VirtualBox

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1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
3"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd"[
4<!ENTITY % all.entities SYSTEM "all-entities.ent">
5%all.entities;
6]>
7<chapter id="BasicConcepts">
8
9 <title>Configuring Virtual Machines</title>
10
11 <para>
12 This chapter provides detailed steps for configuring an
13 &product-name; virtual machine (VM). For an introduction to
14 &product-name; and steps to get your first virtual machine running,
15 see <xref linkend="Introduction" />.
16 </para>
17
18 <para>
19 You have considerable latitude when deciding what virtual hardware
20 to provide to the guest. Use virtual hardware to communicate with
21 the host system or with other guests. For example, you can use
22 virtual hardware in the following ways:
23 </para>
24
25 <itemizedlist>
26
27 <listitem>
28 <para>
29 Have &product-name; present an ISO CD-ROM image to a guest
30 system as if it were a physical CD-ROM.
31 </para>
32 </listitem>
33
34 <listitem>
35 <para>
36 Provide a guest system access to the physical network through
37 its virtual network card.
38 </para>
39 </listitem>
40
41 <listitem>
42 <para>
43 Provide the host system, other guests, and computers on the
44 Internet access to the guest system.
45 </para>
46 </listitem>
47
48 </itemizedlist>
49
50 <sect1 id="guestossupport">
51
52 <title>Supported Guest Operating Systems</title>
53
54 <para>
55 Because &product-name; is designed to provide a generic
56 virtualization environment for x86 systems, it can run guest
57 operating systems (OSes) of any kind.
58 </para>
59
60 <para>
61 The following guest OS platforms are supported:
62 </para>
63
64 <itemizedlist>
65
66 <listitem>
67 <para>
68 <emphasis role="bold">Platforms With Full Support.</emphasis>
69 These guest OS platforms qualify for Oracle Premier Support.
70 See <xref linkend="table-premier-support"/>.
71 </para>
72 </listitem>
73
74 <listitem>
75 <para>
76 <emphasis role="bold">Platforms With Limited
77 Support.</emphasis> These legacy guest OS platforms can be
78 used with &product-name;, but only qualify for <emphasis>best
79 effort</emphasis> support. Therefore, resolution of customer
80 issues is not guaranteed. See
81 <xref linkend="table-limited-support"/>.
82 </para>
83 </listitem>
84
85 </itemizedlist>
86
87 <table id="table-premier-support" tabstyle="oracle-all">
88 <title>Guest Operating Systems With Full Support</title>
89 <tgroup cols="2">
90 <thead>
91 <row>
92 <entry><para>
93 <emphasis role="bold">Operating System</emphasis>
94 </para></entry>
95 <entry><para>
96 <emphasis role="bold">Comments</emphasis>
97 </para></entry>
98 </row>
99 </thead>
100 <tbody>
101 <row>
102 <entry><para>
103 Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit)
104 </para></entry>
105 <entry><para>
106 Insider preview builds are not supported
107 </para></entry>
108 </row>
109 <row>
110 <entry><para>
111 Windows 8 and 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
112 </para></entry>
113 <entry><para></para></entry>
114 </row>
115 <row>
116 <entry><para>
117 Windows Server 2019 (64-bit)
118 </para></entry>
119 <entry><para></para></entry>
120 </row>
121 <row>
122 <entry><para>
123 Windows Server 2016 (64-bit)
124 </para></entry>
125 <entry><para></para></entry>
126 </row>
127 <row>
128 <entry><para>
129 Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 (64-bit)
130 </para></entry>
131 <entry><para></para></entry>
132 </row>
133 <row>
134 <entry><para>
135 Solaris 11 (32-bit and 64-bit)
136 </para></entry>
137 <entry><para></para></entry>
138 </row>
139 <row>
140 <entry><para>
141 Solaris 10 8/11 Update 10 and later (32-bit and 64-bit)
142 </para></entry>
143 <entry><para></para></entry>
144 </row>
145 <row>
146 <entry><para>
147 Oracle Linux 8 (64-bit)
148 </para></entry>
149 <entry><para>
150 Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, CentOS 8
151 </para></entry>
152 </row>
153 <row>
154 <entry><para>
155 Oracle Linux 7 (64-bit)
156 </para></entry>
157 <entry><para>
158 Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, CentOS 7
159 </para></entry>
160 </row>
161 <row>
162 <entry><para>
163 Oracle Linux 6 (32-bit and 64-bit)
164 </para></entry>
165 <entry><para>
166 Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, CentOS 6
167 </para></entry>
168 </row>
169 <row>
170 <entry><para>
171 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) (32-bit and 64-bit)
172 </para></entry>
173 <entry><para></para></entry>
174 </row>
175 <row>
176 <entry><para>
177 Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) (64-bit)
178 </para></entry>
179 <entry><para></para></entry>
180 </row>
181 <row>
182 <entry><para>
183 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) (64-bit)
184 </para></entry>
185 <entry><para></para></entry>
186 </row>
187 <row>
188 <entry><para>
189 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 (64-bit)
190 </para></entry>
191 <entry><para></para></entry>
192 </row>
193 <row>
194 <entry><para>
195 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (64-bit)
196 </para></entry>
197 <entry><para></para></entry>
198 </row>
199 </tbody>
200 </tgroup>
201 </table>
202
203 <table id="table-limited-support" tabstyle="oracle-all">
204 <title>Legacy Guest Operating Systems With Limited Support</title>
205 <tgroup cols="2">
206 <thead>
207 <row>
208 <entry><para>
209 <emphasis role="bold">Operating System</emphasis>
210 </para></entry>
211 <entry><para>
212 <emphasis role="bold">Comments</emphasis>
213 </para></entry>
214 </row>
215 </thead>
216 <tbody>
217 <row>
218 <entry><para>
219 Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
220 </para></entry>
221 <entry><para></para></entry>
222 </row>
223 <row>
224 <entry><para>
225 Windows Vista SP2 and later (32-bit and 64-bit)
226 </para></entry>
227 <entry><para></para></entry>
228 </row>
229 <row>
230 <entry><para>
231 Windows XP (32-bit)
232 </para></entry>
233 <entry><para></para></entry>
234 </row>
235 <row>
236 <entry><para>
237 Windows Vista (32-bit)
238 </para></entry>
239 <entry><para></para></entry>
240 </row>
241 <row>
242 <entry><para>
243 Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 (32-bit and 64-bit)
244 </para></entry>
245 <entry><para></para></entry>
246 </row>
247 <row>
248 <entry><para>
249 Windows Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit)
250 </para></entry>
251 <entry><para></para></entry>
252 </row>
253 <row>
254 <entry><para>
255 Oracle Linux 5 (32-bit and 64-bit)
256 </para></entry>
257 <entry><para>
258 Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, CentOS 5
259 </para></entry>
260 </row>
261 <row>
262 <entry><para>
263 Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (32-bit and 64-bit)
264 </para></entry>
265 <entry><para></para></entry>
266 </row>
267 <row>
268 <entry><para>
269 OS/2 Warp 4.5
270 </para></entry>
271 <entry><para></para></entry>
272 </row>
273 </tbody>
274 </tgroup>
275 </table>
276
277 <sect2 id="intro-macosxguests">
278
279 <title>Mac OS X Guests</title>
280
281 <para>
282 &product-name; enables you to install and execute unmodified
283 versions of Mac OS X guests on supported host hardware. Note
284 that this feature is experimental and thus unsupported.
285 </para>
286
287 <para>
288 &product-name; is the first product to provide the modern PC
289 architecture expected by OS X without requiring any of the
290 modifications used by competing virtualization solutions. For
291 example, some competing solutions perform modifications to the
292 Mac OS X install DVDs, such as a different boot loader and
293 replaced files.
294 </para>
295
296 <para>
297 Be aware of the following important issues before you attempt to
298 install a Mac OS X guest:
299 </para>
300
301 <itemizedlist>
302
303 <listitem>
304 <para>
305 Mac OS X is commercial, licensed software and contains
306 <emphasis role="bold">both license and technical
307 restrictions</emphasis> that limit its use to certain
308 hardware and usage scenarios. You must understand and comply
309 with these restrictions.
310 </para>
311
312 <para>
313 In particular, Apple prohibits the installation of most
314 versions of Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware.
315 </para>
316
317 <para>
318 These license restrictions are also enforced on a technical
319 level. Mac OS X verifies that it is running on Apple
320 hardware. Most DVDs that accompany Apple hardware check for
321 the exact model. These restrictions are
322 <emphasis>not</emphasis> circumvented by &product-name; and
323 continue to apply.
324 </para>
325 </listitem>
326
327 <listitem>
328 <para>
329 Only <emphasis role="bold">CPUs</emphasis> that are known
330 and tested by Apple are supported. As a result, if your
331 Intel CPU is newer than the Mac OS X build, or if you have a
332 non-Intel CPU, you will likely encounter a panic during
333 bootup with an "Unsupported CPU" exception.
334 </para>
335
336 <para>
337 Ensure that you use the Mac OS X DVD that comes with your
338 Apple hardware.
339 </para>
340 </listitem>
341
342 <listitem>
343 <para>
344 The Mac OS X installer expects the hard disk to be
345 <emphasis>partitioned</emphasis>. So, the installer will not
346 offer a partition selection to you. Before you can install
347 the software successfully, start the Disk Utility from the
348 Tools menu and partition the hard disk. Close the Disk
349 Utility and proceed with the installation.
350 </para>
351 </listitem>
352
353 <listitem>
354 <para>
355 In addition, Mac OS X support in &product-name; is an
356 experimental feature. See <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.
357 </para>
358 </listitem>
359
360 </itemizedlist>
361
362 </sect2>
363
364 <sect2 id="intro-64bitguests">
365
366 <title>64-bit Guests</title>
367
368 <warning>
369 <para>
370 Be sure to enable <emphasis role="bold">I/O APIC</emphasis>
371 for virtual machines that you intend to use in 64-bit mode.
372 This is especially true for 64-bit Windows VMs. See
373 <xref linkend="settings-general-advanced" />. For 64-bit
374 Windows guests, ensure that the VM uses the
375 <emphasis role="bold">Intel networking device</emphasis>
376 because there is no 64-bit driver support for the AMD PCNet
377 card. See <xref linkend="nichardware" />.
378 </para>
379 </warning>
380
381 <para>
382 If you use the <emphasis role="bold">Create VM</emphasis> wizard
383 of the VirtualBox Manager, &product-name; automatically uses the
384 correct settings for each selected 64-bit OS type. See
385 <xref linkend="gui-createvm" />.
386 </para>
387
388 </sect2>
389
390 </sect1>
391
392 <sect1 id="basic-unattended">
393
394 <title>Unattended Guest Installation</title>
395
396 <para>
397 &product-name; can install a guest OS automatically. You only need
398 to provide the installation medium and a few other parameters,
399 such as the name of the default user.
400 </para>
401
402 <para>
403 Performing an unattended guest installation involves the following
404 steps:
405 </para>
406
407 <itemizedlist>
408
409 <listitem>
410 <para>
411 <emphasis role="bold">Create a new VM.</emphasis> Use one of
412 the following methods:
413 </para>
414
415 <itemizedlist>
416
417 <listitem>
418 <para>
419 The VirtualBox Manager, see
420 <xref linkend="gui-createvm" />.
