Automate Your VirtualBox VMs With Autostart

This guide will walk you through setting up a system service to automatically launch your desired VirtualBox VMs, saving you precious time and effort.

Configure Autostart Properties

• Create a file named autostart.properties in the folder C:\Users\Admin\.VirtualBox.
• Inside the file, define the following:

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default_policy = deny
Admin = {
    allow = true
    startup_delay = 10
}

• default_policy = deny: This sets the default policy to deny all autostarts.
• Admin = { allow = true; startup_delay = 10 }: This allows the user “Admin” to start VMs with a 10-second delay.

Set System Variable

• Create a new system variable named VBOXAUTOSTART_CONFIG and set its value to C:\Users\Admin\.VirtualBox\autostart.properties.

Install the VirtualBox Autostart Service

• Navigate to the VirtualBox installation directory: cd "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox"
• Run the following commands:

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.\VBoxAutostartSvc.exe install --user=Admin
.\VBoxManage.exe modifyvm "virtual-pc" --autostart-enabled on

• Replace "virtual-pc" with the actual name of your VM you want to autostart.

Check and Start the Service

• Use the sc command to check the service status: sc query VBoxAutostartSvcadmin-pcadmin
• Start the service: sc start VirtualBox Autostart Service VBoxAutostartSvcadmin-pcadmin

Congratulations! Your VirtualBox VM is now set to autostart when your system boots.