argument1s>] ... [<argumentNs>]]</computeroutput></glossterm>
3091
3092	<glossdef>
3093	<para>One or more arguments to pass to the process being
3094	executed.</para>
3095	<para>Arguments containing spaces must be enclosed in
3096	quotation marks.</para>
3097	</glossdef>
3098	</glossentry>
3099
3100	</glosslist></para>
3101
3102	<para><note>
3103	<para>On Windows there are certain limitations for graphical
3104	applications; please see <xref linkend="KnownIssues" /> for more
3105	information.</para>
3106	</note> Examples: <screen>VBoxManage --nologo guestcontrol "My VM" execute --image "/bin/ls"
3107	--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"
3108	--username foo --passwordfile bar.txt --wait-exit --wait-stdout</screen> Note that
3109	the double backslashes in the second example are only required on
3110	Unix hosts.</para>
3111
3112	<para><note>
3113	<para>For certain commands a user name of an existing user account on the guest
3114	must be specified; anonymous executions are not supported for security reasons. A
3115	user account password, however, is optional and depends on the guest's OS security
3116	policy or rules. If no password is specified for a given user name, an empty password
3117	will be used. On certain OSes like Windows the security policy may needs to be adjusted
3118	in order to allow user accounts with an empty password set. Also, global domain rules might
3119	apply and therefore cannot be changed.</para>
3120	</note></para>
3121
3122	<para>Starting at VirtualBox 4.1.2 guest process execution by default is limited
3123	to serve up to 5 guest processes at a time. If a new guest process gets started
3124	which would exceed this limit, the oldest not running guest process will be discarded
3125	in order to be able to run that new process. Also, retrieving output from this
3126	old guest process will not be possible anymore then. If all 5 guest processes
3127	are still active and running, starting a new guest process will result in an
3128	appropriate error message.</para>
3129
3130	<para>To raise or lower the guest process execution limit, either the guest
3131	property <computeroutput>/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/VBoxService/--control-procs-max-kept</computeroutput>
3132	or VBoxService' command line by specifying <computeroutput>--control-procs-max-kept</computeroutput>
3133	needs to be modified. A restart of the guest OS is required afterwards. To serve unlimited
3134	guest processes, a value of <computeroutput>0</computeroutput> needs to be set (not recommended).</para>
3135	</listitem>
3136
3137	<listitem>
3138	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>copyto</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3139	which allows copying
3140	files from the host to the guest (only with installed Guest
3141	Additions 4.0 and later).</para>
3142
3143	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> copyto\|cp
3144	<guest source> <host dest> --username <name>
3145	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
3146	[--dryrun] [--follow] [--recursive] [--verbose]</screen>
3147
3148	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3149	<glossentry>
3150	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3151
3152	<glossdef>
3153	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3154	</glossdef>
3155	</glossentry>
3156
3157	<glossentry>
3158	<glossterm><computeroutput>source on host</computeroutput></glossterm>
3159
3160	<glossdef>
3161	<para>Absolute path of source file(s) on host to copy over
3162	to the guest, e.g.
3163	<computeroutput>C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe</computeroutput>.
3164	This also can be a wildcard expression, e.g.
3165	<computeroutput>C:\Windows\System32\*.dll</computeroutput></para>
3166	</glossdef>
3167	</glossentry>
3168
3169	<glossentry>
3170	<glossterm><computeroutput>destination on guest</computeroutput></glossterm>
3171
3172	<glossdef>
3173	<para>Absolute destination path on the guest, e.g.
3174	<computeroutput>C:\Temp</computeroutput></para>
3175	</glossdef>
3176	</glossentry>
3177
3178	<glossentry>
3179	<glossterm><computeroutput>--username <name></computeroutput></glossterm>
3180
3181	<glossdef>
3182	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
3183	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
3184	</glossdef>
3185	</glossentry>
3186
3187	<glossentry>
3188	<glossterm><computeroutput>--passwordfile <file></computeroutput></glossterm>
3189
3190	<glossdef>
3191	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
3192	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
3193	assumed.</para>
3194	</glossdef>
3195	</glossentry>
3196
3197	<glossentry>
3198	<glossterm><computeroutput>--password <password></computeroutput></glossterm>
3199
3200	<glossdef>
3201	<para>Password of the user account specified with
3202	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
3203	an empty password is assumed.</para>
3204	</glossdef>
3205	</glossentry>
3206
3207	<glossentry>
3208	<glossterm><computeroutput>--dryrun</computeroutput></glossterm>
3209
3210	<glossdef>
3211	<para>Tells VBoxManage to only perform a dry run instead of
3212	really copying files to the guest.</para>
3213	</glossdef>
3214	</glossentry>
3215
3216	<glossentry>
3217	<glossterm><computeroutput>--follow</computeroutput></glossterm>
3218
3219	<glossdef>
3220	<para>Enables following symlinks on the host's
3221	source.</para>
3222	</glossdef>
3223	</glossentry>
3224
3225	<glossentry>
3226	<glossterm><computeroutput>--recursive</computeroutput></glossterm>
3227
3228	<glossdef>
3229	<para>Recursively copies files/directories of the specified
3230	source.</para>
3231	</glossdef>
3232	</glossentry>
3233
3234	<glossentry>
3235	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3236
3237	<glossdef>
3238	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3239	</glossdef>
3240	</glossentry>
3241
3242	<glossentry>
3243	<glossterm><computeroutput>--flags <flags></computeroutput></glossterm>
3244
3245	<glossdef>
3246	<para>Additional flags to set. This is not used at the
3247	moment.</para>
3248	</glossdef>
3249	</glossentry>
3250	</glosslist></para>
3251	</listitem>
3252
3253	<listitem>
3254	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>copyfrom</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3255	which allows copying
3256	files from the guest to the host (only with installed Guest
3257	Additions 4.0 and later). It has the same parameters as
3258	<computeroutput>copyto</computeroutput> above.</para>
3259	</listitem>
3260
3261	<listitem>
3262	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>createdirectory</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3263	which allows
3264	copying files from the host to the guest (only with installed Guest
3265	Additions 4.0 and later).</para>
3266
3267	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> createdir[ectory]\|mkdir\|md
3268	<guest directory>... --username <name>
3269	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
3270	[--parents] [--mode <mode>] [--verbose]</screen>
3271
3272	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3273	<glossentry>
3274	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3275
3276	<glossdef>
3277	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3278	</glossdef>
3279	</glossentry>
3280
3281	<glossentry>
3282	<glossterm><computeroutput>directory to create on guest</computeroutput></glossterm>
3283
3284	<glossdef>
3285	<para>Absolute path of directory/directories to create on
3286	guest, e.g. <computeroutput>D:\Foo\Bar</computeroutput>.