421 </para>
422 </listitem>
423
424 <listitem>
425 <para>
426 The <command>VBoxManage createvm</command> command, see
427 <xref linkend="vboxmanage-createvm" />.
428 </para>
429 </listitem>
430
431 </itemizedlist>
432
433 <para>
434 For the new VM, choose the guest OS type and accept the
435 default settings for that OS. The following sections in this
436 chapter describe how to change the settings for a VM.
437 </para>
438 </listitem>
439
440 <listitem>
441 <para>
442 <emphasis role="bold">Prepare the VM for unattended guest
443 installation.</emphasis> Use the <command>VBoxManage
444 unattended</command> command, see
445 <xref linkend="vboxmanage-unattended" />.
446 </para>
447
448 <para>
449 During this step, &product-name; scans the installation medium
450 and changes certain parameters to ensure a seamless
451 installation as a guest running on &product-name;.
452 </para>
453 </listitem>
454
455 <listitem>
456 <para>
457 <emphasis role="bold">Start the VM.</emphasis> Use the
458 VirtualBox Manager or the <command>VBoxManage
459 startvm</command> command.
460 </para>
461
462 <para>
463 When you start the VM, the unattended installation is
464 performed automatically.
465 </para>
466
467 <para>
468 The installation operation changes the boot device order to
469 boot the virtual hard disk first and then the virtual DVD
470 drive. If the virtual hard disk is empty prior to the
471 automatic installation, the VM boots from the virtual DVD
472 drive and begins the installation.
473 </para>
474
475 <para>
476 If the virtual hard disk contains a bootable OS, the
477 installation operation exits. In this case, change the boot
478 device order manually by pressing F12 during the BIOS splash
479 screen.
480 </para>
481 </listitem>
482
483 </itemizedlist>
484
485 <para>
486 <xref linkend="unattended-guest-install-example"/> describes how
487 to perform an unattended guest installation for an Oracle Linux
488 guest.
489 </para>
490
491 <sect2 id="unattended-guest-install-example">
492
493 <title>An Example of Unattended Guest Installation</title>
494
495 <para>
496 The following example shows how to perform an unattended guest
497 installation for an Oracle Linux VM. The example uses various
498 <command>VBoxManage</command> commands to prepare the guest VM.
499 The <command>VBoxManage unattended install</command> command is
500 then used to install and configure the guest OS.
501 </para>
502
503 <orderedlist>
504
505 <listitem>
506 <para>
507 Create the virtual machine.
508 </para>
509
510<screen># VM="ol7-autoinstall"
511# VBoxManage list ostypes
512# VBoxManage createvm --name $VM --ostype "Oracle_64" --register</screen>
513
514 <para>
515 Note the following:
516 </para>
517
518 <itemizedlist>
519
520 <listitem>
521 <para>
522 The $VM variable represents the name of the VM.
523 </para>
524 </listitem>
525
526 <listitem>
527 <para>
528 The <command>VBoxManage list ostypes</command> command
529 lists the guest OSes supported by &product-name;,
530 including the name used for each OS in the
531 <command>VBoxManage</command> commands.
532 </para>
533 </listitem>
534
535 <listitem>
536 <para>
537 A 64-bit Oracle Linux 7 VM is created and registered
538 with &product-name;.
539 </para>
540 </listitem>
541
542 <listitem>
543 <para>
544 The VM has a unique UUID.
545 </para>
546 </listitem>
547
548 <listitem>
549 <para>
550 An XML settings file is generated.
551 </para>
552 </listitem>
553
554 </itemizedlist>
555 </listitem>
556
557 <listitem>
558 <para>
559 Create a virtual hard disk and storage devices for the VM.
560 </para>
561
562<screen># VBoxManage createhd --filename /VirtualBox/$VM/$VM.vdi --size 32768
563# VBoxManage storagectl $VM --name "SATA Controller" --add sata --controller IntelAHCI
564# VBoxManage storageattach $VM --storagectl "SATA Controller" --port 0 --device 0 \
565--type hdd --medium /VirtualBox/$VM/$VM.vdi
566# VBoxManage storagectl $VM --name "IDE Controller" --add ide
567# VBoxManage storageattach $VM --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 0 \
568--type dvddrive --medium /u01/Software/OL/OracleLinux-R7-U6-Server-x86_64-dvd.iso</screen>
569
570 <para>
571 The previous commands do the following:
572 </para>
573
574 <itemizedlist>
575
576 <listitem>
577 <para>
578 Create a 32768 MB virtual hard disk.
579 </para>
580 </listitem>
581
582 <listitem>
583 <para>
584 Create a SATA storage controller and attach the virtual
585 hard disk.
586 </para>
587 </listitem>
588
589 <listitem>
590 <para>
591 Create an IDE storage controller for a virtual DVD drive
592 and attach an Oracle Linux installation ISO.
593 </para>
594 </listitem>
595
596 </itemizedlist>
597 </listitem>
598
599 <listitem>
600 <para>
601 (Optional) Configure some settings for the VM.
602 </para>
603
604<screen># VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --ioapic on
605# VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --boot1 dvd --boot2 disk --boot3 none --boot4 none
606# VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --memory 8192 --vram 128</screen>
607
608 <para>
609 The previous commands do the following:
610 </para>
611
612 <itemizedlist>
613
614 <listitem>
615 <para>
616 Enable I/O APIC for the motherboard of the VM.
617 </para>
618 </listitem>
619
620 <listitem>
621 <para>
622 Configure the boot device order for the VM.
623 </para>
624 </listitem>
625
626 <listitem>
627 <para>
628 Allocate 8192 MB of RAM and 128 MB of video RAM to the
629 VM.
630 </para>
631 </listitem>
632
633 </itemizedlist>
634 </listitem>
635
636 <listitem>
637 <para>
638 Perform an unattended install of the OS.
639 </para>
640
641<screen># VBoxManage unattended install $VM \
642--iso=/u01/Software/OL/OracleLinux-R7-U6-Server-x86_64-dvd.iso \
643--user=<replaceable>login</replaceable> --full-user-name=<replaceable>name</replaceable> --password <replaceable>password</replaceable> \
644--install-additions --time-zone=CET</screen>
645
646 <para>
647 The previous command does the following:
648 </para>
649
650 <itemizedlist>
651
652 <listitem>
653 <para>
654 Specifies an Oracle Linux ISO as the installation ISO.
655 </para>
656 </listitem>
657
658 <listitem>
659 <para>
660 Specifies a login name, full name, and login password
661 for a default user on the guest OS.
662 </para>
663
664 <para>
665 Note that the specified password is also used for the
666 root user account on the guest.
667 </para>
668 </listitem>
669
670 <listitem>
671 <para>
672 Installs the Guest Additions on the VM.
673 </para>
674 </listitem>
675
676 <listitem>
677 <para>
678 Sets the time zone for the guest OS to Central European
679 Time (CET).
680 </para>
681 </listitem>
682
683 </itemizedlist>
684 </listitem>
685
686 <listitem>
687 <para>
688 Start the virtual machine.
689 </para>
690
691 <para>
692 This step completes the unattended installation process.
693 </para>
694
695<screen># VBoxManage startvm $VM --type headless</screen>
696
697 <para>
698 The VM starts in headless mode, which means that the
699 VirtualBox Manager window does not open.
700 </para>
701 </listitem>
702
703 <listitem>
704 <para>
705 (Optional) Update the guest OS to use the latest Oracle
706 Linux packages.
707 </para>
708
709 <para>
710 On the guest VM, run the following command:
711 </para>
712
713<screen># yum update</screen>
714 </listitem>
715
716 </orderedlist>
717
718 </sect2>
719
720 </sect1>
721
722 <sect1 id="emul-hardware">
723
724 <title>Emulated Hardware</title>
725
726 <para>
727 &product-name; virtualizes nearly all hardware of the host.
728 Depending on a VM's configuration, the guest will see the
729 following virtual hardware:
730 </para>
731
732 <itemizedlist>
733
734 <listitem>
735 <para>
736 <emphasis role="bold">Input devices.</emphasis> &product-name;
737 can emulate a standard PS/2 keyboard and mouse. These devices
738 are supported by most guest OSes.
739 </para>
740
741 <para>
742 In addition, &product-name; can provide virtual USB input
743 devices to avoid having to capture mouse and keyboard, as
744 described in <xref linkend="keyb_mouse_normal" />.
745 </para>
746 </listitem>
747
748 <listitem>
749 <para>
750 <emphasis role="bold">Graphics.</emphasis> The default
751 &product-name; graphics device for Windows guests is an SVGA
752 device. For Linux guests, the default graphics device emulates
753 a VMware SVGA graphics device. See
754 <xref linkend="settings-screen"/>.
755 </para>
756
757 <para>
758 For legacy guest OSes, a VGA-compatible graphics device is
759 available.
760 </para>
761 </listitem>
762
763 <listitem>
764 <para>
765 <emphasis role="bold">Storage.</emphasis> &product-name;
766 emulates the most common types of hard disk controllers. See
767 <xref linkend="harddiskcontrollers" />. Whereas supporting
768 only one of these controllers would be enough for
769 &product-name; by itself, this multitude of storage adapters
770 is required for compatibility with other hypervisors. Windows
771 is very selective about its boot devices, and migrating VMs
772 between hypervisors is very difficult or impossible if the
773 storage controllers are different.
774 </para>
775 </listitem>
776
777 <listitem>
778 <para>
779 <emphasis role="bold">Networking.</emphasis> See
780 <xref linkend="nichardware" />.
781 </para>
782 </listitem>
783
784 <listitem>
785 <para>
786 <emphasis role="bold">USB.</emphasis> &product-name; emulates
787 these types of USB host controllers: xHCI, EHCI, and OHCI.
788 While xHCI handles all USB transfer speeds, some legacy guest
789 OSes may not support xHCI. Note that for some legacy Windows
790 guests, third party drivers must be installed for xHCI
791 support.
792 </para>
793
794 <para>
795 Legacy guest OSes typically support OHCI and EHCI. These two
796 controllers are needed because OHCI only handles USB low-speed
797 and full-speed devices (both USB 1.x and 2.0), while EHCI only
798 handles high-speed devices (USB 2.0 only).
799 </para>
800
801 <para>
802 The emulated USB controllers do not communicate directly with
803 devices on the host. Instead they communicate with a virtual
804 USB layer which abstracts the USB protocol and enables the use
805 of remote USB devices.
806 </para>
807 </listitem>
808
809 <listitem>
810 <para>
811 <emphasis role="bold">Audio.</emphasis> See
812 <xref linkend="settings-audio" />.
813 </para>
814 </listitem>
815
816 </itemizedlist>
817
818 </sect1>
819
820 <sect1 id="generalsettings">
821
822 <title>General Settings</title>
823
824 <para>
825 In the <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> window, under
826 <emphasis role="bold">General</emphasis>, you can configure the
827 most fundamental aspects of the virtual machine such as memory and
828 essential hardware. The following tabs are available.
829 </para>
830
831 <sect2 id="settings-basic">
832
833 <title>Basic Tab</title>
834
835 <para>
836 In the <emphasis role="bold">Basic</emphasis> tab of the
837 <emphasis role="bold">General</emphasis> settings category, you
838 can find these settings:
839 </para>
840
841 <itemizedlist>
842
843 <listitem>
844 <para>
845 <emphasis role="bold">Name:</emphasis> The name of the the
846 VM, as shown in the list of VMs in the main VirtualBox
847 Manager window. Using this name, &product-name; also saves
848 the VM's configuration files. If you change the name,
849 &product-name; renames these files as well. As a result, you
850 can only use characters which are allowed for file names on
851 your host OS.
