Oracle VirtualBox: User Guide for Release 7.1
Preface
Audience
Related Documents
Conventions
Documentation Accessibility
Access to Oracle Support for Accessibility
Diversity and Inclusion
First Steps
Why is Virtualization Useful?
Some Terminology
Features Overview
Alternative Front Ends
Available Installation Packages
Host and Guest Combinations
Arm Host Limitations
Intel Host CPU Requirements
Installing Oracle VirtualBox and Extension Packs
Starting Oracle VirtualBox
Configuring Oracle VirtualBox
Oracle VirtualBox Preferences
Experience Levels for VirtualBox Manager
Global Tools
Adding Virtual Machines
Creating a Virtual Machine
Specify Name and Operating System
Configure Unattended Guest OS Install
Set Up VM Hardware
Specify a Virtual Hard Disk
Running a Virtual Machine
Starting a New VM for the First Time
Virtual Machine Status Bar
Capturing and Releasing Keyboard and Mouse
Typing Special Characters
Changing Removable Media
Resizing the Machine's Window
Saving the State of the Machine
Managing VMs
Configure the Settings for a VM
Using VM Groups
Snapshots
Taking, Restoring, and Deleting Snapshots
Snapshot Contents
Removing and Moving Virtual Machines
Cloning a Virtual Machine
Importing and Exporting Virtual Machines
About the OVF Format
Importing an Appliance in OVF Format
Exporting an Appliance in OVF Format
Integrating with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Preparing for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Integration
Creating an API Signing Key Pair
Uploading the Public Key to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Creating a Cloud Profile
Using the Cloud Profile Manager
Creating a New Cloud Profile
Importing a Cloud Profile
Using Oracle VirtualBox With Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Using Cloud Virtual Machines
About the OCI VM Group
Creating a New Cloud VM
Adding a Cloud VM
Cloning a Cloud VM
Changing Settings for a Cloud VM
Controlling a Cloud VM
Monitoring Cloud VM Performance
Removing a Cloud VM
Creating an Instance Console Connection for a Cloud VM
Exporting an Appliance to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Preparing a VM for Export to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Importing an Instance from Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Importing an Instance: Overview of Events
Using a Cloud Network
Using VBoxManage Commands With Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Soft Keyboard
Using the Soft Keyboard
Creating a Custom Keyboard Layout
Monitoring of Virtual Machines
VM Activity Overview
Session Information Dialog
The Log Viewer
Installation Details
Installing on Windows Hosts
Prerequisites
Windows Installation Directory Security Requirements
Performing the Installation
Uninstallation
Unattended Installation
Public Properties
Installing on macOS Hosts
Performing the Installation
Uninstallation
Unattended Installation
Installing on Linux Hosts
Prerequisites
The Oracle VirtualBox Kernel Modules
Kernel Modules and UEFI Secure Boot
Performing the Installation
Installing Oracle VirtualBox from a Debian or Ubuntu Package
Using the Alternative Generic Installer (VirtualBox.run)
Performing a Manual Installation
Updating and Uninstalling Oracle VirtualBox
Automatic Installation of Debian Packages
Automatic Installation of RPM Packages
Automatic Installation Options
The vboxusers Group
Starting Oracle VirtualBox on Linux
Installing on Oracle Solaris Hosts
Performing the Installation
