| 1 | <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
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| 2 | <!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
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| 3 | <topic xml:lang="en-us" id="headless-vm-steps">
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| 4 | <title>Step by Step: Creating a Virtual Machine on a Headless Server</title>
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| 5 |
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| 6 | <body>
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| 7 | <p>The following instructions describe how to create a virtual machine on a headless server over a network
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| 8 | connection. This example creates a virtual machine, establishes an RDP connection and installs a guest operating
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| 9 | system. All of these tasks are done without having to touch the headless server. You need the following
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| 10 | prerequisites: </p>
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| 11 | <ul>
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| 12 | <li>
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| 13 | <p><ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> on a server machine with a supported host operating
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| 14 | system. The <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/vbox-ext"/> for the VRDP server must be installed, see <xref
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| 15 | href="vrde.dita#vrde"/>. The procedures assume a Linux server is used. </p>
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| 16 | </li>
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| 17 | <li>
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| 18 | <p>An ISO file accessible from the server, containing the installation data for the guest operating system to
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| 19 | install. Windows XP is used in the example. </p>
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| 20 | </li>
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| 21 | <li>
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| 22 | <p>A terminal connection to that host through which you can access a command line, such as
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| 23 | <userinput>ssh</userinput>. </p>
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| 24 | </li>
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| 25 | <li>
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| 26 | <p>An RDP viewer on the remote client. See <xref href="rdp-viewers.dita#rdp-viewers"/> for examples. </p>
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| 27 | </li>
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| 28 | </ul>
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| 29 | <p>Note that on the server machine, since we will only use the headless server, Qt and the X Window system are not
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| 30 | required. </p>
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| 31 | <ol>
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| 32 | <li>
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| 33 | <p>On the headless server, create a new virtual machine. For example: </p>
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| 34 | <pre xml:space="preserve">VBoxManage createvm --name "Windows XP" --ostype WindowsXP --register</pre>
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| 35 | <p>If you do not specify <codeph>--register</codeph>, you will have to manually use the
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| 36 | <userinput>registervm</userinput> command later. </p>
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| 37 | <p>You do not need to specify <codeph>--ostype</codeph>, but doing so selects some sensible default values for
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| 38 | certain VM parameters. For example, the RAM size and the type of the virtual network device. To get a complete
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| 39 | list of supported operating systems you can use the following command: </p>
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| 40 | <pre xml:space="preserve">VBoxManage list ostypes</pre>
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| 41 | </li>
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| 42 | <li>
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| 43 | <p>Ensure the settings for the VM are appropriate for the guest operating system that we will install. For
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| 44 | example: </p>
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| 45 | <pre xml:space="preserve">VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows XP" --memory 256 --acpi on --boot1 dvd --nic1 nat</pre>
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| 46 | </li>
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| 47 | <li>
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| 48 | <p>Create a virtual hard disk for the VM. For example, to create a 10 GB virtual hard disk: </p>
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| 49 | <pre xml:space="preserve">VBoxManage createhd --filename "WinXP.vdi" --size 10000</pre>
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| 50 | </li>
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| 51 | <li>
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| 52 | <p>Add an IDE Controller to the new VM. For example: </p>
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| 53 | <pre xml:space="preserve">VBoxManage storagectl "Windows XP" --name "IDE Controller"
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| 54 | --add ide --controller PIIX4</pre>
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| 55 | </li>
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| 56 | <li>
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| 57 | <p>Set the VDI file you created as the first virtual hard disk of the new VM. For example: </p>
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| 58 | <pre xml:space="preserve">VBoxManage storageattach "Windows XP" --storagectl "IDE Controller"
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| 59 | --port 0 --device 0 --type hdd --medium "WinXP.vdi"</pre>
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| 60 | </li>
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| 61 | <li>
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| 62 | <p>Attach the ISO file that contains the operating system installation that you want to install later to the
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| 63 | virtual machine. This is done so that the VM can boot from it. </p>
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| 64 | <pre xml:space="preserve">VBoxManage storageattach "Windows XP" --storagectl "IDE Controller"
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| 65 | --port 0 --device 1 --type dvddrive --medium /full/path/to/iso.iso</pre>
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| 66 | </li>
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| 67 | <li>
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| 68 | <p>Enable the VirtualBox Remote Desktop Extension, the VRDP server, as follows: </p>
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| 69 | <pre xml:space="preserve">VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows XP" --vrde on</pre>
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| 70 | </li>
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| 71 | <li>
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| 72 | <p>Start the virtual machine using the <userinput>VBoxHeadless</userinput> command: </p>
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| 73 | <pre xml:space="preserve">VBoxHeadless --startvm "Windows XP"</pre>
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| 74 | <p>If the configuration steps worked, you should see a copyright notice. If you are returned to the command
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| 75 | line, then something did not work correctly. </p>
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| 76 | </li>
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| 77 | <li>
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| 78 | <p>On the client machine, start the RDP viewer and connect to the server. See <xref
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| 79 | href="rdp-viewers.dita#rdp-viewers"/> for details of how to use various common RDP viewers. </p>
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| 80 | <p>The installation routine of your guest operating system should be displayed in the RDP viewer. </p>
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| 81 | </li>
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| 82 | </ol>
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| 83 | </body>
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| 84 |
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| 85 | </topic>
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