852 </para>
853
854 <para>
855 Note that internally, &product-name; uses unique identifiers
856 (UUIDs) to identify virtual machines. You can display these
857 using the <command>VBoxManage</command> commands.
858 </para>
859 </listitem>
860
861 <listitem>
862 <para>
863 <emphasis role="bold">Type:</emphasis> The type of the guest
864 OS for the VM. This is the same setting that is specified in
865 the <emphasis role="bold">New Virtual Machine</emphasis>
866 wizard. See <xref linkend="gui-createvm" />.
867 </para>
868
869 <para>
870 Whereas the default settings of a newly created VM depend on
871 the selected OS type, changing the type later has no effect
872 on VM settings. This value is purely informational and
873 decorative.
874 </para>
875 </listitem>
876
877 <listitem>
878 <para>
879 <emphasis role="bold">Version:</emphasis> The version of the
880 guest OS for the VM. This is the same setting that is
881 specified in the <emphasis role="bold">New Virtual
882 Machine</emphasis> wizard. See
883 <xref linkend="gui-createvm" />.
884 </para>
885 </listitem>
886
887 </itemizedlist>
888
889 </sect2>
890
891 <sect2 id="settings-general-advanced">
892
893 <title>Advanced Tab</title>
894
895 <para>
896 The following settings are available in the
897 <emphasis role="bold">Advanced</emphasis> tab:
898 </para>
899
900 <itemizedlist>
901
902 <listitem>
903 <para>
904 <emphasis role="bold">Snapshot Folder:</emphasis> By
905 default, &product-name; saves snapshot data together with
906 your other &product-name; configuration data. See
907 <xref linkend="vboxconfigdata" />. With this setting, you
908 can specify any other folder for each VM.
909 </para>
910 </listitem>
911
912 <listitem>
913 <para>
914 <emphasis role="bold">Shared Clipboard:</emphasis> You can
915 select here whether the clipboard of the guest OS should be
916 shared with that of your host. If you select
917 <emphasis role="bold">Bidirectional</emphasis>, then
918 &product-name; will always make sure that both clipboards
919 contain the same data. If you select
920 <emphasis role="bold">Host to Guest</emphasis> or
921 <emphasis role="bold">Guest to Host</emphasis>, then
922 &product-name; will only ever copy clipboard data in one
923 direction.
924 </para>
925
926 <para>
927 Clipboard sharing requires that the &product-name; Guest
928 Additions be installed. In such a case, this setting has no
929 effect. See <xref linkend="guestadditions" />.
930 </para>
931
932 <para>
933 For security reasons, the shared clipboard is disabled by
934 default. This setting can be changed at any time using the
935 <emphasis role="bold">Shared Clipboard</emphasis> menu item
936 in the <emphasis role="bold">Devices</emphasis> menu of the
937 virtual machine.
938 </para>
939 </listitem>
940
941 <listitem>
942 <para>
943 <emphasis role="bold">Drag and Drop:</emphasis> This setting
944 enables support for drag and drop. Select an object, such as
945 a file, from the host or guest and directly copy or open it
946 on the guest or host. Multiple drag and drop modes for a VM
947 enable restricting of access in either direction.
948 </para>
949
950 <para>
951 For drag and drop to work the Guest Additions need to be
952 installed on the guest.
953 </para>
954
955 <note>
956 <para>
957 Drag and drop is disabled by default. This setting can be
958 changed at any time using the <emphasis role="bold">Drag
959 and Drop</emphasis> menu item in the
960 <emphasis role="bold">Devices</emphasis> menu of the
961 virtual machine.
962 </para>
963 </note>
964
965 <para>
966 See <xref linkend="guestadd-dnd"/>.
967 </para>
968 </listitem>
969
970 </itemizedlist>
971
972 </sect2>
973
974 <sect2 id="settings-description">
975
976 <title>Description Tab</title>
977
978 <para>
979 On the <emphasis role="bold">Description</emphasis> tab you can
980 enter a description for your virtual machine. This has no effect
981 on the functionality of the machine, but you may find this space
982 useful to note down things such as the configuration of a
983 virtual machine and the software that has been installed into
984 it.
985 </para>
986
987 <para>
988 To insert a line break into the
989 <emphasis role="bold">Description</emphasis> text field, press
990 Shift+Enter.
991 </para>
992
993 </sect2>
994
995 <sect2 id="settings-disk-encryption">
996
997 <title>Disk Encryption Tab</title>
998
999 <para>
1000 The <emphasis role="bold">Disk Encryption</emphasis> tab enables
1001 you to encrypt disks that are attached to the virtual machine.
1002 </para>
1003
1004 <para>
1005 To enable disk encryption, select the
1006 <emphasis role="bold">Enable Disk Encryption</emphasis> check
1007 box.
1008 </para>
1009
1010 <para>
1011 Settings are available to configure the cipher used for
1012 encryption and the encryption password.
1013 </para>
1014
1015 <note>
1016 <para>
1017 All files related to the virtual machine except disk images
1018 are stored unencrypted.
1019 </para>
1020 </note>
1021
1022 </sect2>
1023
1024 </sect1>
1025
1026 <sect1 id="settings-system">
1027
1028 <title>System Settings</title>
1029
1030 <para>
1031 The <emphasis role="bold">System</emphasis> category groups
1032 various settings that are related to the basic hardware that is
1033 presented to the virtual machine.
1034 </para>
1035
1036 <note>
1037 <para>
1038 As the activation mechanism of Microsoft Windows is sensitive to
1039 hardware changes, if you are changing hardware settings for a
1040 Windows guest, some of these changes may trigger a request for
1041 another activation with Microsoft.
1042 </para>
1043 </note>
1044
1045 <para>
1046 The following tabs are available.
1047 </para>
1048
1049 <sect2 id="settings-motherboard">
1050
1051 <title>Motherboard Tab</title>
1052
1053 <para>
1054 On the <emphasis role="bold">Motherboard</emphasis> tab, you can
1055 configure virtual hardware that would normally be on the
1056 motherboard of a real computer.
1057 </para>
1058
1059 <itemizedlist>
1060
1061 <listitem>
1062 <para>
1063 <emphasis role="bold">Base Memory:</emphasis> Sets the
1064 amount of RAM that is allocated and given to the VM when it
1065 is running. The specified amount of memory will be requested
1066 from the host OS, so it must be available or made available
1067 as free memory on the host when attempting to start the VM
1068 and will not be available to the host while the VM is
1069 running. This is the same setting that was specified in the
1070 <emphasis role="bold">New Virtual Machine</emphasis> wizard,
1071 as described in <xref linkend="gui-createvm" />.
1072 </para>
1073
1074 <para>
1075 Generally, it is possible to change the memory size after
1076 installing the guest OS. But you must not reduce the memory
1077 to an amount where the OS would no longer boot.
1078 </para>
1079 </listitem>
1080
1081 <listitem>
1082 <para>
1083 <emphasis role="bold">Boot Order:</emphasis> Determines the
1084 order in which the guest OS will attempt to boot from the
1085 various virtual boot devices. Analogous to a real PC's BIOS
1086 setting, &product-name; can tell a guest OS to start from
1087 the virtual floppy, the virtual CD/DVD drive, the virtual
1088 hard drive (each of these as defined by the other VM
1089 settings), the network, or none of these.
1090 </para>
1091
1092 <para>
1093 If you select <emphasis role="bold">Network</emphasis>, the
1094 VM will attempt to boot from a network using the PXE
1095 mechanism. This needs to be configured in detail on the
1096 command line. See <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.
1097 </para>
1098 </listitem>
1099
1100 <listitem>
1101 <para>
1102 <emphasis role="bold">Chipset:</emphasis> You can select
1103 which chipset will be presented to the virtual machine.
1104 PIIX3 is the default chipset for most guests. For some guest
1105 OSes such as Mac OS X, the PIIX3 chipset is not well
1106 supported. As a result, &product-name; supports an emulation
1107 of the ICH9 chipset, which supports PCI express, three PCI
1108 buses, PCI-to-PCI bridges and Message Signaled Interrupts
1109 (MSI). This enables modern OSes to address more PCI devices
1110 and no longer requires IRQ sharing. Using the ICH9 chipset
1111 it is also possible to configure up to 36 network cards,
1112 compared to a maximum of eight network adapters with PIIX3.
1113 Note that ICH9 support is experimental and not recommended
1114 for guest OSes which do not require it.
1115 </para>
1116 </listitem>
1117
1118 <listitem>
1119 <para>
1120 <emphasis role="bold">Pointing Device:</emphasis> The
1121 default virtual pointing device for some guest OSes is the
1122 traditional PS/2 mouse. If set to <emphasis role="bold">USB
1123 Tablet</emphasis>, &product-name; reports to the virtual
1124 machine that a USB tablet device is present and communicates
1125 mouse events to the virtual machine through this device.
1126 Another setting is <emphasis role="bold">USB Multi-Touch
1127 Tablet</emphasis>, which is suitable for guests running
1128 Windows 8 or later.
1129 </para>
1130
1131 <para>
1132 Using the virtual USB tablet has the advantage that
1133 movements are reported in absolute coordinates, instead of
1134 as relative position changes. This enables &product-name; to
1135 translate mouse events over the VM window into tablet events
1136 without having to "capture" the mouse in the guest as
1137 described in <xref linkend="keyb_mouse_normal" />. This
1138 makes using the VM less tedious even if Guest Additions are
1139 not installed.
1140 </para>
1141 </listitem>
1142
1143 <listitem>
1144 <para>
1145 <emphasis role="bold">Enable I/O APIC:</emphasis> Advanced
1146 Programmable Interrupt Controllers (APICs) are an x86
1147 hardware feature that have replaced Programmable Interrupt
1148 Controllers (PICs). With an I/O APIC, OSes can use more than
1149 16 interrupt requests (IRQs) and therefore avoid IRQ sharing
1150 for improved reliability.
1151 </para>
1152
1153 <note>
1154 <para>
1155 Enabling the I/O APIC is <emphasis>required</emphasis>,
1156 especially for 64-bit Windows guest OSes. It is also
1157 required if you want to use more than one virtual CPU in a
1158 virtual machine.
1159 </para>
1160 </note>
1161
1162 <para>
1163 However, software support for I/O APICs has been unreliable
1164 with some OSes other than Windows. Also, the use of an I/O
1165 APIC slightly increases the overhead of virtualization and
1166 therefore slows down the guest OS a little.
1167 </para>
1168
1169 <warning>
1170 <para>
1171 All Windows OSes install different kernels, depending on
1172 whether an I/O APIC is available. As with ACPI, the I/O
1173 APIC therefore <emphasis>must not be turned off after
1174 installation</emphasis> of a Windows guest OS. Turning it
1175 on after installation will have no effect however.
1176 </para>
1177 </warning>
1178 </listitem>
1179
1180 <listitem>
1181 <para>
1182 <emphasis role="bold">Enable EFI:</emphasis> Enables
1183 Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), which replaces the
1184 legacy BIOS and may be useful for certain advanced use
1185 cases. See <xref linkend="efi" />.