3287	Parent directories need to exist (e.g. in this example
3288	<computeroutput>D:\Foo</computeroutput>) when switch
3289	<computeroutput>--parents</computeroutput> is omitted. The
3290	specified user must have appropriate rights to create the
3291	specified directory.</para>
3292	</glossdef>
3293	</glossentry>
3294
3295	<glossentry>
3296	<glossterm><computeroutput>--username <name></computeroutput></glossterm>
3297
3298	<glossdef>
3299	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
3300	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
3301	</glossdef>
3302	</glossentry>
3303
3304	<glossentry>
3305	<glossterm><computeroutput>--passwordfile <file></computeroutput></glossterm>
3306
3307	<glossdef>
3308	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
3309	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
3310	assumed.</para>
3311	</glossdef>
3312	</glossentry>
3313
3314	<glossentry>
3315	<glossterm><computeroutput>--password <password></computeroutput></glossterm>
3316
3317	<glossdef>
3318	<para>Password of the user account specified with
3319	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
3320	an empty password is assumed.</para>
3321	</glossdef>
3322	</glossentry>
3323
3324	<glossentry>
3325	<glossterm><computeroutput>--parents</computeroutput></glossterm>
3326
3327	<glossdef>
3328	<para>Also creates not yet existing parent directories of
3329	the specified directory, e.g. if the directory
3330	<computeroutput>D:\Foo</computeroutput> of
3331	<computeroutput>D:\Foo\Bar</computeroutput> does not exist
3332	yet it will be created. Without specifying
3333	<computeroutput>--parent</computeroutput> the action would
3334	have failed.</para>
3335	</glossdef>
3336	</glossentry>
3337
3338	<glossentry>
3339	<glossterm><computeroutput>--mode <mode></computeroutput></glossterm>
3340
3341	<glossdef>
3342	<para>Sets the permission mode of the specified directory.
3343	Only octal modes (e.g.
3344	<computeroutput>0755</computeroutput>) are supported right
3345	now.</para>
3346	</glossdef>
3347	</glossentry>
3348
3349	<glossentry>
3350	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3351
3352	<glossdef>
3353	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3354	</glossdef>
3355	</glossentry>
3356	</glosslist></para>
3357	</listitem>
3358
3359	<listitem>
3360	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>removedirectory</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3361	which allows deletion of guest directories (only with installed Guest
3362	Additions 4.3.2 and later).</para>
3363
3364	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> removedir[ectory]\|rmdir
3365	<guest directory>... --username <name>
3366	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
3367	[--recursive\|-R\|-r] [--verbose]</screen>
3368
3369	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3370	<glossentry>
3371	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3372
3373	<glossdef>
3374	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3375	</glossdef>
3376	</glossentry>
3377
3378	<glossentry>
3379	<glossterm><computeroutput>directory to remove on guest</computeroutput></glossterm>
3380
3381	<glossdef>
3382	<para>Absolute path of directory/directories to remove on
3383	guest, e.g. <computeroutput>D:\Foo\Bar</computeroutput>. The
3384	specified user must have appropriate rights to delete the
3385	specified guest directories.</para>
3386	</glossdef>
3387	</glossentry>
3388
3389	<glossentry>
3390	<glossterm><computeroutput>--username <name></computeroutput></glossterm>
3391
3392	<glossdef>
3393	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
3394	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
3395	</glossdef>
3396	</glossentry>
3397
3398	<glossentry>
3399	<glossterm><computeroutput>--passwordfile <file></computeroutput></glossterm>
3400
3401	<glossdef>
3402	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
3403	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
3404	assumed.</para>
3405	</glossdef>
3406	</glossentry>
3407
3408	<glossentry>
3409	<glossterm><computeroutput>--password <password></computeroutput></glossterm>
3410
3411	<glossdef>
3412	<para>Password of the user account specified with
3413	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
3414	an empty password is assumed.</para>
3415	</glossdef>
3416	</glossentry>
3417
3418	<glossentry>
3419	<glossterm><computeroutput>--recursive</computeroutput></glossterm>
3420
3421	<glossdef>
3422	<para>Remove directories and their contents recursively.</para>
3423	</glossdef>
3424	</glossentry>
3425
3426	<glossentry>
3427	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3428
3429	<glossdef>
3430	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3431	</glossdef>
3432	</glossentry>
3433	</glosslist></para>
3434	</listitem>
3435
3436	<listitem>
3437	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>removefile</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3438	which allows deletion of guest files (only with installed Guest
3439	Additions 4.3.2 and later).</para>
3440
3441	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> removefile\|rm
3442	<guest file>... --username <name>
3443	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
3444	[--verbose]</screen>
3445
3446	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3447	<glossentry>
3448	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3449
3450	<glossdef>
3451	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3452	</glossdef>
3453	</glossentry>
3454
3455	<glossentry>
3456	<glossterm><computeroutput>file to remove on guest</computeroutput></glossterm>
3457
3458	<glossdef>
3459	<para>Absolute path of a file/files to remove on
3460	guest, e.g. <computeroutput>D:\Foo\Bar\text.txt</computeroutput>. The
3461	specified user must have appropriate rights to delete the
3462	specified guest files.</para>
3463	</glossdef>
3464	</glossentry>
3465
3466	<glossentry>
3467	<glossterm><computeroutput>--username <name></computeroutput></glossterm>
3468
3469	<glossdef>
3470	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
3471	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
