user_VBoxManage.xml@ 37724

Last change on this file since 37724 was 37709, checked in by vboxsync, 14 years ago
Main/MediumAttachment+Machine: add a setting which controls the guest-triggered medium eject behavior, fix handling "implicit" media, and corresponding VBoxManage and documentation updates
File size: 138.5 KB

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1	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2	<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
3	"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd">
4	<chapter id="vboxmanage">
5	<title>VBoxManage</title>
6
7	<sect1>
8	<title>Introduction</title>
9
10	<para>As briefly mentioned in <xref linkend="frontends" />, VBoxManage is
11	the command-line interface to VirtualBox. With it, you can completely
12	control VirtualBox from the command line of your host operating system.
13	VBoxManage supports all the features that the graphical user interface
14	gives you access to, but it supports a lot more than that. It exposes
15	really all the features of the virtualization engine, even those that
16	cannot (yet) be accessed from the GUI.</para>
17
18	<para>You will need to use the command line if you want to</para>
19
20	<para><itemizedlist>
21	<listitem>
22	<para>use a different user interface than the main GUI (for example,
23	VBoxSDL or the VBoxHeadless server);</para>
24	</listitem>
25
26	<listitem>
27	<para>control some of the more advanced and experimental
28	configuration settings for a VM.</para>
29	</listitem>
30	</itemizedlist></para>
31
32	<para>There are two main things to keep in mind when using
33	<computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput>: First,
34	<computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> must always be used with a
35	specific "subcommand", such as "list" or "createvm" or "startvm". All the
36	subcommands that <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> supports are
37	described in detail in <xref linkend="vboxmanage" />.</para>
38
39	<para>Second, most of these subcommands require that you specify a
40	particular virtual machine after the subcommand. There are two ways you
41	can do this:</para>
42
43	<itemizedlist>
44	<listitem>
45	<para>You can specify the VM name, as it is shown in the VirtualBox
46	GUI. Note that if that name contains spaces, then you must enclose the
47	entire name in double quotes (as it is always required with command
48	line arguments that contain spaces).</para>
49
50	<para>For example:<screen>VBoxManage startvm "Windows XP"</screen></para>
51	</listitem>
52
53	<listitem>
54	<para>You can specify the UUID, which is the internal unique
55	identifier that VirtualBox uses to refer to the virtual machine.
56	Assuming that the aforementioned VM called "Windows XP" has the UUID
57	shown below, the following command has the same effect as the
58	previous:<screen>VBoxManage startvm 670e746d-abea-4ba6-ad02-2a3b043810a5</screen></para>
59	</listitem>
60	</itemizedlist>
61
62	<para>You can type <computeroutput>VBoxManage list vms</computeroutput> to
63	have all currently registered VMs listed with all their settings,
64	including their respective names and UUIDs.</para>
65
66	<para>Some typical examples of how to control VirtualBox from the command
67	line are listed below:</para>
68
69	<itemizedlist>
70	<listitem>
71	<para>To create a new virtual machine from the command line and
72	immediately register it with VirtualBox, use
73	<computeroutput>VBoxManage createvm</computeroutput> with the
74	<computeroutput>--register</computeroutput> option,<footnote>
75	<para>For details, see <xref
76	linkend="vboxmanage-createvm" />.</para>
77	</footnote> like this:</para>
78
79	<screen>$ VBoxManage createvm --name "SUSE 10.2" --register
80	VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version $VBOX_VERSION_MAJOR.$VBOX_VERSION_MINOR.$VBOX_VERSION_BUILD
81	(C) 2005-$VBOX_C_YEAR $VBOX_VENDOR
82	All rights reserved.
83
84	Virtual machine 'SUSE 10.2' is created.
85	UUID: c89fc351-8ec6-4f02-a048-57f4d25288e5
86	Settings file: '/home/username/.VirtualBox/Machines/SUSE 10.2/SUSE 10.2.xml'
87	</screen>
88
89	<para>As can be seen from the above output, a new virtual machine has
90	been created with a new UUID and a new XML settings file.</para>
91	</listitem>
92
93	<listitem>
94	<para>To show the configuration of a particular VM, use
95	<computeroutput>VBoxManage showvminfo</computeroutput>; see <xref
96	linkend="vboxmanage-showvminfo" /> for details and an example.</para>
97	</listitem>
98
99	<listitem>
100	<para>To change settings while a VM is powered off, use
101	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>, e.g. as
102	follows:<screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows XP" --memory "512MB"</screen></para>
103
104	<para>For details, see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.</para>
105	</listitem>
106
107	<listitem>
108	<para>To change the storage configuration (e.g. to add a storage
109	controller and then a virtual disk), use <computeroutput>VBoxManage
110	storagectl</computeroutput> and <computeroutput>VBoxManage
111	storageattach</computeroutput>; see <xref
112	linkend="vboxmanage-storagectl" /> and <xref
113	linkend="vboxmanage-storageattach" /> for details.</para>
114	</listitem>
115
116	<listitem>
117	<para>To control VM operation, use one of the following:<itemizedlist>
118	<listitem>
119	<para>To start a VM that is currently powered off, use
120	<computeroutput>VBoxManage startvm</computeroutput>; see <xref
121	linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" /> for details.</para>
122	</listitem>
123
124	<listitem>
125	<para>To pause or save a VM that is currently running or change
126	some of its settings, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage
127	controlvm</computeroutput>; see <xref
128	linkend="vboxmanage-controlvm" /> for details.</para>
129	</listitem>
130	</itemizedlist></para>
131	</listitem>
132	</itemizedlist>
133	</sect1>
134
135	<sect1>
136	<title>Commands overview</title>
137
138	<para>When running VBoxManage without parameters or when supplying an
139	invalid command line, the below syntax diagram will be shown. Note that
140	the output will be slightly different depending on the host platform; when
141	in doubt, check the output of <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput>
142	for the commands available on your particular host.</para>
143
144	<screen>$VBOX_MANAGE_OUTPUT</screen>
145
146	<para>Each time VBoxManage is invoked, only one command can be executed.
147	However, a command might support several subcommands which then can be
148	invoked in one single call. The following sections provide detailed
149	reference information on the different commands.</para>
150	</sect1>
151
152	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-list">
153	<title>VBoxManage list</title>
154
155	<para>The <computeroutput>list</computeroutput> command gives relevant
156	information about your system and information about VirtualBox's current
157	settings.</para>
158
159	<para>The following subcommands are available with
160	<computeroutput>VBoxManage list</computeroutput>: <itemizedlist>
161	<listitem>
162	<para><computeroutput>vms</computeroutput> lists all virtual
163	machines currently registered with VirtualBox. By default this
164	displays a compact list with each VM's name and UUID; if you also
165	specify <computeroutput>--long</computeroutput> or
166	<computeroutput>-l</computeroutput>, this will be a detailed list as
167	with the <computeroutput>showvminfo</computeroutput> command (see
168	below).</para>
169	</listitem>
170
171	<listitem>
172	<para><computeroutput>runningvms</computeroutput> lists all
173	currently running virtual machines by their unique identifiers
174	(UUIDs) in the same format as with
175	<computeroutput>vms</computeroutput>.</para>
176	</listitem>
177
178	<listitem>
179	<para><computeroutput>ostypes</computeroutput> lists all guest
180	operating systems presently known to VirtualBox, along with the
181	identifiers used to refer to them with the
182	<computeroutput>modifyvm</computeroutput> command.</para>
183	</listitem>
184
185	<listitem>
186	<para><computeroutput>hostdvds</computeroutput>,
187	<computeroutput>hostfloppies</computeroutput>, respectively, list
188	DVD, floppy, bridged networking and host-only networking interfaces
189	on the host, along with the name used to access them from within
190	VirtualBox.</para>
191	</listitem>
192
193	<listitem>
194	<para><computeroutput>bridgedifs</computeroutput>,
195	<computeroutput>hostonlyifs</computeroutput> and
196	<computeroutput>dhcpservers</computeroutput>, respectively, list
197	bridged network interfaces, host-only network interfaces and DHCP
198	servers currently available on the host. Please see <xref
199	linkend="networkingdetails" /> for details on these.</para>
200	</listitem>
201
202	<listitem>
203	<para><computeroutput>hostinfo</computeroutput> displays information
204	about the host system, such as CPUs, memory size and operating
205	system version.</para>
206	</listitem>
207
208	<listitem>
209	<para><computeroutput>hostcpuids</computeroutput> dumps the CPUID
210	parameters for the host CPUs. This can be used for a more fine
211	grained analyis of the host's virtualization capabilities.</para>
212	</listitem>
213
214	<listitem>
215	<para><computeroutput>hddbackends</computeroutput> lists all known
216	virtual disk back-ends of VirtualBox. For each such format (such as
217	VDI, VMDK or RAW), this lists the back-end's capabilities and
218	configuration.</para>
219	</listitem>
220
221	<listitem>
222	<para><computeroutput>hdds</computeroutput>,
223	<computeroutput>dvds</computeroutput> and
224	<computeroutput>floppies</computeroutput> all give you information
225	about virtual disk images currently in use by VirtualBox, including
226	all their settings, the unique identifiers (UUIDs) associated with
227	them by VirtualBox and all files associated with them. This is the
228	command-line equivalent of the Virtual Media Manager; see <xref
229	linkend="vdis" />.</para>
230	</listitem>
231
232	<listitem>
233	<para><computeroutput>usbhost</computeroutput> supplies information
234	about USB devices attached to the host, notably information useful
235	for constructing USB filters and whether they are currently in use
236	by the host.</para>
237	</listitem>
238
239	<listitem>
240	<para><computeroutput>usbfilters</computeroutput> lists all global
241	USB filters registered with VirtualBox -- that is, filters for
242	devices which are accessible to all virtual machines -- and displays
243	the filter parameters.</para>
244	</listitem>
245
246	<listitem>
247	<para><computeroutput>systemproperties</computeroutput> displays
248	some global VirtualBox settings, such as minimum and maximum guest
249	RAM and virtual hard disk size, folder settings and the current
250	authentication library in use.</para>
251	</listitem>
252
253	<listitem>
254	<para><computeroutput>extpacks</computeroutput> displays all
255	VirtualBox extension packs currently installed; see <xref
256	linkend="intro-installing" /> and <xref
257	linkend="vboxmanage-extpack" /> for more information.</para>
258	</listitem>
259	</itemizedlist></para>
260	</sect1>
261
262	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-showvminfo">
263	<title>VBoxManage showvminfo</title>
264
265	<para>The <computeroutput>showvminfo</computeroutput> command shows
266	information about a particular virtual machine. This is the same
267	information as <computeroutput>VBoxManage list vms --long</computeroutput>
268	would show for all virtual machines.</para>
269
270	<para>You will get information similar to the following:</para>
271
272	<para><screen>$ VBoxManage showvminfo "Windows XP"
273	VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version $VBOX_VERSION_MAJOR.$VBOX_VERSION_MINOR.$VBOX_VERSION_BUILD
274	(C) 2005-$VBOX_C_YEAR $VBOX_VENDOR
275	All rights reserved.
276
277	Name: Windows XP
278	Guest OS: Other/Unknown
279	UUID: 1bf3464d-57c6-4d49-92a9-a5cc3816b7e7
280	Config file: /home/username/.VirtualBox/Machines/Windows XP/Windows XP.xml
281	Memory size: 512MB
282	VRAM size: 12MB
283	Number of CPUs: 2
284	Synthetic Cpu: off
285	Boot menu mode: message and menu
286	Boot Device (1): DVD
287	Boot Device (2): HardDisk
288	Boot Device (3): Not Assigned
289	Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
290	ACPI: on
291	IOAPIC: on
292	PAE: on
293	Time offset: 0 ms
294	Hardw. virt.ext: on
295	Hardw. virt.ext exclusive: on
296	Nested Paging: on
297	VT-x VPID: off
298	State: powered off (since 2009-10-20T14:52:19.000000000)
299	Monitor count: 1
300	3D Acceleration: off
301	2D Video Acceleration: off
302	Teleporter Enabled: off
303	Teleporter Port: 0
304	Teleporter Address:
305	Teleporter Password:
306	Storage Controller (0): IDE Controller
307	Storage Controller Type (0): PIIX4
308	Storage Controller (1): Floppy Controller 1
309	Storage Controller Type (1): I82078
310	IDE Controller (0, 0): /home/user/windows.vdi (UUID: 46f6e53a-4557-460a-9b95-68b0f17d744b)
311	IDE Controller (0, 1): /home/user/openbsd-cd46.iso (UUID: 4335e162-59d3-4512-91d5-b63e94eebe0b)
312	Floppy Controller 1 (0, 0): /home/user/floppy.img (UUID: 62ac6ccb-df36-42f2-972e-22f836368137)
313	NIC 1: disabled
314	NIC 2: disabled
315	NIC 3: disabled
316	NIC 4: disabled
317	NIC 5: disabled
318	NIC 6: disabled
319	NIC 7: disabled
320	NIC 8: disabled
321	UART 1: disabled
322	UART 2: disabled
323	Audio: disabled (Driver: Unknown)
324	Clipboard Mode: Bidirectional
325	VRDE: disabled
326	USB: disabled
327
328	USB Device Filters:
329	<none>
330
331	Shared folders:
332	<none>
333
334	Statistics update: disabled
335	</screen></para>
336	</sect1>
337
338	<sect1>
339	<title>VBoxManage registervm / unregistervm</title>
340
341	<para>The <computeroutput>registervm</computeroutput> command allows you
342	to import a virtual machine definition in an XML file into VirtualBox. The
343	machine must not conflict with one already registered in VirtualBox and it
344	may not have any hard or removable disks attached. It is advisable to
345	place the definition file in the machines folder before registering
346	it.<note>
347	<para>When creating a new virtual machine with
348	<computeroutput>VBoxManage createvm</computeroutput> (see below), you
349	can directly specify the <computeroutput>--register</computeroutput>
350	option to avoid having to register it separately.</para>
351	</note></para>
352
353	<para>The <computeroutput>unregistervm</computeroutput> command
354	unregisters a virtual machine. If
355	<computeroutput>--delete</computeroutput> is also specified, the following
356	files will automatically be deleted as well:<orderedlist>
357	<listitem>
358	<para>all hard disk image files, including differencing files, which
359	are used by the machine and not shared with other machines;</para>
360	</listitem>
361
362	<listitem>
363	<para>saved state files that the machine created, if any (one if the
364	machine was in "saved" state and one for each online
365	snapshot);</para>
366	</listitem>
367
368	<listitem>
369	<para>the machine XML file and its backups;</para>
370	</listitem>
371
372	<listitem>
373	<para>the machine log files, if any;</para>
374	</listitem>
375
376	<listitem>
377	<para>the machine directory, if it is empty after having deleted all
378	the above.</para>
379	</listitem>
380	</orderedlist></para>
381	</sect1>
382
383	<sect1>
384	<title id="vboxmanage-createvm">VBoxManage createvm</title>
385
386	<para>This command creates a new XML virtual machine definition
387	file.</para>
388
389	<para>The <computeroutput>--name <name></computeroutput> parameter
390	is required and must specify the name of the machine. Since this name is
391	used by default as the file name of the settings file (with the extension
392	<computeroutput>.xml</computeroutput>) and the machine folder (a subfolder
393	of the <computeroutput>.VirtualBox/Machines</computeroutput> folder), it
394	must conform to your host operating system's requirements for file name
395	specifications. If the VM is later renamed, the file and folder names will
396	change automatically.</para>
397
398	<para>However, if the <computeroutput>--basefolder
399	<path></computeroutput> option is used, the machine folder will be
400	named <computeroutput><path></computeroutput>. In this case, the
401	names of the file and the folder will not change if the virtual machine is
402	renamed.</para>
403
404	<para>By default, this command only creates the XML file without
405	automatically registering the VM with your VirtualBox installation. To
406	register the VM instantly, use the optional
407	<computeroutput>--register</computeroutput> option, or run
408	<computeroutput>VBoxManage registervm</computeroutput> separately
409	afterwards.</para>
410	</sect1>
411
412	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm">
413	<title>VBoxManage modifyvm</title>
414
415	<para>This command changes the properties of a registered virtual machine
416	which is not running. Most of the properties that this command makes
417	available correspond to the VM settings that VirtualBox graphical user
418	interface displays in each VM's "Settings" dialog; these were described in
419	<xref linkend="BasicConcepts" />. Some of the more advanced settings,
420	however, are only available through the
421	<computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> interface.</para>
422
423	<para>These commands require that the machine is powered off (neither
424	running nor in "saved" state). Some machine settings can also be changed
425	while a machine is running; those settings will then have a corresponding
426	subcommand with the <computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm</computeroutput>
427	subcommand (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-controlvm" />).</para>
428
429	<sect2>
430	<title>General settings</title>
431
432	<para>The following general settings are available through
433	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>:<itemizedlist>
434	<listitem>
435	<para><computeroutput>--name <name></computeroutput>: This
436	changes the VM's name and possibly renames the internal virtual
437	machine files, as described with <computeroutput>VBoxManage
438	createvm</computeroutput> above.</para>
439	</listitem>
440
441	<listitem>
442	<para><computeroutput>--ostype <ostype></computeroutput>:
443	This specifies what guest operating system is supposed to run in
444	the VM. To learn about the various identifiers that can be used
445	here, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage list
446	ostypes</computeroutput>.</para>
447	</listitem>
448
449	<listitem>
450	<para><computeroutput>--memory
451	<memorysize></computeroutput>: This sets the amount of RAM,
452	in MB, that the virtual machine should allocate for itself from
453	the host. See the remarks in <xref linkend="gui-createvm" /> for
454	more information.</para>
455	</listitem>
456
457	<listitem>
458	<para><computeroutput>--vram <vramsize></computeroutput>:
459	This sets the amount of RAM that the virtual graphics card should
460	have. See <xref linkend="settings-display" /> for details.</para>
461	</listitem>
462
463	<listitem>
464	<para><computeroutput>--acpi on\|off</computeroutput>;
465	<computeroutput>--ioapic on\|off</computeroutput>: These two
466	determine whether the VM should have ACPI and I/O APIC support,
467	respectively; see <xref linkend="settings-motherboard" /> for
468	details.</para>
469	</listitem>
470
471	<listitem>
472	<para><computeroutput>--hardwareuuid
473	<uuid></computeroutput>: The UUID presented to the guest via
474	memory tables (DMI/SMBIOS), hardware and guest properties. By
475	default this is the same as the VM uuid. Useful when cloning a VM.