The vboxuser Group
Starting Oracle VirtualBox on Oracle Solaris
Uninstallation
Unattended Installation
Configuring a Non-Global Zone for Running Oracle VirtualBox
Installing an Extension Pack
The Extension Pack Manager
Configuring Virtual Machines
Guest Operating Systems
x86 and x86-64 Guest Operating Systems
Arm Guest Operating Systems
Other Guest Operating Systems
macOS Guests
64-bit Guests
Unattended Guest Installation
Using VBoxManage Commands for Unattended Guest Installation
Emulated Hardware
The Settings Window
General Settings
Basic Tab
Advanced Tab
Description Tab
Disk Encryption Tab
System Settings
Motherboard Tab
Processor Tab
Acceleration Tab
Display Settings
Screen Tab
Remote Display Tab
Recording Tab
Storage Settings
Audio Settings
Network Settings
Serial Ports
USB Support
USB Settings
Implementation Notes for Windows and Linux Hosts
Shared Folders
User Interface
Alternative Firmware (EFI)
Video Modes in EFI
Specifying Boot Arguments
Guest Additions
Introduction to Guest Additions
Installing and Maintaining Guest Additions
Guest Additions for Windows
Installing the Windows Guest Additions
Updating the Windows Guest Additions
Unattended Installation of the Windows Guest Additions
Installing Code Signing Certificates
Manual File Extraction
Guest Additions for Linux
Installing the Linux Guest Additions
Unattended Installation of the Linux Guest Additions
Graphics and Mouse Integration
Updating the Linux Guest Additions
Uninstalling the Linux Guest Additions
Guest Additions for Oracle Solaris
Installing the Oracle Solaris Guest Additions
Unattended Installation of the Oracle Solaris Guest Additions
Uninstalling the Oracle Solaris Guest Additions
Updating the Oracle Solaris Guest Additions
Guest Additions for OS/2
Shared Folders
Manual Mounting
Automatic Mounting
Clipboard
Known Limitations
Drag and Drop
Supported Formats
Known Limitations
Hardware-Accelerated Graphics
Hardware 3D Acceleration (OpenGL and Direct3D 8/9)
Seamless Windows
Guest Properties
Using Guest Properties to Wait on VM Events
Guest Control File Manager
Transferring Files
Guest Control of Applications
Memory Overcommitment
Memory Ballooning
Page Fusion
Controlling Virtual Monitor Topology
X11/Wayland Desktop Environments
Known Limitations
Virtual Storage
Hard Disk Controllers
Disk Image Files (VDI, VMDK, VHD, HDD)
The Virtual Media Manager
Creating a Virtual Hard Disk Image
Creating a Virtual Optical Disk Image
Creating a Virtual Floppy Disk Image
Special Image Write Modes
Differencing Images
Cloning Disk Images
Host Input/Output Caching
Limiting Bandwidth for Disk Images
CD/DVD Support
iSCSI Servers
vboximg-mount: A Utility for FUSE Mounting a Virtual Disk Image
Viewing Detailed Information About a Virtual Disk Image
Mounting a Virtual Disk Image
Virtual Networking
Virtual Networking Hardware
Introduction to Networking Modes
Network Address Translation (NAT)
Configuring Port Forwarding with NAT
PXE Booting with NAT
NAT Limitations
Network Address Translation Service
Bridged Networking
Internal Networking
Host-Only Networking
UDP Tunnel Networking
VDE Networking
Cloud Networks
Network Manager
Host-Only Networks Tab
NAT Networks Tab
Cloud Networks Tab
Limiting Bandwidth for Network Input/Output
Improving Network Performance
Remote Virtual Machines
Remote Display (VRDP Support)
Common Third-Party RDP Viewers
VBoxHeadless, the Remote Desktop Server
Step by Step: Creating a Virtual Machine on a Headless Server
Separate Mode
