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