476	Teleporting takes care of this automatically.</para>
477	</listitem>
478
479	<listitem>
480	<para><computeroutput>--cpus <cpucount></computeroutput>:
481	This sets the number of virtual CPUs for the virtual machine (see
482	<xref linkend="settings-processor" />). If CPU hot-plugging is
483	enabled (see below), this then sets the
484	<emphasis>maximum</emphasis> number of virtual CPUs that can be
485	plugged into the virtual machines.</para>
486	</listitem>
487
488	<listitem>
489	<para><computeroutput>--rtcuseutc on\|off</computeroutput>: This
490	option lets the real-time clock (RTC) operate in UTC time (see
491	<xref linkend="settings-motherboard" />).</para>
492	</listitem>
493
494	<listitem>
495	<para><computeroutput>--cpuhotplug on\|off</computeroutput>: This
496	enables CPU hot-plugging. When enabled, virtual CPUs can be added
497	to and removed from a virtual machine while it is running. See
498	<xref linkend="cpuhotplug" /> for more information.</para>
499	</listitem>
500
501	<listitem>
502	<para><computeroutput>--plugcpu\|unplugcpu
503	<id></computeroutput>: If CPU hot-plugging is enabled (see
504	above), this adds a virtual CPU to the virtual machines (or
505	removes one). <computeroutput><id></computeroutput>
506	specifies the index of the virtual CPU to be added or removed and
507	must be a number from 0 to the maximum no. of CPUs configured with
508	the <computeroutput>--cpus</computeroutput> option. CPU 0 can
509	never be removed.</para>
510	</listitem>
511
512	<listitem>
513	<para><computeroutput>--cpuexecutioncap
514	<1-100></computeroutput>: This setting controls how much cpu
515	time a virtual CPU can use. A value of 50 implies a single virtual
516	CPU can use up to 50% of a single host CPU.</para>
517	</listitem>
518
519	<listitem>
520	<para><computeroutput>--synthcpu on\|off</computeroutput>: This
521	setting determines whether VirtualBox will expose a synthetic CPU
522	to the guest to allow live migration between host systems that
523	differ significantly.</para>
524	</listitem>
525
526	<listitem>
527	<para><computeroutput>--pae on\|off</computeroutput>: This
528	enables/disables PAE (see <xref
529	linkend="settings-processor" />).</para>
530	</listitem>
531
532	<listitem>
533	<para><computeroutput>--hpet on\|off</computeroutput>: This
534	enables/disables a High Precision Event Timer (HPET) which can
535	replace the legacy system timers. This is turned off by default.
536	Note that Windows supports a HPET only from Vista onwards.</para>
537	</listitem>
538
539	<listitem>
540	<para><computeroutput>--hwvirtex on\|off</computeroutput>: This
541	enables or disables the use of hardware virtualization extensions
542	(Intel VT-x or AMD-V) in the processor of your host system; see
543	<xref linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
544	</listitem>
545
546	<listitem>
547	<para><computeroutput>--hwvirtexexcl on\|off</computeroutput>: This
548	specifies whether VirtualBox will make exclusive use of the
549	hardware virtualization extensions (Intel VT-x or AMD-V) in the
550	processor of your host system; see <xref linkend="hwvirt" />. If
551	you wish to simultaneously share these extensions with other
552	hypervisors, then you must disable this setting. Doing so has
553	negative performance implications.</para>
554	</listitem>
555
556	<listitem>
557	<para><computeroutput>--nestedpaging on\|off</computeroutput>: If
558	hardware virtualization is enabled, this additional setting
559	enables or disables the use of the nested paging feature in the
560	processor of your host system; see <xref
561	linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
562	</listitem>
563
564	<listitem>
565	<para><computeroutput>--largepages on\|off</computeroutput>: If
566	hardware virtualization <emphasis>and</emphasis> nested paging are
567	enabled, for Intel VT-x only, an additional performance
568	improvement of up to 5% can be obtained by enabling this setting.
569	This causes the hypervisor to use large pages to reduce TLB use
570	and overhead.</para>
571	</listitem>
572
573	<listitem>
574	<para><computeroutput>--vtxvpid on\|off</computeroutput>: If
575	hardware virtualization is enabled, for Intel VT-x only, this
576	additional setting enables or disables the use of the tagged TLB
577	(VPID) feature in the processor of your host system; see <xref
578	linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
579	</listitem>
580
581	<listitem>
582	<para><computeroutput>--accelerate3d on\|off</computeroutput>: This
583	enables, if the Guest Additions are installed, whether hardware 3D
584	acceleration should be available; see <xref
585	linkend="guestadd-3d" />.</para>
586	</listitem>
587
588	<listitem>
589	<para>You can influence the BIOS logo that is displayed when a
590	virtual machine starts up with a number of settings. Per default,
591	a VirtualBox logo is displayed.</para>
592
593	<para>With <computeroutput>--bioslogofadein
594	on\|off</computeroutput> and <computeroutput>--bioslogofadeout
595	on\|off</computeroutput>, you can determine whether the logo should
596	fade in and out, respectively.</para>
597
598	<para>With <computeroutput>--bioslogodisplaytime
599	<msec></computeroutput> you can set how long the logo should
600	be visible, in milliseconds.</para>
601
602	<para>With <computeroutput>--bioslogoimagepath
603	<imagepath></computeroutput> you can, if you are so
604	inclined, replace the image that is shown, with your own logo. The
605	image must be an uncompressed 256 color BMP file.</para>
606	</listitem>
607
608	<listitem>
609	<para><computeroutput>--biosbootmenu
610	disabled\|menuonly\|messageandmenu</computeroutput>: This specifies
611	whether the BIOS allows the user to select a temporary boot
612	device. <computeroutput>menuonly</computeroutput> suppresses the
613	message, but the user can still press F12 to select a temporary
614	boot device.</para>
615	</listitem>
616
617	<listitem>
618	<para><computeroutput>--boot<1-4>
619	none\|floppy\|dvd\|disk\|net</computeroutput>: This specifies the boot
620	order for the virtual machine. There are four "slots", which the
621	VM will try to access from 1 to 4, and for each of which you can
622	set a device that the VM should attempt to boot from.</para>
623	</listitem>
624
625	<listitem>
626	<para><computeroutput>--snapshotfolder
627	default\|<path></computeroutput>: This allows you to specify
628	the folder in which snapshots will be kept for a virtual
629	machine.</para>
630	</listitem>
631
632	<listitem>
633	<para><computeroutput>--firmware efi\|bios</computeroutput>:
634	Specifies which firmware is used to boot particular virtual
635	machine: EFI or BIOS. Use EFI only if your fully understand what
636	you're doing.</para>
637	</listitem>
638
639	<listitem>
640	<para><computeroutput>--guestmemoryballoon
641	<size></computeroutput> sets the default size of the guest
642	memory balloon, that is, memory allocated by the VirtualBox Guest
643	Additions from the guest operating system and returned to the
644	hypervisor for re-use by other virtual machines. <size> must
645	be specified in megabytes. The default size is 0 megabytes. For
646	details, see <xref linkend="guestadd-balloon" />.</para>
647	</listitem>
648	</itemizedlist></para>
649	</sect2>
650
651	<sect2>
652	<title>Networking settings</title>
653
654	<para>The following networking settings are available through
655	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>. With all these
656	settings, the decimal number directly following the option name ("1-N"
657	in the list below) specifies the virtual network adapter whose settings
658	should be changed.<itemizedlist>
659	<listitem>
660	<para><computeroutput>--nic<1-N>
661	none\|null\|nat\|bridged\|intnet\|hostonly\|generic
662	</computeroutput>: With
663	this, you can set, for each of the VM's virtual network cards,
664	what type of networking should be available. They can be not
665	present (<computeroutput>none</computeroutput>), not connected to
666	the host (<computeroutput>null</computeroutput>), use network
667	address translation (<computeroutput>nat</computeroutput>),
668	bridged networking (<computeroutput>bridged</computeroutput>) or
669	communicate with other virtual machines using internal networking
670	(<computeroutput>intnet</computeroutput>), host-only networking
671	(<computeroutput>hostonly</computeroutput>), or access rarely used
672	sub-modes (<computeroutput>generic</computeroutput>).
673	These options correspond
674	to the modes which are described in detail in <xref
675	linkend="networkingmodes" />.</para>
676	</listitem>
677
678	<listitem>
679	<para><computeroutput>--nictype<1-N>
680	Am79C970A\|Am79C973\|82540EM\|82543GC\|82545EM\|virtio</computeroutput>:
681	This allows you, for each of the VM's virtual network cards, to
682	specify which networking hardware VirtualBox presents to the
683	guest; see <xref linkend="nichardware" />.</para>
684	</listitem>
685
686	<listitem>
687	<para><computeroutput>--cableconnected<1-N>
688	on\|off</computeroutput>: This allows you to temporarily disconnect
689	a virtual network interface, as if a network cable had been pulled
690	from a real network card. This might be useful for resetting
691	certain software components in the VM.</para>
692	</listitem>
693
694	<listitem>
695	<para>With the "nictrace" options, you can optionally trace
696	network traffic by dumping it to a file, for debugging
697	purposes.</para>
698
699	<para>With <computeroutput>--nictrace<1-N>
700	on\|off</computeroutput>, you can enable network tracing for a
701	particular virtual network card.</para>
702
703	<para>If enabled, you must specify with
704	<computeroutput>--nictracefile<1-N>
705	<filename></computeroutput> what file the trace should be
706	logged to.</para>
707	</listitem>
708
709	<listitem>
710	<para><computeroutput>--bridgeadapter<1-N>
711	none\|<devicename></computeroutput>: If bridged networking
712	has been enabled for a virtual network card (see the
713	<computeroutput>--nic</computeroutput> option above; otherwise
714	this setting has no effect), use this option to specify which host
715	interface the given virtual network interface will use. For
716	details, please see <xref linkend="network_bridged" />.</para>
717	</listitem>
718
719	<listitem>
720	<para><computeroutput>--hostonlyadapter<1-N>
721	none\|<devicename></computeroutput>: If host-only networking
722	has been enabled for a virtual network card (see the --nic option
723	above; otherwise this setting has no effect), use this option to
724	specify which host-only networking interface the given virtual
725	network interface will use. For details, please see <xref
726	linkend="network_hostonly" />.</para>
727	</listitem>
728
729	<listitem>
730	<para><computeroutput>--intnet<1-N>
731	network</computeroutput>: If internal networking has been enabled
732	for a virtual network card (see the
733	<computeroutput>--nic</computeroutput> option above; otherwise
734	this setting has no effect), use this option to specify the name
735	of the internal network (see <xref
736	linkend="network_internal" />).</para>
737	</listitem>
738
739	<listitem>
740	<para><computeroutput>--macaddress<1-N>
741	auto\|<mac></computeroutput>: With this option you can set
742	the MAC address of the virtual network card. Normally, each
743	virtual network card is assigned a random address by VirtualBox at
744	VM creation.</para>
745	</listitem>
746
747	<listitem>
748	<para><computeroutput>--nicgenericdrv<1-N>
749	<backend driver></computeroutput>: If generic networking has been
750	enabled for a virtual network card (see the
751	<computeroutput>--nic</computeroutput> option above; otherwise
752	this setting has no effect), this mode allows you to access
753	rarely used networking sub-modes, such as VDE network or UDP Tunnel.
754	</para>
755	</listitem>
756
757	<listitem>
758	<para><computeroutput>--nicproperty<1-N>
759	<paramname>="paramvalue"</computeroutput>:
760	This option, in combination with "nicgenericdrv" allows you to
761	pass parameters to rarely-used network backends.</para><para>
762	Those parameters are backend engine-specific, and are different
763	between UDP Tunnel and the VDE backend drivers. For example,
764	please see <xref linkend="network_udp_tunnel" />.