1186 </para>
1187 </listitem>
1188
1189 <listitem>
1190 <para>
1191 <emphasis role="bold">Hardware Clock in UTC Time:</emphasis>
1192 If selected, &product-name; will report the system time in
1193 UTC format to the guest instead of the local (host) time.
1194 This affects how the virtual real-time clock (RTC) operates
1195 and may be useful for UNIX-like guest OSes, which typically
1196 expect the hardware clock to be set to UTC.
1197 </para>
1198 </listitem>
1199
1200 </itemizedlist>
1201
1202 <para>
1203 In addition, you can turn off the <emphasis role="bold">Advanced
1204 Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)</emphasis> which
1205 &product-name; presents to the guest OS by default.
1206 </para>
1207
1208 <para>
1209 ACPI is the current industry standard to allow OSes to recognize
1210 hardware, configure motherboards and other devices and manage
1211 power. As most computers contain this feature and Windows and
1212 Linux support ACPI, it is also enabled by default in
1213 &product-name;. ACPI can only be turned off using the command
1214 line. See <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.
1215 </para>
1216
1217 <warning>
1218 <para>
1219 All Windows OSes install different kernels, depending on
1220 whether ACPI is available. This means that ACPI <emphasis>must
1221 not be turned off</emphasis> after installation of a Windows
1222 guest OS. However, turning it on after installation will have
1223 no effect.
1224 </para>
1225 </warning>
1226
1227 </sect2>
1228
1229 <sect2 id="settings-processor">
1230
1231 <title>Processor Tab</title>
1232
1233 <para>
1234 On the <emphasis role="bold">Processor</emphasis> tab, you can
1235 configure settings for the CPU used by the virtual machine.
1236 </para>
1237
1238 <itemizedlist>
1239
1240 <listitem>
1241 <para>
1242 <emphasis role="bold">Processor(s):</emphasis> Sets the
1243 number of virtual CPU cores the guest OSes can see.
1244 &product-name; supports symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP)
1245 and can present up to 32 virtual CPU cores to each virtual
1246 machine.
1247 </para>
1248
1249 <para>
1250 You should not configure virtual machines to use more CPU
1251 cores than are available physically. This includes real
1252 cores, with no hyperthreads.
1253 </para>
1254 </listitem>
1255
1256 <listitem>
1257 <para>
1258 <emphasis role="bold">Execution Cap:</emphasis> Configures
1259 the CPU execution cap. This limits the amount of time a host
1260 CPU spends to emulate a virtual CPU. The default setting is
1261 100%, meaning that there is no limitation. A setting of 50%
1262 implies a single virtual CPU can use up to 50% of a single
1263 host CPU. Note that limiting the execution time of the
1264 virtual CPUs may cause guest timing problems.
1265 </para>
1266
1267 <para>
1268 A warning is displayed at the bottom of the Processor tab if
1269 an Execution Cap setting is made that may affect system
1270 performance.
1271 </para>
1272 </listitem>
1273
1274 <listitem>
1275 <para>
1276 <emphasis role="bold">Enable PAE/NX:</emphasis> Determines
1277 whether the PAE and NX capabilities of the host CPU will be
1278 exposed to the virtual machine.
1279 </para>
1280
1281 <para>
1282 PAE stands for Physical Address Extension. Normally, if
1283 enabled and supported by the OS, then even a 32-bit x86 CPU
1284 can access more than 4 GB of RAM. This is made possible by
1285 adding another 4 bits to memory addresses, so that with 36
1286 bits, up to 64 GB can be addressed. Some OSes, such as
1287 Ubuntu Server, require PAE support from the CPU and cannot
1288 be run in a virtual machine without it.
1289 </para>
1290 </listitem>
1291
1292 <listitem>
1293 <para>
1294 <emphasis role="bold">Enable Nested VT-x/AMD-V</emphasis>:
1295 Enables nested virtualization, with passthrough of hardware
1296 virtualization functions to the guest VM.
1297 </para>
1298 </listitem>
1299
1300 </itemizedlist>
1301
1302 <para>
1303 With virtual machines running modern server OSes, &product-name;
1304 also supports CPU hot-plugging. For details, see
1305 <xref linkend="cpuhotplug" />.
1306 </para>
1307
1308 </sect2>
1309
1310 <sect2 id="settings-acceleration">
1311
1312 <title>Acceleration Tab</title>
1313
1314 <para>
1315 On this tab, you can configure &product-name; to use hardware
1316 virtualization extensions that your host CPU supports.
1317 </para>
1318
1319 <itemizedlist>
1320
1321 <listitem>
1322 <para>
1323 <emphasis role="bold">Paravirtualization
1324 Interface:</emphasis> &product-name; provides
1325 paravirtualization interfaces to improve time-keeping
1326 accuracy and performance of guest OSes. The options
1327 available are documented under the
1328 <option>--paravirt-provider</option> option in
1329 <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />. For further details
1330 on the paravirtualization providers, see
1331 <xref linkend="gimproviders" />.
1332 </para>
1333 </listitem>
1334
1335 <listitem>
1336 <para>
1337 <emphasis role="bold">Hardware Virtualization:</emphasis>
1338 You can configure hardware virtualization features for each
1339 virtual machine.
1340 </para>
1341
1342 <itemizedlist>
1343
1344 <listitem>
1345 <para>
1346 <emphasis role="bold">Enable Nested Paging:</emphasis>
1347 If the host CPU supports the nested paging (AMD-V) or
1348 EPT (Intel VT-x) features, then you can expect a
1349 significant performance increase by enabling nested
1350 paging in addition to hardware virtualization. For
1351 technical details, see <xref linkend="nestedpaging" />.
1352 For Intel EPT security recommendations, see
1353 <xref linkend="sec-rec-cve-2018-3646" />.
1354 </para>
1355 </listitem>
1356
1357 </itemizedlist>
1358
1359 <para>
1360 Advanced users may be interested in technical details about
1361 hardware virtualization. See <xref linkend="hwvirt" />.
1362 </para>
1363 </listitem>
1364
1365 </itemizedlist>
1366
1367 <para>
1368 In most cases, the default settings on the
1369 <emphasis role="bold">Acceleration</emphasis> tab will work
1370 well. &product-name; selects sensible defaults, depending on the
1371 OS that you selected when you created the virtual machine. In
1372 certain situations, however, you may want to change the
1373 preconfigured defaults.
1374 </para>
1375
1376 </sect2>
1377
1378 </sect1>
1379
1380 <sect1 id="settings-display">
1381
1382 <title>Display Settings</title>
1383
1384 <para>
1385 The following tabs are available for configuring the display for a
1386 virtual machine.
1387 </para>
1388
1389 <sect2 id="settings-screen">
1390
1391 <title>Screen Tab</title>
1392
1393 <itemizedlist>
1394
1395 <listitem>
1396 <para>
1397 <emphasis role="bold">Video Memory:</emphasis> Sets the size
1398 of the memory provided by the virtual graphics card
1399 available to the guest, in MB. As with the main memory, the
1400 specified amount will be allocated from the host's resident
1401 memory. Based on the amount of video memory, higher
1402 resolutions and color depths may be available.
1403 </para>
1404
1405 <para>
1406 The GUI will show a warning if the amount of video memory is
1407 too small to be able to switch the VM into full screen mode.
1408 The minimum value depends on the number of virtual monitors,
1409 the screen resolution and the color depth of the host
1410 display as well as on the use of <emphasis>3D
1411 acceleration</emphasis> and <emphasis>2D video
1412 acceleration</emphasis>. A rough estimate is
1413 (<emphasis>color depth</emphasis> / 8) x <emphasis>vertical
1414 pixels</emphasis> x <emphasis>horizontal pixels</emphasis> x
1415 <emphasis>number of screens</emphasis> = <emphasis>number of
1416 bytes</emphasis>. Extra memory may be required if display
1417 acceleration is used.
1418 </para>
1419 </listitem>
1420
1421 <listitem>
1422 <para>
1423 <emphasis role="bold">Monitor Count:</emphasis> With this
1424 setting, &product-name; can provide more than one virtual
1425 monitor to a virtual machine. If a guest OS supports
1426 multiple attached monitors, &product-name; can pretend that
1427 multiple virtual monitors are present. Up to eight such
1428 virtual monitors are supported.
1429 </para>
1430
1431 <para>
1432 The output of the multiple monitors are displayed on the
1433 host in multiple VM windows which are running side by side.
1434 However, in full screen and seamless mode, they use the
1435 available physical monitors attached to the host. As a
1436 result, for full screen and seamless modes to work with
1437 multiple monitors, you will need at least as many physical
1438 monitors as you have virtual monitors configured, or
1439 &product-name; will report an error.
1440 </para>
1441
1442 <para>
1443 You can configure the relationship between guest and host
1444 monitors using the <emphasis role="bold">View</emphasis>
1445 menu by pressing Host key + Home when you are in full screen
1446 or seamless mode.
1447 </para>
1448
1449 <para>
1450 See also <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.
1451 </para>
1452 </listitem>
1453
1454 <listitem>
1455 <para>
1456 <emphasis role="bold">Scale Factor:</emphasis> Enables
1457 scaling of the display size. For multiple monitor displays,
1458 you can set the scale factor for individual monitors, or
1459 globally for all of the monitors. Use the slider to select a
1460 scaling factor up to 200%.
1461 </para>
1462
1463 <para>
1464 You can set a default scale factor for all VMs. Use the
1465 <emphasis role="bold">Display</emphasis> tab in the Global
1466 Settings dialogs.
1467 </para>
1468 </listitem>
1469
1470 <listitem>
1471 <para>
1472 <emphasis role="bold">Graphics Controller:</emphasis>
1473 Specifies the graphics adapter type used by the guest VM.
1474 Note that you must install the Guest Additions on the guest
1475 VM to specify the VBoxSVGA or VMSVGA graphics controller.
1476 The following options are available:
1477 </para>
1478
1479 <itemizedlist>
1480
1481 <listitem>
1482 <para>
1483 <emphasis role="bold">VBoxSVGA:</emphasis> The default
1484 graphics controller for new VMs that use Windows 7 or
1485 later.
1486 </para>
1487
1488 <para>
1489 This graphics controller improves performance and 3D
1490 support when compared to the legacy VBoxVGA option.
1491 </para>
1492 </listitem>
1493
1494 <listitem>
1495 <para>
1496 <emphasis role="bold">VBoxVGA:</emphasis> Use this
1497 graphics controller for legacy guest OSes. This is the
1498 default graphics controller for Windows versions before
1499 Windows 7 and for Oracle Solaris.
1500 </para>
1501
1502 <para>
1503 3D acceleration is not supported for this graphics
1504 controller.
1505 </para>
1506 </listitem>
1507
1508 <listitem>
1509 <para>
1510 <emphasis role="bold">VMSVGA:</emphasis> Use this
1511 graphics controller to emulate a VMware SVGA graphics
1512 device. This is the default graphics controller for
1513 Linux guests.
1514 </para>
1515 </listitem>
1516
1517 <listitem>
1518 <para>
1519 <emphasis role="bold">None:</emphasis> Does not emulate
1520 a graphics adapter type.