3472	</glossdef>
3473	</glossentry>
3474
3475	<glossentry>
3476	<glossterm><computeroutput>--passwordfile <file></computeroutput></glossterm>
3477
3478	<glossdef>
3479	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
3480	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
3481	assumed.</para>
3482	</glossdef>
3483	</glossentry>
3484
3485	<glossentry>
3486	<glossterm><computeroutput>--password <password></computeroutput></glossterm>
3487
3488	<glossdef>
3489	<para>Password of the user account specified with
3490	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
3491	an empty password is assumed.</para>
3492	</glossdef>
3493	</glossentry>
3494
3495	<glossentry>
3496	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3497
3498	<glossdef>
3499	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3500	</glossdef>
3501	</glossentry>
3502	</glosslist></para>
3503	</listitem>
3504
3505	<listitem>
3506	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>ren[ame]\|mv</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3507	which allows renaming of guest files and/or directories (only with installed Guest
3508	Additions 4.3.2 and later).</para>
3509
3510	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> ren[ame]\|mv
3511	<source>... <dest> --username <name>
3512	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
3513	[--verbose]</screen>
3514
3515	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3516	<glossentry>
3517	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3518
3519	<glossdef>
3520	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3521	</glossdef>
3522	</glossentry>
3523
3524	<glossentry>
3525	<glossterm><computeroutput>source</computeroutput></glossterm>
3526
3527	<glossdef>
3528	<para>Absolute path of one or more source(s) to move to
3529	destination. If more than one source is specified, destination
3530	must be an existing directory on the guest. The specified user
3531	must have appropriate rights to access source and destination
3532	files and directories.</para>
3533	</glossdef>
3534	</glossentry>
3535
3536	<glossentry>
3537	<glossterm><computeroutput>dest</computeroutput></glossterm>
3538
3539	<glossdef>
3540	<para>Absolute path of the destination to move the source(s)
3541	to. This can be a directory or a file, depending if one or more
3542	sources have been specified. The specified user
3543	must have appropriate rights to access the destination
3544	file and directory.</para>
3545	</glossdef>
3546	</glossentry>
3547
3548	<glossentry>
3549	<glossterm><computeroutput>--username <name></computeroutput></glossterm>
3550
3551	<glossdef>
3552	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
3553	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
3554	</glossdef>
3555	</glossentry>
3556
3557	<glossentry>
3558	<glossterm><computeroutput>--passwordfile <file></computeroutput></glossterm>
3559
3560	<glossdef>
3561	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
3562	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
3563	assumed.</para>
3564	</glossdef>
3565	</glossentry>
3566
3567	<glossentry>
3568	<glossterm><computeroutput>--password <password></computeroutput></glossterm>
3569
3570	<glossdef>
3571	<para>Password of the user account specified with
3572	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
3573	an empty password is assumed.</para>
3574	</glossdef>
3575	</glossentry>
3576
3577	<glossentry>
3578	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3579
3580	<glossdef>
3581	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3582	</glossdef>
3583	</glossentry>
3584	</glosslist></para>
3585	</listitem>
3586
3587	<listitem>
3588	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>createtemporary</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3589	which allows
3590	copying files from the host to the guest (only with installed Guest
3591	Additions 4.2 and later).</para>
3592
3593	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> createtemp[orary]\|mktemp
3594	<template> --username <name>
3595	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
3596	[--directory] [--secure] [--tmpdir <directory>]
3597	[--domain <domain>] [--mode <mode>] [--verbose]</screen>
3598
3599	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3600	<glossentry>
3601	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3602
3603	<glossdef>
3604	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3605	</glossdef>
3606	</glossentry>
3607
3608	<glossentry>
3609	<glossterm><computeroutput>template</computeroutput></glossterm>
3610
3611	<glossdef>
3612	<para>A file name without a path and with at least three consecutive 'X'
3613	characters or ending in 'X'
3614	</para>
3615	</glossdef>
3616	</glossentry>
3617
3618	<glossentry>
3619	<glossterm><computeroutput>--username <name></computeroutput></glossterm>
3620
3621	<glossdef>
3622	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
3623	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
3624	</glossdef>
3625	</glossentry>
3626
3627	<glossentry>
3628	<glossterm><computeroutput>--passwordfile <file></computeroutput></glossterm>
3629
3630	<glossdef>
3631	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
3632	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
3633	assumed.</para>
3634	</glossdef>
3635	</glossentry>
3636
3637	<glossentry>
3638	<glossterm><computeroutput>--password <password></computeroutput></glossterm>
3639
3640	<glossdef>
3641	<para>Password of the user account specified with
3642	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
3643	an empty password is assumed.</para>
3644	</glossdef>
3645	</glossentry>
3646
3647	<glossentry>
3648	<glossterm><computeroutput>--directory</computeroutput></glossterm>
3649
3650	<glossdef>
3651	<para>Create a temporary directory instead of a file.</para>
3652	</glossdef>
3653	</glossentry>
3654
3655	<glossentry>
3656	<glossterm><computeroutput>--secure</computeroutput></glossterm>
3657
3658	<glossdef>
3659	<para>
3660	Secure creation. The file mode is fixed to
3661	<computeroutput>0755</computeroutput>. And the operation
3662	will fail if it cannot performed securely.