765	</para>
766	</listitem>
767	</itemizedlist></para>
768
769	<sect3>
770	<title>NAT Networking settings.</title>
771
772	<para>The following NAT networking settings are available through
773	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>. With all these
774	settings, the decimal number directly following the option name ("1-N"
775	in the list below) specifies the virtual network adapter whose
776	settings should be changed.<itemizedlist>
777	<listitem>
778	<para><computeroutput>--natpf<1-N>
779	[<name>],tcp\|udp,[<hostip>],<hostport>,[<guestip>],
780	<guestport></computeroutput>: This option defines a NAT
781	port-forwarding rule (please see <xref linkend="natforward" />
782	for details).</para>
783	</listitem>
784
785	<listitem>
786	<para><computeroutput>--natpf<1-N> delete
787	<name></computeroutput>: This option deletes a NAT
788	port-forwarding rule (please see <xref linkend="natforward" />
789	for details).</para>
790	</listitem>
791
792	<listitem>
793	<para><computeroutput>--nattftpprefix<1-N>
794	<prefix></computeroutput>: This option defines a prefix
795	for the built-in TFTP server, i.e. where the boot file is
796	located (please see <xref linkend="nat-tftp" /> and <xref
797	linkend="nat-adv-tftp" /> for details).</para>
798	</listitem>
799
800	<listitem>
801	<para><computeroutput>--nattftpfile<1-N>
802	<bootfile></computeroutput>: This option defines the TFT
803	boot file (please see <xref linkend="nat-adv-tftp" /> for
804	details).</para>
805	</listitem>
806
807	<listitem>
808	<para><computeroutput>--nattftpserver<1-N>
809	<tftpserver></computeroutput>: This option defines the
810	TFTP server address to boot from (please see <xref
811	linkend="nat-adv-tftp" /> for details).</para>
812	</listitem>
813
814	<listitem>
815	<para><computeroutput>--natdnspassdomain<1-N>
816	on\|off</computeroutput>: This option specifies whether the
817	built-in DHCP server passes the domain name for network name
818	resolution.</para>
819	</listitem>
820
821	<listitem>
822	<para><computeroutput>--natdnsproxy<1-N>
823	on\|off</computeroutput>: This option makes the NAT engine proxy
824	all guest DNS requests to the host's DNS servers (please see
825	<xref linkend="nat-adv-dns" /> for details).</para>
826	</listitem>
827
828	<listitem>
829	<para><computeroutput>--natdnshostresolver<1-N>
830	on\|off</computeroutput>: This option makes the NAT engine use
831	the host's resolver mechanisms to handle DNS requests (please
832	see <xref linkend="nat-adv-dns" /> for details).</para>
833	</listitem>
834
835	<listitem>
836	<para><computeroutput>--natnatsettings<1-N>
837	[<mtu>],[<socksnd>],[<sockrcv>],[<tcpsnd>],
838	[<tcprcv>]</computeroutput>: This option controls several
839	NAT settings (please see <xref linkend="nat-adv-settings" /> for
840	details).</para>
841	</listitem>
842
843	<listitem>
844	<para><computeroutput>--nataliasmode<1-N>
845	default\|[log],[proxyonly],[sameports]</computeroutput>: This
846	option defines behaviour of NAT engine core: log - enables
847	logging, proxyonly - switches of aliasing mode makes NAT
848	transparent, sameports enforces NAT engine to send packets via
849	the same port as they originated on, default - disable all
850	mentioned modes above . (please see <xref
851	linkend="nat-adv-alias" /> for details).</para>
852	</listitem>
853	</itemizedlist></para>
854	</sect3>
855	</sect2>
856
857	<sect2 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm-other">
858	<title>Serial port, audio, clipboard, remote desktop and USB
859	settings</title>
860
861	<para>The following other hardware settings are available through
862	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm</computeroutput>:<itemizedlist>
863	<listitem>
864	<para><computeroutput>--uart<1-N> off\|<I/O base>
865	<IRQ></computeroutput>: With this option you can configure
866	virtual serial ports for the VM; see <xref
867	linkend="serialports" /> for an introduction.</para>
868	</listitem>
869
870	<listitem>
871	<para><computeroutput>--uartmode<1-N>
872	<arg></computeroutput>: This setting controls how VirtualBox
873	connects a given virtual serial port (previously configured with
874	the <computeroutput>--uartX</computeroutput> setting, see above)
875	to the host on which the virtual machine is running. As described
876	in detail in <xref linkend="serialports" />, for each such port,
877	you can specify <computeroutput><arg></computeroutput> as
878	one of the following options:<itemizedlist>
879	<listitem>
880	<para><computeroutput>disconnected</computeroutput>: Even
881	though the serial port is shown to the guest, it has no
882	"other end" -- like a real COM port without a cable.</para>
883	</listitem>
884
885	<listitem>
886	<para><computeroutput>server
887	<pipename></computeroutput>: On a Windows host, this
888	tells VirtualBox to create a named pipe on the host named
889	<computeroutput><pipename></computeroutput> and
890	connect the virtual serial device to it. Note that Windows
891	requires that the name of a named pipe begin with
892	<computeroutput>\\.\pipe\</computeroutput>.</para>
893
894	<para>On a Linux host, instead of a named pipe, a local
895	domain socket is used.</para>
896	</listitem>
897
898	<listitem>
899	<para><computeroutput>client
900	<pipename></computeroutput>: This operates just like
901	<computeroutput>server ...</computeroutput>, except that the
902	pipe (or local domain socket) is not created by VirtualBox,
903	but assumed to exist already.</para>
904	</listitem>
905
906	<listitem>
907	<para><computeroutput><devicename></computeroutput>:
908	If, instead of the above, the device name of a physical
909	hardware serial port of the host is specified, the virtual
910	serial port is connected to that hardware port. On a Windows
911	host, the device name will be a COM port such as
912	<computeroutput>COM1</computeroutput>; on a Linux host, the
913	device name will look like
914	<computeroutput>/dev/ttyS0</computeroutput>. This allows you
915	to "wire" a real serial port to a virtual machine.</para>
916	</listitem>
917	</itemizedlist></para>
918	</listitem>
919
920	<listitem>
921	<para><computeroutput>--audio none\|null\|oss</computeroutput>: With
922	this option, you can set whether the VM should have audio
923	support.</para>
924	</listitem>
925
926	<listitem>
927	<para><computeroutput>--clipboard
928	disabled\|hosttoguest\|guesttohost\|bidirectional</computeroutput>:
929	With this setting, you can select whether the guest operating
930	system's clipboard should be shared with the host; see <xref
931	linkend="generalsettings" />. This requires that the Guest
932	Additions be installed in the virtual machine.</para>
933	</listitem>
934
935	<listitem>
936	<para><computeroutput>--monitorcount
937	<count></computeroutput>: This enables multi-monitor
938	support; see <xref linkend="settings-display" />.</para>
939	</listitem>
940
941	<listitem>
942	<para><computeroutput>--usb on\|off</computeroutput>: This option
943	enables or disables the VM's virtual USB controller; see <xref
944	linkend="settings-usb" /> for details.</para>
945	</listitem>
946
947	<listitem>
948	<para><computeroutput>--usbehci on\|off</computeroutput>: This
949	option enables or disables the VM's virtual USB 2.0 controller;
950	see <xref linkend="settings-usb" /> for details.</para>
951	</listitem>
952	</itemizedlist></para>
953	</sect2>
954
955	<sect2>
956	<title>Remote machine settings</title>
957
958	<para>The following settings that affect remote machine behavior are
959	available through <computeroutput>VBoxManage
960	modifyvm</computeroutput>:<itemizedlist>
961	<listitem>
962	<para><computeroutput>--vrde on\|off</computeroutput>: With the
963	VirtualBox graphical user interface, this enables or disables the
964	VirtualBox remote desktop extension (VRDE) server. Note that if
965	you are using <computeroutput>VBoxHeadless</computeroutput> (see
966	<xref linkend="vboxheadless" />), VRDE is enabled by
967	default.</para>
968	</listitem>
969
970	<listitem>
971	<para><computeroutput>--vrdeport
972	default\|<ports></computeroutput>: A port or a range of ports
973	the VRDE server can bind to; "default" or "0" means port 3389, the
974	standard port for RDP. You can specify a comma-separated list of
975	ports or ranges of ports. Use a dash between two port numbers to
976	specify a range. The VRDE server will bind to <emphasis
977	role="bold">one</emphasis> of available ports from the specified
978	list. Only one machine can use a given port at a time. For
979	example, the option <computeroutput> --vrdeport
980	5000,5010-5012</computeroutput> will tell the server to bind to
981	one of following ports: 5000, 5010, 5011 or 5012.</para>
982	</listitem>
983
984	<listitem>
985	<para><computeroutput>--vrdeaddress <IP
986	address></computeroutput>: The IP address of the host network
987	interface the VRDE server will bind to. If specified, the server
988	will accept connections only on the specified host network
989	interface.</para>
990	</listitem>
991
992	<listitem>
993	<para><computeroutput>--vrdeauthtype
994	null\|external\|guest</computeroutput>: This allows you to choose
995	whether and how authorization will be performed; see <xref
996	linkend="vbox-auth" /> for details.</para>
997	</listitem>
998
999	<listitem>
1000	<para><computeroutput>--vrdemulticon on\|off</computeroutput>: This
1001	enables multiple connections to the same VRDE server, if the
1002	server supports this feature; see <xref lang=""
1003	linkend="vrde-multiconnection" />.</para>
1004	</listitem>
1005
1006	<listitem>
1007	<para><computeroutput>--vrdereusecon on\|off</computeroutput>: This
1008	specifies the VRDE server behavior when multiple connections are
1009	disabled. When this option is enabled, the server will allow a new
1010	client to connect and will drop the existing connection. When this
1011	option is disabled (this is the default setting), a new connection
1012	will not be accepted if there is already a client connected to the
1013	server.</para>
1014	</listitem>
1015
1016	<listitem>
1017	<para><computeroutput>--vrdevideochannel on\|off</computeroutput>:
1018	This enables video redirection, if it is supported by the VRDE
1019	server; see <xref lang="" linkend="vrde-videochannel" />.</para>
1020	</listitem>
1021
1022	<listitem>
1023	<para><computeroutput>--vrdevideochannelquality
1024	<percent></computeroutput>: Sets the image quality for video
1025	redirection; see <xref lang=""
1026	linkend="vrde-videochannel" />.</para>
1027	</listitem>
1028	</itemizedlist></para>
1029	</sect2>
1030
1031	<sect2 id="vboxmanage-modifyvm-teleport">
1032	<title>Teleporting settings</title>
1033
1034	<para>With the following commands for <computeroutput>VBoxManage
1035	modifyvm</computeroutput> you can configure a machine to be a target for
1036	teleporting. See <xref linkend="teleporting" /> for an
1037	introduction.<itemizedlist>
1038	<listitem>
1039	<para><computeroutput>--teleporter on\|off</computeroutput>: With
1040	this setting you turn on or off whether a machine waits for a
1041	teleporting request to come in on the network when it is started.
1042	If "on", when the machine is started, it does not boot the virtual
1043	machine as it would normally; instead, it then waits for a
1044	teleporting request to come in on the port and address listed with
1045	the next two parameters.</para>
1046	</listitem>
1047
1048	<listitem>
1049	<para><computeroutput>--teleporterport
1050	<port></computeroutput>, <computeroutput>--teleporteraddress
1051	<address></computeroutput>: these must be used with
1052	--teleporter and tell the virtual machine on which port and
1053	address it should listen for a teleporting request from another
1054	virtual machine. <computeroutput><port></computeroutput> can
1055	be any free TCP/IP port number (e.g. 6000);
1056	<computeroutput><address></computeroutput> can be any IP
1057	address or hostname and specifies the TCP/IP socket to bind to.
1058	The default is "0.0.0.0", which means any address.</para>
1059	</listitem>
1060
1061	<listitem>
1062	<para><computeroutput>--teleporterpassword
1063	<password></computeroutput>: if this optional argument is
1064	given, then the teleporting request will only succeed if the
1065	source machine specifies the same password as the one given with
1066	this command.<note>
1067	<para>Currently, the password is stored without encryption
1068	(i.e. in clear text) in the XML machine configuration
1069	file.</para>
1070	</note></para>
1071	</listitem>
1072
1073	<listitem>
1074	<para><computeroutput>--cpuid <leaf> <eax> <ebx>
1075	<ecx> <edx></computeroutput>: Advanced users can use
1076	this command before a teleporting operation to restrict the
1077	virtual CPU capabilities that VirtualBox presents to the guest
1078	operating system. This must be run on both the source and the
1079	target machines involved in the teleporting and will then modify
1080	what the guest sees when it executes the
1081	<computeroutput>CPUID</computeroutput> machine instruction. This
1082	might help with misbehaving applications that wrongly assume that
1083	certain CPU capabilities are present. The meaning of the
1084	parameters is hardware dependent; please refer to the AMD or Intel
1085	processor manuals.</para>
1086	</listitem>
1087	</itemizedlist></para>
1088	</sect2>
1089	</sect1>
1090
1091	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-import">
1092	<title>VBoxManage import</title>
1093
1094	<para>This command imports a virtual appliance in OVF format by copying
1095	the virtual disk images and creating virtual machines in VirtualBox. See
1096	<xref linkend="ovf" /> for an introduction to appliances.</para>
1097
1098	<para>The <computeroutput>import</computeroutput> subcommand takes at
1099	least the path name of an OVF file as input and expects the disk images,
1100	if needed, in the same directory as the OVF file. A lot of additional
1101	command-line options are supported to control in detail what is being
1102	imported and modify the import parameters, but the details depend on the
1103	content of the OVF file.</para>
1104
1105	<para>It is therefore recommended to first run the import subcommand with
1106	the <computeroutput>--dry-run</computeroutput> or
1107	<computeroutput>-n</computeroutput> option. This will then print a
1108	description of the appliance's contents to the screen how it would be
1109	imported into VirtualBox, together with the optional command-line options
1110	to influence the import behavior.</para>
1111
1112	<para>As an example, here is the screen output with a sample appliance
1113	containing a Windows XP guest:<screen>VBoxManage import WindowsXp.ovf --dry-run
