| 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
|
|---|
| 2 | <!--
|
|---|
| 3 | user_VBoxManage.xml:
|
|---|
| 4 | VBoxManage documentation for the user manual.
|
|---|
| 5 |
|
|---|
| 6 | This XML document is also be used for generating the help text
|
|---|
| 7 | built into VBoxManage as well as manpages (hacking in progress).
|
|---|
| 8 |
|
|---|
| 9 | Copyright (C) 2006-2020 Oracle Corporation
|
|---|
| 10 |
|
|---|
| 11 | This file is part of VirtualBox Open Source Edition (OSE), as
|
|---|
| 12 | available from http://www.virtualbox.org. This file is free software;
|
|---|
| 13 | you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU
|
|---|
| 14 | General Public License (GPL) as published by the Free Software
|
|---|
| 15 | Foundation, in version 2 as it comes in the "COPYING" file of the
|
|---|
| 16 | VirtualBox OSE distribution. VirtualBox OSE is distributed in the
|
|---|
| 17 | hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY of any kind.
|
|---|
| 18 | -->
|
|---|
| 19 | <!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
|
|---|
| 20 | "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd"[
|
|---|
| 21 | <!ENTITY % all.entities SYSTEM "all-entities.ent">
|
|---|
| 22 | %all.entities;
|
|---|
| 23 | ]>
|
|---|
| 24 | <chapter id="vboxmanage">
|
|---|
| 25 |
|
|---|
| 26 | <title>VBoxManage</title>
|
|---|
| 27 |
|
|---|
| 28 | <sect1 id="vboxmanage-intro">
|
|---|
| 29 |
|
|---|
| 30 | <title>Introduction</title>
|
|---|
| 31 |
|
|---|
| 32 | <para>
|
|---|
| 33 | As briefly mentioned in <xref linkend="frontends" />,
|
|---|
| 34 | <command>VBoxManage</command> is the command-line interface to
|
|---|
| 35 | &product-name;. With it, you can completely control &product-name;
|
|---|
| 36 | from the command line of your host operating system.
|
|---|
| 37 | <command>VBoxManage</command> supports all the features that the
|
|---|
| 38 | graphical user interface gives you access to, but it supports a
|
|---|
| 39 | lot more than that. It exposes all the features of the
|
|---|
| 40 | virtualization engine, even those that cannot be accessed from the
|
|---|
| 41 | GUI.
|
|---|
| 42 | </para>
|
|---|
| 43 |
|
|---|
| 44 | <para>
|
|---|
| 45 | You will need to use the command line if you want to do the
|
|---|
| 46 | following:
|
|---|
| 47 | </para>
|
|---|
| 48 |
|
|---|
| 49 | <itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 50 |
|
|---|
| 51 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 52 | <para>
|
|---|
| 53 | Use a different user interface than the main GUI such as the
|
|---|
| 54 | VBoxHeadless server.
|
|---|
| 55 | </para>
|
|---|
| 56 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 57 |
|
|---|
| 58 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 59 | <para>
|
|---|
| 60 | Control some of the more advanced and experimental
|
|---|
| 61 | configuration settings for a VM.
|
|---|
| 62 | </para>
|
|---|
| 63 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 64 |
|
|---|
| 65 | </itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 66 |
|
|---|
| 67 | <para>
|
|---|
| 68 | There are two main things to keep in mind when using
|
|---|
| 69 | <command>VBoxManage</command>. First,
|
|---|
| 70 | <command>VBoxManage</command> must always be used with a specific
|
|---|
| 71 | subcommand, such as <command>list</command> or
|
|---|
| 72 | <command>createvm</command> or <command>startvm</command>. All the
|
|---|
| 73 | subcommands that <command>VBoxManage</command> supports are
|
|---|
| 74 | described in detail in <xref linkend="vboxmanage" />.