3663	</para>
3664	</glossdef>
3665	</glossentry>
3666
3667	<glossentry>
3668	<glossterm><computeroutput>--tmpdir <directory></computeroutput></glossterm>
3669
3670	<glossdef>
3671	<para>
3672	Directory where the file / directory is created. If not
3673	specified, the platform-specific temp directory is used.
3674	</para>
3675	</glossdef>
3676	</glossentry>
3677
3678	<glossentry>
3679	<glossterm><computeroutput>--mode <mode></computeroutput></glossterm>
3680
3681	<glossdef>
3682	<para>Sets the permission mode of the specified directory.
3683	Only octal modes (e.g.
3684	<computeroutput>0755</computeroutput>) are supported right
3685	now.</para>
3686	</glossdef>
3687	</glossentry>
3688
3689	<glossentry>
3690	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3691
3692	<glossdef>
3693	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3694	</glossdef>
3695	</glossentry>
3696	</glosslist></para>
3697	</listitem>
3698
3699	<listitem>
3700	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>list</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3701	which lists various guest control information such as open guest sessions,
3702	guest processes and guest files.</para>
3703
3704	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> list
3705	<all\|sessions\|processes\|files> [--verbose]</screen>
3706
3707	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3708	<glossentry>
3709	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3710
3711	<glossdef>
3712	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3713	</glossdef>
3714	</glossentry>
3715
3716	<glossentry>
3717	<glossterm><computeroutput>all\|sessions\|processes\|files</computeroutput></glossterm>
3718
3719	<glossdef>
3720	<para>Whether to list guest sessions, guest processes, guest files
3721	or all information available. Mandatory.</para>
3722	</glossdef>
3723	</glossentry>
3724
3725	<glossentry>
3726	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3727
3728	<glossdef>
3729	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3730	</glossdef>
3731	</glossentry>
3732	</glosslist></para>
3733	</listitem>
3734
3735	<listitem>
3736	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>process kill</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3737	which terminates specific guest processes of a guest session, based on either the
3738	session's ID or the session's name.</para>
3739
3740	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> process kill
3741	--session-id <ID>
3742	\| --session-name <name or pattern>
3743	[--verbose]
3744	<PID> ... <PID n></screen>
3745
3746	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3747	<glossentry>
3748	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3749
3750	<glossdef>
3751	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3752	</glossdef>
3753	</glossentry>
3754
3755	<glossentry>
3756	<glossterm><computeroutput>--session-id</computeroutput></glossterm>
3757
3758	<glossdef>
3759	<para>Specifies the guest session to use by its ID.</para>
3760	</glossdef>
3761	</glossentry>
3762
3763	<glossentry>
3764	<glossterm><computeroutput>--session-name</computeroutput></glossterm>
3765
3766	<glossdef>
3767	<para>Specifies the guest session to use by its name. Multiple
3768	sessions can be closed when specifying * or ? wildcards.</para>
3769	</glossdef>
3770	</glossentry>
3771
3772	<glossentry>
3773	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3774
3775	<glossdef>
3776	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3777	</glossdef>
3778	</glossentry>
3779
3780	<glossentry>
3781	<glossterm><computeroutput><PID> ... <PID n></computeroutput></glossterm>
3782
3783	<glossdef>
3784	<para>List of process identifiers (PIDs) to terminate.</para>
3785	</glossdef>
3786	</glossentry>
3787	</glosslist></para>
3788	</listitem>
3789
3790	<listitem>
3791	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>[p[s]]kill</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3792	which terminates specific guest processes of a guest session, based on either the
3793	session's ID or the session's name.</para>
3794
3795	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> process kill
3796	--session-id <ID>
3797	\| --session-name <name or pattern>
3798	[--verbose]
3799	<PID> ... <PID n></screen>
3800
3801	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3802	<glossentry>
3803	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3804
3805	<glossdef>
3806	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3807	</glossdef>
3808	</glossentry>
3809
3810	<glossentry>
3811	<glossterm><computeroutput>--session-id</computeroutput></glossterm>
3812
3813	<glossdef>
3814	<para>Specifies the guest session to use by its ID.</para>
3815	</glossdef>
3816	</glossentry>
3817
3818	<glossentry>
3819	<glossterm><computeroutput>--session-name</computeroutput></glossterm>
3820
3821	<glossdef>
3822	<para>Specifies the guest session to use by its name. Multiple
3823	sessions can be closed when specifying * or ? wildcards.</para>
3824	</glossdef>
3825	</glossentry>
3826
3827	<glossentry>
3828	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3829
3830	<glossdef>
3831	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3832	</glossdef>
3833	</glossentry>
3834
3835	<glossentry>
3836	<glossterm><computeroutput><PID> ... <PID n></computeroutput></glossterm>
3837
3838	<glossdef>
3839	<para>List of process identifiers (PIDs) to terminate.</para>
3840	</glossdef>
3841	</glossentry>
3842	</glosslist></para>
3843	</listitem>
3844
3845	<listitem>
3846	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>session close</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3847	which closes specific guest sessions, based on either the session's ID or the
3848	session's name.</para>
3849
3850	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> session close
3851	--session-id <ID>
3852	\| --session-name <name or pattern>
3853	\| --all
3854	[--verbose]</screen>
3855
3856	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3857	<glossentry>
3858	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3859
3860	<glossdef>
3861	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3862	</glossdef>
3863	</glossentry>
3864
3865	<glossentry>
3866	<glossterm><computeroutput>--session-id</computeroutput></glossterm>
3867
3868	<glossdef>
3869	<para>Close a guest session specified by its ID.</para>
3870	</glossdef>
3871	</glossentry>
3872
3873	<glossentry>
3874	<glossterm><computeroutput>--session-name</computeroutput></glossterm>
3875
3876	<glossdef>
3877	<para>Close a guest session specified by its name. Multiple sessions
3878	can be closed when specifying * or ? wildcards.</para>
3879	</glossdef>
3880	</glossentry>
3881
3882	<glossentry>
3883	<glossterm><computeroutput>--all</computeroutput></glossterm>
3884
3885	<glossdef>
3886	<para>Close all guest sessions.</para>
3887	</glossdef>
3888	</glossentry>
3889
3890	<glossentry>
3891	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3892
3893	<glossdef>
3894	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3895	</glossdef>
3896	</glossentry>
3897	</glosslist></para>
3898	</listitem>
3899
3900	<listitem>
3901	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>stat</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3902	which displays file
3903	or file system status on the guest.</para>
3904
3905	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> stat
3906	<file>... --username <name>
3907	[--passwordfile <file> \| --password <password>]
3908	[--verbose]</screen>
3909
3910	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3911	<glossentry>
3912	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3913
3914	<glossdef>
3915	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3916	</glossdef>
3917	</glossentry>
3918
3919	<glossentry>
3920	<glossterm><computeroutput>file element(s) to check on guest</computeroutput></glossterm>
3921
3922	<glossdef>
3923	<para>Absolute path of directory/directories to check on
3924	guest, e.g. <computeroutput>/home/foo/a.out</computeroutput>.
