| 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
|
|---|
| 2 | <!--
|
|---|
| 3 | manpage, user manual, usage: VBoxManage
|
|---|
| 4 | -->
|
|---|
| 5 | <!--
|
|---|
| 6 | Copyright (C) 2006-2023 Oracle and/or its affiliates.
|
|---|
| 7 |
|
|---|
| 8 | This file is part of VirtualBox base platform packages, as
|
|---|
| 9 | available from https://www.virtualbox.org.
|
|---|
| 10 |
|
|---|
| 11 | This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
|
|---|
| 12 | modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
|
|---|
| 13 | as published by the Free Software Foundation, in version 3 of the
|
|---|
| 14 | License.
|
|---|
| 15 |
|
|---|
| 16 | This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
|
|---|
| 17 | WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
|
|---|
| 18 | MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
|
|---|
| 19 | General Public License for more details.
|
|---|
| 20 |
|
|---|
| 21 | You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
|
|---|
| 22 | along with this program; if not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses>.
|
|---|
| 23 |
|
|---|
| 24 | SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-only
|
|---|
| 25 | -->
|
|---|
| 26 | <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
|
|---|
| 27 | "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd"[
|
|---|
| 28 | <!ENTITY % all.entities SYSTEM "all-entities.ent">
|
|---|
| 29 | %all.entities;
|
|---|
| 30 | ]>
|
|---|
| 31 | <refentry id="vboxmanage-common" lang="en">
|
|---|
| 32 | <refentryinfo>
|
|---|
| 33 | <pubdate>$Date: 2023-04-21 21:59:02 +0000 (Fri, 21 Apr 2023) $</pubdate>
|
|---|
| 34 | <title>VBoxManage</title>
|
|---|
| 35 | </refentryinfo>
|
|---|
| 36 |
|
|---|
| 37 | <refmeta>
|
|---|
| 38 | <refentrytitle>VBoxManage</refentrytitle>
|
|---|
| 39 | <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
|
|---|
| 40 | </refmeta>
|
|---|
| 41 |
|
|---|
| 42 | <refnamediv>
|
|---|
| 43 | <refname>VBoxManage</refname>
|
|---|
| 44 | <refpurpose>&product-name; command-line interface</refpurpose>
|
|---|
| 45 | <refclass>&product-name;</refclass>
|
|---|
| 46 | </refnamediv>
|
|---|
| 47 |
|
|---|
| 48 | <refsynopsisdiv>
|
|---|
| 49 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-common">
|
|---|
| 50 | <!-- The 'id' is mandatory and must start with 'synopsis-'. -->
|
|---|
| 51 | <command>VBoxManage</command>
|
|---|
| 52 | <group>
|
|---|
| 53 | <arg choice="plain">-q</arg>
|
|---|
| 54 | <arg choice="plain">--nologo</arg>
|
|---|
| 55 | </group>
|
|---|
| 56 | <arg>--settingspw=<replaceable>password</replaceable></arg>
|
|---|
| 57 | <arg>--settingspwfile=<replaceable>pw-file</replaceable></arg>
|
|---|
| 58 | <arg>@<replaceable>response-file</replaceable></arg>
|
|---|
| 59 | <arg><replaceable>subcommand</replaceable></arg>
|
|---|
| 60 | </cmdsynopsis>
|
|---|
| 61 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-common-help">
|
|---|
| 62 | <command>VBoxManage help</command>
|
|---|
| 63 | <arg><replaceable>subcommand</replaceable></arg>
|
|---|
| 64 | </cmdsynopsis>
|
|---|
| 65 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-common-commands">
|
|---|
| 66 | <command>VBoxManage commands</command>
|
|---|
| 67 | </cmdsynopsis>
|
|---|
| 68 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-common-version">
|
|---|
| 69 | <command>VBoxManage</command>
|
|---|
| 70 | <group>
|
|---|
| 71 | <arg choice="plain">-V</arg>
|
|---|
| 72 | <arg choice="plain">--version</arg>
|
|---|
| 73 | </group>
|
|---|
| 74 | </cmdsynopsis>
|
|---|
| 75 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-common-dump-build-type">
|
|---|
| 76 | <command>VBoxManage</command> <arg>--dump-build-type</arg>
|
|---|
| 77 | </cmdsynopsis>
|
|---|
| 78 | </refsynopsisdiv>
|
|---|
| 79 |
|
|---|
| 80 | <refsect1 id="vboxmanage-common-description">
|
|---|
| 81 | <title>Description</title>
|
|---|
| 82 | <para>
|
|---|
| 83 | The <command>VBoxManage</command> command is the command-line
|
|---|
| 84 | interface (CLI) for the &product-name; software. The CLI supports
|
|---|
| 85 | all the features that are available with the &product-name;
|
|---|
| 86 | graphical user interface (GUI). In addition, you can use the
|
|---|
| 87 | <command>VBoxManage</command> command to manage the features of
|
|---|
| 88 | the virtualization engine that cannot be managed by the GUI.
