8.4. VBoxManage

Synopsis

VBoxManage [ -V | --version ] [--dump-build-type] [ -q | --nologo ] [--settingspw=password] [--settingspwfile=pw-file] [@response-file] [[help]subcommand]

Description

The VBoxManage command is the command-line interface (CLI) for the Oracle VM VirtualBox software. The CLI supports all the features that are available with the Oracle VM VirtualBox graphical user interface (GUI). In addition, you can use the VBoxManage command to manage the features of the virtualization engine that cannot be managed by the GUI.

Each time you invoke the VBoxManage command, only one command is executed. Note that some VBoxManage subcommands invoke several subcommands.

Run the VBoxManage command from the command line of the host operating system (OS) to control Oracle VM VirtualBox software.

The VBoxManage command is stored in the following locations on the host system:

Linux: /usr/bin/VBoxManage
Mac OS X: /Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/VBoxManage
Oracle Solaris: /opt/VirtualBox/bin/VBoxManage
Windows: C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe

In addition to managing virtual machines (VMs) with this CLI or the GUI, you can use the VBoxHeadless CLI to manage VMs remotely.

The VBoxManage command performs particular tasks by using subcommands, such as list, createvm, and startvm. See the associated information for each VBoxManage subcommand.

If required, specify the VM by its name or by its Universally Unique Identifier (UUID).

Use the VBoxManage list vms command to obtain information about all currently registered VMs, including the VM names and associated UUIDs.

Note that you must enclose the entire VM name in double quotes if it contains spaces.

General Options

--nologo

Suppresses the output of the logo information, which is useful for scripts.

The short version of this option is -q.

--settingspw=[password]

Specifies the settings password. You can optionally specify the password as an argument to this option. If you do not specify the password in this way, the VBoxManage command prompts you for the password.

The settings password is a security feature that encrypts stored settings, which are stored as plain text by default.

You cannot unencrypt encrypted settings. So, if the settings are encrypted, you must continue to specify the --settingspw or --settingspwfile option.

Only the iSCSI secret is encrypted at this time.

--settingspwfile=pw-filename

Specifies the file that contains the settings password.

--version

Shows version information about the VBoxManage command.

The short version of this option is -V.

@response-file

Loads arguments from the specified Bourne shell response file.

subcommand

Specifies one of the VBoxManage subcommands, such as controlvm, createvm, list, modifyvm, showvminfo, startvm, storageattach, and storagectl.

Each subcommand is described in its own command topic, some of which are shown in See Also sections.

Examples

The following command creates a virtual machine called Win8 and registers it with Oracle VM VirtualBox by using the --register option.

$ VBoxManage createvm --name "Win8" --register
Virtual machine 'Win8' is created.
UUID: UUID-string
Settings file: '/home/username/VirtualBox VMs/Win8/Win8.vbox'

The command output shows that the Win8 VM is assigned a UUID and an XML machine settings file.

You can use the VBoxManage showvminfo command to view the configuration information of a VM.

The following example uses the VBoxManage modifyvm command to change the amount of memory for the Windows XP VM to be 1024 megabytes:

$ VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows XP" --memory 1024

Note that you can use the VBoxManage modifyvm command even when the VM is powered off.

You can use the VBoxManage storagectl command or the VBoxManage storageattach command to modify the storage configuration for a VM. For example, to create a SATA storage controller called sata01 and add it to the ol7 VM:

$ VBoxManage storagectl ol7 --name "sata01" --add sata

Use the VBoxManage startvm command to start a VM that is currently powered off. For example, to start the win7 VM:

$ VBoxManage startvm win7

Use the VBoxManage controlvm command to pause or save a VM that is currently running. You can also use this command to modify settings for the VM. For example, to enable audio input for the ol6u9 VM.

$ VBoxManage controlvm ol6u9 audioin on