3925	The specified user must have appropriate rights to access
3926	the given file element(s).</para>
3927	</glossdef>
3928	</glossentry>
3929
3930	<glossentry>
3931	<glossterm><computeroutput>--username <name></computeroutput></glossterm>
3932
3933	<glossdef>
3934	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
3935	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
3936	</glossdef>
3937	</glossentry>
3938
3939	<glossentry>
3940	<glossterm><computeroutput>--passwordfile <file></computeroutput></glossterm>
3941
3942	<glossdef>
3943	<para>Password of the user account specified to be read from
3944	the given file. If not given, an empty password is
3945	assumed.</para>
3946	</glossdef>
3947	</glossentry>
3948
3949	<glossentry>
3950	<glossterm><computeroutput>--password <password></computeroutput></glossterm>
3951
3952	<glossdef>
3953	<para>Password of the user account specified with
3954	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
3955	an empty password is assumed.</para>
3956	</glossdef>
3957	</glossentry>
3958
3959	<glossentry>
3960	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
3961
3962	<glossdef>
3963	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
3964	</glossdef>
3965	</glossentry>
3966	</glosslist></para>
3967	</listitem>
3968
3969	<listitem>
3970	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>updateadditions</computeroutput></emphasis>,
3971	which allows
3972	for updating an already installed Guest Additions version on the
3973	guest (only already installed Guest Additions 4.0 and later).</para>
3974
3975	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> updateadditions
3976	[--source "<guest additions .ISO file to use>"] [--verbose]
3977	[--wait-start] [-- [<argument1>] ... [<argumentN>]]</screen>
3978
3979	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
3980	<glossentry>
3981	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
3982
3983	<glossdef>
3984	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
3985	</glossdef>
3986	</glossentry>
3987
3988	<glossentry>
3989	<glossterm><computeroutput>--source</computeroutput> "<guest additions .ISO file to
3990	use>"</glossterm>
3991
3992	<glossdef>
3993	<para>Full path to an alternative VirtualBox Guest Additions
3994	.ISO file to use for the Guest Additions update.</para>
3995	</glossdef>
3996	</glossentry>
3997
3998	<glossentry>
3999	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
4000
4001	<glossdef>
4002	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
4003	</glossdef>
4004	</glossentry>
4005
4006	<glossentry>
4007	<glossterm><computeroutput>--wait-start</computeroutput></glossterm>
4008	<glossdef>
4009	<para>Starts the regular updating process and waits until the
4010	actual Guest Additions update inside the guest was started.
4011	This can be necessary due to needed interaction with the
4012	guest OS during the installation phase.</para>
4013	<para>When omitting this flag VBoxManage will wait for the
4014	whole Guest Additions update to complete.</para>
4015	</glossdef>
4016	</glossentry>
4017
4018	<glossentry>
4019	<glossterm><computeroutput>[-- [<argument1s>] ... [<argumentNs>]]</computeroutput></glossterm>
4020
4021	<glossdef>
4022	<para>Optional command line arguments to use for the Guest Additions
4023	installer. Useful for retrofitting features which weren't installed
4024	before on the guest.</para>
4025	<para>Arguments containing spaces must be enclosed in
4026	quotation marks.</para>
4027	</glossdef>
4028	</glossentry>
4029	</glosslist></para>
4030	</listitem>
4031	<listitem>
4032	<para><emphasis role="bold"><computeroutput>watch</computeroutput></emphasis>,
4033	which prints current guest control activity.</para>
4034
4035	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <uuid\|vmname> watch
4036	[--verbose]</screen>
4037
4038	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
4039	<glossentry>
4040	<glossterm><computeroutput>uuid\|vmname</computeroutput></glossterm>
4041
4042	<glossdef>
4043	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
4044	</glossdef>
4045	</glossentry>
4046
4047	<glossentry>
4048	<glossterm><computeroutput>--verbose</computeroutput></glossterm>
4049
4050	<glossdef>
4051	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
4052	</glossdef>
4053	</glossentry>
4054	</glosslist></para>
4055	</listitem>
4056	</itemizedlist></para>
4057	</sect1>
4058
4059	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-debugvm">
4060	<title>VBoxManage debugvm</title>
4061
4062	<para>The "debugvm" commands are for experts who want to tinker with the
4063	exact details of virtual machine execution. Like the VM debugger described
4064	in <xref linkend="ts_debugger" />, these commands are only useful if you are
4065	very familiar with the details of the PC architecture and how to debug
4066	software.</para>
4067
4068	<para>The subcommands of "debugvm" all operate on a running virtual
4069	machine. The following are available:<itemizedlist>
4070	<listitem>
4071	<para>With <computeroutput>dumpguestcore --filename
4072	<name></computeroutput>, you can create a system dump of the
4073	running VM, which will be written into the given file. This file
4074	will have the standard ELF core format (with custom sections); see
4075	<xref linkend="ts_guest-core-format" />.</para>
4076
4077	<para>This corresponds to the
4078	<computeroutput>writecore</computeroutput> command in the debugger.
