Convenience wrapper around VBoxManage for controlling VirtualBox virtual machines.

vbox.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Convenience wrapper around VBoxManage for controlling VirtualBox virtual machines.
#
# Headless Ubuntu server gets stuck at boot menu on unsuccessful boots:
# http://serverfault.com/questions/243343/headless-ubuntu-server-machine-sometimes-stuck-at-grub-menu

function print_help {
    echo "Usage: $(basename $0) [options] name"
    echo "Easy control of VirtualBox virtual machines."
    echo "  -h      Show this usage guide."
    echo "  -l      List available VM names."
    echo "Commands:"
    echo "  -s      Start in headless mode."
    echo "  -S      Start in a VirtualBox console."
    echo "  -o      Power off."
    echo "  -r      Restart."
}

if ! which VBoxManage > /dev/null; then
    echo "Error: Requires VBoxManage"
    exit 1
fi

function list {
    local output=''
    
    while read line; do
        output="$output  $line\n"
    done < <(VBoxManage list vms)

    if [ -n "$output" ]; then
        echo "Available:"
        echo -n -e "$output"
    else
        echo "No available virtual machines!"
    fi

    output=''
    while read line; do
        output="$output  $line\n"
    done < <(VBoxManage list runningvms)

    if [ -n "$output" ]; then
        echo "Running:"
        echo -n -e "$output"
    fi
}

function start {
    exec VBoxManage startvm "$VMNAME" --type headless
}

function start_console {
    exec VBoxManage startvm "$VMNAME"
}

function poweroff {
    echo "Powering off $VMNAME VM"
    exec VBoxManage controlvm "$VMNAME" poweroff
}

function reset {
    echo "Restarting $VMNAME VM"
    exec VBoxManage controlvm "$VMNAME" reset
}

VMNAME="${!#}"

while getopts "hlsSor" option; do
    case $option in
        l) list; exit 0;;
        s) start;;
        S) start_console;;
        o) poweroff;;
        r) reset;;
        h) print_help; exit 0;;
        \?) print_help; exit 0;;
    esac
done

print_help