1114	Interpreting WindowsXp.ovf...
1115	OK.
1116	Virtual system 0:
1117	0: Suggested OS type: "WindowsXP"
1118	(change with "--vsys 0 --ostype <type>"; use "list ostypes" to list all)
1119	1: Suggested VM name "Windows XP Professional_1"
1120	(change with "--vsys 0 --vmname <name>")
1121	3: Number of CPUs: 1
1122	(change with "--vsys 0 --cpus <n>")
1123	4: Guest memory: 956 MB (change with "--vsys 0 --memory <MB>")
1124	5: Sound card (appliance expects "ensoniq1371", can change on import)
1125	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 5 --ignore")
1126	6: USB controller
1127	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 6 --ignore")
1128	7: Network adapter: orig bridged, config 2, extra type=bridged
1129	8: Floppy
1130	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 8 --ignore")
1131	9: SCSI controller, type BusLogic
1132	(change with "--vsys 0 --unit 9 --scsitype {BusLogic\|LsiLogic}";
1133	disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 9 --ignore")
1134	10: IDE controller, type PIIX4
1135	(disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 10 --ignore")
1136	11: Hard disk image: source image=WindowsXp.vmdk,
1137	target path=/home/user/disks/WindowsXp.vmdk, controller=9;channel=0
1138	(change controller with "--vsys 0 --unit 11 --controller <id>";
1139	disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 11 --ignore")</screen></para>
1140
1141	<para>As you can see, the individual configuration items are numbered, and
1142	depending on their type support different command-line options. The import
1143	subcommand can be directed to ignore many such items with a
1144	<computeroutput>--vsys X --unit Y --ignore</computeroutput> option, where
1145	X is the number of the virtual system (zero unless there are several
1146	virtual system descriptions in the appliance) and Y the item number, as
1147	printed on the screen.</para>
1148
1149	<para>In the above example, Item #1 specifies the name of the target
1150	machine in VirtualBox. Items #9 and #10 specify hard disk controllers,
1151	respectively. Item #11 describes a hard disk image; in this case, the
1152	additional <computeroutput>--controller</computeroutput> option indicates
1153	which item the disk image should be connected to, with the default coming
1154	from the OVF file.</para>
1155
1156	<para>You can combine several items for the same virtual system behind the
1157	same <computeroutput>--vsys</computeroutput> option. For example, to
1158	import a machine as described in the OVF, but without the sound card and
1159	without the USB controller, and with the disk image connected to the IDE
1160	controller instead of the SCSI controller, use this:<screen>VBoxManage import WindowsXp.ovf
1161	--vsys 0 --unit 5 --ignore --unit 6 --ignore --unit 11 --controller 10</screen></para>
1162	</sect1>
1163
1164	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-export">
1165	<title>VBoxManage export</title>
1166
1167	<para>This command exports one or more virtual machines from VirtualBox
1168	into a virtual appliance in OVF format, including copying their virtual
1169	disk images to compressed VMDK. See <xref linkend="ovf" /> for an
1170	introduction to appliances.</para>
1171
1172	<para>The <computeroutput>export</computeroutput> command is simple to
1173	use: list the machine (or the machines) that you would like to export to
1174	the same OVF file and specify the target OVF file after an additional
1175	<computeroutput>--output</computeroutput> or
1176	<computeroutput>-o</computeroutput> option. Note that the directory of the
1177	target OVF file will also receive the exported disk images in the
1178	compressed VMDK format (regardless of the original format) and should have
1179	enough disk space left for them.</para>
1180
1181	<para>Beside a simple export of a given virtual machine, you can append
1182	several product information to the appliance file. Use
1183	<computeroutput>--product</computeroutput>,
1184	<computeroutput>--producturl</computeroutput>,
1185	<computeroutput>--vendor</computeroutput>,
1186	<computeroutput>--vendorurl</computeroutput> and
1187	<computeroutput>--version</computeroutput> to specify this additional
1188	information. For legal reasons you may add a license text or the content
1189	of a license file by using the <computeroutput>--eula</computeroutput> and
1190	<computeroutput>--eulafile</computeroutput> option respectively. As with
1191	OVF import, you must use the <computeroutput>--vsys X</computeroutput>
1192	option to direct the previously mentioned options to the correct virtual
1193	machine.</para>
1194
1195	<para>For virtualization products which aren't fully compatible with the
1196	OVF standard 1.0 you can enable a OVF 0.9 legacy mode with the
1197	<computeroutput>--legacy09</computeroutput> option.</para>
1198	</sect1>
1199
1200	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-startvm">
1201	<title>VBoxManage startvm</title>
1202
1203	<para>This command starts a virtual machine that is currently in the
1204	"Powered off" or "Saved" states.</para>
1205
1206	<note>
1207	<para>This is provided for backwards compatibility only. We recommend to
1208	start virtual machines directly by running the respective front-end, as
1209	you might otherwise miss important error and state information that
1210	VirtualBox may display on the console. This is especially important for
1211	front-ends other than <computeroutput>VirtualBox</computeroutput>, our
1212	graphical user interface, because those cannot display error messages in
1213	a popup window. See <xref linkend="vboxheadless" /> for more
1214	information.</para>
1215	</note>
1216
1217	<para>The optional <computeroutput>--type</computeroutput> specifier
1218	determines whether the machine will be started in a window (GUI mode,
1219	which is the default) or whether the output should go through
1220	<computeroutput>VBoxHeadless</computeroutput>, with VRDE enabled or not;
1221	see <xref linkend="vboxheadless" /> for more information. The list of
1222	types is subject to change, and it's not guaranteed that all types are
1223	accepted by any product variant.</para>
1224
1225	<para>The following values are allowed:</para>
1226
1227	<glosslist>
1228	<glossentry>
1229	<glossterm>gui</glossterm>
1230
1231	<glossdef>
1232	<para>Starts a VM showing a GUI window. This is the default.</para>
1233	</glossdef>
1234	</glossentry>
1235
1236	<glossentry>
1237	<glossterm>headless</glossterm>
1238
1239	<glossdef>
1240	<para>Starts a VM without a window for remote display only.</para>
1241	</glossdef>
1242	</glossentry>
1243	</glosslist>
1244	</sect1>
1245
1246	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-controlvm">
1247	<title>VBoxManage controlvm</title>
1248
1249	<para>The <computeroutput>controlvm</computeroutput> subcommand allows you
1250	to change the state of a virtual machine that is currently running. The
1251	following can be specified:</para>
1252
1253	<para><itemizedlist>
1254	<listitem>
1255	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1256	pause</computeroutput> temporarily puts a virtual machine on hold,
1257	without changing its state for good. The VM window will be painted
1258	in gray to indicate that the VM is currently paused. (This is
1259	equivalent to selecting the "Pause" item in the "Machine" menu of
1260	the GUI.)</para>
1261	</listitem>
1262
1263	<listitem>
1264	<para>Use <computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1265	resume</computeroutput> to undo a previous
1266	<computeroutput>pause</computeroutput> command. (This is equivalent
1267	to selecting the "Resume" item in the "Machine" menu of the
1268	GUI.)</para>
1269	</listitem>
1270
1271	<listitem>
1272	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1273	reset</computeroutput> has the same effect on a virtual machine as
1274	pressing the "Reset" button on a real computer: a cold reboot of the
1275	virtual machine, which will restart and boot the guest operating
1276	system again immediately. The state of the VM is not saved
1277	beforehand, and data may be lost. (This is equivalent to selecting
1278	the "Reset" item in the "Machine" menu of the GUI.)</para>
1279	</listitem>
1280
1281	<listitem>
1282	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1283	poweroff</computeroutput> has the same effect on a virtual machine
1284	as pulling the power cable on a real computer. Again, the state of
1285	the VM is not saved beforehand, and data may be lost. (This is
1286	equivalent to selecting the "Close" item in the "Machine" menu of
1287	the GUI or pressing the window's close button, and then selecting
1288	"Power off the machine" in the dialog.)</para>
1289
1290	<para>After this, the VM's state will be "Powered off". From there,
1291	it can be started again; see <xref
1292	linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />.</para>
1293	</listitem>
1294
1295	<listitem>
1296	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm>
1297	savestate</computeroutput> will save the current state of the VM to
1298	disk and then stop the VM. (This is equivalent to selecting the
1299	"Close" item in the "Machine" menu of the GUI or pressing the
1300	window's close button, and then selecting "Save the machine state"
1301	in the dialog.)</para>
1302
1303	<para>After this, the VM's state will be "Saved". From there, it can
1304	be started again; see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />.</para>
1305	</listitem>
1306
1307	<listitem>
1308	<para><computeroutput>VBoxManage controlvm <vm> teleport
1309	--hostname <name> --port <port> [--password
1310	<password>]</computeroutput> makes the machine the source of a
1311	teleporting operation and initiates a teleport to the given target.
1312	See <xref linkend="teleporting" /> for an introduction. If the
1313	optional password is specified, it must match the password that was
1314	given to the <computeroutput>modifyvm</computeroutput> command for
1315	the target machine; see <xref
1316	linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm-teleport" /> for details.</para>
1317	</listitem>
1318	</itemizedlist></para>
1319
1320	<para>A few extra options are available with
1321	<computeroutput>controlvm</computeroutput> that do not directly affect the
1322	VM's running state:</para>
1323
1324	<itemizedlist>
1325	<listitem>
1326	<para>The <computeroutput>setlinkstate<1-N></computeroutput>
1327	operation connects or disconnects virtual network cables from their
1328	network interfaces.</para>
1329	</listitem>
1330
1331	<listitem>
1332	<para><computeroutput>nic<1-N>
1333	null\|nat\|bridged\|intnet\|hostonly\|generic</computeroutput>: With this, you can
1334	set, for each of the VM's virtual network cards, what type of
1335	networking should be available. They can be not connected to the host
1336	(<computeroutput>null</computeroutput>), use network address
1337	translation (<computeroutput>nat</computeroutput>), bridged networking
1338	(<computeroutput>bridged</computeroutput>) or communicate with other
1339	virtual machines using internal networking
1340	(<computeroutput>intnet</computeroutput>) or host-only networking
1341	(<computeroutput>hostonly</computeroutput>) or access to rarely used
1342	sub-modes
1343	(<computeroutput>generic</computeroutput>). These options correspond
1344	to the modes which are described in detail in <xref
1345	linkend="networkingmodes" />.</para>
1346	</listitem>
1347
1348	<listitem>
1349	<para><computeroutput>usbattach</computeroutput> and
1350	<computeroutput>usbdettach</computeroutput> make host USB devices
1351	visible to the virtual machine on the fly, without the need for
1352	creating filters first. The USB devices can be specified by UUID
1353	(unique identifier) or by address on the host system.</para>
1354
1355	<para>You can use <computeroutput>VBoxManage list
1356	usbhost</computeroutput> to locate this information.</para>
1357	</listitem>
1358
1359	<listitem>
1360	<para><computeroutput>vrde on\|off</computeroutput> lets you enable or
1361	disable the VRDE server, if it is installed.</para>
1362	</listitem>
1363
1364	<listitem>
1365	<para><computeroutput>vrdeport default\|<ports></computeroutput>
1366	changes the port or a range of ports that the VRDE server can bind to;
1367	"default" or "0" means port 3389, the standard port for RDP. For
1368	details, see the description for the
1369	<computeroutput>--vrdeport</computeroutput> option in <xref
1370	linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm-other" />.</para>
1371	</listitem>
1372
1373	<listitem>
1374	<para><computeroutput>setvideomodehint</computeroutput> requests that
1375	the guest system change to a particular video mode. This requires that
1376	the Guest Additions be installed, and will not work for all guest
1377	systems.</para>
1378	</listitem>
1379
1380	<listitem>
1381	<para><computeroutput>screenshotpng</computeroutput> takes a screenshot
1382	of the guest display and saves it in PNG format.</para>
1383	</listitem>
1384
1385	<listitem>
1386	<para>The <computeroutput>setcredentials</computeroutput> operation is
1387	used for remote logons in Windows guests. For details, please refer to
1388	<xref linkend="autologon" />.</para>
1389	</listitem>
1390
1391	<listitem>
1392	<para>The <computeroutput>guestmemoryballoon</computeroutput>
1393	operation changes the size of the guest memory balloon, that is,
1394	memory allocated by the VirtualBox Guest Additions from the guest
1395	operating system and returned to the hypervisor for re-use by other
1396	virtual machines. This must be specified in megabytes. For details,
1397	see <xref linkend="guestadd-balloon" />.</para>
1398	</listitem>
1399
1400	<listitem>
1401	<para>The <computeroutput>cpuexecutioncap
1402	<1-100></computeroutput>: This operation controls how much cpu
1403	time a virtual CPU can use. A value of 50 implies a single virtual CPU
1404	can use up to 50% of a single host CPU.</para>
1405	</listitem>
1406	</itemizedlist>
1407	</sect1>
1408
1409	<sect1>
1410	<title>VBoxManage discardstate</title>
1411
1412	<para>This command discards the saved state of a virtual machine which is
1413	not currently running, which will cause its operating system to restart
1414	next time you start it. This is the equivalent of pulling out the power
1415	cable on a physical machine, and should be avoided if possible.</para>
1416	</sect1>
1417
1418	<sect1>
1419	<title>VBoxManage adoptstate</title>
1420
1421	<para>If you have a saved state file (<computeroutput>.sav</computeroutput>)
1422	that is seperate from the VM configuration, you can use this command to
1423	"adopt" the file. This will change the VM to saved state and when you
1424	start it, VirtualBox will attempt to restore it from the saved state file
1425	you indicated. This command should only be used in special setups.</para>
1426	</sect1>
1427
1428	<sect1>
1429	<title>VBoxManage snapshot</title>
1430
1431	<para>This command is used to control snapshots from the command line. A
1432	snapshot consists of a complete copy of the virtual machine settings,
1433	copied at the time when the snapshot was taken, and optionally a virtual
1434	machine saved state file if the snapshot was taken while the machine was
1435	running. After a snapshot has been taken, VirtualBox creates differencing
1436	hard disk for each normal hard disk associated with the machine so that
1437	when a snapshot is restored, the contents of the virtual machine's virtual
1438	hard disks can be quickly reset by simply dropping the pre-existing
1439	differencing files.</para>
1440
1441	<para>The <computeroutput>take</computeroutput> operation takes a snapshot
1442	of the current state of the virtual machine. You must supply a name for
1443	the snapshot and can optionally supply a description. The new snapshot is
1444	inserted into the snapshots tree as a child of the current snapshot and
1445	then becomes the new current snapshot.</para>
1446
1447	<para>The <computeroutput>delete</computeroutput> operation deletes a
1448	snapshot (specified by name or by UUID). This can take a while to finish
1449	since the differencing images associated with the snapshot might need to
1450	be merged with their child differencing images.</para>
1451
1452	<para>The <computeroutput>restore</computeroutput> operation will restore
1453	the given snapshot (specified by name or by UUID) by resetting the virtual
1454	machine's settings and current state to that of the snapshot. The previous
1455	current state of the machine will be lost. After this, the given snapshot
1456	becomes the new "current" snapshot so that subsequent snapshots are
1457	inserted under the snapshot from which was restored.</para>
1458
1459	<para>The <computeroutput>restorecurrent</computeroutput> operation is a
1460	shortcut to restore the current snapshot (i.e. the snapshot from which the
1461	current state is derived). This subcommand is equivalent to using the
1462	"restore" subcommand with the name or UUID of the current snapshot, except
1463	that it avoids the extra step of determining that name or UUID.</para>
1464
1465	<para>With the <computeroutput>edit</computeroutput> operation, you can
1466	change the name or description of an existing snapshot.</para>
1467
1468	<para>With the <computeroutput>showvminfo</computeroutput> operation, you
1469	can view the virtual machine settings that were stored with an existing
1470	snapshot.</para>
1471	</sect1>
1472
1473	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-closemedium">
1474	<title>VBoxManage closemedium</title>
1475
1476	<para>This commands removes a hard disk, DVD or floppy image from a
1477	VirtualBox media registry.<footnote>
1478	<para>Before VirtualBox 4.0, it was necessary to call VBoxManage
1479	openmedium before a medium could be attached to a virtual machine;
1480	that call "registered" the medium with the global VirtualBox media
1481	registry. With VirtualBox 4.0 this is no longer necessary; media are
1482	added to media registries automatically. The "closemedium" call has
1483	been retained, however, to allow for explicitly removing a medium from
1484	a registry.</para>
1485	</footnote></para>
1486
1487	<para>Optionally, you can request that the image be deleted. You will get
1488	appropriate diagnostics that the deletion failed, however the image will
1489	become unregistered in any case.</para>
1490	</sect1>
1491
1492	<sect1>
1493	<title id="vboxmanage-storageattach">VBoxManage storageattach</title>
1494
1495	<para>This command attaches/modifies/removes a storage medium connected to
1496	a storage controller that was previously added with the
1497	<computeroutput>storagectl</computeroutput> command (see the previous
1498	section). The syntax is as follows:</para>
1499
1500	<screen>VBoxManage storageattach <uuid\|vmname>
1501	--storagectl <name>
1502	--port <number>
1503	--device <number>
1504	[--type dvddrive\|hdd\|fdd]
1505	[--medium none\|emptydrive\|
1506	<uuid>\|<filename>\|host:<drive>\|iscsi]
1507	[--mtype normal\|writethrough\|immutable\|shareable]
1508	[--comment <text>]
1509	[--setuuid <uuid>]
1510	[--setparentuuid <uuid>]
1511	[--passthrough on\|off]
1512	[--tempeject on\|off]
1513	[--bandwidthgroup name\|none]
1514	[--forceunmount]
1515	[--server <name>\|<ip>]
1516	[--target <target>]
1517	[--port <port>]
1518	[--lun <lun>]
1519	[--encodedlun <lun>]
1520	[--username <username>]
1521	[--password <password>]
1522	[--intnet]
1523	</screen>
1524
1525	<para>A number of parameters are commonly required; the ones at the end of
1526	the list are required only for iSCSI targets (see below).</para>
1527
1528	<para>The common parameters are:<glosslist>
1529	<glossentry>
1530	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
1531
1532	<glossdef>
1533	<para>The VM UUID or VM Name. Mandatory.</para>
1534	</glossdef>
1535	</glossentry>
1536
1537	<glossentry>
1538	<glossterm>storagectl</glossterm>
1539
1540	<glossdef>
1541	<para>Name of the storage controller. Mandatory. The list of the
1542	storage controllers currently attached to a VM can be obtained
1543	with <computeroutput>VBoxManage showvminfo</computeroutput>; see
1544	<xref linkend="vboxmanage-showvminfo" />.</para>
1545	</glossdef>
1546	</glossentry>
1547
1548	<glossentry>
1549	<glossterm>port</glossterm>
1550
1551	<glossdef>
1552	<para>The number of the storage controller's port which is to be
1553	modified. Mandatory.</para>
1554	</glossdef>
1555	</glossentry>
1556
1557	<glossentry>
1558	<glossterm>device</glossterm>
1559
1560	<glossdef>
1561	<para>The number of the port's device which is to be modified.