4079	</para>
4080	</listitem>
4081
4082	<listitem>
4083	<para>The <computeroutput>info</computeroutput> command is used to
4084	display info items relating to the VMM, device emulations and
4085	associated drivers. This command takes one or two arguments: the
4086	name of the info item, optionally followed by a string containing
4087	arguments specific to the info item.
4088	The <computeroutput>help</computeroutput> info item provides a
4089	listning of the available items and hints about any optional
4090	arguments.</para>
4091
4092	<para>This corresponds to the <computeroutput>info</computeroutput>
4093	command in the debugger.</para>
4094	</listitem>
4095
4096	<listitem>
4097	<para>The <computeroutput>injectnmi</computeroutput> command causes
4098	a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) in the guest, which might be useful
4099	for certain debugging scenarios. What happens exactly is dependent
4100	on the guest operating system, but an NMI can crash the whole guest
4101	operating system. Do not use unless you know what you're
4102	doing.</para>
4103	</listitem>
4104
4105	<listitem>
4106	<para>The <computeroutput>osdetect</computeroutput> command makes the
4107	VMM's debugger facility (re-)detection the guest operation
4108	system.</para>
4109
4110	<para>This corresponds to the <computeroutput>detect</computeroutput>
4111	command in the debugger.</para>
4112	</listitem>
4113
4114	<listitem>
4115	<para>The <computeroutput>osinfo</computeroutput> command is used to
4116	display info about the operating system (OS) detected by the VMM's
4117	debugger facility.</para>
4118	</listitem>
4119
4120	<listitem>
4121	<para>The <computeroutput>getregisters</computeroutput> command is
4122	used to display CPU and device registers. The command takes a list
4123	of registers, each having one of the following forms:
4124	<itemizedlist>
4125	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name.sub-field</computeroutput></listitem>
4126	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name</computeroutput></listitem>
4127	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name.sub-field</computeroutput></listitem>
4128	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name</computeroutput></listitem>
4129	<listitem><computeroutput>all</computeroutput></listitem>
4130	</itemizedlist>
4131	The <computeroutput>all</computeroutput> form will cause all
4132	registers to be shown (no sub-fields). The registers names are
4133	case-insensitive. When requesting a CPU register the register set
4134	can be omitted, it will be selected using the value of the
4135	<computeroutput>--cpu</computeroutput> option (defaulting to 0).
4136	</para>
4137	</listitem>
4138
4139	<listitem>
4140	<para>The <computeroutput>setregisters</computeroutput> command is
4141	used to change CPU and device registers. The command takes a list
4142	of register assignments, each having one of the following forms:
4143	<itemizedlist>
4144	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name.sub-field=value</computeroutput></listitem>
4145	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name=value</computeroutput></listitem>
4146	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name.sub-field=value</computeroutput></listitem>
4147	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name=value</computeroutput></listitem>
4148	</itemizedlist>
4149	The value format should be in the same style as what
4150	<computeroutput>getregisters</computeroutput> displays, with the
4151	exception that both octal and decimal can be used instead of
4152	hexadecimal. The register naming and the default CPU register set
4153	are handled the same way as with the
4154	<computeroutput>getregisters</computeroutput> command.</para>
4155	</listitem>
4156
4157	<listitem>
4158	<para>The <computeroutput>statistics</computeroutput> command can be
4159	used to display VMM statistics on the command line. The
4160	<computeroutput>--reset</computeroutput> option will reset
4161	statistics. The affected statistics can be filtered with the
4162	<computeroutput>--pattern</computeroutput> option, which accepts
4163	DOS/NT-style wildcards (<computeroutput>?</computeroutput> and
4164	<computeroutput>*</computeroutput>).</para>
4165	</listitem>
4166	</itemizedlist></para>
4167	</sect1>
4168
4169	<sect1 id="metrics">
4170	<title>VBoxManage metrics</title>
4171
4172	<para>This command supports monitoring the usage of system resources.
4173	Resources are represented by various metrics associated with the host
4174	system or a particular VM. For example, the host system has a
4175	<computeroutput>CPU/Load/User</computeroutput> metric that shows the
4176	percentage of time CPUs spend executing in user mode over a specific
4177	sampling period.</para>
4178
4179	<para>Metric data is collected and retained internally; it may be
4180	retrieved at any time with the <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics
4181	query</computeroutput> subcommand. The data is available as long as the
4182	background <computeroutput>VBoxSVC</computeroutput> process is alive. That
4183	process terminates shortly after all VMs and frontends have been
4184	closed.</para>
4185
4186	<para>By default no metrics are collected at all. Metrics collection does
4187	not start until <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics setup</computeroutput>
4188	is invoked with a proper sampling interval and the number of metrics to be
4189	retained. The interval is measured in seconds. For example, to enable
4190	collecting the host processor and memory usage metrics every second and
4191	keeping the 5 most current samples, the following command can be
4192	used:</para>
4193
4194	<screen>VBoxManage metrics setup --period 1 --samples 5 host CPU/Load,RAM/Usage</screen>
4195
4196	<para>Metric collection can only be enabled for started VMs. Collected
4197	data and collection settings for a particular VM will disappear as soon as
4198	it shuts down. Use <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics list
4199	</computeroutput> subcommand to see which metrics are currently available.