|
|---|
| 75 | </para>
|
|---|
| 76 |
|
|---|
| 77 | <para>
|
|---|
| 78 | Second, most of these subcommands require that you specify a
|
|---|
| 79 | particular virtual machine after the subcommand. There are two
|
|---|
| 80 | ways you can do this:
|
|---|
| 81 | </para>
|
|---|
| 82 |
|
|---|
| 83 | <itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 84 |
|
|---|
| 85 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 86 | <para>
|
|---|
| 87 | You can specify the VM name, as it is shown in the
|
|---|
| 88 | &product-name; GUI. Note that if that name contains spaces,
|
|---|
| 89 | then you must enclose the entire name in double quotes. This
|
|---|
| 90 | is always required with command line arguments that contain
|
|---|
| 91 | spaces. For example:
|
|---|
| 92 | </para>
|
|---|
| 93 |
|
|---|
| 94 | <screen>VBoxManage startvm "Windows XP"</screen>
|
|---|
| 95 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 96 |
|
|---|
| 97 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 98 | <para>
|
|---|
| 99 | You can specify the UUID, which is the internal unique
|
|---|
| 100 | identifier that &product-name; uses to refer to the virtual
|
|---|
| 101 | machine. Assuming that the VM called "Windows XP" has the UUID
|
|---|
| 102 | shown below, the following command has the same effect as the
|
|---|
| 103 | previous example:
|
|---|
| 104 | </para>
|
|---|
| 105 |
|
|---|
| 106 | <screen>VBoxManage startvm 670e746d-abea-4ba6-ad02-2a3b043810a5</screen>
|
|---|
| 107 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 108 |
|
|---|
| 109 | </itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 110 |
|
|---|
| 111 | <para>
|
|---|
| 112 | You can enter <command>VBoxManage list vms</command> to have all
|
|---|
| 113 | currently registered VMs listed with all their settings, including
|
|---|
| 114 | their respective names and UUIDs.
|
|---|
| 115 | </para>
|
|---|
| 116 |
|
|---|
| 117 | <para>
|
|---|
| 118 | Some typical examples of how to control &product-name; from the
|
|---|
| 119 | command line are listed below:
|
|---|
| 120 | </para>
|
|---|
| 121 |
|
|---|
| 122 | <itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 123 |
|
|---|
| 124 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 125 | <para>
|
|---|
| 126 | To create a new virtual machine from the command line and
|
|---|
| 127 | immediately register it with &product-name;, use
|
|---|
| 128 | <command>VBoxManage createvm</command> with the
|
|---|
| 129 | <option>--register</option> option, as follows:
|
|---|
| 130 | </para>
|
|---|
| 131 |
|
|---|
| 132 | <screen>$ VBoxManage createvm --name "SUSE 10.2" --register
|
|---|
| 133 | VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version <replaceable>version-number</replaceable>
|
|---|
| 134 | (C) 2005-2018 Oracle Corporation
|
|---|
| 135 | All rights reserved.
|
|---|
| 136 |
|
|---|
| 137 | Virtual machine 'SUSE 10.2' is created.
|
|---|
| 138 | UUID: c89fc351-8ec6-4f02-a048-57f4d25288e5
|
|---|
| 139 | Settings file: '/home/username/.config/VirtualBox/Machines/SUSE 10.2/SUSE 10.2.xml'</screen>
|
|---|
| 140 |
|
|---|
| 141 | <para>
|
|---|
| 142 | As can be seen from the above output, a new virtual machine
|
|---|
| 143 | has been created with a new UUID and a new XML settings file.
|
|---|
| 144 | </para>
|
|---|
| 145 |
|
|---|
| 146 | <para>
|
|---|
| 147 | For more details, see
|
|---|
| 148 | <xref
|
|---|
| 149 | linkend="vboxmanage-createvm" />.
|
|---|
| 150 | </para>
|
|---|
| 151 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 152 |
|
|---|
| 153 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 154 | <para>
|
|---|
| 155 | To show the configuration of a particular VM, use
|
|---|
| 156 | <command>VBoxManage showvminfo</command>. See
|
|---|
| 157 | <xref
|
|---|
| 158 | linkend="vboxmanage-showvminfo" /> for details
|
|---|
| 159 | and an example.
|
|---|
| 160 | </para>
|
|---|
| 161 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 162 |
|
|---|
| 163 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 164 | <para>
|
|---|
| 165 | To change settings while a VM is powered off, use
|
|---|
| 166 | <command>VBoxManage modifyvm</command>. For example:
|
|---|
| 167 | </para>
|
|---|
| 168 |
|
|---|
| 169 | <screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "Windows XP" --memory 512</screen>
|
|---|
| 170 |
|
|---|
| 171 | <para>
|
|---|
| 172 | See also <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.