1562	Mandatory.</para>
1563	</glossdef>
1564	</glossentry>
1565
1566	<glossentry>
1567	<glossterm>type</glossterm>
1568
1569	<glossdef>
1570	<para>Define the type of the drive to which the medium is being
1571	attached/detached/modified. This argument can only be omitted if
1572	the type of medium can be determined from either the medium given
1573	with the <computeroutput>--medium</computeroutput> argument or
1574	from a previous medium attachment.</para>
1575	</glossdef>
1576	</glossentry>
1577
1578	<glossentry>
1579	<glossterm>medium</glossterm>
1580
1581	<glossdef>
1582	<para>Specifies what is to be attached. The following values are
1583	supported:<itemizedlist>
1584	<listitem>
1585	<para>"none": Any existing device should be removed from the
1586	given slot.</para>
1587	</listitem>
1588
1589	<listitem>
1590	<para>"emptydrive": For a virtual DVD or floppy drive only,
1591	this makes the device slot behaves like a removeable drive
1592	into which no media has been inserted.</para>
1593	</listitem>
1594
1595	<listitem>
1596	<para>If a UUID is specified, it must be the UUID of a
1597	storage medium that is already known to VirtualBox (e.g.
1598	because it has been attached to another virtual machine).
1599	See <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> for how to list known
1600	media. This medium is then attached to the given device
1601	slot.</para>
1602	</listitem>
1603
1604	<listitem>
1605	<para>If a filename is specified, it must be the full path
1606	of an existing disk image (ISO, RAW, VDI, VMDK or other),
1607	which is then attached to the given device slot.</para>
1608	</listitem>
1609
1610	<listitem>
1611	<para>"host:<drive>": For a virtual DVD or floppy
1612	drive only, this connects the given device slot to the
1613	specified DVD or floppy drive on the host computer.</para>
1614	</listitem>
1615
1616	<listitem>
1617	<para>"iscsi": For virtual hard disks only, this allows for
1618	specifying an iSCSI target. In this case, more parameters
1619	must be given; see below.</para>
1620	</listitem>
1621	</itemizedlist></para>
1622
1623	<para>Some of the above changes, in particular for removeable
1624	media (floppies and CDs/DVDs), can be effected while a VM is
1625	running. Others (device changes or changes in hard disk device
1626	slots) require the VM to be powered off.</para>
1627	</glossdef>
1628	</glossentry>
1629
1630	<glossentry>
1631	<glossterm>mtype</glossterm>
1632
1633	<glossdef>
1634	<para>Defines how this medium behaves with respect to snapshots
1635	and write operations. See <xref linkend="hdimagewrites" /> for
1636	details.</para>
1637	</glossdef>
1638	</glossentry>
1639
1640	<glossentry>
1641	<glossterm>comment</glossterm>
1642
1643	<glossdef>
1644	<para>Any description that you want to have stored with this
1645	medium (optional; for example, for an iSCSI target, "Big storage
1646	server downstairs"). This is purely descriptive and not needed for
1647	the medium to function correctly.</para>
1648	</glossdef>
1649	</glossentry>
1650
1651	<glossentry>
1652	<glossterm>setuuid, setparentuuid</glossterm>
1653
1654	<glossdef>
1655	<para>Modifies the UUID or parent UUID of a medium before
1656	attaching it to a VM. This is an expert option. Inappropriate use
1657	can make the medium unusable or lead to broken VM configurations
1658	if any other VM is referring to the same media already. The most
1659	frequently used variant is <code>--setuuid ""</code>, which assigns
1660	a new (random) UUID to an image. This is useful to resolve the
1661	duplicate UUID errors if one duplicated an image using file copy
1662	utilities.</para>
1663	</glossdef>
1664	</glossentry>
1665
1666	<glossentry>
1667	<glossterm>passthrough</glossterm>
1668
1669	<glossdef>
1670	<para>For a virtual DVD drive only, you can enable DVD writing
1671	support (currently experimental; see <xref
1672	linkend="storage-cds" />).</para>
1673	</glossdef>
1674	</glossentry>
1675
1676	<glossentry>
1677	<glossterm>tempeject</glossterm>
1678
1679	<glossdef>
1680	<para>For a virtual DVD drive only, you can configure the behavior
1681	for guest-triggered medium eject. If this is set to "on", the eject
1682	has only temporary effects. If the VM is powered off and restarted
1683	the originally configured medium will be still in the drive.</para>
1684	</glossdef>
1685	</glossentry>
1686
1687	<glossentry>
1688	<glossterm>bandwidthgroup</glossterm>
1689
1690	<glossdef>
1691	<para>Sets the bandwidth group to use for the given device; see
1692	<xref linkend="storage-bandwidth-limit" />.</para>
1693	</glossdef>
1694	</glossentry>
1695
1696	<glossentry>
1697	<glossterm>forceunmount</glossterm>
1698
1699	<glossdef>
1700	<para>For a virtual DVD or floppy drive only, this forcibly
1701	unmounts the DVD/CD/Floppy or mounts a new DVD/CD/Floppy even if
1702	the previous one is locked down by the guest for reading. Again,
1703	see <xref linkend="storage-cds" /> for details.</para>
1704	</glossdef>
1705	</glossentry>
1706	</glosslist></para>
1707
1708	<para>When "iscsi" is used with the
1709	<computeroutput>--medium</computeroutput> parameter for iSCSI support --
1710	see <xref linkend="storage-iscsi" /> --, additional parameters must or can
1711	be used:<glosslist>
1712	<glossentry>
1713	<glossterm>server</glossterm>
1714
1715	<glossdef>
1716	<para>The host name or IP address of the iSCSI target;
1717	required.</para>
1718	</glossdef>
1719	</glossentry>
1720
1721	<glossentry>
1722	<glossterm>target</glossterm>
1723
1724	<glossdef>
1725	<para>Target name string. This is determined by the iSCSI target
1726	and used to identify the storage resource; required.</para>
1727	</glossdef>
1728	</glossentry>
1729
1730	<glossentry>
1731	<glossterm>port</glossterm>
1732
1733	<glossdef>
1734	<para>TCP/IP port number of the iSCSI service on the target
1735	(optional).</para>
1736	</glossdef>
1737	</glossentry>
1738
1739	<glossentry>
1740	<glossterm>lun</glossterm>
1741
1742	<glossdef>
1743	<para>Logical Unit Number of the target resource (optional).
1744	Often, this value is zero.</para>
1745	</glossdef>
1746	</glossentry>
1747
1748	<glossentry>
1749	<glossterm>username, password</glossterm>
1750
1751	<glossdef>
1752	<para>Username and password for target authentication, if required
1753	(optional).<note>
1754	<para>Currently, username and password are stored without
1755	encryption (i.e. in clear text) in the XML machine
1756	configuration file.</para>
1757	</note></para>
1758	</glossdef>
1759	</glossentry>
1760
1761	<glossentry>
1762	<glossterm>intnet</glossterm>
1763
1764	<glossdef>
1765	<para>If specified, connect to the iSCSI target via Internal
1766	Networking. This needs further configuration which is described in
1767	<xref linkend="iscsi-intnet" />.</para>
1768	</glossdef>
1769	</glossentry>
1770	</glosslist></para>
1771	</sect1>
1772
1773	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-storagectl">
1774	<title>VBoxManage storagectl</title>
1775
1776	<para>This command attaches/modifies/removes a storage controller. After
1777	this, virtual media can be attached to the controller with the
1778	<computeroutput>storageattach</computeroutput> command (see the next
1779	section).</para>
1780
1781	<para>The syntax is as follows:</para>
1782
1783	<screen>VBoxManage storagectl <uuid\|vmname>
1784	--name <name>
1785	[--add <ide/sata/scsi/floppy>]
1786	[--controller <LsiLogic\|LSILogicSAS\|BusLogic\|
1787	IntelAhci\|PIIX3\|PIIX4\|ICH6\|I82078>]
1788	[--sataideemulation<1-4> <1-30>]
1789	[--sataportcount <1-30>]
1790	[--hostiocache on\|off]
1791	[--bootable on\|off]
1792	[--remove]</screen>
1793
1794	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
1795	<glossentry>
1796	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
1797
1798	<glossdef>
1799	<para>The VM UUID or VM Name. Mandatory.</para>
1800	</glossdef>
1801	</glossentry>
1802
1803	<glossentry>
1804	<glossterm>name</glossterm>
1805
1806	<glossdef>
1807	<para>Name of the storage controller. Mandatory.</para>
1808	</glossdef>
1809	</glossentry>
1810
1811	<glossentry>
1812	<glossterm>add</glossterm>
1813
1814	<glossdef>
1815	<para>Define the type of the system bus to which the storage
1816	controller must be connected.</para>
1817	</glossdef>
1818	</glossentry>
1819
1820	<glossentry>
1821	<glossterm>controller</glossterm>
1822
1823	<glossdef>
1824	<para>Allows to choose the type of chipset being emulated for the
1825	given storage controller.</para>
1826	</glossdef>
1827	</glossentry>
1828
1829	<glossentry>
1830	<glossterm>sataideemulation</glossterm>
1831
1832	<glossdef>
1833	<para>This specifies which SATA ports should operate in IDE
1834	emulation mode. As explained in <xref
1835	linkend="harddiskcontrollers" />, by default, this is the case for
1836	SATA ports 1-4; with this command, you can map four IDE channels
1837	to any of the 30 supported SATA ports.</para>
1838	</glossdef>
1839	</glossentry>
1840
1841	<glossentry>
1842	<glossterm>sataportcount</glossterm>
1843
1844	<glossdef>
1845	<para>This determines how many ports the SATA controller should
1846	support.</para>
1847	</glossdef>
1848	</glossentry>
1849
1850	<glossentry>
1851	<glossterm>hostiocache</glossterm>
1852
1853	<glossdef>
1854	<para>Configures the use of the host I/O cache for all disk images
1855	attached to this storage controller. For details, please see <xref
1856	linkend="iocaching" />.</para>
1857	</glossdef>
1858	</glossentry>
1859
1860	<glossentry>
1861	<glossterm>bootable</glossterm>
1862
1863	<glossdef>
1864	<para>Selects whether this controller is bootable.</para>
1865	</glossdef>
1866	</glossentry>
1867
1868	<glossentry>
1869	<glossterm>remove</glossterm>
1870
1871	<glossdef>
1872	<para>Removes the storage controller from the VM config.</para>
1873	</glossdef>
1874	</glossentry>
1875	</glosslist></para>
1876	</sect1>
1877
1878	<sect1>
1879	<title>VBoxManage bandwidthctl</title>
1880
1881	<para>This command creates/deletes/modifies bandwidth groups of the given
1882	virtual machine:<screen>VBoxManage bandwidthctl <uuid\|vmname>
1883	--name <name>
1884	[--add disk
1885	[--delete]
1886	[--limit MB/s]</screen></para>
1887
1888	<para>See <xref linkend="storage-bandwidth-limit" /> for an introduction
1889	to bandwidth limits. The parameters mean:<glosslist>
1890	<glossentry>
1891	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
1892
1893	<glossdef>
1894	<para>The VM UUID or VM Name. Mandatory.</para>
1895	</glossdef>
1896	</glossentry>
1897
1898	<glossentry>
1899	<glossterm>name</glossterm>
1900
1901	<glossdef>
1902	<para>Name of the bandwidth group. Mandatory.</para>
1903	</glossdef>
1904	</glossentry>
1905
1906	<glossentry>
1907	<glossterm>add</glossterm>
1908
1909	<glossdef>
1910	<para>Creates a new bandwdith group with the given type.</para>
1911	</glossdef>
1912	</glossentry>
1913
1914	<glossentry>
1915	<glossterm>delete</glossterm>
1916
1917	<glossdef>
1918	<para>Deletes a bandwdith group if it isn't used anymore.</para>
1919	</glossdef>
1920	</glossentry>
1921
1922	<glossentry>
1923	<glossterm>limit</glossterm>
1924
1925	<glossdef>
1926	<para>Sets the limit for the given group to the specified amount.
1927	Can be changed while the VM is running.</para>
1928	</glossdef>
1929	</glossentry>
1930	</glosslist></para>
1931	</sect1>
1932
1933	<sect1>
1934	<title>VBoxManage showhdinfo</title>
1935
1936	<para>This command shows information about a virtual hard disk image,
1937	notably its size, its size on disk, its type and the virtual machines
1938	which use it.<note>
1939	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
1940	"showvdiinfo" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
1941	"showhdinfo" command.</para>
1942	</note></para>
1943	<para>The disk image must be specified either by its UUID (if the medium
1944	is registered) or by its filename. Registered images can be listed by
1945	<computeroutput>VBoxManage list hdds</computeroutput> (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" />
1946	for more information). A filename must be specified as valid path, either
1947	as an absolute path or as a relative path starting from the current
1948	directory.</para>
1949	</sect1>
1950
1951	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-createvdi">
1952	<title>VBoxManage createhd</title>
1953
1954	<para>This command creates a new virtual hard disk image. The syntax is as
1955	follows:</para>
1956
1957	<screen>VBoxManage createhd --filename <filename>
1958	--size <megabytes>
1959	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD] (default: VDI)
1960	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]</screen>
1961
1962	<para>where the parameters mean:<glosslist>
1963	<glossentry>
1964	<glossterm>filename</glossterm>
1965
1966	<glossdef>
1967	<para>Allows to choose a file name. Mandatory.</para>
1968	</glossdef>
1969	</glossentry>
1970
1971	<glossentry>
1972	<glossterm>size</glossterm>
1973
1974	<glossdef>
1975	<para>Allows to define the image capacity, in 1 MiB units.
1976	Mandatory.</para>
1977	</glossdef>
1978	</glossentry>
1979
1980	<glossentry>
1981	<glossterm>format</glossterm>
1982
1983	<glossdef>
1984	<para>Allows to choose a file format for the output file different
1985	from the file format of the input file.</para>
1986	</glossdef>
1987	</glossentry>
1988
1989	<glossentry>
1990	<glossterm>variant</glossterm>
1991
1992	<glossdef>
1993	<para>Allows to choose a file format variant for the output file.