1521 </para>
1522 </listitem>
1523
1524 </itemizedlist>
1525 </listitem>
1526
1527 <listitem>
1528 <para>
1529 <emphasis role="bold">Enable 3D Acceleration:</emphasis> If
1530 a virtual machine has Guest Additions installed, you can
1531 select here whether the guest should support accelerated 3D
1532 graphics. See <xref linkend="guestadd-3d" />.
1533 </para>
1534 </listitem>
1535
1536 <listitem>
1537 <para>
1538 <emphasis role="bold">Enable 2D Video
1539 Acceleration:</emphasis> If a virtual machine with Microsoft
1540 Windows has Guest Additions installed, you can select here
1541 whether the guest should support accelerated 2D video
1542 graphics. See <xref linkend="guestadd-2d" />.
1543 </para>
1544 </listitem>
1545
1546 </itemizedlist>
1547
1548 </sect2>
1549
1550 <sect2 id="settings-remote-display">
1551
1552 <title>Remote Display Tab</title>
1553
1554 <para>
1555 On the <emphasis role="bold">Remote Display</emphasis> tab, if
1556 the VirtualBox Remote Display Extension (VRDE) is installed, you
1557 can enable the VRDP server that is built into &product-name;.
1558 This enables you to connect to the console of the virtual
1559 machine remotely with any standard RDP viewer, such as
1560 <command>mstsc.exe</command> that comes with Microsoft Windows.
1561 On Linux and Oracle Solaris systems you can use the standard
1562 open source <command>rdesktop</command> program. These features
1563 are described in <xref linkend="vrde" />.
1564 </para>
1565
1566 <itemizedlist>
1567
1568 <listitem>
1569 <para>
1570 <emphasis role="bold">Enable Server:</emphasis> Select this
1571 check box and configure settings for the remote display
1572 connection.
1573 </para>
1574 </listitem>
1575
1576 </itemizedlist>
1577
1578 </sect2>
1579
1580 <sect2 id="settings-capture">
1581
1582 <title>Recording Tab</title>
1583
1584 <para>
1585 On the <emphasis role="bold">Recording</emphasis> tab you can
1586 enable video and audio recording for a virtual machine and
1587 change related settings. Note that these features can be enabled
1588 and disabled while a VM is running.
1589 </para>
1590
1591 <itemizedlist>
1592
1593 <listitem>
1594 <para>
1595 <emphasis role="bold">Enable Recording:</emphasis> Select
1596 this check box and select a <emphasis role="bold">Recording
1597 Mode</emphasis> option.
1598 </para>
1599 </listitem>
1600
1601 <listitem>
1602 <para>
1603 <emphasis role="bold">Recording Mode:</emphasis> You can
1604 choose to record video, audio, or both video and audio.
1605 </para>
1606
1607 <para>
1608 Some settings on the
1609 <emphasis role="bold">Recording</emphasis> tab may be grayed
1610 out, depending on the <emphasis role="bold">Recording
1611 Mode</emphasis> setting.
1612 </para>
1613 </listitem>
1614
1615 <listitem>
1616 <para>
1617 <emphasis role="bold">File Path:</emphasis> The file where
1618 the recording is saved.
1619 </para>
1620 </listitem>
1621
1622 <listitem>
1623 <para>
1624 <emphasis role="bold">Frame Size:</emphasis> The video
1625 resolution of the recorded video, in pixels. The drop-down
1626 list enables you to select from common frame sizes.
1627 </para>
1628 </listitem>
1629
1630 <listitem>
1631 <para>
1632 <emphasis role="bold">Frame Rate:</emphasis> Use the slider
1633 to set the maximum number of video frames per second (FPS)
1634 to record. Frames that have a higher frequency are skipped.
1635 Increasing this value reduces the number of skipped frames
1636 and increases the file size.
1637 </para>
1638 </listitem>
1639
1640 <listitem>
1641 <para>
1642 <emphasis role="bold">Video Quality:</emphasis> Use the
1643 slider to set the the bit rate of the video in kilobits per
1644 second. Increasing this value improves the appearance of the
1645 video at the cost of an increased file size.
1646 </para>
1647 </listitem>
1648
1649 <listitem>
1650 <para>
1651 <emphasis role="bold">Audio Quality:</emphasis> Use the
1652 slider to set the quality of the audio recording. Increasing
1653 this value improves the audio quality at the cost of an
1654 increased file size.
1655 </para>
1656 </listitem>
1657
1658 <listitem>
1659 <para>
1660 <emphasis role="bold">Screens:</emphasis> For a multiple
1661 monitor display, you can select which screens to record
1662 video from.
1663 </para>
1664 </listitem>
1665
1666 </itemizedlist>
1667
1668 <para>
1669 As you adjust the video and audio recording settings, the
1670 approximate output file size for a five minute video is shown.
1671 </para>
1672
1673 </sect2>
1674
1675 </sect1>
1676
1677 <sect1 id="settings-storage">
1678
1679 <title>Storage Settings</title>
1680
1681 <para>
1682 The <emphasis role="bold">Storage</emphasis> category in the VM
1683 settings enables you to connect virtual hard disk, CD/DVD, and
1684 floppy images and drives to your virtual machine.
1685 </para>
1686
1687 <para>
1688 In a real computer, so-called <emphasis>storage
1689 controllers</emphasis> connect physical disk drives to the rest of
1690 the computer. Similarly, &product-name; presents virtual storage
1691 controllers to a virtual machine. Under each controller, the
1692 virtual devices, such as hard disks, CD/DVD or floppy drives,
1693 attached to the controller are shown.
1694 </para>
1695
1696 <note>
1697 <para>
1698 This section gives a quick introduction to the &product-name;
1699 storage settings. See <xref linkend="storage" /> for a full
1700 description of the available storage settings in &product-name;.
1701 </para>
1702 </note>
1703
1704 <para>
1705 If you have used the <emphasis role="bold">Create VM</emphasis>
1706 wizard to create a machine, you will normally see something like
1707 the following:
1708 </para>
1709
1710 <figure id="fig-storage-settings">
1711 <title>Storage Settings for a Virtual Machine</title>
1712 <mediaobject>
1713 <imageobject>
1714 <imagedata align="center" fileref="images/vm-settings-harddisk.png"
1715 width="10cm" />
1716 </imageobject>
1717 </mediaobject>
1718 </figure>
1719
1720 <para>
1721 Depending on the guest OS type that you selected when you created
1722 the VM, a new VM includes the following storage devices:
1723 </para>
1724
1725 <itemizedlist>
1726
1727 <listitem>
1728 <para>
1729 <emphasis role="bold">IDE controller.</emphasis> A virtual
1730 CD/DVD drive is attached to device 0 on the secondary channel
1731 of the IDE controller.
1732 </para>
1733 </listitem>
1734
1735 <listitem>
1736 <para>
1737 <emphasis role="bold">SATA controller.</emphasis> This is a
1738 modern type of storage controller for higher hard disk data
1739 throughput, to which the virtual hard disks are attached.
1740 Initially you will normally have one such virtual disk, but as
1741 shown in the previous screenshot, you can have more than one.
1742 Each is represented by a disk image file, such as a VDI file
1743 in this example.
1744 </para>
1745 </listitem>
1746
1747 </itemizedlist>
1748
1749 <para>
1750 If you created your VM with an older version of &product-name;,
1751 the default storage layout may differ. You might then only have an
1752 IDE controller to which both the CD/DVD drive and the hard disks
1753 have been attached. This might also apply if you selected an older
1754 OS type when you created the VM. Since older OSes do not support
1755 SATA without additional drivers, &product-name; will make sure
1756 that no such devices are present initially. See
1757 <xref linkend="harddiskcontrollers" />.
1758 </para>
1759
1760 <para>
1761 &product-name; also provides a <emphasis>floppy
1762 controller</emphasis>. You cannot add devices other than floppy
1763 drives to this controller. Virtual floppy drives, like virtual
1764 CD/DVD drives, can be connected to either a host floppy drive, if
1765 you have one, or a disk image, which in this case must be in RAW
1766 format.
1767 </para>
1768
1769 <para>
1770 You can modify these media attachments freely. For example, if you
1771 wish to copy some files from another virtual disk that you
1772 created, you can connect that disk as a second hard disk, as in
1773 the above screenshot. You could also add a second virtual CD/DVD
1774 drive, or change where these items are attached. The following
1775 options are available:
1776 </para>
1777
1778 <itemizedlist>
1779
1780 <listitem>
1781 <para>
1782 To <emphasis role="bold">add another virtual hard disk, or a
1783 CD/DVD or floppy drive</emphasis>, select the storage
1784 controller to which it should be added (such as IDE, SATA,
1785 SCSI, SAS, floppy controller) and then click the
1786 <emphasis role="bold">Add Disk</emphasis> button below the
1787 tree. You can then either select <emphasis role="bold">Optical
1788 Drive</emphasis> or <emphasis role="bold">Hard
1789 Disk</emphasis>. If you clicked on a floppy controller, you
1790 can add a floppy drive instead. Alternatively, right-click on
1791 the storage controller and select a menu item there.
1792 </para>
1793
1794 <para>
1795 A dialog is displayed, enabling you to select an existing disk
1796 image file or to create a new disk image file. Depending on
1797 the type of disk image, the dialog is called
1798 <emphasis role="bold">Hard Disk Selector</emphasis>,
1799 <emphasis role="bold">Optical Disk Selector</emphasis>, or
1800 <emphasis role="bold">Floppy Disk Selector</emphasis>.
1801 </para>
1802
1803 <para>
1804 See <xref linkend="vdidetails"/> for information on the image
1805 file types that are supported by &product-name;.
1806 </para>
1807
1808 <para>
1809 For virtual CD/DVD drives, the image files will typically be
1810 in the standard ISO format instead. Most commonly, you will
1811 select this option when installing an OS from an ISO file that
1812 you have obtained from the Internet. For example, most Linux
1813 distributions are available in this way.
1814 </para>
1815
1816 <para>
1817 Depending on the type of disk image, you can set the following
1818 <emphasis role="bold">Attributes</emphasis> for the disk image
1819 in the right part of the Storage settings page:
1820 </para>
1821
1822 <itemizedlist>
1823
1824 <listitem>
1825 <para>
1826 The <emphasis role="bold">device slot</emphasis> of the
1827 controller that the virtual disk is connected to. IDE
1828 controllers have four slots: primary device 0, primary
1829 device 1, secondary device 0, and secondary device 1. By
1830 contrast, SATA and SCSI controllers offer you up to 30
1831 slots for attaching virtual devices.
1832 </para>
1833 </listitem>
1834
1835 <listitem>
1836 <para>
1837 <emphasis role="bold">Solid-state Drive</emphasis>
1838 presents a virtual disk to the guest as a solid-state
1839 device.
1840 </para>
1841 </listitem>
1842
1843 <listitem>
1844 <para>
1845 <emphasis role="bold">Hot-pluggable</emphasis> presents a
1846 virtual disk to the guest as a hot-pluggable device.
1847 </para>
1848 </listitem>
1849
1850 <listitem>
1851 <para>
1852 For virtual CD/DVD drives, you can select
1853 <emphasis role="bold">Live CD/DVD</emphasis>. This means
1854 that the virtual optical disk is not removed from when the
1855 guest system ejects it.