|
|---|
| 173 | </para>
|
|---|
| 174 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 175 |
|
|---|
| 176 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 177 | <para>
|
|---|
| 178 | To change the storage configuration, such as to add a storage
|
|---|
| 179 | controller and then a virtual disk, use <command>VBoxManage
|
|---|
| 180 | storagectl</command> and <command>VBoxManage
|
|---|
| 181 | storageattach</command>. See
|
|---|
| 182 | <xref
|
|---|
| 183 | linkend="vboxmanage-storagectl" /> and
|
|---|
| 184 | <xref
|
|---|
| 185 | linkend="vboxmanage-storageattach" />.
|
|---|
| 186 | </para>
|
|---|
| 187 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 188 |
|
|---|
| 189 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 190 | <para>
|
|---|
| 191 | To control VM operation, use one of the following:
|
|---|
| 192 | </para>
|
|---|
| 193 |
|
|---|
| 194 | <itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 195 |
|
|---|
| 196 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 197 | <para>
|
|---|
| 198 | To start a VM that is currently powered off, use
|
|---|
| 199 | <command>VBoxManage startvm</command>. See
|
|---|
| 200 | <xref
|
|---|
| 201 | linkend="vboxmanage-startvm" />.
|
|---|
| 202 | </para>
|
|---|
| 203 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 204 |
|
|---|
| 205 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 206 | <para>
|
|---|
| 207 | To pause or save a VM that is currently running or change
|
|---|
| 208 | some of its settings, use <command>VBoxManage
|
|---|
| 209 | controlvm</command>. See
|
|---|
| 210 | <xref
|
|---|
| 211 | linkend="vboxmanage-controlvm" />.
|
|---|
| 212 | </para>
|
|---|
| 213 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 214 |
|
|---|
| 215 | </itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 216 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 217 |
|
|---|
| 218 | </itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 219 |
|
|---|
| 220 | </sect1>
|
|---|
| 221 |
|
|---|
| 222 | <sect1 id="vboxmanage-cmd-overview">
|
|---|
| 223 |
|
|---|
| 224 | <title>Commands Overview</title>
|
|---|
| 225 |
|
|---|
| 226 | <para>
|
|---|
| 227 | When running <command>VBoxManage</command> without parameters or
|
|---|
| 228 | when supplying an invalid command line, the following command
|
|---|
| 229 | syntax list is shown. Note that the output will be slightly
|
|---|
| 230 | different depending on the host platform. If in doubt, check the
|
|---|
| 231 | output of <command>VBoxManage</command> for the commands available
|
|---|
| 232 | on your particular host.
|
|---|
| 233 | </para>
|
|---|
| 234 |
|
|---|
| 235 | <xi:include href="user_VBoxManage_CommandsOverview.xml" xpointer="xpointer(/sect1/*)"
|
|---|
| 236 | xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 237 |
|
|---|
| 238 | <para>
|
|---|
| 239 | Each time <command>VBoxManage</command> is invoked, only one
|
|---|
| 240 | command can be executed. However, a command might support several
|
|---|
| 241 | subcommands which then can be invoked in one single call. The
|
|---|
| 242 | following sections provide detailed reference information on the
|
|---|
| 243 | different commands.
|
|---|
| 244 | </para>
|
|---|
| 245 |
|
|---|
| 246 | </sect1>
|
|---|
| 247 |
|
|---|
| 248 | <!-- TODO: Figure out how we can generate a file with the includes... The trouble is
|
|---|
| 249 | that xpointer doesn't seem to allow including multiple elements.
|
|---|
| 250 |
|
|---|
| 251 | In the mean time, when adding new VBoxManage man pages to Config.kmk,
|
|---|
| 252 | don't forget to add it here too.
|
|---|
| 253 | -->
|
|---|
| 254 |
|
|---|
| 255 | <sect1 id="vboxmanage-general">
|
|---|
| 256 |
|
|---|
| 257 | <title>General Options</title>
|
|---|
| 258 |
|
|---|
| 259 | <itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 260 |
|
|---|
| 261 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 262 | <para>
|
|---|
| 263 | <option>-v|--version</option>: Show the version of this tool
|
|---|
| 264 | and exit.
|
|---|
| 265 | </para>
|
|---|
| 266 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 267 |
|
|---|
| 268 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 269 | <para>
|
|---|
| 270 | <option>--nologo</option>: Suppress the output of the logo
|
|---|
| 271 | information. This option is useful for scripts.
|
|---|
| 272 | </para>
|
|---|
| 273 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 274 |
|
|---|
| 275 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 276 | <para>
|
|---|
| 277 | <option>--settingspw</option>: Specifiy a settings password.