1994	It is a comma-separated list of variant flags. Not all
1995	combinations are supported, and specifying inconsistent flags will
1996	result in an error message.</para>
1997	</glossdef>
1998	</glossentry>
1999	</glosslist> <note>
2000	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2001	"createvdi" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2002	"createhd" command.</para>
2003	</note></para>
2004	</sect1>
2005
2006	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-modifyvdi">
2007	<title>VBoxManage modifyhd</title>
2008
2009	<para>With the <computeroutput>modifyhd</computeroutput> command, you can
2010	change the characteristics of a disk image after it has been
2011	created:<screen>VBoxManage modifyhd <uuid>\|<filename>
2012	[--type normal\|writethrough\|immutable\|shareable\|
2013	readonly\|multiattach]
2014	[--autoreset on\|off]
2015	[--compact]
2016	[--resize <megabytes>\|--resizebyte <bytes>]</screen><note>
2017	<para>Despite the "hd" in the subcommand name, the command works with
2018	all disk images, not only hard disks. For compatibility with earlier
2019	versions of VirtualBox, the "modifyvdi" command is also supported and
2020	mapped internally to the "modifyhd" command.</para>
2021	</note></para>
2022
2023	<para>The disk image to modify must be specified either by its UUID
2024	(if the medium is registered) or by its filename. Registered images
2025	can be listed by <computeroutput>VBoxManage list hdds</computeroutput>
2026	(see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> for more information).
2027	A filename must be specified as valid path, either as an absolute path
2028	or as a relative path starting from the current directory.</para>
2029	<para>The following options are available:<itemizedlist>
2030	<listitem>
2031	<para>With the <computeroutput>--type</computeroutput> argument, you
2032	can change the type of an existing image between the normal,
2033	immutable, write-through and other modes; see <xref
2034	linkend="hdimagewrites" /> for details.</para>
2035	</listitem>
2036
2037	<listitem>
2038	<para>For immutable (differencing) hard disks only, the
2039	<computeroutput>--autoreset on\|off</computeroutput> option
2040	determines whether the disk is automatically reset on every VM
2041	startup (again, see <xref linkend="hdimagewrites" />). The default
2042	is "on".</para>
2043	</listitem>
2044
2045	<listitem>
2046	<para>With the <computeroutput>--compact</computeroutput> option,
2047	can be used to compact disk images, i.e. remove blocks that only
2048	contains zeroes. This will shrink a dynamically expanding image
2049	again; it will reduce the <emphasis>physical</emphasis> size of the
2050	image without affecting the logical size of the virtual disk.
2051	Compaction works both for base images and for diff images created as
2052	part of a snapshot.</para>
2053
2054	<para>For this operation to be effective, it is required that free
2055	space in the guest system first be zeroed out using a suitable
2056	software tool. For Windows guests, you can use the
2057	<computeroutput>sdelete</computeroutput> tool provided by Microsoft.
2058	Execute <computeroutput>sdelete -c</computeroutput> in the guest to
2059	zero the free disk space before compressing the virtual disk
2060	image. For Linux, use the <code>zerofree</code> utility which
2061	supports ext2/ext3 filesystems.</para>
2062
2063	<para>Please note that compacting is currently only available for
2064	VDI images. A similar effect can be achieved by zeroing out free
2065	blocks and then cloning the disk to any other dynamically expanding
2066	format. You can use this workaround until compacting is also
2067	supported for disk formats other than VDI.</para>
2068	</listitem>
2069
2070	<listitem>
2071	<para>The <computeroutput>--resize</computeroutput> option allows you
2072	to change the capacity of an existing image; this adjusts the
2073	<emphasis>logical</emphasis> size of a virtual disk without affecting
2074	the physical size much.<footnote>
2075	<para>Image resizing was added with VirtualBox 4.0.</para>
2076	</footnote> This currently works only for expanding the capacity of
2077	VDI and VHD formats, and only for the dynamically expanding variants.
2078	For example, if you originally created a 10G disk which is now full,
2079	you can use the <computeroutput>--resize 15360</computeroutput>
2080	command to add 5 GByte more space to the virtual disk without
2081	having to create a new image and copy all data from within a virtual
2082	machine.</para>
2083	</listitem>
2084	</itemizedlist></para>
2085	</sect1>
2086
2087	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-clonevdi">
2088	<title>VBoxManage clonehd</title>
2089
2090	<para>This command duplicates a registered virtual hard disk image to a
2091	new image file with a new unique identifier (UUID). The new image can be
2092	transferred to another host system or imported into VirtualBox again using
2093	the Virtual Media Manager; see <xref linkend="vdis" /> and <xref
2094	linkend="cloningvdis" />. The syntax is as follows:</para>
2095
2096	<screen>VBoxManage clonehd <uuid>\|<filename> <outputfile>
2097	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD\|RAW\|<other>]
2098	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]
2099	[--existing]</screen>
2100
2101	<para>The disk image to clone as well as the target image must be described
2102	either by its UUIDs (if the mediums are registered) or by its filename.
2103	Registered images can be listed by <computeroutput>VBoxManage list hdds</computeroutput>
2104	(see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> for more information).
2105	A filename must be specified as valid path, either as an absolute path or
2106	as a relative path starting from the current directory.</para>
2107	<para>The following options are available:<glosslist>
2108	<glossentry>
2109	<glossterm>format</glossterm>
2110
2111	<glossdef>
2112	<para>Allow to choose a file format for the output file different
2113	from the file format of the input file.</para>
2114	</glossdef>
2115	</glossentry>
2116
2117	<glossentry>
2118	<glossterm>variant</glossterm>
2119
2120	<glossdef>
2121	<para>Allow to choose a file format variant for the output file.
2122	It is a comma-separated list of variant flags. Not all
2123	combinations are supported, and specifying inconsistent flags will
2124	result in an error message.</para>
2125	</glossdef>
2126	</glossentry>
2127
2128	<glossentry>
2129	<glossterm>existing</glossterm>
2130
2131	<glossdef>
2132	<para>Perform the clone operation to an already existing
2133	destination medium. Only the portion of the source medium which
2134	fits into the destination medium is copied. This means if the
2135	destination medium is smaller than the source only a part of it is
2136	copied, and if the destination medium is larger than the source
2137	the remaining part of the destination medium is unchanged.</para>
2138	</glossdef>
2139	</glossentry>
2140	</glosslist> <note>
2141	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2142	"clonevdi" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2143	"clonehd" command.</para>
2144	</note></para>
2145	</sect1>
2146
2147	<sect1>
2148	<title>VBoxManage convertfromraw</title>
2149
2150	<para>This command converts a raw disk image to a VirtualBox Disk Image
2151	(VDI) file. The syntax is as follows:</para>
2152
2153	<screen>VBoxManage convertfromraw <filename> <outputfile>
2154	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD]
2155	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]
2156	VBoxManage convertfromraw stdin <outputfile> <bytes>
2157	[--format VDI\|VMDK\|VHD]
2158	[--variant Standard,Fixed,Split2G,Stream,ESX]</screen>
2159
2160	<para>where the parameters mean:<glosslist>
2161	<glossentry>
2162	<glossterm>format</glossterm>
2163
2164	<glossdef>
2165	<para>Select the disk image format to create. Default is
2166	VDI.</para>
2167	</glossdef>
2168	</glossentry>
2169
2170	<glossentry>
2171	<glossterm>variant</glossterm>
2172
2173	<glossdef>
2174	<para>Allow to choose a file format variant for the output file.
2175	It is a comma-separated list of variant flags. Not all
2176	combinations are supported, and specifying inconsistent flags will
2177	result in an error message.</para>
2178	</glossdef>
2179	</glossentry>
2180	</glosslist> The second form forces VBoxManage to read the content for
2181	the disk image from standard input (useful for using that command in a
2182	pipe).</para>
2183
2184	<para><note>
2185	<para>For compatibility with earlier versions of VirtualBox, the
2186	"convertdd" command is also supported and mapped internally to the
2187	"convertfromraw" command.</para>
2188	</note></para>
2189	</sect1>
2190
2191	<sect1>
2192	<title>VBoxManage getextradata/setextradata</title>
2193
2194	<para>These commands let you attach and retrieve string data to a virtual
2195	machine or to a VirtualBox configuration (by specifying
2196	<computeroutput>global</computeroutput> instead of a virtual machine
2197	name). You must specify a key (as a text string) to associate the data
2198	with, which you can later use to retrieve it. For example:</para>
2199
2200	<screen>VBoxManage setextradata Fedora5 installdate 2006.01.01
2201	VBoxManage setextradata SUSE10 installdate 2006.02.02</screen>
2202
2203	<para>would associate the string "2006.01.01" with the key installdate for
2204	the virtual machine Fedora5, and "2006.02.02" on the machine SUSE10. You
2205	could retrieve the information as follows:</para>
2206
2207	<screen>VBoxManage getextradata Fedora5 installdate</screen>
2208
2209	<para>which would return</para>
2210
2211	<screen>VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version $VBOX_VERSION_MAJOR.$VBOX_VERSION_MINOR.$VBOX_VERSION_BUILD
2212	(C) 2005-$VBOX_C_YEAR $VBOX_VENDOR
2213	All rights reserved.
2214
2215	Value: 2006.01.01</screen>
2216	</sect1>
2217
2218	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-setproperty">
2219	<title>VBoxManage setproperty</title>
2220
2221	<para>This command is used to change global settings which affect the
2222	entire VirtualBox installation. Some of these correspond to the settings
2223	in the "Global settings" dialog in the graphical user interface. The
2224	following properties are available:<glosslist>
2225	<glossentry>
2226	<glossterm>machinefolder</glossterm>
2227
2228	<glossdef>
2229	<para>This specifies the default folder in which virtual machine
2230	definitions are kept; see <xref linkend="vboxconfigdata" /> for
2231	details.</para>
2232	</glossdef>
2233	</glossentry>
2234
2235	<glossentry>
2236	<glossterm>vrdeauthlibrary</glossterm>
2237
2238	<glossdef>
2239	<para>This specifies which library to use when "external"
2240	authentication has been selected for a particular virtual machine;
2241	see <xref linkend="vbox-auth" /> for details.</para>
2242	</glossdef>
2243	</glossentry>
2244
2245	<glossentry>
2246	<glossterm>websrvauthlibrary</glossterm>
2247
2248	<glossdef>
2249	<para>This specifies which library the web service uses to
2250	authenticate users. For details about the VirtualBox web service,
2251	please refer to the separate VirtualBox SDK reference (see <xref
2252	linkend="VirtualBoxAPI" />).</para>
2253	</glossdef>
2254	</glossentry>
2255
2256	<glossentry>
2257	<glossterm>vrdelibrary</glossterm>
2258
2259	<glossdef>
2260	<para>This specifies which library implements the VirtualBox
2261	Remote Desktop Extension.</para>
2262	</glossdef>
2263	</glossentry>
2264
2265	<glossentry>
2266	<glossterm>hwvirtexenabled</glossterm>
2267
2268	<glossdef>
2269	<para>This selects whether or not hardware virtualization support
2270	is enabled by default.</para>
2271	</glossdef>
2272	</glossentry>
2273	</glosslist></para>
2274	</sect1>
2275
2276	<sect1>
2277	<title>VBoxManage usbfilter add/modify/remove</title>
2278
2279	<para>The <computeroutput>usbfilter</computeroutput> commands are used for
2280	working with USB filters in virtual machines, or global filters which
2281	affect the whole VirtualBox setup. Global filters are applied before
2282	machine-specific filters, and may be used to prevent devices from being
2283	captured by any virtual machine. Global filters are always applied in a
2284	particular order, and only the first filter which fits a device is
2285	applied. So for example, if the first global filter says to hold (make
2286	available) a particular Kingston memory stick device and the second to
2287	ignore all Kingston devices, that memory stick will be available to any
2288	machine with an appropriate filter, but no other Kingston device
2289	will.</para>
2290
2291	<para>When creating a USB filter using <computeroutput>usbfilter
2292	add</computeroutput>, you must supply three or four mandatory parameters.
2293	The index specifies the position in the list at which the filter should be
2294	placed. If there is already a filter at that position, then it and the
2295	following ones will be shifted back one place. Otherwise the new filter
2296	will be added onto the end of the list. The
2297	<computeroutput>target</computeroutput> parameter selects the virtual
2298	machine that the filter should be attached to or use "global" to apply it
2299	to all virtual machines. <computeroutput>name</computeroutput> is a name
2300	for the new filter and for global filters,
2301	<computeroutput>action</computeroutput> says whether to allow machines
2302	access to devices that fit the filter description ("hold") or not to give
2303	them access ("ignore"). In addition, you should specify parameters to
2304	filter by. You can find the parameters for devices attached to your system
2305	using <computeroutput>VBoxManage list usbhost</computeroutput>. Finally,
2306	you can specify whether the filter should be active, and for local
2307	filters, whether they are for local devices, remote (over an RDP
2308	connection) or either.</para>
2309
2310	<para>When you modify a USB filter using <computeroutput>usbfilter
2311	modify</computeroutput>, you must specify the filter by index (see the
2312	output of <computeroutput>VBoxManage list usbfilters</computeroutput> to
2313	find global filter indexes and that of <computeroutput>VBoxManage
2314	showvminfo</computeroutput> to find indexes for individual machines) and
2315	by target, which is either a virtual machine or "global". The properties
2316	which can be changed are the same as for <computeroutput>usbfilter
2317	add</computeroutput>. To remove a filter, use <computeroutput>usbfilter
2318	remove</computeroutput> and specify the index and the target.</para>
2319	</sect1>
2320
2321	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-sharedfolder">
2322	<title>VBoxManage sharedfolder add/remove</title>
2323
2324	<para>This command allows you to share folders on the host computer with
2325	guest operating systems. For this, the guest systems must have a version
2326	of the VirtualBox Guest Additions installed which supports this
2327	functionality.</para>
2328
2329	<para>Shared folders are described in detail in <xref
2330	linkend="sharedfolders" />.</para>
2331	</sect1>
2332
2333	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-guestproperty">
2334	<title>VBoxManage guestproperty</title>
2335
2336	<para>The "guestproperty" commands allow you to get or set properties of a
2337	running virtual machine. Please see <xref linkend="guestadd-guestprops" />
2338	for an introduction. As explained there, guest properties are arbitrary
2339	key/value string pairs which can be written to and read from by either the
2340	guest or the host, so they can be used as a low-volume communication
2341	channel for strings, provided that a guest is running and has the Guest
2342	Additions installed. In addition, a number of values whose keys begin with
2343	"/VirtualBox/" are automatically set and maintained by the Guest
2344	Additions.</para>
2345
2346	<para>The following subcommands are available (where
2347	<computeroutput><vm></computeroutput>, in each case, can either be a
2348	VM name or a VM UUID, as with the other VBoxManage commands):<itemizedlist>
2349	<listitem>
2350	<para><computeroutput>enumerate <vm> [--patterns
2351	<pattern>]</computeroutput>: This lists all the guest
2352	properties that are available for the given VM, including the value.