1856 </para>
1857 </listitem>
1858
1859 </itemizedlist>
1860 </listitem>
1861
1862 <listitem>
1863 <para>
1864 To <emphasis role="bold">remove an attachment</emphasis>,
1865 either select it and click on the
1866 <emphasis role="bold">Remove</emphasis> icon at the bottom, or
1867 right-click on it and select the menu item.
1868 </para>
1869 </listitem>
1870
1871 </itemizedlist>
1872
1873 <para>
1874 Removable media, such as CD/DVDs and floppies, can be changed
1875 while the guest is running. Since the
1876 <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> dialog is not available
1877 at that time, you can also access these settings from the
1878 <emphasis role="bold">Devices</emphasis> menu of your virtual
1879 machine window.
1880 </para>
1881
1882 </sect1>
1883
1884 <sect1 id="settings-audio">
1885
1886 <title>Audio Settings</title>
1887
1888 <para>
1889 The <emphasis role="bold">Audio</emphasis> section in a virtual
1890 machine's <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> window
1891 determines whether the VM will detect a connected sound card, and
1892 if the audio output should be played on the host system.
1893 </para>
1894
1895 <para>
1896 To enable audio for a guest, select the
1897 <emphasis role="bold">Enable Audio</emphasis> check box. The
1898 following settings are available:
1899 </para>
1900
1901 <itemizedlist>
1902
1903 <listitem>
1904 <para>
1905 <emphasis role="bold">Host Audio Driver:</emphasis> The audio
1906 driver that &product-name; uses on the host. On a Linux host,
1907 depending on your host configuration, you can select between
1908 the OSS, ALSA, or the PulseAudio subsystem. On newer Linux
1909 distributions, the PulseAudio subsystem is preferred.
1910 </para>
1911
1912 <para>
1913 Only OSS is supported on Oracle Solaris hosts. The Oracle
1914 Solaris Audio audio backend is no longer supported on Oracle
1915 Solaris hosts.
1916 </para>
1917 </listitem>
1918
1919 <listitem>
1920 <para>
1921 <emphasis role="bold">Audio Controller:</emphasis> You can
1922 choose between the emulation of an Intel AC'97 controller, an
1923 Intel HD Audio controller, or a SoundBlaster 16 card.
1924 </para>
1925 </listitem>
1926
1927 <listitem>
1928 <para>
1929 <emphasis role="bold">Enable Audio Output:</emphasis> Enables
1930 audio output only for the VM.
1931 </para>
1932 </listitem>
1933
1934 <listitem>
1935 <para>
1936 <emphasis role="bold">Enable Audio Input:</emphasis> Enables
1937 audio input only for the VM.
1938 </para>
1939 </listitem>
1940
1941 </itemizedlist>
1942
1943 </sect1>
1944
1945 <sect1 id="settings-network">
1946
1947 <title>Network Settings</title>
1948
1949 <para>
1950 The <emphasis role="bold">Network</emphasis> section in a virtual
1951 machine's <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> window enables
1952 you to configure how &product-name; presents virtual network cards
1953 to your VM, and how they operate.
1954 </para>
1955
1956 <para>
1957 When you first create a virtual machine, &product-name; by default
1958 enables one virtual network card and selects the Network Address
1959 Translation (NAT) mode for it. This way the guest can connect to
1960 the outside world using the host's networking and the outside
1961 world can connect to services on the guest which you choose to
1962 make visible outside of the virtual machine.
1963 </para>
1964
1965 <para>
1966 This default setup is good for the majority of &product-name;
1967 users. However, &product-name; is extremely flexible in how it can
1968 virtualize networking. It supports many virtual network cards per
1969 virtual machine. The first four virtual network cards can be
1970 configured in detail in the VirtualBox Manager window. Additional
1971 network cards can be configured using the
1972 <command>VBoxManage</command> command.
1973 </para>
1974
1975 <para>
1976 Many networking options are available. See
1977 <xref linkend="networkingdetails" /> for more information.
1978 </para>
1979
1980 </sect1>
1981
1982 <sect1 id="serialports">
1983
1984 <title>Serial Ports</title>
1985
1986 <para>
1987 &product-name; supports the use of virtual serial ports in a
1988 virtual machine.
1989 </para>
1990
1991 <para>
1992 Ever since the original IBM PC, personal computers have been
1993 equipped with one or two serial ports, also called COM ports by
1994 DOS and Windows. Serial ports were commonly used with modems, and
1995 some computer mice used to be connected to serial ports before USB
1996 became commonplace.
1997 </para>
1998
1999 <para>
2000 While serial ports are no longer as common as they used to be,
2001 there are still some important uses left for them. For example,
2002 serial ports can be used to set up a primitive network over a
2003 null-modem cable, in case Ethernet is not available. Also, serial
2004 ports are indispensable for system programmers needing to do
2005 kernel debugging, since kernel debugging software usually
2006 interacts with developers over a serial port. With virtual serial
2007 ports, system programmers can do kernel debugging on a virtual
2008 machine instead of needing a real computer to connect to.
2009 </para>
2010
2011 <para>
2012 If a virtual serial port is enabled, the guest OS sees a standard
2013 16550A compatible UART device. Other UART types can be configured
2014 using the <command>VBoxManage modifyvm</command> command. Both
2015 receiving and transmitting data is supported. How this virtual
2016 serial port is then connected to the host is configurable, and the
2017 details depend on your host OS.
2018 </para>
2019
2020 <para>
2021 You can use either the Settings tabs or the
2022 <command>VBoxManage</command> command to set up virtual serial
2023 ports. For the latter, see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />
2024 for information on the <option>--uart</option>,
2025 <option>--uart-mode</option> and <option>--uart-type</option>
2026 options.
2027 </para>
2028
2029 <para>
2030 You can configure up to four virtual serial ports per virtual
2031 machine. For each device, you must set the following:
2032 </para>
2033
2034 <orderedlist>
2035
2036 <listitem>
2037 <para>
2038 <emphasis role="bold">Port Number:</emphasis> This determines
2039 the serial port that the virtual machine should see. For best
2040 results, use the traditional values as follows:
2041 </para>
2042
2043 <itemizedlist>
2044
2045 <listitem>
2046 <para>
2047 COM1: I/O base 0x3F8, IRQ 4
2048 </para>
2049 </listitem>
2050
2051 <listitem>
2052 <para>
2053 COM2: I/O base 0x2F8, IRQ 3
2054 </para>
2055 </listitem>
2056
2057 <listitem>
2058 <para>
2059 COM3: I/O base 0x3E8, IRQ 4
2060 </para>
2061 </listitem>
2062
2063 <listitem>
2064 <para>
2065 COM4: I/O base 0x2E8, IRQ 3
2066 </para>
2067 </listitem>
2068
2069 </itemizedlist>
2070
2071 <para>
2072 You can also configure a user-defined serial port. Enter an
2073 I/O base address and interrupt (IRQ).
2074 </para>
2075 </listitem>
2076
2077 <listitem>
2078 <para>
2079 <emphasis role="bold">Port Mode:</emphasis> What the virtual
2080 port is connected to. For each virtual serial port, you have
2081 the following options:
2082 </para>
2083
2084 <itemizedlist>
2085
2086 <listitem>
2087 <para>
2088 <emphasis role="bold">Disconnected:</emphasis> The guest
2089 will see the device, but it will behave as if no cable had
2090 been connected to it.
2091 </para>
2092 </listitem>
2093
2094 <listitem>
2095 <para>
2096 <emphasis role="bold">Host Device:</emphasis> Connects the
2097 virtual serial port to a physical serial port on your
2098 host. On a Windows host, this will be a name like
2099 <literal>COM1</literal>. On Linux or Oracle Solaris hosts,
2100 it will be a device node like
2101 <filename>/dev/ttyS0</filename>. &product-name; will then
2102 simply redirect all data received from and sent to the
2103 virtual serial port to the physical device.
2104 </para>
2105 </listitem>
2106
2107 <listitem>
2108 <para>
2109 <emphasis role="bold">Host Pipe:</emphasis> Configure
2110 &product-name; to connect the virtual serial port to a
2111 software pipe on the host. This depends on your host OS,
2112 as follows:
2113 </para>
2114
2115 <itemizedlist>
2116
2117 <listitem>
2118 <para>
2119 On a Windows host, data will be sent and received
2120 through a named pipe. The pipe name must be in the
2121 format
2122 <filename>\\.\pipe\<replaceable>name</replaceable></filename>
2123 where <replaceable>name</replaceable> should identify
2124 the virtual machine but may be freely chosen.
2125 </para>
2126 </listitem>
2127
2128 <listitem>
2129 <para>
2130 On a Mac OS, Linux, or Oracle Solaris host, a local
2131 domain socket is used instead. The socket filename
2132 must be chosen such that the user running
2133 &product-name; has sufficient privileges to create and
2134 write to it. The <filename>/tmp</filename> directory
2135 is often a good candidate.
2136 </para>
2137
2138 <para>
2139 On Linux there are various tools which can connect to
2140 a local domain socket or create one in server mode.
2141 The most flexible tool is <command>socat</command> and
2142 is available as part of many distributions.
2143 </para>
2144 </listitem>
2145
2146 </itemizedlist>
2147
2148 <para>
2149 In this case, you can configure whether &product-name;
2150 should create the named pipe, or the local domain socket
2151 non-Windows hosts, itself or whether &product-name; should
2152 assume that the pipe or socket exists already. With the
2153 <command>VBoxManage</command> command-line options, this
2154 is referred to as server mode or client mode,
2155 respectively.
2156 </para>
2157
2158 <para>
2159 For a direct connection between two virtual machines,
2160 corresponding to a null-modem cable, simply configure one
2161 VM to create a pipe or socket and another to attach to it.
2162 </para>
2163 </listitem>
2164
2165 <listitem>
2166 <para>
2167 <emphasis role="bold">Raw File:</emphasis> Send the
2168 virtual serial port output to a file. This option is very
2169 useful for capturing diagnostic output from a guest. Any
2170 file may be used for this purpose, as long as the user
2171 running &product-name; has sufficient privileges to create
2172 and write to the file.
2173 </para>
2174 </listitem>
2175
2176 <listitem>
2177 <para>
2178 <emphasis role="bold">TCP Socket:</emphasis> Useful for
2179 forwarding serial traffic over TCP/IP, acting as a server,
2180 or it can act as a TCP client connecting to other servers.
2181 This option enables a remote machine to directly connect
2182 to the guest's serial port using TCP.
2183 </para>
2184
2185 <itemizedlist>
2186
2187 <listitem>
2188 <para>
2189 <emphasis role="bold">TCP Server:</emphasis> Deselect
2190 the <emphasis role="bold">Connect to Existing
2191 Pipe/Socket</emphasis> check box and specify the port
2192 number in the
2193 <emphasis role="bold">Path/Address</emphasis> field.
2194 This is typically 23 or 2023. Note that on UNIX-like
2195 systems you will have to use a port a number greater
2196 than 1024 for regular users.
2197 </para>
2198
2199 <para>
2200 The client can use software such as
2201 <command>PuTTY</command> or the
2202 <command>telnet</command> command line tool to access
2203 the TCP Server.