Remote USB
RDP Authentication
RDP Encryption
Multiple Connections to the VRDP Server
Multiple Remote Monitors
VRDP Video Redirection
VRDP Customization
Teleporting
VBoxHeadless
VBoxManage
Introduction
Commands Overview
General Options
VBoxManage
VBoxManage adoptstate
VBoxManage bandwidthctl
VBoxManage checkmediumpwd
VBoxManage clonemedium
VBoxManage clonevm
VBoxManage closemedium
VBoxManage cloud
VBoxManage cloudprofile
VBoxManage controlvm
VBoxManage convertfromraw
VBoxManage createmedium
VBoxManage createvm
VBoxManage debugvm
VBoxManage dhcpserver
VBoxManage discardstate
VBoxManage encryptmedium
VBoxManage encryptvm
VBoxManage export
VBoxManage extpack
VBoxManage getextradata
VBoxManage guestcontrol
VBoxManage guestproperty
VBoxManage hostonlyif
VBoxManage hostonlynet
VBoxManage import
VBoxManage list
VBoxManage mediumio
VBoxManage mediumproperty
VBoxManage metrics
VBoxManage modifymedium
VBoxManage modifynvram
VBoxManage modifyvm
VBoxManage movevm
VBoxManage natnetwork
VBoxManage registervm
VBoxManage setextradata
VBoxManage setproperty
VBoxManage sharedfolder
VBoxManage showmediuminfo
VBoxManage showvminfo
VBoxManage signova
VBoxManage snapshot
VBoxManage startvm
VBoxManage storageattach
VBoxManage storagectl
VBoxManage unattended
VBoxManage unregistervm
VBoxManage updatecheck
VBoxManage usbdevsource
VBoxManage usbfilter
vboximg-mount
Advanced Topics
Automated Guest Logins
Automated Windows Guest Logins
Automated Linux and UNIX Guest Logins
Oracle VirtualBox Greeter for Ubuntu/LightDM
Advanced Configuration for Windows Guests
Automated Windows System Preparation
Advanced Configuration for Linux and Oracle Solaris Guests
Manual Setup of Selected Guest Services on Linux
Guest Graphics and Mouse Driver Setup in Depth
CPU Hot-Plugging
Webcam Passthrough
Using a Host Webcam in the Guest
Windows Hosts
macOS Hosts
Linux and Oracle Solaris Hosts
Advanced Display Configuration
Custom VESA Resolutions
Configuring the Maximum Resolution of Guests When Using the Graphical Frontend
Advanced Storage Configuration
Using a Raw Host Hard Disk From a Guest
Access to Entire Physical Hard Disk
Access to Individual Physical Hard Disk Partitions
Configuring the Hard Disk Vendor Product Data (VPD)
Access iSCSI Targets Using Internal Networking
Fine Tuning the Oracle VirtualBox NAT Engine
Configuring the Address of a NAT Network Interface
Configuring the Boot Server (Next Server) of a NAT Network Interface
Tuning TCP/IP Buffers for NAT
Binding NAT Sockets to a Specific Interface
Enabling DNS Proxy in NAT Mode
Using the Host's Resolver as a DNS Proxy in NAT Mode
User-Defined Host Name Resolving
Configuring Aliasing of the NAT Engine
Configuring the BIOS DMI Information
Configuring Custom ACPI Tables
Fine Tuning Timers and Time Synchronization
Configuring the Guest Time Stamp Counter (TSC) to Reflect Guest Execution
Accelerate or Slow Down the Guest Clock
Tuning the Guest Additions Time Synchronization Parameters
Disabling the Guest Additions Time Synchronization
Installing the Alternate Bridged Networking Driver on Oracle Solaris 11 Hosts
Oracle VirtualBox VNIC Templates for VLANs on Oracle Solaris 11 Hosts
Configuring Multiple Host-Only Network Interfaces on Oracle Solaris Hosts
Configuring the Oracle VirtualBox CoreDumper on Oracle Solaris Hosts
Oracle VirtualBox and Oracle Solaris Kernel Zones
Locking Down VirtualBox Manager
Customizing VirtualBox Manager
VM Selector Customization
Configure VM Selector Menu Entries