2353	This list will be very limited if the guest's service process cannot
2354	be contacted, e.g. because the VM is not running or the Guest
2355	Additions are not installed.</para>
2356
2357	<para>If <computeroutput>--patterns <pattern></computeroutput>
2358	is specified, it acts as a filter to only list properties that match
2359	the given pattern. The pattern can contain the following wildcard
2360	characters:<itemizedlist>
2361	<listitem>
2362	<para><computeroutput>*</computeroutput> (asterisk):
2363	represents any number of characters; for example,
2364	"<computeroutput>/VirtualBox*</computeroutput>" would match
2365	all properties beginning with "/VirtualBox".</para>
2366	</listitem>
2367
2368	<listitem>
2369	<para><computeroutput>?</computeroutput> (question mark):
2370	represents a single arbitrary character; for example,
2371	"<computeroutput>fo?</computeroutput>" would match both "foo"
2372	and "for".</para>
2373	</listitem>
2374
2375	<listitem>
2376	<para><computeroutput>\|</computeroutput> (pipe symbol): can be
2377	used to specify multiple alternative patterns; for example,
2378	"<computeroutput>s\|t</computeroutput>" would match anything
2379	starting with either "s" or "t".</para>
2380	</listitem>
2381	</itemizedlist></para>
2382	</listitem>
2383
2384	<listitem>
2385	<para><computeroutput>get <vm></computeroutput>: This
2386	retrieves the value of a single property only. If the property
2387	cannot be found (e.g. because the guest is not running), this will
2388	print <screen>No value set!</screen></para>
2389	</listitem>
2390
2391	<listitem>
2392	<para><computeroutput>set <vm> <property> [<value>
2393	[--flags <flags>]]</computeroutput>: This allows you to set a
2394	guest property by specifying the key and value. If
2395	<computeroutput><value></computeroutput> is omitted, the
2396	property is deleted. With <computeroutput>--flags</computeroutput>
2397	you can optionally specify additional behavior (you can combine
2398	several by separating them with commas):<itemizedlist>
2399	<listitem>
2400	<para><computeroutput>TRANSIENT</computeroutput>: the value
2401	will not be stored with the VM data when the VM exits;</para>
2402	</listitem>
2403
2404	<listitem>
2405	<para><computeroutput>TRANSRESET</computeroutput>: the value
2406	will be deleted as soon as the VM restarts and/or exits;</para>
2407	</listitem>
2408
2409	<listitem>
2410	<para><computeroutput>RDONLYGUEST</computeroutput>: the value
2411	can only be changed by the host, but the guest can only read
2412	it;</para>
2413	</listitem>
2414
2415	<listitem>
2416	<para><computeroutput>RDONLYHOST</computeroutput>: reversely,
2417	the value can only be changed by the guest, but the host can
2418	only read it;</para>
2419	</listitem>
2420
2421	<listitem>
2422	<para><computeroutput>READONLY</computeroutput>: a combination
2423	of the two, the value cannot be changed at all.</para>
2424	</listitem>
2425	</itemizedlist></para>
2426	</listitem>
2427
2428	<listitem>
2429	<para><computeroutput>wait <vm> <pattern> --timeout
2430	<timeout></computeroutput>: This waits for a particular value
2431	described by "pattern" to change or to be deleted or created. The
2432	pattern rules are the same as for the "enumerate" subcommand
2433	above.</para>
2434	</listitem>
2435	</itemizedlist></para>
2436	</sect1>
2437
2438	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-guestcontrol">
2439	<title>VBoxManage guestcontrol</title>
2440
2441	<para>The "guestcontrol" commands allow you to control certain things
2442	inside a guest from the host. Please see <xref
2443	linkend="guestadd-guestcontrol" /> for an introduction.</para>
2444
2445	<para>Generally, the syntax is as follows:</para>
2446
2447	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <command></screen>
2448
2449	<para>The following subcommands are available (where
2450	<computeroutput><vm></computeroutput>, in each case, can either be a
2451	VM name or a VM UUID, as with the other VBoxManage commands):<itemizedlist>
2452	<listitem>
2453	<para><computeroutput>execute</computeroutput>, which allows for
2454	executing a program/script (process) which is already installed and
2455	runnable on the guest. This command only works while a VM is up and
2456	running and has the following syntax:</para>
2457
2458	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <vmname>\|<uuid> exec[ute]
2459	<path to program>
2460	--username <name> --password <password>
2461	[--arguments "<arguments>"]
2462	[--environment "<NAME>=<VALUE> [<NAME>=<VALUE>]"]
2463	[--flags <flags>] [--timeout <msec>]
2464	[--verbose] [--wait-for exit,stdout,stderr\|\|]</screen>
2465
2466	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
2467	<glossentry>
2468	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
2469
2470	<glossdef>
2471	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
2472	</glossdef>
2473	</glossentry>
2474
2475	<glossentry>
2476	<glossterm>path to program</glossterm>
2477
2478	<glossdef>
2479	<para>Absolute path and process name of process to execute
2480	in the guest, e.g.
2481	<computeroutput>C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe</computeroutput></para>
2482	</glossdef>
2483	</glossentry>
2484
2485	<glossentry>
2486	<glossterm>--arguments "<arguments>"</glossterm>
2487
2488	<glossdef>
2489	<para>One or more arguments to pass to the process being
2490	executed.</para>
2491
2492	<para>Arguments containing spaces must be enclosed in
2493	quotation marks. More than one
2494	<computeroutput>--arguments</computeroutput> at a time can
2495	be specified to keep the command line tidy.</para>
2496	</glossdef>
2497	</glossentry>
2498
2499	<glossentry>
2500	<glossterm>--environment
2501	"<NAME>=<VALUE>"</glossterm>
2502
2503	<glossdef>
2504	<para>One or more environment variables to be set or
2505	unset.</para>
2506
2507	<para>By default, the new process in the guest will be
2508	created with the standard environment of the guest OS. This
2509	option allows for modifying that environment. To set/modify
2510	a variable, a pair of
2511	<computeroutput>NAME=VALUE</computeroutput> must be
2512	specified; to unset a certain variable, the name with no
2513	value must set, e.g.
2514	<computeroutput>NAME=</computeroutput>.</para>
2515
2516	<para>Arguments containing spaces must be enclosed in
2517	quotation marks. More than one
2518	<computeroutput>--environment</computeroutput> at a time can
2519	be specified to keep the command line tidy.</para>
2520	</glossdef>
2521	</glossentry>
2522
2523	<glossentry>
2524	<glossterm>--flags <flags></glossterm>
2525
2526	<glossdef>
2527	<para>Additional flags to set. This is not used at the
2528	moment.</para>
2529	</glossdef>
2530	</glossentry>
2531
2532	<glossentry>
2533	<glossterm>--timeout <msec></glossterm>
2534
2535	<glossdef>
2536	<para>Value (in milliseconds) that specifies the time how
2537	long the started process is allowed to run and how long
2538	VBoxManage waits for getting output from that process. If no
2539	timeout is specified, VBoxManage will wait forever until the
2540	started process ends or an error occured.</para>
2541	</glossdef>
2542	</glossentry>
2543
2544	<glossentry>
2545	<glossterm>--username <name></glossterm>
2546
2547	<glossdef>
2548	<para>Name of the user the process should run under. This
2549	user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
2550	</glossdef>
2551	</glossentry>
2552
2553	<glossentry>
2554	<glossterm>--password <password></glossterm>
2555
2556	<glossdef>
2557	<para>Password of the user account specified with
2558	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
2559	an empty password is assumed.</para>
2560	</glossdef>
2561	</glossentry>
2562
2563	<glossentry>
2564	<glossterm>--verbose</glossterm>
2565
2566	<glossdef>
2567	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
2568	</glossdef>
2569	</glossentry>
2570
2571	<glossentry>
2572	<glossterm>--wait-for <action></glossterm>
2573
2574	<glossdef>
2575	<para>Tells VBoxManage to wait for a certain action to
2576	happen and react to it. The following actions are available:
2577	<glosslist>
2578	<glossentry>
2579	<glossterm>exit</glossterm>
2580
2581	<glossdef>
2582	<para>Waits until the process ends and outputs its
2583	exit code along with the exit reason/flags.</para>
2584	</glossdef>
2585	</glossentry>
2586
2587	<glossentry>
2588	<glossterm>stdout or stderr</glossterm>
2589
2590	<glossdef>
2591	<para>Waits until the process ends and outputs its
2592	exit code along with the exit reason/flags. After
2593	that VBoxManage retrieves the output collected from
2594	the guest process's stdout and stderr.</para>
2595	</glossdef>
2596	</glossentry>
2597	</glosslist></para>
2598	</glossdef>
2599	</glossentry>
2600	</glosslist></para>
2601
2602	<para><note>
2603	<para>On Windows there are certain limitations for graphical
2604	applications; please see <xref linkend="KnownIssues" /> for more
2605	information.</para>
2606	</note> Examples: <screen>VBoxManage --nologo guestcontrol execute "My VM" "/bin/ls" --arguments "-l /usr"
2607	--username foo --password bar --wait-for stdout</screen> <screen>VBoxManage --nologo guestcontrol execute "My VM" "c:\\windows\\system32\\ipconfig.exe"
2608	--username foo --password bar --wait-for stdout</screen> Note that
2609	the double backslashes in the second example are only required on
2610	Unix hosts.</para>
2611	</listitem>
2612
2613	<listitem>
2614	<para><computeroutput>copyto</computeroutput>, which allows copying
2615	files from the host to the guest (only with installed Guest
2616	Additions 4.0 and later).</para>
2617
2618	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <vmname>\|<uuid> copyto\|cp
2619	<source on host> <destination on guest>
2620	--username <name> --password <password>
2621	[--dryrun] [--follow] [--recursive] [--verbose]</screen>
2622
2623	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
2624	<glossentry>
2625	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
2626
2627	<glossdef>
2628	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
2629	</glossdef>
2630	</glossentry>
2631
2632	<glossentry>
2633	<glossterm>source on host</glossterm>
2634
2635	<glossdef>
2636	<para>Absolute path of source file(s) on host to copy over
2637	to the guest, e.g.
2638	<computeroutput>C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe</computeroutput>.
2639	This also can be a wildcard expression, e.g.
2640	<computeroutput>C:\Windows\System32\*.dll</computeroutput></para>
2641	</glossdef>
2642	</glossentry>
2643
2644	<glossentry>
2645	<glossterm>destination on guest</glossterm>
2646
2647	<glossdef>
2648	<para>Absolute destination path on the guest, e.g.
2649	<computeroutput>C:\Temp</computeroutput></para>
2650	</glossdef>
2651	</glossentry>
2652
2653	<glossentry>
2654	<glossterm>--username <name></glossterm>
2655
2656	<glossdef>
2657	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
2658	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
2659	</glossdef>
2660	</glossentry>
2661
2662	<glossentry>
2663	<glossterm>--password <password></glossterm>
2664
2665	<glossdef>
2666	<para>Password of the user account specified with
2667	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
2668	an empty password is assumed.</para>
2669	</glossdef>
2670	</glossentry>
2671
2672	<glossentry>
2673	<glossterm>--dryrun</glossterm>
2674
2675	<glossdef>
2676	<para>Tells VBoxManage to only perform a dry run instead of
2677	really copying files to the guest.</para>
2678	</glossdef>
2679	</glossentry>
2680
2681	<glossentry>
2682	<glossterm>--follow</glossterm>
2683
2684	<glossdef>
2685	<para>Enables following symlinks on the host's
2686	source.</para>
2687	</glossdef>
2688	</glossentry>
2689
2690	<glossentry>
2691	<glossterm>--recursive</glossterm>
2692
2693	<glossdef>
2694	<para>Recursively copies files/directories of the specified
2695	source.</para>
2696	</glossdef>
2697	</glossentry>
2698
2699	<glossentry>
2700	<glossterm>--verbose</glossterm>
2701
2702	<glossdef>
2703	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
2704	</glossdef>
2705	</glossentry>
2706
2707	<glossentry>
2708	<glossterm>--flags <flags></glossterm>
2709
2710	<glossdef>
2711	<para>Additional flags to set. This is not used at the
2712	moment.</para>
2713	</glossdef>
2714	</glossentry>
2715	</glosslist></para>
2716	</listitem>
2717
2718	<listitem>
2719	<para><computeroutput>createdirectory</computeroutput>, which allows
2720	copying files from the host to the guest (only with installed Guest
2721	Additions 4.0 and later).</para>
2722
2723	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol <vmname>\|<uuid> createdir[ectory]\|mkdir\|md
2724	<directory to create on guest>
2725	[--username "<name>"] [--password "<password>"]
2726	[--parents] [--mode <mode>] [--verbose]</screen>
2727
2728	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
2729	<glossentry>
2730	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
2731
2732	<glossdef>
2733	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
2734	</glossdef>
2735	</glossentry>
2736
2737	<glossentry>
2738	<glossterm>directory to create on guest</glossterm>
2739
2740	<glossdef>
2741	<para>Absolute path of directory/directories to create on
2742	guest, e.g. <computeroutput>D:\Foo\Bar</computeroutput>.
2743	Parent directories need to exist (e.g. in this example
2744	<computeroutput>D:\Foo</computeroutput>) when switch
2745	<computeroutput>--parents</computeroutput> is omitted. The
2746	specified user must have appropriate rights to create the
2747	specified directory.</para>
2748	</glossdef>
2749	</glossentry>
2750
2751	<glossentry>
2752	<glossterm>--username <name></glossterm>
2753
2754	<glossdef>
2755	<para>Name of the user the copy process should run under.
2756	This user must exist on the guest OS.</para>
2757	</glossdef>
2758	</glossentry>
2759
2760	<glossentry>
2761	<glossterm>--password <password></glossterm>
2762
2763	<glossdef>
2764	<para>Password of the user account specified with
2765	<computeroutput>--username</computeroutput>. If not given,
2766	an empty password is assumed.</para>
2767	</glossdef>
2768	</glossentry>
2769
2770	<glossentry>
2771	<glossterm>--parents</glossterm>
2772
2773	<glossdef>
2774	<para>Also creates not yet existing parent directories of
2775	the specified directory, e.g. if the directory
2776	<computeroutput>D:\Foo</computeroutput> of
2777	<computeroutput>D:\Foo\Bar</computeroutput> does not exist
2778	yet it will be created. Without specifying
2779	<computeroutput>--parent</computeroutput> the action would
2780	have failed.</para>
2781	</glossdef>
2782	</glossentry>
2783
2784	<glossentry>
2785	<glossterm>--mode <mode></glossterm>
2786
2787	<glossdef>
2788	<para>Sets the permission mode of the specified directory.
2789	Only octal modes (e.g.
2790	<computeroutput>0755</computeroutput>) are supported right
2791	now.</para>
2792	</glossdef>
2793	</glossentry>
2794
2795	<glossentry>
2796	<glossterm>--verbose</glossterm>
2797
2798	<glossdef>
2799	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
2800	</glossdef>
2801	</glossentry>
2802	</glosslist></para>
2803	</listitem>
2804
2805	<listitem>
2806	<para><computeroutput>updateadditions</computeroutput>, which allows
2807	for updating an already installed Guest Additions version on the
2808	guest (only already installed Guest Additions 4.0 and later).</para>
2809
2810	<screen>VBoxManage guestcontrol updateadditions <vmname>\|<uuid>
2811	[--source "<guest additions .ISO file to use>"] [--verbose]</screen>
2812
2813	<para>where the parameters mean: <glosslist>
2814	<glossentry>
2815	<glossterm>uuid\|vmname</glossterm>
2816
2817	<glossdef>
2818	<para>The VM UUID or VM name. Mandatory.</para>
2819	</glossdef>
2820	</glossentry>
2821
2822	<glossentry>
2823	<glossterm>--source "<guest additions .ISO file to
2824	use>"</glossterm>
2825
2826	<glossdef>
2827	<para>Full path to an alternative VirtualBox Guest Additions
2828	.ISO file to use for the Guest Additions update.</para>
2829	</glossdef>
2830	</glossentry>
2831
2832	<glossentry>
2833	<glossterm>--verbose</glossterm>
2834
2835	<glossdef>
2836	<para>Tells VBoxManage to be more verbose.</para>
2837	</glossdef>
2838	</glossentry>
2839	</glosslist></para>
2840	</listitem>
2841	</itemizedlist></para>
2842	</sect1>
2843
2844	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-debugvm">
2845	<title>VBoxManage debugvm</title>
2846
2847	<para>The "debugvm" commands are for experts who want to tinker with the
2848	exact details of virtual machine execution. Like the VM debugger described
2849	in <xref linkend="debugger" />, these commands are only useful if you are
2850	very familiar with the details of the PC architecture and how to debug
2851	software.</para>
2852
2853	<para>The subcommands of "debugvm" all operate on a running virtual
2854	machine. The following are available:<itemizedlist>
2855	<listitem>
2856	<para>With <computeroutput>dumpguestcore --filename
2857	<name></computeroutput>, you can create a system dump of the
2858	running VM, which will be written into the given file. This file
2859	will have the standard ELF core format (with custom sections); see
2860	<xref linkend="guestcoreformat" />.</para>
2861
2862	<para>This corresponds to the
2863	<computeroutput>writecore</computeroutput> command in the debugger.