|
|---|
| 278 | </para>
|
|---|
| 279 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 280 |
|
|---|
| 281 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 282 | <para>
|
|---|
| 283 | <option>--settingspwfile</option>: Specify a file containing
|
|---|
| 284 | the settings password.
|
|---|
| 285 | </para>
|
|---|
| 286 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 287 |
|
|---|
| 288 | </itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 289 |
|
|---|
| 290 | <para>
|
|---|
| 291 | The settings password is used for certain settings which need to
|
|---|
| 292 | be stored in encrypted form for security reasons. At the moment,
|
|---|
| 293 | the only encrypted setting is the iSCSI initiator secret, see
|
|---|
| 294 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-storageattach" />. As long as no
|
|---|
| 295 | settings password is specified, this information is stored in
|
|---|
| 296 | <emphasis>plain text</emphasis>. After using the
|
|---|
| 297 | <option>--settingspw|--settingspwfile</option> option once, it
|
|---|
| 298 | must be always used. Otherwise, the encrypted setting cannot be
|
|---|
| 299 | unencrypted.
|
|---|
| 300 | </para>
|
|---|
| 301 |
|
|---|
| 302 | </sect1>
|
|---|
| 303 |
|
|---|
| 304 | <!-- TODO: Check the overview/common man page -->
|
|---|
| 305 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 306 |
|
|---|
| 307 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-list.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 308 |
|
|---|
| 309 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-showvminfo.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 310 |
|
|---|
| 311 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-registervm.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 312 |
|
|---|
| 313 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-unregistervm.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 314 |
|
|---|
| 315 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-createvm.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 316 |
|
|---|
| 317 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-modifyvm.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 318 |
|
|---|
| 319 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-clonevm.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 320 |
|
|---|
| 321 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-movevm.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 322 |
|
|---|
| 323 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-cloud.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 324 |
|
|---|
| 325 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-cloudprofile.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 326 |
|
|---|
| 327 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-import.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 328 |
|
|---|
| 329 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-export.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 330 |
|
|---|
| 331 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-signova.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 332 |
|
|---|
| 333 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-startvm.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 334 |
|
|---|
| 335 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-controlvm.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 336 |
|
|---|
| 337 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-unattended.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 338 |
|
|---|
| 339 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-discardstate.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 340 |
|
|---|
| 341 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-adoptstate.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 342 |
|
|---|
| 343 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-snapshot.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 344 |
|
|---|
| 345 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-closemedium.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 346 |
|
|---|
| 347 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-storageattach.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 348 |
|
|---|
| 349 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-storagectl.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 350 |
|
|---|
| 351 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-bandwidthctl.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 352 |
|
|---|
| 353 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-showmediuminfo.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 354 |
|
|---|
| 355 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-createmedium.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 356 |
|
|---|
| 357 | <sect1 id="vboxmanage-modifymedium">
|
|---|
| 358 |
|
|---|
| 359 | <title>VBoxManage modifymedium</title>
|
|---|
| 360 |
|
|---|
| 361 | <para>
|
|---|
| 362 | With the <command>modifymedium</command> command, you can change
|
|---|
| 363 | the characteristics of a disk image after it has been created.
|
|---|
| 364 | </para>
|
|---|
| 365 |
|
|---|
| 366 | <screen>VBoxManage modifymedium [disk|dvd|floppy] <uuid|filename>
|
|---|
| 367 | [--type normal|writethrough|immutable|shareable|
|
|---|
| 368 | readonly|multiattach]
|
|---|
| 369 | [--autoreset on|off]
|
|---|
| 370 | [--property <name=[value]>]
|
|---|
| 371 | [--compact]
|
|---|
| 372 | [--resize <megabytes>|--resizebyte <bytes>]
|
|---|
| 373 | [--move <path>]
|
|---|
| 374 | [--setlocation <path>]</screen>
|
|---|
| 375 |
|
|---|
| 376 | <note>
|
|---|
| 377 | <para>
|
|---|
| 378 | For compatibility with earlier versions of &product-name;, the
|
|---|
| 379 | <command>modifyvdi</command> and <command>modifyhd</command>
|
|---|
| 380 | commands are also supported and mapped internally to the
|
|---|
| 381 | <command>modifymedium</command> command.
