Some of you might be wondering, 'While the existence of programming interfaces to Oracle VM VirtualBox is understandable, why does the CLI tool even exist if there is a convenient GUI alternative?' The answer is that only the VBoxManage CLI guarantees access to all the features of the virtualization engine, as well as providing some advanced and experimental configuration settings for a VM. Interfaces for interacting with Oracle VM VirtualBox For example, changes made with the CLI are immediately reflected in the GUI and vice versa.ĭiagrammatically, the Oracle VM VirtualBox architecture looks like Figure 1:įigure 1. These tools can be used concurrently, and changes made using one tool are immediately visible when using another. VirtualBox Manager and VBoxManage interact with the Main API behind the scenes, while client programs can directly use the Main API to control Oracle VM VirtualBox. The web service, which maps nearly the entire Main API for web applications The Main API, which is implemented using the Component Object Model (COM/XPCOM) VBoxManage, the CLI to Oracle VM VirtualBox VirtualBox Manager, the GUI for controlling Oracle VM VirtualBox Oracle VM VirtualBox offers the following tools to control virtualization engine settings, create new VMs, and work on existing VMs within Oracle VM VirtualBox: High-Level View of Oracle VM VirtualBox Interfaces

This article explains how to use VBoxManage to control Oracle VM VirtualBox from the command line of the host operating system. On the other hand, you can use VBoxManage, the command-line interface (CLI) to Oracle VM VirtualBox. It comes with VirtualBox Manager, a convenient GUI tool for controlling the Oracle VM VirtualBox settings and its virtual machines (VMs). Oracle VM VirtualBox, cross-platform virtualization software that allows you to run multiple operating systems simultaneously, is no exception. And although nowadays GUI tools have shot ahead, a command line still remains at your disposal in many operating systems, providing a low-level way to interact with the system and its components that permits scripting and automation. There were times when a command line was the main tool-sometimes the only tool-you could employ to communicate with your computer. Using Oracle VM VirtualBox's VBoxManage tool from the command line of the host operating system, you can control Oracle VM VirtualBox settings, create new VMs, and work on existing VMs.

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