2864	</para>
2865	</listitem>
2866
2867	<listitem>
2868	<para>The <computeroutput>info</computeroutput> command is used to
2869	display info items relating to the VMM, device emulations and
2870	associated drivers. This command takes one or two arguments: the
2871	name of the info item, optionally followed by a string containing
2872	arguments specific to the info item.
2873	The <computeroutput>help</computeroutput> info item provides a
2874	listning of the available items and hints about any optional
2875	arguments.</para>
2876
2877	<para>This corresponds to the <computeroutput>info</computeroutput>
2878	command in the debugger.</para>
2879	</listitem>
2880
2881	<listitem>
2882	<para>The <computeroutput>injectnmi</computeroutput> command causes
2883	a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) in the guest, which might be useful
2884	for certain debugging scenarios. What happens exactly is dependent
2885	on the guest operating system, but an NMI can crash the whole guest
2886	operating system. Do not use unless you know what you're
2887	doing.</para>
2888	</listitem>
2889
2890	<listitem>
2891	<para>The <computeroutput>osdetect</computeroutput> command makes the
2892	VMM's debugger facility (re-)detection the guest operation
2893	system.</para>
2894
2895	<para>This corresponds to the <computeroutput>detect</computeroutput>
2896	command in the debugger.</para>
2897	</listitem>
2898
2899	<listitem>
2900	<para>The <computeroutput>osinfo</computeroutput> command is used to
2901	display info about the operating system (OS) detected by the VMM's
2902	debugger facility.</para>
2903	</listitem>
2904
2905	<listitem>
2906	<para>The <computeroutput>getregisters</computeroutput> command is
2907	used to display CPU and device registers. The command takes a list
2908	of registers, each having one of the following forms:
2909	<itemizedlist>
2910	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name.sub-field</computeroutput></listitem>
2911	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name</computeroutput></listitem>
2912	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name.sub-field</computeroutput></listitem>
2913	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name</computeroutput></listitem>
2914	<listitem><computeroutput>all</computeroutput></listitem>
2915	</itemizedlist>
2916	The <computeroutput>all</computeroutput> form will cause all
2917	registers to be shown (no sub-fields). The registers names are
2918	case-insensitive. When requesting a CPU register the register set
2919	can be omitted, it will be selected using the value of the
2920	<computeroutput>--cpu</computeroutput> option (defaulting to 0).
2921	</para>
2922	</listitem>
2923
2924	<listitem>
2925	<para>The <computeroutput>setregisters</computeroutput> command is
2926	used to change CPU and device registers. The command takes a list
2927	of register assignments, each having one of the following forms:
2928	<itemizedlist>
2929	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name.sub-field=value</computeroutput></listitem>
2930	<listitem><computeroutput>register-set.register-name=value</computeroutput></listitem>
2931	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name.sub-field=value</computeroutput></listitem>
2932	<listitem><computeroutput>cpu-register-name=value</computeroutput></listitem>
2933	</itemizedlist>
2934	The value format should be in the same style as what
2935	<computeroutput>getregisters</computeroutput> displays, with the
2936	exception that both octal and decimal can be used instead of
2937	hexadecimal. The register naming and the default CPU register set
2938	are handled the same way as with the
2939	<computeroutput>getregisters</computeroutput> command.</para>
2940	</listitem>
2941
2942	<listitem>
2943	<para>The <computeroutput>statistics</computeroutput> command can be
2944	used to display VMM statistics on the command line. The
2945	<computeroutput>--reset</computeroutput> option will reset
2946	statistics. The affected statistics can be filtered with the
2947	<computeroutput>--pattern</computeroutput> option, which accepts
2948	DOS/NT-style wildcards (<computeroutput>?</computeroutput> and
2949	<computeroutput>*</computeroutput>).</para>
2950	</listitem>
2951	</itemizedlist></para>
2952	</sect1>
2953
2954	<sect1>
2955	<title id="metrics">VBoxManage metrics</title>
2956
2957	<para>This command supports monitoring the usage of system resources.
2958	Resources are represented by various metrics associated with the host
2959	system or a particular VM. For example, the host system has a
2960	<computeroutput>CPU/Load/User</computeroutput> metric that shows the
2961	percentage of time CPUs spend executing in user mode over a specific
2962	sampling period.</para>
2963
2964	<para>Metric data is collected and retained internally; it may be
2965	retrieved at any time with the <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics
2966	query</computeroutput> subcommand. The data is available as long as the
2967	background <computeroutput>VBoxSVC</computeroutput> process is alive. That
2968	process terminates shortly after all VMs and frontends have been
2969	closed.</para>
2970
2971	<para>By default no metrics are collected at all. Metrics collection does
2972	not start until <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics setup</computeroutput>
2973	is invoked with a proper sampling interval and the number of metrics to be
2974	retained. The interval is measured in seconds. For example, to enable
2975	collecting the host processor and memory usage metrics every second and
2976	keeping the 5 most current samples, the following command can be
2977	used:</para>
2978
2979	<screen>VBoxManage metrics setup --period 1 --samples 5 host CPU/Load,RAM/Usage</screen>
2980
2981	<para>Metric collection can only be enabled for started VMs. Collected
2982	data and collection settings for a particular VM will disappear as soon as
2983	it shuts down. Use <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics list
2984	</computeroutput> subcommand to see which metrics are currently available.
2985	You can also use <computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> option with any
2986	subcommand that modifies metric settings to find out which metrics were
2987	affected.</para>
2988
2989	<para>Note that the <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics
2990	setup</computeroutput> subcommand discards all samples that may have been
2991	previously collected for the specified set of objects and metrics.</para>
2992
2993	<para>To enable or disable metrics collection without discarding the data
2994	<computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics enable</computeroutput> and
2995	<computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics disable</computeroutput> subcommands
2996	can be used. Note that these subcommands expect metrics, not submetrics,
2997	like <code>CPU/Load</code> or <code>RAM/Usage</code> as parameters. In
2998	other words enabling <code>CPU/Load/User</code> while disabling
2999	<code>CPU/Load/Kernel</code> is not supported.</para>
3000
3001	<para>The host and VMs have different sets of associated metrics.
3002	Available metrics can be listed with <computeroutput>VBoxManage metrics
3003	list</computeroutput> subcommand.</para>
3004
3005	<para>A complete metric name may include an aggregate function. The name
3006	has the following form:
3007	<computeroutput>Category/Metric[/SubMetric][:aggregate]</computeroutput>.
3008	For example, <computeroutput>RAM/Usage/Free:min</computeroutput> stands
3009	for the minimum amount of available memory over all retained data if
3010	applied to the host object.</para>
3011
3012	<para>Subcommands may apply to all objects and metrics or can be limited
3013	to one object or/and a list of metrics. If no objects or metrics are given
3014	in the parameters, the subcommands will apply to all available metrics of
3015	all objects. You may use an asterisk
3016	("<computeroutput>*</computeroutput>") to explicitly specify that the
3017	command should be applied to all objects or metrics. Use "host" as the
3018	object name to limit the scope of the command to host-related metrics. To
3019	limit the scope to a subset of metrics, use a metric list with names
3020	separated by commas.</para>
3021
3022	<para>For example, to query metric data on the CPU time spent in user and
3023	kernel modes by the virtual machine named "test", you can use the
3024	following command:</para>
3025
3026	<screen>VBoxManage metrics query test CPU/Load/User,CPU/Load/Kernel</screen>
3027
3028	<para>The following list summarizes the available subcommands:</para>
3029
3030	<glosslist>
3031	<glossentry>
3032	<glossterm>list</glossterm>
3033
3034	<glossdef>
3035	<para>This subcommand shows the parameters of the currently existing
3036	metrics. Note that VM-specific metrics are only available when a
3037	particular VM is running.</para>
3038	</glossdef>
3039	</glossentry>
3040
3041	<glossentry>
3042	<glossterm>setup</glossterm>
3043
3044	<glossdef>
3045	<para>This subcommand sets the interval between taking two samples
3046	of metric data and the number of samples retained internally. The
3047	retained data is available for displaying with the
3048	<code>query</code> subcommand. The <computeroutput>--list
3049	</computeroutput> option shows which metrics have been modified as
3050	the result of the command execution.</para>
3051	</glossdef>
3052	</glossentry>
3053
3054	<glossentry>
3055	<glossterm>enable</glossterm>
3056
3057	<glossdef>
3058	<para>This subcommand "resumes" data collection after it has been
3059	stopped with <code>disable</code> subcommand. Note that specifying
3060	submetrics as parameters will not enable underlying metrics. Use
3061	<computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> to find out if the command
3062	did what was expected.</para>
3063	</glossdef>
3064	</glossentry>
3065
3066	<glossentry>
3067	<glossterm>disable</glossterm>
3068
3069	<glossdef>
3070	<para>This subcommand "suspends" data collection without affecting
3071	collection parameters or collected data. Note that specifying
3072	submetrics as parameters will not disable underlying metrics. Use
3073	<computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> to find out if the command
3074	did what was expected.</para>
3075	</glossdef>
3076	</glossentry>
3077
3078	<glossentry>
3079	<glossterm>query</glossterm>
3080
3081	<glossdef>
3082	<para>This subcommand retrieves and displays the currently retained
3083	metric data.<note>
3084	<para>The <code>query</code> subcommand does not remove or
3085	"flush" retained data. If you query often enough you will see
3086	how old samples are gradually being "phased out" by new
3087	samples.</para>
3088	</note></para>
3089	</glossdef>
3090	</glossentry>
3091
3092	<glossentry>
3093	<glossterm>collect</glossterm>
3094
3095	<glossdef>
3096	<para>This subcommand sets the interval between taking two samples
3097	of metric data and the number of samples retained internally. The
3098	collected data is displayed periodically until Ctrl-C is pressed
3099	unless the <computeroutput>--detach</computeroutput> option is
3100	specified. With the <computeroutput>--detach</computeroutput>
3101	option, this subcommand operates the same way as <code>setup</code>
3102	does. The <computeroutput>--list</computeroutput> option shows which
3103	metrics match the specified filter.</para>
3104	</glossdef>
3105	</glossentry>
3106	</glosslist>
3107	</sect1>
3108
3109	<sect1>
3110	<title>VBoxManage hostonlyif</title>
3111
3112	<para>With "hostonlyif" you can change the IP configuration of a host-only
3113	network interface. For a description of host-only networking, please
3114	refer to <xref linkend="network_hostonly" />. Each host-only interface is
3115	identified by a name and can either use the internal DHCP server or a
3116	manual IP configuration (both IP4 and IP6).</para>
3117	</sect1>
3118
3119	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-dhcpserver">
3120	<title>VBoxManage dhcpserver</title>
3121
3122	<para>The "dhcpserver" commands allow you to control the DHCP server that
3123	is built into VirtualBox. You may find this useful when using internal or
3124	host-only networking. (Theoretically, you can enable it for a bridged
3125	network as well, but that will likely cause conflicts with other DHCP
3126	servers in your physical network.)</para>
3127
3128	<para>Use the following command line options:<itemizedlist>
3129	<listitem>
3130	<para>If you use internal networking for a virtual network adapter
3131	of a virtual machine, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver add
3132	--netname <network_name></computeroutput>, where
3133	<computeroutput><network_name></computeroutput> is the same
3134	network name you used with <computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm
3135	<vmname> --intnet<X>
3136	<network_name></computeroutput>.</para>
3137	</listitem>
3138
3139	<listitem>
3140	<para>If you use host-only networking for a virtual network adapter
3141	of a virtual machine, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver add
3142	--ifname <hostonly_if_name></computeroutput> instead, where
3143	<computeroutput><hostonly_if_name></computeroutput> is the
3144	same host-only interface name you used with
3145	<computeroutput>VBoxManage modifyvm <vmname>
3146	--hostonlyadapter<X>
3147	<hostonly_if_name></computeroutput>.</para>
3148
3149	<para>Alternatively, you can also use the --netname option as with
3150	internal networks if you know the host-only network's name; you can
3151	see the names with <computeroutput>VBoxManage list
3152	hostonlyifs</computeroutput> (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" />
3153	above).</para>
3154	</listitem>
3155	</itemizedlist></para>
3156
3157	<para>The following additional parameters are required when first adding a
3158	DHCP server:<itemizedlist>
3159	<listitem>
3160	<para>With <computeroutput>--ip</computeroutput>, specify the IP
3161	address of the DHCP server itself.</para>
3162	</listitem>
3163
3164	<listitem>
3165	<para>With <computeroutput>--netmask</computeroutput>, specify the
3166	netmask of the network.</para>
3167	</listitem>
3168
3169	<listitem>
3170	<para>With <computeroutput>--lowerip</computeroutput> and
3171	<computeroutput>--upperip</computeroutput>, you can specify the
3172	lowest and highest IP address, respectively, that the DHCP server
3173	will hand out to clients.</para>
3174	</listitem>
3175	</itemizedlist></para>
3176
3177	<para>Finally, you must specify <computeroutput>--enable</computeroutput>
3178	or the DHCP server will be created in the disabled state, doing
3179	nothing.</para>
3180
3181	<para>After this, VirtualBox will automatically start the DHCP server for
3182	given internal or host-only network as soon as the first virtual machine
3183	which uses that network is started.</para>
3184
3185	<para>Reversely, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver
3186	remove</computeroutput> with the given <computeroutput>--netname
3187	<network_name></computeroutput> or <computeroutput>--ifname
3188	<hostonly_if_name></computeroutput> to remove the DHCP server again
3189	for the given internal or host-only network.</para>
3190
3191	<para>To modify the settings of a DHCP server created earlier with
3192	<computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver add</computeroutput>, you can use
3193	<computeroutput>VBoxManage dhcpserver modify</computeroutput> for a given
3194	network or host-only interface name.</para>
3195	</sect1>
3196
3197	<sect1 id="vboxmanage-extpack">
3198	<title>VBoxManage extpack</title>
3199
3200	<para>The "extpack" command allows you to add or remove VirtualBox
3201	extension packs, as described in <xref
3202	linkend="intro-installing" />.<itemizedlist>
3203	<listitem>
3204	<para>To add a new extension pack, use <computeroutput>VBoxManage
3205	extpack install <tarball></computeroutput>.</para>
3206	</listitem>
3207
3208	<listitem>
3209	<para>To remove a previously installed extension pack, use
3210	<computeroutput>VBoxManage extpack uninstall
3211	<name></computeroutput>. You can use
3212	<computeroutput>VBoxManage list extpacks</computeroutput> to show
3213	the names of the extension packs which are currently installed;
3214	please see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" /> also. The optional
3215	<computeroutput>--force</computeroutput> parameter can be used to
3216	override the refusal of an extension pack to be uninstalled.</para>
3217	</listitem>
3218
3219	<listitem>
3220	<para>The <computeroutput>VBoxManage extpack
3221	cleanup</computeroutput> command can be used to remove temporary
3222	files and directories that may have been left behind if a previous
3223	install or uninstall command failed.</para>
3224	</listitem>
3225	</itemizedlist></para>
3226	</sect1>
3227	</chapter>

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