|
|---|
| 382 | </para>
|
|---|
| 383 | </note>
|
|---|
| 384 |
|
|---|
| 385 | <para>
|
|---|
| 386 | The disk image to modify must be specified either by its UUID, if
|
|---|
| 387 | the medium is registered, or by its filename. Registered images
|
|---|
| 388 | can be listed using <command>VBoxManage list hdds</command>, see
|
|---|
| 389 | <xref linkend="vboxmanage-list" />. A filename must be specified
|
|---|
| 390 | as a valid path, either as an absolute path or as a relative path
|
|---|
| 391 | starting from the current directory.
|
|---|
| 392 | </para>
|
|---|
| 393 |
|
|---|
| 394 | <para>
|
|---|
| 395 | The following options are available:
|
|---|
| 396 | </para>
|
|---|
| 397 |
|
|---|
| 398 | <itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 399 |
|
|---|
| 400 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 401 | <para>
|
|---|
| 402 | With the <computeroutput>--type</computeroutput> argument, you
|
|---|
| 403 | can change the type of an existing image between the normal,
|
|---|
| 404 | immutable, write-through and other modes. See
|
|---|
| 405 | <xref
|
|---|
| 406 | linkend="hdimagewrites" />.
|
|---|
| 407 | </para>
|
|---|
| 408 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 409 |
|
|---|
| 410 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 411 | <para>
|
|---|
| 412 | For immutable hard disks only, the <computeroutput>--autoreset
|
|---|
| 413 | on|off</computeroutput> option determines whether the disk is
|
|---|
| 414 | automatically reset on every VM startup. See
|
|---|
| 415 | <xref linkend="hdimagewrites" />. By default, autoreset is on.
|
|---|
| 416 | </para>
|
|---|
| 417 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 418 |
|
|---|
| 419 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 420 | <para>
|
|---|
| 421 | The <computeroutput>--compact</computeroutput> option can be
|
|---|
| 422 | used to compact disk images. Compacting removes blocks that
|
|---|
| 423 | only contains zeroes. Using this option will shrink a
|
|---|
| 424 | dynamically allocated image. It will reduce the
|
|---|
| 425 | <emphasis>physical</emphasis> size of the image without
|
|---|
| 426 | affecting the logical size of the virtual disk. Compaction
|
|---|
| 427 | works both for base images and for differencing images created
|
|---|
| 428 | as part of a snapshot.
|
|---|
| 429 | </para>
|
|---|
| 430 |
|
|---|
| 431 | <para>
|
|---|
| 432 | For this operation to be effective, it is required that free
|
|---|
| 433 | space in the guest system first be zeroed out using a suitable
|
|---|
| 434 | software tool. For Windows guests, you can use the
|
|---|
| 435 | <command>sdelete</command> tool provided by Microsoft. Run
|
|---|
| 436 | <command>sdelete -z</command> in the guest to zero the free
|
|---|
| 437 | disk space, before compressing the virtual disk image. For
|
|---|
| 438 | Linux, use the <command>zerofree</command> utility which
|
|---|
| 439 | supports ext2/ext3 filesystems. For Mac OS X guests, use the
|
|---|
| 440 | <computeroutput>diskutil secureErase freespace 0
|
|---|
| 441 | /</computeroutput> command from an elevated Terminal.
|
|---|
| 442 | </para>
|
|---|
| 443 |
|
|---|
| 444 | <para>
|
|---|
| 445 | Please note that compacting is currently only available for
|
|---|
| 446 | VDI images. A similar effect can be achieved by zeroing out
|
|---|
| 447 | free blocks and then cloning the disk to any other dynamically
|
|---|
| 448 | allocated format. You can use this workaround until compacting
|
|---|
| 449 | is also supported for disk formats other than VDI.
|
|---|
| 450 | </para>
|
|---|
| 451 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 452 |
|
|---|
| 453 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 454 | <para>
|
|---|
| 455 | The <computeroutput>--resize x</computeroutput> option, where
|
|---|
| 456 | x is the desired new total space in megabytes enables you to
|
|---|
| 457 | change the capacity of an existing image. This adjusts the
|
|---|
| 458 | <emphasis>logical</emphasis> size of a virtual disk without
|
|---|
| 459 | affecting the physical size much.