|
|---|
| 89 | </para>
|
|---|
| 90 | <para>
|
|---|
| 91 | Each time you invoke the <command>VBoxManage</command> command,
|
|---|
| 92 | only one command is executed. Note that some
|
|---|
| 93 | <command>VBoxManage</command> subcommands invoke several
|
|---|
| 94 | subcommands.
|
|---|
| 95 | </para>
|
|---|
| 96 | <para>
|
|---|
| 97 | Run the <command>VBoxManage</command> command from the command
|
|---|
| 98 | line of the host operating system (OS) to control &product-name;
|
|---|
| 99 | software.
|
|---|
| 100 | </para>
|
|---|
| 101 | <para>
|
|---|
| 102 | The <command>VBoxManage</command> command is stored in the
|
|---|
| 103 | following locations on the host system:
|
|---|
| 104 | </para>
|
|---|
| 105 | <itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 106 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 107 | <emphasis role="bold">Linux:</emphasis>
|
|---|
| 108 | <filename>/usr/bin/VBoxManage</filename>
|
|---|
| 109 | </para></listitem>
|
|---|
| 110 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 111 | <emphasis role="bold">Mac OS X:</emphasis>
|
|---|
| 112 | <filename>/Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/VBoxManage</filename>
|
|---|
| 113 | </para></listitem>
|
|---|
| 114 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 115 | <emphasis role="bold">Oracle Solaris:</emphasis>
|
|---|
| 116 | <filename>/opt/VirtualBox/bin/VBoxManage</filename>
|
|---|
| 117 | </para></listitem>
|
|---|
| 118 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 119 | <emphasis role="bold">Windows:</emphasis>
|
|---|
| 120 | <filename>C:\Program
|
|---|
| 121 | Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe</filename>
|
|---|
| 122 | </para></listitem>
|
|---|
| 123 | </itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 124 | <para>
|
|---|
| 125 | In addition to managing virtual machines (VMs) with this CLI or
|
|---|
| 126 | the GUI, you can use the <command>VBoxHeadless</command> CLI to
|
|---|
| 127 | manage VMs remotely.
|
|---|
| 128 | </para>
|
|---|
| 129 | <para>
|
|---|
| 130 | The <command>VBoxManage</command> command performs particular
|
|---|
| 131 | tasks by using subcommands, such as <command>list</command>,
|
|---|
| 132 | <command>createvm</command>, and <command>startvm</command>. See
|
|---|
| 133 | the associated information for each <command>VBoxManage</command>
|
|---|
| 134 | subcommand.
|
|---|
| 135 | </para>
|
|---|
| 136 | <para>
|
|---|
| 137 | If required, specify the VM by its name or by its Universally
|
|---|
| 138 | Unique Identifier (UUID).
|
|---|
| 139 | </para>
|
|---|
| 140 | <para>
|
|---|
| 141 | Use the <command>VBoxManage list vms</command> command to obtain
|
|---|
| 142 | information about all currently registered VMs, including the VM
|
|---|
| 143 | names and associated UUIDs.
|
|---|
| 144 | </para>
|
|---|
| 145 | <para>
|
|---|
| 146 | Note that you must enclose the entire VM name in double quotes if
|
|---|
| 147 | it contains spaces.