4200	You can also use <computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> option with any
4201	subcommand that modifies metric settings to find out which metrics were
4202	affected.</para>
4203
4204	<para>Note that the <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics
4205	setup</computeroutput> subcommand discards all samples that may have been
4206	previously collected for the specified set of objects and metrics.</para>
4207
4208	<para>To enable or disable metrics collection without discarding the data
4209	<computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics enable</computeroutput> and
4210	<computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics disable</computeroutput> subcommands
4211	can be used. Note that these subcommands expect metrics, not submetrics,
4212	like <code>CPU/Load</code> or <code>RAM/Usage</code> as parameters. In
4213	other words enabling <code>CPU/Load/User</code> while disabling
4214	<code>CPU/Load/Kernel</code> is not supported.</para>
4215
4216	<para>The host and VMs have different sets of associated metrics.
4217	Available metrics can be listed with <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics
4218	list</computeroutput> subcommand.</para>
4219
4220	<para>A complete metric name may include an aggregate function. The name
4221	has the following form:
4222	<computeroutput>Category/Metric[/SubMetric][:aggregate]</computeroutput>.
4223	For example, <computeroutput>RAM/Usage/Free:min</computeroutput> stands
4224	for the minimum amount of available memory over all retained data if
4225	applied to the host object.</para>
4226
4227	<para>Subcommands may apply to all objects and metrics or can be limited
4228	to one object or/and a list of metrics. If no objects or metrics are given
4229	in the parameters, the subcommands will apply to all available metrics of
4230	all objects. You may use an asterisk
4231	("<computeroutput>*</computeroutput>") to explicitly specify that the
4232	command should be applied to all objects or metrics. Use "host" as the
4233	object name to limit the scope of the command to host-related metrics. To
4234	limit the scope to a subset of metrics, use a metric list with names
4235	separated by commas.</para>
4236
4237	<para>For example, to query metric data on the CPU time spent in user and
4238	kernel modes by the virtual machine named "test", you can use the
4239	following command:</para>
4240
4241	<screen>VBoxManage metrics query test CPU/Load/User,CPU/Load/Kernel</screen>
4242
4243	<para>The following list summarizes the available subcommands:</para>
4244
4245	<glosslist>
4246	<glossentry>
4247	<glossterm><computeroutput>list</computeroutput></glossterm>
4248
4249	<glossdef>
4250	<para>This subcommand shows the parameters of the currently existing
4251	metrics. Note that VM-specific metrics are only available when a
4252	particular VM is running.</para>
4253	</glossdef>
4254	</glossentry>
4255
4256	<glossentry>
4257	<glossterm><computeroutput>setup</computeroutput></glossterm>
4258
4259	<glossdef>
4260	<para>This subcommand sets the interval between taking two samples
4261	of metric data and the number of samples retained internally. The
4262	retained data is available for displaying with the
4263	<code>query</code> subcommand. The <computeroutput>--list
4264	</computeroutput> option shows which metrics have been modified as
4265	the result of the command execution.</para>
4266	</glossdef>
4267	</glossentry>
4268
4269	<glossentry>
4270	<glossterm><computeroutput>enable</computeroutput></glossterm>
4271
4272	<glossdef>
4273	<para>This subcommand "resumes" data collection after it has been
4274	stopped with <code>disable</code> subcommand. Note that specifying
4275	submetrics as parameters will not enable underlying metrics. Use
4276	<computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> to find out if the command
4277	did what was expected.</para>
4278	</glossdef>
4279	</glossentry>
4280
4281	<glossentry>
4282	<glossterm><computeroutput>disable</computeroutput></glossterm>
4283
4284	<glossdef>
4285	<para>This subcommand "suspends" data collection without affecting
4286	collection parameters or collected data. Note that specifying
4287	submetrics as parameters will not disable underlying metrics. Use
4288	<computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> to find out if the command
4289	did what was expected.</para>
4290	</glossdef>
4291	</glossentry>
4292
4293	<glossentry>
4294	<glossterm><computeroutput>query</computeroutput></glossterm>
4295
4296	<glossdef>
4297	<para>This subcommand retrieves and displays the currently retained
4298	metric data.<note>
4299	<para>The <code>query</code> subcommand does not remove or
4300	"flush" retained data. If you query often enough you will see
4301	how old samples are gradually being "phased out" by new
4302	samples.</para>
4303	</note></para>
4304	</glossdef>
4305	</glossentry>
4306
4307	<glossentry>
4308	<glossterm><computeroutput>collect</computeroutput></glossterm>
4309
4310	<glossdef>
4311	<para>This subcommand sets the interval between taking two samples
4312	of metric data and the number of samples retained internally. The
4313	collected data is displayed periodically until Ctrl-C is pressed
4314	unless the <computeroutput>--detach</computeroutput> option is
4315	specified. With the <computeroutput>--detach</computeroutput>
4316	option, this subcommand operates the same way as <code>setup</code>
4317	does. The <computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> option shows which
4318	metrics match the specified filter.</para>
4319	</glossdef>
4320	</glossentry>
4321	</glosslist>
4322	</sect1>
4323
4324	<sect1>
4325	<title>VBoxManage hostonlyif</title>
4326
4327	<para>With "hostonlyif" you can change the IP configuration of a host-only
4328	network interface. For a description of host-only networking, please
4329	refer to <xref linkend="network_hostonly" />. Each host-only interface is
4330	identified by a name and can either use the internal DHCP server or a
4331	manual IP configuration (both IP4 and IP6).</para>