|
|---|
| 460 | </para>
|
|---|
| 461 |
|
|---|
| 462 | <para>
|
|---|
| 463 | This option currently works only for VDI and VHD formats, and
|
|---|
| 464 | only for the dynamically allocated variants. It can only be
|
|---|
| 465 | used to expand, but not shrink, the capacity. For example, if
|
|---|
| 466 | you originally created a 10 GB disk which is now full, you can
|
|---|
| 467 | use the <computeroutput>--resize 15360</computeroutput>
|
|---|
| 468 | command to change the capacity to 15 GB (15,360 MB) without
|
|---|
| 469 | having to create a new image and copy all data from within a
|
|---|
| 470 | virtual machine. Note however that this only changes the drive
|
|---|
| 471 | capacity. You will typically next need to use a partition
|
|---|
| 472 | management tool inside the guest to adjust the main partition
|
|---|
| 473 | to fill the drive.
|
|---|
| 474 | </para>
|
|---|
| 475 |
|
|---|
| 476 | <para>
|
|---|
| 477 | The <computeroutput>--resizebyte x</computeroutput> option
|
|---|
| 478 | does almost the same thing, except that x is expressed in
|
|---|
| 479 | bytes instead of megabytes.
|
|---|
| 480 | </para>
|
|---|
| 481 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 482 |
|
|---|
| 483 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 484 | <para>
|
|---|
| 485 | The <computeroutput>--move <path></computeroutput>
|
|---|
| 486 | option can be used to relocate a medium to a different
|
|---|
| 487 | location <path> on the host file system. The path can be
|
|---|
| 488 | either relative to the current directory or absolute.
|
|---|
| 489 | </para>
|
|---|
| 490 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 491 |
|
|---|
| 492 | <listitem>
|
|---|
| 493 | <para>
|
|---|
| 494 | The <computeroutput>--setlocation
|
|---|
| 495 | <path></computeroutput> option can be used to set the
|
|---|
| 496 | new location <path> of the medium on the host file
|
|---|
| 497 | system if the medium has been moved for any reasons. The path
|
|---|
| 498 | can be either relative to the current directory or absolute.
|
|---|
| 499 | </para>
|
|---|
| 500 |
|
|---|
| 501 | <note>
|
|---|
| 502 | <para>
|
|---|
| 503 | The new location is used as is, without any sanity checks.
|
|---|
| 504 | The user is responsible for setting the correct path.
|
|---|
| 505 | </para>
|
|---|
| 506 | </note>
|
|---|
| 507 | </listitem>
|
|---|
| 508 |
|
|---|
| 509 | </itemizedlist>
|
|---|
| 510 |
|
|---|
| 511 | </sect1>
|
|---|
| 512 |
|
|---|
| 513 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-clonemedium.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 514 |
|
|---|
| 515 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-mediumproperty.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 516 |
|
|---|
| 517 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-encryptmedium.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 518 |
|
|---|
| 519 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-checkmediumpwd.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 520 |
|
|---|
| 521 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-convertfromraw.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 522 |
|
|---|
| 523 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-mediumio.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 524 |
|
|---|
| 525 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-setextradata.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 526 |
|
|---|
| 527 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-getextradata.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 528 |
|
|---|
| 529 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-setproperty.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 530 |
|
|---|
| 531 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-usbfilter.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 532 |
|
|---|
| 533 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-sharedfolder.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 534 |
|
|---|
| 535 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-guestproperty.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 536 |
|
|---|
| 537 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-guestcontrol.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 538 |
|
|---|
| 539 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-debugvm.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 540 |
|
|---|
| 541 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-metrics.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 542 |
|
|---|
| 543 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-natnetwork.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 544 |
|
|---|
| 545 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-hostonlyif.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 546 |
|
|---|
| 547 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-hostonlynet.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 548 |
|
|---|
| 549 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-dhcpserver.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 550 |
|
|---|
| 551 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-usbdevsource.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 552 |
|
|---|
| 553 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-extpack.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 554 |
|
|---|
| 555 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-updatecheck.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 556 |
|
|---|
| 557 | <xi:include href="user_man_VBoxManage-modifynvram.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 558 |
|
|---|
| 559 | <!-- TODO: Figure out how we can handle other manpages. The xml is bolted to
|
|---|
| 560 | sect1, so it's not possible to have them "in place" -->
|
|---|
| 561 |
|
|---|
| 562 | <xi:include href="user_man_vboximg-mount.xml" xpointer="element(/1)" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
|
|---|
| 563 |
|
|---|
| 564 | </chapter>
|
|---|