|
|---|
| 148 | </para>
|
|---|
| 149 | <refsect2 id="vboxmanage-common-options">
|
|---|
| 150 | <title>General Options</title>
|
|---|
| 151 | <variablelist>
|
|---|
| 152 | <varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 153 | <term><option>--nologo</option></term>
|
|---|
| 154 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 155 | Suppresses the output of the logo information, which is
|
|---|
| 156 | useful for scripts.
|
|---|
| 157 | </para><para>
|
|---|
| 158 | The short version of this option is <option>-q</option>.
|
|---|
| 159 | </para></listitem>
|
|---|
| 160 | </varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 161 | <varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 162 | <term><option>--settingspw=[<replaceable>password</replaceable>]</option></term>
|
|---|
| 163 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 164 | Specifies the settings password. You can optionally
|
|---|
| 165 | specify the password as an argument to this option. If you
|
|---|
| 166 | do not specify the password in this way, the
|
|---|
| 167 | <command>VBoxManage</command> command prompts you for the
|
|---|
| 168 | password.
|
|---|
| 169 | </para><para>
|
|---|
| 170 | The settings password is a security feature that encrypts
|
|---|
| 171 | stored settings, which are stored as plain text by
|
|---|
| 172 | default.
|
|---|
| 173 | </para><para>
|
|---|
| 174 | You cannot unencrypt encrypted settings. So, if the
|
|---|
| 175 | settings are encrypted, you must continue to specify the
|
|---|
| 176 | <option>--settingspw</option> or
|
|---|
| 177 | <option>--settingspwfile</option> option.
|
|---|
| 178 | </para><para>
|
|---|
| 179 | Only the iSCSI secret is encrypted at this time.
|
|---|
| 180 | </para><remark>
|
|---|
| 181 | This design does not conform to Oracle's security
|
|---|
| 182 | guidelines. You should not be able to specify a password
|
|---|
| 183 | on the command line because the password can be seen in a
|
|---|
| 184 | process listing.
|
|---|
| 185 | </remark></listitem>
|
|---|
| 186 | </varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 187 | <varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 188 | <term><option>--settingspwfile=<replaceable>pw-filename</replaceable></option></term>
|
|---|
| 189 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 190 | Specifies the file that contains the settings password.
|
|---|
| 191 | </para></listitem>
|
|---|
| 192 | </varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 193 | <varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 194 | <term><option>--version</option></term>
|
|---|
| 195 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 196 | Shows version information about the
|
|---|
| 197 | <command>VBoxManage</command> command.
|
|---|
| 198 | </para><para>
|
|---|
| 199 | The short version of this option is <option>-V</option>.
|
|---|
| 200 | </para></listitem>
|
|---|
| 201 | </varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 202 | <varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 203 | <term>@<replaceable>response-file</replaceable></term>
|
|---|
| 204 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 205 | Loads arguments from the specified Bourne shell response
|
|---|
| 206 | file.
|
|---|
| 207 | </para></listitem>
|
|---|
| 208 | </varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 209 | <varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 210 | <term><replaceable>subcommand</replaceable></term>
|
|---|
| 211 | <listitem><para>
|
|---|
| 212 | Specifies one of the <command>VBoxManage</command>
|
|---|
| 213 | subcommands, such as <command>controlvm</command>,
|
|---|
| 214 | <command>createvm</command>, <command>list</command>,
|
|---|
| 215 | <command>modifyvm</command>,
|
|---|
| 216 | <command>showvminfo</command>, <command>startvm</command>,
|
|---|
| 217 | <command>storageattach</command>, and
|
|---|
| 218 | <command>storagectl</command>.
|
|---|
| 219 | </para><para>
|
|---|
| 220 | Each subcommand is described in its own command topic,
|
|---|
| 221 | some of which are shown in See Also sections.
