9.18. Locking down the VirtualBox manager GUI

9.18.1. GUI customization

There are several advanced customization settings for locking down the VirtualBox manager, that is, removing some features that the user should not see.

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/Customizations OPTION[,OPTION...]

where OPTION is one of the following keywords:

noSelector: Don't allow to start the VirtualBox manager. Trying to do so will show a window containing a proper error message.
noMenuBar: VM windows will not contain a menu bar.
noStatusBar: VM windows will not contain a status bar.

To disable any GUI customization do

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/Customizations

9.18.2. Host Key customization

To disable all host key combinations, open the preferences and change the host key to None. This might be useful when using VirtualBox in a kiosk mode.

To redefine or disable certain host key actions, use the following command:

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/Input/MachineShortcuts "FullscreenMode=F,...."

The following list shows the possible host key actions together with their default host key shortcut. Setting an action to None will disable that host key action.

Table 9.1. ignoreme

Action	Default Host Key	Action
SettingsDialog	S	open the VM settings dialog
TakeSnapshot	S	take a snapshot
InformationsDialog	N	show the VM information dialog
MouseIntegration	I	toggle mouse integration
TypeCAD	Del	inject Ctrl+Alt+Del
TypeCABS	Backspace	inject Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
Pause	P	Pause the VM
Reset	R	(hard) reset the guest
Shutdown	H	press the ACPI power button
Close	Q	show the VM close dialog
FullscreenMode	F	switch the VM into fullscreen
SeamlessMode	L	switch the VM into seamless mode
ScaleMode	C	switch the VM into scale mode
PopupMenu	Home	show popup menu in fullscreen / seamless mode

To disable the fullscreen mode as well as the seamless mode, use the following command:

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/Input/MachineShortcuts "FullscreenMode=None,SeamlessMode=None"

9.18.3. Action when terminating the VM

You can disallow certain actions when terminating a VM. To disallow specific actions, type:

VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" GUI/RestrictedCloseActions OPTION[,OPTION...]

where OPTION is one of the following keywords:

SaveState: Don't allow the user to save the VM state when terminating the VM.
Shutdown: Don't allow the user to shutdown the VM by sending the ACPI power-off event to the guest.
PowerOff: Don't allow the user to power off the VM.
Restore: Don't allow the user to return to the last snapshot when powering off the VM.

Any combination of the above is allowed. If all options are specified, the VM cannot be shut down at all.