Configure VM Window Menu Entries
Configure VM Window Status Bar Entries
Configure VM Window Visual Modes
Host Key Customization
Action when Terminating the VM
Default Action when Terminating the VM
Action for Handling a Guru Meditation
Configuring Automatic Mouse Capturing
Requesting Legacy Full-Screen Mode
Removing Certain Modes of Networking From the GUI
Starting the Oracle VirtualBox Web Service Automatically
Linux: Starting the Web Service With init
Oracle Solaris: Starting the Web Service With SMF
macOS: Starting the Web Service With launchd
Oracle VirtualBox Watchdog
Memory Ballooning Control
Host Isolation Detection
More Information
Linux: Starting the Watchdog Service With init
Oracle Solaris: Starting the Watchdog Service With SMF
Other Extension Packs
Starting Virtual Machines During System Boot
Linux: Starting the Autostart Service With init
Oracle Solaris: Starting the Autostart Service With SMF
macOS: Starting the Autostart Service With launchd
Windows: Starting the Autostart Service
Encryption of VMs
Limitations of VM Encryption
Encrypting a VM
Opening the Encrypted VM
Decrypting Encrypted VMs
Oracle VirtualBox Expert Storage Management
Handling of Host Power Management Events
Passing Through SSE4.1/SSE4.2 Instructions
Support for Keyboard Indicator Synchronization
Capturing USB Traffic for Selected Devices
Configuring the Heartbeat Service
Encryption of Disk Images
Limitations of Disk Encryption
Encrypting Disk Images
Starting a VM with Encrypted Images
Decrypting Encrypted Images
Paravirtualized Debugging
Hyper-V Debug Options
Setting up Windows Guests for Debugging with the Hyper-V Paravirtualization Provider
PC Speaker Passthrough
Accessing USB devices Exposed Over the Network with USB/IP
Setting up USB/IP Support on a Linux System
Security Considerations
Using Hyper-V with Oracle VirtualBox
Nested Virtualization
VBoxSVC running in Windows Session 0
Known Issues
VISO file format / RTIsoMaker
Technical Background
Where Oracle VirtualBox Stores its Files
The Machine Folder
Global Settings
Summary of Configuration Data Locations
Oracle VirtualBox XML Files
Oracle VirtualBox Executables and Components
Hardware Virtualization
Details About Hardware Virtualization
Paravirtualization Providers
Nested Paging and VPIDs
Oracle VirtualBox Programming Interfaces
Troubleshooting
Procedures and Tools
Categorizing and Isolating Problems
Collecting Debugging Information
Using the VBoxBugReport Command to Collect Debug Information Automatically
The Built-In VM Debugger
VM Core Format
General Troubleshooting
Guest Shows IDE/SATA Errors for File-Based Images on Slow Host File System
Responding to Guest IDE/SATA Flush Requests
Performance Variation with Frequency Boosting
Frequency Scaling Effect on CPU Usage
Inaccurate Windows CPU Usage Reporting
Poor Performance Caused by Host Power Management
Windows Guests
No USB 3.0 Support in Windows 7 Guests
Windows Bluescreens After Changing VM Configuration
Windows 0x101 Bluescreens with SMP Enabled (IPI Timeout)
Windows 2000 Installation Failures
How to Record Bluescreen Information from Windows Guests
No Networking in Windows Vista Guests
Windows Guests may Cause a High CPU Load
Long Delays When Accessing Shared Folders
USB Tablet Coordinates Wrong in Windows 98 Guests
Windows Guests are Removed From an Active Directory Domain After Restoring a Snapshot
Windows 3.x Limited to 64 MB RAM
Linux and X11 Guests
Linux Guests May Cause a High CPU load
Buggy Linux 2.6 Kernel Versions