2204 </para>
2205 </listitem>
2206
2207 <listitem>
2208 <para>
2209 <emphasis role="bold">TCP Client:</emphasis> To create
2210 a virtual null-modem cable over the Internet or LAN,
2211 the other side can connect using TCP by specifying
2212 <literal><replaceable>hostname</replaceable>:<replaceable>port</replaceable></literal>
2213 in the <emphasis role="bold">Path/Address</emphasis>
2214 field. The TCP socket will act in client mode if you
2215 select the <emphasis role="bold">Connect to Existing
2216 Pipe/Socket</emphasis> check box.
2217 </para>
2218 </listitem>
2219
2220 </itemizedlist>
2221 </listitem>
2222
2223 </itemizedlist>
2224 </listitem>
2225
2226 </orderedlist>
2227
2228 <para>
2229 Up to four serial ports can be configured per virtual machine, but
2230 you can pick any port numbers out of the above. However, serial
2231 ports cannot reliably share interrupts. If both ports are to be
2232 used at the same time, they must use different interrupt levels,
2233 for example COM1 and COM2, but not COM1 and COM3.
2234 </para>
2235
2236 </sect1>
2237
2238 <sect1 id="usb-support">
2239
2240 <title>USB Support</title>
2241
2242 <sect2 id="settings-usb">
2243
2244 <title>USB Settings</title>
2245
2246 <para>
2247 The <emphasis role="bold">USB</emphasis> section in a virtual
2248 machine's <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> window
2249 enables you to configure &product-name;'s sophisticated USB
2250 support.
2251 </para>
2252
2253 <para>
2254 &product-name; can enable virtual machines to access the USB
2255 devices on your host directly. To achieve this, &product-name;
2256 presents the guest OS with a virtual USB controller. As soon as
2257 the guest system starts using a USB device, it will appear as
2258 unavailable on the host.
2259 </para>
2260
2261 <note>
2262 <itemizedlist>
2263
2264 <listitem>
2265 <para>
2266 Be careful with USB devices that are currently in use on
2267 the host. For example, if you allow your guest to connect
2268 to your USB hard disk that is currently mounted on the
2269 host, when the guest is activated, it will be disconnected
2270 from the host without a proper shutdown. This may cause
2271 data loss.
2272 </para>
2273 </listitem>
2274
2275 <listitem>
2276 <para>
2277 Oracle Solaris hosts have a few known limitations
2278 regarding USB support. See <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.
2279 </para>
2280 </listitem>
2281
2282 </itemizedlist>
2283 </note>
2284
2285 <para>
2286 In addition to allowing a guest access to your local USB
2287 devices, &product-name; even enables your guests to connect to
2288 remote USB devices by use of the VirtualBox Remote Desktop
2289 Extension (VRDE). See <xref linkend="usb-over-rdp" />.
2290 </para>
2291
2292 <para>
2293 To enable USB for a VM, select the <emphasis role="bold">Enable
2294 USB Controller</emphasis> check box. The following settings are
2295 available:
2296 </para>
2297
2298 <itemizedlist>
2299
2300 <listitem>
2301 <para>
2302 <emphasis role="bold">USB Controller:</emphasis> Selects a
2303 controller with the specified level of USB support, as
2304 follows:
2305 </para>
2306
2307 <itemizedlist>
2308
2309 <listitem>
2310 <para>
2311 OHCI for USB 1.1
2312 </para>
2313 </listitem>
2314
2315 <listitem>
2316 <para>
2317 EHCI for USB 2.0. This also enables OHCI.
2318 </para>
2319 </listitem>
2320
2321 <listitem>
2322 <para>
2323 xHCI for USB 3.0. This supports all USB speeds.
2324 </para>
2325 </listitem>
2326
2327 </itemizedlist>
2328
2329 <note>
2330 <para>
2331 The xHCI and EHCI controllers are shipped as an
2332 &product-name; extension package, which must be installed
2333 separately. See <xref linkend="intro-installing" />.
2334 </para>
2335 </note>
2336 </listitem>
2337
2338 <listitem>
2339 <para>
2340 <emphasis role="bold">USB Device Filters:</emphasis> When
2341 USB support is enabled for a VM, you can determine in detail
2342 which devices will be automatically attached to the guest.
2343 For this, you can create filters by specifying certain
2344 properties of the USB device. USB devices with a matching
2345 filter will be automatically passed to the guest once they
2346 are attached to the host. USB devices without a matching
2347 filter can be passed manually to the guest, for example by
2348 using the <emphasis role="bold">Devices</emphasis>,
2349 <emphasis role="bold">USB</emphasis> menu.
2350 </para>
2351
2352 <para>
2353 Clicking on the <emphasis role="bold">+</emphasis> button to
2354 the right of the <emphasis role="bold">USB Device
2355 Filters</emphasis> window creates a new filter. You can give
2356 the filter a name, for later reference, and specify the
2357 filter criteria. The more criteria you specify, the more
2358 precisely devices will be selected. For instance, if you
2359 specify only a vendor ID of 046d, all devices produced by
2360 Logitech will be available to the guest. If you fill in all
2361 fields, on the other hand, the filter will only apply to a
2362 particular device model from a particular vendor, and not
2363 even to other devices of the same type with a different
2364 revision and serial number.
2365 </para>
2366
2367 <para>
2368 In detail, the following criteria are available:
2369 </para>
2370
2371 <itemizedlist>
2372
2373 <listitem>
2374 <para>
2375 <emphasis role="bold">Vendor and Product ID.</emphasis>
2376 With USB, each vendor of USB products carries an
2377 identification number that is unique world-wide, called
2378 the <emphasis>vendor ID</emphasis>. Similarly, each line
2379 of products is assigned a <emphasis>product
2380 ID</emphasis> number. Both numbers are commonly written
2381 in hexadecimal, and a colon separates the vendor from
2382 the product ID. For example,
2383 <literal>046d:c016</literal> stands for Logitech as a
2384 vendor, and the M-UV69a Optical Wheel Mouse product.
2385 </para>
2386
2387 <para>
2388 Alternatively, you can also specify
2389 <emphasis role="bold">Manufacturer</emphasis> and
2390 <emphasis role="bold">Product</emphasis> by name.
2391 </para>
2392
2393 <para>
2394 To list all the USB devices that are connected to your
2395 host machine with their respective vendor IDs and
2396 product IDs, use the following command:
2397 </para>
2398
2399<screen>VBoxManage list usbhost</screen>
2400
2401 <para>
2402 On Windows, you can also see all USB devices that are
2403 attached to your system in the Device Manager. On Linux,
2404 you can use the <command>lsusb</command> command.
2405 </para>
2406 </listitem>
2407
2408 <listitem>
2409 <para>
2410 <emphasis role="bold">Serial Number.</emphasis> While
2411 vendor ID and product ID are quite specific to identify
2412 USB devices, if you have two identical devices of the
2413 same brand and product line, you will also need their
2414 serial numbers to filter them out correctly.
2415 </para>
2416 </listitem>
2417
2418 <listitem>
2419 <para>
2420 <emphasis role="bold">Remote.</emphasis> This setting
2421 specifies whether the device will be local only, remote
2422 only, such as over VRDP, or either.
2423 </para>
2424 </listitem>
2425
2426 </itemizedlist>
2427
2428 <para>
2429 On a Windows host, you will need to unplug and reconnect a
2430 USB device to use it after creating a filter for it.
2431 </para>
2432
2433 <para>
2434 As an example, you could create a new USB filter and specify
2435 a vendor ID of 046d for Logitech, Inc, a manufacturer index
2436 of 1, and "not remote". Then any USB devices on the host
2437 system produced by Logitech, Inc with a manufacturer index
2438 of 1 will be visible to the guest system.
2439 </para>
2440
2441 <para>
2442 Several filters can select a single device. For example, a
2443 filter which selects all Logitech devices, and one which
2444 selects a particular webcam.
2445 </para>
2446
2447 <para>
2448 You can deactivate filters without deleting them by
2449 deselecting the check box next to the filter name.
2450 </para>
2451 </listitem>
2452
2453 </itemizedlist>
2454
2455 </sect2>
2456
2457 <sect2 id="usb-implementation-notes">
2458
2459 <title>Implementation Notes for Windows and Linux Hosts</title>
2460
2461 <para>
2462 On Windows hosts, a kernel mode device driver provides USB proxy
2463 support. It implements both a USB monitor, which enables
2464 &product-name; to capture devices when they are plugged in, and
2465 a USB device driver to claim USB devices for a particular
2466 virtual machine. System reboots are not necessary after
2467 installing the driver. Also, you do not need to replug devices
2468 for &product-name; to claim them.
2469 </para>
2470
2471 <para>
2472 On supported Linux hosts, &product-name; accesses USB devices
2473 through special files in the file system. When &product-name; is
2474 installed, these are made available to all users in the
2475 <literal>vboxusers</literal> system group. In order to be able
2476 to access USB from guest systems, make sure that you are a
2477 member of this group.
2478 </para>
2479
2480 </sect2>
2481
2482 </sect1>
2483
2484 <sect1 id="shared-folders">
2485
2486 <title>Shared Folders</title>
2487
2488 <para>
2489 Shared folders enable you to easily exchange data between a
2490 virtual machine and your host. This feature requires that the
2491 &product-name; Guest Additions be installed in a virtual machine
2492 and is described in detail in <xref linkend="sharedfolders" />.
2493 </para>
2494
2495 </sect1>
2496
2497 <sect1 id="user-interface">
2498
2499 <title>User Interface</title>
2500
2501 <para>
2502 The <emphasis role="bold">User Interface</emphasis> section
2503 enables you to change certain aspects of the user interface of
2504 this VM.
2505 </para>
2506
2507 <itemizedlist>
2508
2509 <listitem>
2510 <para>
2511 <emphasis role="bold">Menu Bar:</emphasis> This widget enables
2512 you to disable menus by clicking on the menu to release it,
2513 menu entries by deselecting the check box of the entry to
2514 disable it and the complete menu bar by deselecting the
2515 rightmost check box.
2516 </para>
2517 </listitem>
2518
2519 <listitem>
2520 <para>
2521 <emphasis role="bold">Mini ToolBar:</emphasis> In full screen
2522 or seamless mode, &product-name; can display a small toolbar
2523 that contains some of the items that are normally available
2524 from the virtual machine's menu bar. This toolbar reduces
2525 itself to a small gray line unless you move the mouse over it.
2526 With the toolbar, you can return from full screen or seamless
2527 mode, control machine execution or enable certain devices. If
2528 you do not want to see the toolbar, disable this setting.
2529 </para>
2530
2531 <para>
2532 The second setting enables you to show the toolbar at the top
2533 of the screen, instead of showing it at the bottom.
2534 </para>
2535 </listitem>
2536
2537 <listitem>
2538 <para>
2539 <emphasis role="bold">Status Bar:</emphasis> This widget
2540 enables you to disable icons on the status bar by deselecting
2541 the check box of an icon to disable it, to rearrange icons by
2542 dragging and dropping the icon, and to disable the complete
2543 status bar by deselecting the leftmost check box.
2544 </para>
2545 </listitem>
2546
2547 </itemizedlist>
2548
2549 </sect1>
2550
2551 <sect1 id="efi">
2552
2553 <title>Alternative Firmware (EFI)</title>
2554
2555 <para>
2556 &product-name; includes experimental support for the Extensible
2557 Firmware Interface (EFI), which is an industry standard intended
2558 to replace the legacy BIOS as the primary interface for
2559 bootstrapping computers and certain system services later.