4332	</sect1>
4333
4334	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-dhcpserver">
4335	<title>VBoxManage dhcpserver</title>
4336
4337	<para>The "dhcpserver" commands allow you to control the DHCP server that
4338	is built into VirtualBox. You may find this useful when using internal or
4339	host-only networking. (Theoretically, you can enable it for a bridged
4340	network as well, but that will likely cause conflicts with other DHCP
4341	servers in your physical network.)</para>
4342
4343	<para>Use the following command line options:<itemizedlist>
4344	<listitem>
4345	<para>If you use internal networking for a virtual network adapter
4346	of a virtual machine, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver add
4347	--netname <network_name></computeroutput>, where
4348	<computeroutput><network_name></computeroutput> is the same
4349	network name you used with <computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm
4350	<vmname> --intnet<X>
4351	<network_name></computeroutput>.</para>
4352	</listitem>
4353
4354	<listitem>
4355	<para>If you use host-only networking for a virtual network adapter
4356	of a virtual machine, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver add
4357	--ifname <hostonly_if_name></computeroutput> instead, where
4358	<computeroutput><hostonly_if_name></computeroutput> is the
4359	same host-only interface name you used with
4360	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm <vmname>
4361	--hostonlyadapter<X>
4362	<hostonly_if_name></computeroutput>.</para>
4363
4364	<para>Alternatively, you can also use the --netname option as with
4365	internal networks if you know the host-only network's name; you can
4366	see the names with <computeroutput>VBoxManage list
4367	hostonlyifs</computeroutput> (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" />
4368	above).</para>
4369	</listitem>
4370	</itemizedlist></para>
4371
4372	<para>The following additional parameters are required when first adding a
4373	DHCP server:<itemizedlist>
4374	<listitem>
4375	<para>With <computeroutput>--ip</computeroutput>, specify the IP
4376	address of the DHCP server itself.</para>
4377	</listitem>
4378
4379	<listitem>
4380	<para>With <computeroutput>--netmask</computeroutput>, specify the
4381	netmask of the network.</para>
4382	</listitem>
4383
4384	<listitem>
4385	<para>With <computeroutput>--lowerip</computeroutput> and
4386	<computeroutput>--upperip</computeroutput>, you can specify the
4387	lowest and highest IP address, respectively, that the DHCP server
4388	will hand out to clients.</para>
4389	</listitem>
4390	</itemizedlist></para>
4391
4392	<para>Finally, you must specify <computeroutput>--enable</computeroutput>
4393	or the DHCP server will be created in the disabled state, doing
4394	nothing.</para>
4395
4396	<para>After this, VirtualBox will automatically start the DHCP server for
4397	given internal or host-only network as soon as the first virtual machine
4398	which uses that network is started.</para>
4399
4400	<para>Reversely, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver
4401	remove</computeroutput> with the given <computeroutput>--netname
4402	<network_name></computeroutput> or <computeroutput>--ifname
4403	<hostonly_if_name></computeroutput> to remove the DHCP server again
4404	for the given internal or host-only network.</para>
4405
4406	<para>To modify the settings of a DHCP server created earlier with
4407	<computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver add</computeroutput>, you can use
4408	<computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver modify</computeroutput> for a given
4409	network or host-only interface name.</para>
4410	</sect1>
4411
4412	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-extpack">
4413	<title>VBoxManage extpack</title>
4414
4415	<para>The "extpack" command allows you to add or remove VirtualBox
4416	extension packs, as described in <xref
4417	linkend="intro-installing" />.<itemizedlist>
4418	<listitem>
4419	<para>To add a new extension pack, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage
4420	extpack install <.vbox-extpack></computeroutput>. This command
4421	will fail if an older version of the same extension pack is already
4422	installed. The optional <computeroutput>--replace</computeroutput>
4423	parameter can be used to uninstall the old package before the new
4424	package is installed.</para>
4425	</listitem>
4426
4427	<listitem>
4428	<para>To remove a previously installed extension pack, use
4429	<computeroutput>VBoxManage extpack uninstall
4430	<name></computeroutput>. You can use
4431	<computeroutput>VBoxManage list extpacks</computeroutput> to show
4432	the names of the extension packs which are currently installed;
4433	please see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> also. The optional
4434	<computeroutput>--force</computeroutput> parameter can be used to
4435	override the refusal of an extension pack to be uninstalled.</para>
4436	</listitem>
4437
4438	<listitem>
4439	<para>The <computeroutput>VBoxManage extpack
4440	cleanup</computeroutput> command can be used to remove temporary
4441	files and directories that may have been left behind if a previous
4442	install or uninstall command failed.</para>
4443	</listitem>
4444	</itemizedlist></para>
4445	<para>The following commands show examples how to list extension packs and
4446	remove one:<screen>
4447	$ VBoxManage list extpacks
4448	Extension Packs: 1
4449	Pack no. 0: Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack
4450	Version: 4.1.12
4451	Revision: 77218
4452	Edition:
4453	Description: USB 2.0 Host Controller, VirtualBox RDP, PXE ROM with E1000 support.
4454	VRDE Module: VBoxVRDP
4455	Usable: true
4456	Why unusable:
4457	$ VBoxManage extpack uninstall "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack"
4458	0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
4459	Successfully uninstalled "Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack".</screen></para>
4460	</sect1>
4461	</chapter>

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