Shared Clipboard, Auto-Resizing, and Seamless Desktop in X11 Guests
Oracle Solaris Guests
Certain Oracle Solaris 10 Releases May Take a Long Time to Boot with SMP
Older Solaris Releases Do Not Work with E1000 Ethernet
Windows Hosts
Drag'n Drop not Working
VBoxSVC Out-of-Process COM Server Issues
CD and DVD Changes Not Recognized
Sluggish Response When Using Microsoft RDP Client
Running an iSCSI Initiator and Target on a Single System
Bridged Networking Adapters Missing
Host-Only Networking Adapters Cannot be Created
Linux Hosts
Linux Kernel Module Refuses to Load
Linux Host CD/DVD or Floppy Disk Drive Not Found
Strange Guest IDE Error Messages When Writing to CD or DVD
VBoxSVC IPC Issues
USB Not Working
PAX/grsec Kernels
Linux Kernel vmalloc Pool Exhausted
Oracle Solaris Hosts
Cannot Start VM, Not Enough Contiguous Memory
Security Guide
General Security Principles
Secure Installation and Configuration
Installation Overview
Post Installation Configuration
Security Features
The Security Model
Secure Configuration of Virtual Machines
Networking
VRDP Remote Desktop Authentication
Clipboard
Shared Folders
3D Graphics Acceleration
CD/DVD Passthrough
USB Passthrough
Configuring and Using Authentication
Potentially Insecure Operations
Encryption
Security Recommendations
CVE-2018-3646
Disable Nested Paging
Flushing the Level 1 Data Cache
CVE-2018-12126, CVE-2018-12127, CVE-2018-12130, CVE-2019-11091
Buffer Overwriting and Disabling Hyper-Threading
Known Limitations
Experimental Features
Known Issues
Change Log
Version 7.1.0 (2024-09-09)
Change Logs for Legacy Versions
Licensing Information User Manual for Release 7.1
Preface
Audience
Related Documents
Introduction
Oracle VirtualBox Base Package Licensing Information
Third-Party Notices and/or Licenses
Open Source or Other Separately Licensed Software
Software Licenses
alsa-lib
Bochs ROM BIOS
cereal
compositeproto
curl
Digia QT
dnsproxy
dri2proto
dxvk
dxvk-native
fixesproto
fontsproto
Glib
glproto
inputproto
iPXE
JPEG Image Decoding Software
kbproto
libdevmapper
libdrm
LibGD
libjpeg-turbo
libogg
libpam
libpciaccess
libpng
libslirp
libssh
libtpms
libvorbis
libvpx
libXcomposite
libXdamage
libXext
libXfixes
Libxml2
libxshmfence
Light Weight IP
Linux Kernel
LZF
MoltenVK
Mozilla Suite
nasm 2.12.02
NASM 2.16.01
NSIS AccessControl plugin
NSIS NsProcess plugin
nullsoft scriptable install system (NSIS)
OpenSSL
opus
pixman
Plex86/Bochs LGPL VGABios
pulseaudio
QEMU
randrproto
Reference Implementations for Intel® Architecture Approximation Instructions VRCP14, VRSQRT14, VRCP28, VRSQRT28, and VEXP2
renderproto
Slirp
SoftFloat
SPIR-V Headers
Vulkan-Headers
Wayland
Wayland protocols
Wine
WiX (Windows Installer XML toolset)
xextproto
xf86-input-mouse
xf86-video-vesa
xf86driproto
XFree86 -VidMode Extension
xorg-server 1.0.1
xorg-server 1.1.0
xorg-server 1.3.0.0
xorg-server 1.4.2
xorg-server 1.5.3
xorg-server 1.6.5
xorg-server 1.7.7
xorg-server 1.8.0
xorg-server 1.9.0
xorg-server 1.10.0
xorg-server 1.11.0
xorg-server 1.12.0
xorg-server 1.13.0
xorg-server 1.14.0
xorg-server 1.15.0
xorg-server 1.16.0
xorg-server 1.17.1
xorg-server 1.18.0
xproto
Zlib Data Compression Library
Oracle VirtualBox Extension Pack Licensing Information
Third-Party Notices and/or Licenses
Open Source or Other Separately Licensed Software
Software Licenses
curl
EDK2
Glib
libssh
Light Weight IP
Mozilla Suite
OpenSSL
QEMU
SoftFloat
Wine
Zlib Data Compression Library
Oracle VirtualBox Privacy Information
Glossary