Refreshing Your Virtual Machine List in VirtualBox on Windows via SSH CLI

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 08:40:11 +0700

Sometimes, when working with VirtualBox on Windows, you might encounter an issue where your virtual machine list doesn’t update correctly, even after making changes like unlocking an encrypted drive. This can be frustrating when you’re trying to manage your VMs.

This article will guide you through a solution to refresh your VirtualBox VM list via the command line interface (CLI) accessed via SSH.

The Problem

Let’s say you have a virtual machine stored on an encrypted drive. When Windows starts, the drive is locked. You can unlock the drive via SSH, but when you try to list your virtual machines using vboxmanage within your SSH session, you might still get an “access denied” error.

Automate Your VirtualBox VMs with Autostart

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 18:23:23 +0700

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:

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:

.\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.