VBoxManage simple examples

vboxmanage_examples.md

As something of a follow-up post to the previous entry, here’s a quick recipe for creating a Virtual Machine using the VirtualBox command line tools:

We’re using Windows Server 2008 64bit as an example, modify to taste.

$ VM='Windows-2008-64bit'

Create a 32GB “dynamic” disk.

$ VBoxManage createhd --filename $VM.vdi --size 32768

You can get a list of the OS types VirtualBox recognises using:

$ VBoxManage list ostypes

Then copy the most appropriate one into here.

$ VBoxManage createvm --name $VM --ostype "Windows2008_64" --register

Add a SATA controller with the dynamic disk attached.

$ VBoxManage storagectl $VM --name "SATA Controller" --add sata \
>  --controller IntelAHCI
$ VBoxManage storageattach $VM --storagectl "SATA Controller" --port 0 \
>  --device 0 --type hdd --medium $VM.vdi

Add an IDE controller with a DVD drive attached, and the install ISO inserted into the drive:

$ VBoxManage storagectl $VM --name "IDE Controller" --add ide
$ VBoxManage storageattach $VM --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 \
>  --device 0 --type dvddrive --medium /path/to/windows_server_2008.iso

Misc system settings.

$ VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --ioapic on
$ VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --boot1 dvd --boot2 disk --boot3 none --boot4 none
$ VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --memory 1024 --vram 128
$ VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --nic1 bridged --bridgeadapter1 e1000g0

Configuration is all done, boot it up! If you’ve done this one a remote machine, you can RDP to the console via vboxhost:3389.

$ VBoxHeadless -s $VM

Once you have configured the operating system, you can shutdown and eject the DVD.

$ VBoxManage storageattach $VM --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 \
>  --device 0 --type dvddrive --medium none

Finally, it’s a good idea to take regular snapshots so that you can always revert back to a known-good state rather than having to completely re-install.

$ VBoxManage snapshot $VM take <name of snapshot>

And, if you need to revert back to a particular snapshot:

$ VBoxManage snapshot $VM restore <name of snapshot>

Thanks for sharing this.

I ran into two problems, one I was able to resolve, or at least I think I was able to resolve.

First I ran into this error because of an non-existent e1000g0 interface.

Starting virtual machine:
Operation failed: NS_ERROR_FAILURE
Error: failed to start machine. Error message: Nonexistent host networking interface, name 'e1000g0' (VERR_INTERNAL_ERROR)
Now RDP to vboxhost:3389

I resolved it by running the following and looking for a bridge interface which for me was bridge0:

vboxmanage list bridgedifs

The second problem was being able to "RDP to the console via vboxhost:3389". Although I assumed vboxhost was not a valid host name I tried it to confirm it and it was not, at least not for me. I was instead able to shutdown the VM using the VirtualBox app and then restart it after which I could use the built-in VirtualBox VM app to interact with the Windows UI but I would be curious how to use RDP instead.

FYI though, I ended up using Packer to do what I needed in a more robust way, so I don't really need a solution but it would be nice to learn how to RDP in anyway.

BTW, I am on macOS 10.15.7 Catalina.