2560 </para>
2561
2562 <para>
2563 By default, &product-name; uses the BIOS firmware for virtual
2564 machines. To use EFI for a given virtual machine, you can enable
2565 EFI in the machine's <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis>
2566 dialog. See <xref linkend="settings-motherboard"/>. Alternatively,
2567 use the <command>VBoxManage</command> command line interface as
2568 follows:
2569 </para>
2570
2571<screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "VM name" --firmware efi</screen>
2572
2573 <para>
2574 To switch back to using the BIOS:
2575 </para>
2576
2577<screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "VM name" --firmware bios</screen>
2578
2579 <para>
2580 One notable user of EFI is Apple Mac OS X. More recent Linux
2581 versions and Windows releases, starting with Vista, also offer
2582 special versions that can be booted using EFI.
2583 </para>
2584
2585 <para>
2586 Another possible use of EFI in &product-name; is development and
2587 testing of EFI applications, without booting any OS.
2588 </para>
2589
2590 <para>
2591 Note that the &product-name; EFI support is experimental and will
2592 be enhanced as EFI matures and becomes more widespread. Mac OS X,
2593 Linux, and newer Windows guests are known to work fine. Windows 7
2594 guests are unable to boot with the &product-name; EFI
2595 implementation.
2596 </para>
2597
2598 <sect2 id="efividmode">
2599
2600 <title>Video Modes in EFI</title>
2601
2602 <para>
2603 EFI provides two distinct video interfaces: GOP (Graphics Output
2604 Protocol) and UGA (Universal Graphics Adapter). Modern OSes,
2605 such as Mac OS X, generally use GOP, while some older ones still
2606 use UGA. &product-name; provides a configuration option to
2607 control the graphics resolution for both interfaces, making the
2608 difference mostly irrelevant for users.
2609 </para>
2610
2611 <para>
2612 The default resolution is 1024x768. To select a graphics
2613 resolution for EFI, use the following
2614 <command>VBoxManage</command> command:
2615 </para>
2616
2617<screen>VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution HxV</screen>
2618
2619 <para>
2620 Determine the horizontal resolution H and the vertical
2621 resolution V from the following list of default resolutions:
2622 </para>
2623
2624 <variablelist>
2625
2626 <varlistentry>
2627 <term>
2628 VGA
2629 </term>
2630
2631 <listitem>
2632 <para>
2633 640x480, 32bpp, 4:3
2634 </para>
2635 </listitem>
2636 </varlistentry>
2637
2638 <varlistentry>
2639 <term>
2640 SVGA
2641 </term>
2642
2643 <listitem>
2644 <para>
2645 800x600, 32bpp, 4:3
2646 </para>
2647 </listitem>
2648 </varlistentry>
2649
2650 <varlistentry>
2651 <term>
2652 XGA
2653 </term>
2654
2655 <listitem>
2656 <para>
2657 1024x768, 32bpp, 4:3
2658 </para>
2659 </listitem>
2660 </varlistentry>
2661
2662 <varlistentry>
2663 <term>
2664 XGA+
2665 </term>
2666
2667 <listitem>
2668 <para>
2669 1152x864, 32bpp, 4:3
2670 </para>
2671 </listitem>
2672 </varlistentry>
2673
2674 <varlistentry>
2675 <term>
2676 HD
2677 </term>
2678
2679 <listitem>
2680 <para>
2681 1280x720, 32bpp, 16:9
2682 </para>
2683 </listitem>
2684 </varlistentry>
2685
2686 <varlistentry>
2687 <term>
2688 WXGA
2689 </term>
2690
2691 <listitem>
2692 <para>
2693 1280x800, 32bpp, 16:10
2694 </para>
2695 </listitem>
2696 </varlistentry>
2697
2698 <varlistentry>
2699 <term>
2700 SXGA
2701 </term>
2702
2703 <listitem>
2704 <para>
2705 1280x1024, 32bpp, 5:4
2706 </para>
2707 </listitem>
2708 </varlistentry>
2709
2710 <varlistentry>
2711 <term>
2712 SXGA+
2713 </term>
2714
2715 <listitem>
2716 <para>
2717 1400x1050, 32bpp, 4:3
2718 </para>
2719 </listitem>
2720 </varlistentry>
2721
2722 <varlistentry>
2723 <term>
2724 WXGA+
2725 </term>
2726
2727 <listitem>
2728 <para>
2729 1440x900, 32bpp, 16:10
2730 </para>
2731 </listitem>
2732 </varlistentry>
2733
2734 <varlistentry>
2735 <term>
2736 HD+
2737 </term>
2738
2739 <listitem>
2740 <para>
2741 1600x900, 32bpp, 16:9
2742 </para>
2743 </listitem>
2744 </varlistentry>
2745
2746 <varlistentry>
2747 <term>
2748 UXGA
2749 </term>
2750
2751 <listitem>
2752 <para>
2753 1600x1200, 32bpp, 4:3
2754 </para>
2755 </listitem>
2756 </varlistentry>
2757
2758 <varlistentry>
2759 <term>
2760 WSXGA+
2761 </term>
2762
2763 <listitem>
2764 <para>
2765 1680x1050, 32bpp, 16:10
2766 </para>
2767 </listitem>
2768 </varlistentry>
2769
2770 <varlistentry>
2771 <term>
2772 Full HD
2773 </term>
2774
2775 <listitem>
2776 <para>
2777 1920x1080, 32bpp, 16:9
2778 </para>
2779 </listitem>
2780 </varlistentry>
2781
2782 <varlistentry>
2783 <term>
2784 WUXGA
2785 </term>
2786
2787 <listitem>
2788 <para>
2789 1920x1200, 32bpp, 16:10
2790 </para>
2791 </listitem>
2792 </varlistentry>
2793
2794 <varlistentry>
2795 <term>
2796 DCI 2K
2797 </term>
2798
2799 <listitem>
2800 <para>
2801 2048x1080, 32bpp, 19:10
2802 </para>
2803 </listitem>
2804 </varlistentry>
2805
2806 <varlistentry>
2807 <term>
2808 Full HD+
2809 </term>
2810
2811 <listitem>
2812 <para>
2813 2160x1440, 32bpp, 3:2
2814 </para>
2815 </listitem>
2816 </varlistentry>
2817
2818 <varlistentry>
2819 <term>
2820 Unnamed
2821 </term>
2822
2823 <listitem>
2824 <para>
2825 2304x1440, 32bpp, 16:10
2826 </para>
2827 </listitem>
2828 </varlistentry>
2829
2830 <varlistentry>
2831 <term>
2832 QHD
2833 </term>
2834
2835 <listitem>
2836 <para>
2837 2560x1440, 32bpp, 16:9
2838 </para>
2839 </listitem>
2840 </varlistentry>
2841
2842 <varlistentry>
2843 <term>
2844 WQXGA
2845 </term>
2846
2847 <listitem>
2848 <para>
2849 2560x1600, 32bpp, 16:10
2850 </para>
2851 </listitem>
2852 </varlistentry>
2853
2854 <varlistentry>
2855 <term>
2856 QWXGA+
2857 </term>
2858
2859 <listitem>
2860 <para>
2861 2880x1800, 32bpp, 16:10
2862 </para>
2863 </listitem>
2864 </varlistentry>
2865
2866 <varlistentry>
2867 <term>
2868 QHD+
2869 </term>
2870
2871 <listitem>
2872 <para>
2873 3200x1800, 32bpp, 16:9
2874 </para>
2875 </listitem>
2876 </varlistentry>
2877
2878 <varlistentry>
2879 <term>
2880 WQSXGA
2881 </term>
2882
2883 <listitem>
2884 <para>
2885 3200x2048, 32bpp, 16:10
2886 </para>
2887 </listitem>
2888 </varlistentry>
2889
2890 <varlistentry>
2891 <term>
2892 4K UHD
2893 </term>
2894
2895 <listitem>
2896 <para>
2897 3840x2160, 32bpp, 16:9
2898 </para>
2899 </listitem>
2900 </varlistentry>
2901
2902 <varlistentry>
2903 <term>
2904 WQUXGA
2905 </term>
2906
2907 <listitem>
2908 <para>
2909 3840x2400, 32bpp, 16:10
2910 </para>
2911 </listitem>
2912 </varlistentry>
2913
2914 <varlistentry>
2915 <term>
2916 DCI 4K
2917 </term>
2918
2919 <listitem>
2920 <para>
2921 4096x2160, 32bpp, 19:10
2922 </para>
2923 </listitem>
2924 </varlistentry>
2925
2926 <varlistentry>
2927 <term>
2928 HXGA
2929 </term>
2930
2931 <listitem>
2932 <para>
2933 4096x3072, 32bpp, 4:3
2934 </para>
2935 </listitem>
2936 </varlistentry>
2937
2938 <varlistentry>
2939 <term>
2940 UHD+
2941 </term>
2942
2943 <listitem>
2944 <para>
2945 5120x2880, 32bpp, 16:9
2946 </para>
2947 </listitem>
2948 </varlistentry>
2949
2950 <varlistentry>
2951 <term>
2952 WHXGA
2953 </term>
2954
2955 <listitem>
2956 <para>
2957 5120x3200, 32bpp, 16:10
2958 </para>
2959 </listitem>
2960 </varlistentry>
2961
2962 <varlistentry>
2963 <term>
2964 WHSXGA
2965 </term>
2966
2967 <listitem>
2968 <para>
2969 6400x4096, 32bpp, 16:10
2970 </para>
2971 </listitem>
2972 </varlistentry>
2973
2974 <varlistentry>
2975 <term>
2976 HUXGA
2977 </term>
2978
2979 <listitem>
2980 <para>
2981 6400x4800, 32bpp, 4:3
2982 </para>
2983 </listitem>
2984 </varlistentry>
2985
2986 <varlistentry>
2987 <term>
2988 8K UHD2
2989 </term>
2990
2991 <listitem>
2992 <para>
2993 7680x4320, 32bpp, 16:9
2994 </para>
2995 </listitem>
2996 </varlistentry>
2997
2998 </variablelist>
2999
3000 <para>
3001 If this list of default resolution does not cover your needs,
3002 see <xref linkend="customvesa" />. Note that the color depth
3003 value specified in a custom video mode must be specified. Color
3004 depths of 8, 16, 24, and 32 are accepted. EFI assumes a color
3005 depth of 32 by default.
3006 </para>
3007
3008 <para>
3009 The EFI default video resolution settings can only be changed
3010 when the VM is powered off.
3011 </para>
3012
3013 </sect2>
3014
3015 <sect2 id="efibootargs">
3016
3017 <title>Specifying Boot Arguments</title>
3018
3019 <para>
3020 It is currently not possible to manipulate EFI variables from
3021 within a running guest. For example, setting the
3022 <literal>boot-args</literal> variable by running the
3023 <command>nvram</command> tool in a Mac OS X guest will not work.
3024 As an alternative method,
3025 <literal>VBoxInternal2/EfiBootArgs</literal> extradata can be
3026 passed to a VM in order to set the <literal>boot-args</literal>
3027 variable. To change the <literal>boot-args</literal> EFI
3028 variable, use the following command:
3029 </para>
3030
3031<screen>VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" VBoxInternal2/EfiBootArgs &lt;value&gt;</screen>
3032
3033 </sect2>
3034
3035 </sect1>
3036
3037</chapter>
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