|
|---|
| 222 | </para></listitem>
|
|---|
| 223 | </varlistentry>
|
|---|
| 224 | </variablelist>
|
|---|
| 225 | </refsect2>
|
|---|
| 226 | </refsect1>
|
|---|
| 227 |
|
|---|
| 228 | <refsect1 id="vboxmanage-common-examples">
|
|---|
| 229 | <title>Examples</title>
|
|---|
| 230 | <remark role="help-scope" condition="GLOBAL"/>
|
|---|
| 231 | <para>
|
|---|
| 232 | The following command creates a virtual machine called
|
|---|
| 233 | <literal>Win8</literal> and registers it with &product-name; by
|
|---|
| 234 | using the <option>--register</option> option.
|
|---|
| 235 | </para>
|
|---|
| 236 | <screen>$ VBoxManage createvm --name "Win8" --register
|
|---|
| 237 | Virtual machine 'Win8' is created.
|
|---|
| 238 | UUID: <replaceable>UUID-string</replaceable>
|
|---|
| 239 | Settings file: '/home/<replaceable>username</replaceable>/VirtualBox VMs/Win8/Win8.vbox'</screen>
|
|---|
| 240 | <para>
|
|---|
| 241 | The command output shows that the <literal>Win8</literal> VM is
|
|---|
| 242 | assigned a UUID and an XML machine settings file.
|
|---|
| 243 | </para>
|
|---|
| 244 | <para>
|
|---|
| 245 | You can use the <command>VBoxManage showvminfo</command> command
|
|---|
| 246 | to view the configuration information of a VM.
|
|---|
| 247 | </para>
|
|---|
| 248 | <para>
|
|---|
| 249 | The following example uses the <command>VBoxManage
|
|---|
| 250 | modifyvm</command> command to change the amount of memory for the
|
|---|
| 251 | <literal>Windows XP</literal> VM to be 1024 megabytes:
|
|---|
| 252 | </para>
|
|---|
| 253 | <screen>$ VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows XP" --memory 1024</screen>
|
|---|
| 254 | <para>
|
|---|
| 255 | Note that you can use the <command>VBoxManage modifyvm</command>
|
|---|
| 256 | command even when the VM is powered off.
|
|---|
| 257 | </para>
|
|---|
| 258 | <para>
|
|---|
| 259 | You can use the <command>VBoxManage storagectl</command> command
|
|---|
| 260 | or the <command>VBoxManage storageattach</command> command to
|
|---|
| 261 | modify the storage configuration for a VM. For example, to create
|
|---|
| 262 | a SATA storage controller called <literal>sata01</literal> and add
|
|---|
| 263 | it to the <literal>ol7</literal> VM:
|
|---|
| 264 | </para>
|
|---|
| 265 | <screen>$ VBoxManage storagectl ol7 --name "sata01" --add sata</screen>
|
|---|
| 266 | <para>
|
|---|
| 267 | Use the <command>VBoxManage startvm</command> command to start a
|
|---|
| 268 | VM that is currently powered off. For example, to start the
|
|---|
| 269 | <literal>win7</literal> VM:
|
|---|
| 270 | </para>
|
|---|
| 271 | <screen>$ VBoxManage startvm win7</screen>
|
|---|
| 272 | <para>
|
|---|
| 273 | Use the <command>VBoxManage controlvm</command> command to pause
|
|---|
| 274 | or save a VM that is currently running. You can also use this
|
|---|
| 275 | command to modify settings for the VM. For example, to enable
|
|---|
| 276 | audio input for the <literal>ol6u9</literal> VM.
|
|---|
| 277 | </para>
|
|---|
| 278 | <screen>$ VBoxManage controlvm ol6u9 audioin on</screen>
|
|---|
| 279 | </refsect1>
|
|---|
| 280 |
|
|---|
| 281 | <refsect1 id="vboxmanage-common-see-also">
|
|---|
| 282 | <title>See Also</title>
|
|---|
| 283 | <para>
|
|---|
| 284 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-controlvm" />,
|
|---|
| 285 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-createvm" />,
|
|---|
| 286 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" />,
|
|---|
| 287 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />,
|
|---|
| 288 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-showvminfo" />,
|
|---|
| 289 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />,
|
|---|
| 290 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-storageattach" />,
|
|---|
| 291 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-storagectl" />
|
|---|
| 292 | </para>
|
|---|
| 293 | </refsect1>
|
|---|
| 294 | </refentry>
|
|---|
