115 lines
7.6 KiB
XML
115 lines
7.6 KiB
XML
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
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<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
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<topic xml:lang="en-us" id="guestadd-intro">
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<title>Introduction to Guest Additions</title>
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<body>
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<p>As mentioned in <xref href="virtintro.dita#virtintro"/>, the Guest Additions are designed to be installed <i>inside</i> a virtual machine after the guest operating system has been installed. They consist of device drivers and system applications that optimize the guest operating system for better performance and usability. See <xref href="guest-os.dita"/> for details on what guest operating systems are fully supported with Guest Additions by <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/>.</p>
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<p>The <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> Guest Additions for all supported guest operating
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systems are provided as a single CD-ROM image file which is called <filepath>VBoxGuestAdditions.iso</filepath>.
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This image file is located in the installation directory of <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/>.
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To install the Guest Additions for a particular VM, you mount this ISO file in your VM as a virtual CD-ROM and
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install from there. </p>
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<p>The Guest Additions offer the following features: </p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p><b outputclass="bold">Mouse pointer integration</b>. To
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overcome the limitations for mouse support described in
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<xref href="keyb_mouse_normal.dita#keyb_mouse_normal"/>, this feature provides
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you with seamless mouse support. You will only have one mouse
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pointer and pressing the Host key is no longer required to
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<i>free</i> the mouse from being captured by the
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guest OS. To make this work, a special mouse driver is
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installed in the guest that communicates with the physical
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mouse driver on your host and moves the guest mouse pointer
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accordingly.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><b outputclass="bold">Shared folders.</b> These provide
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an easy way to exchange files between the host and the guest.
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Much like ordinary Windows network shares, you can tell
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<ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> to treat a certain host directory as a shared
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folder, and <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> will make it available to the guest
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operating system as a network share, irrespective of whether
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the guest actually has a network. See
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<xref href="sharedfolders.dita#sharedfolders"/>.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><b outputclass="bold">Better video support.</b> While the virtual graphics card which <ph
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conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> emulates for any guest operating
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system provides all the basic features, the custom video drivers that are installed with
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the Guest Additions provide you with extra high and nonstandard video modes, as well as
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accelerated video performance. </p>
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<p>In addition, with Windows, Linux, and Oracle Solaris guests, you can resize the virtual machine's window if
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the Guest Additions are installed. The video resolution in the guest will be automatically adjusted, as if you
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had manually entered an arbitrary resolution in the guest's <b outputclass="bold">Display</b> settings. See
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<xref href="intro-resize-window.dita#intro-resize-window"/>. </p>
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<p>If the Guest Additions are installed, 3D graphics for guest applications can be accelerated. See <xref href="guestadd-video.dita#guestadd-video"/>. </p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><b outputclass="bold">Seamless windows.</b> With this
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feature, the individual windows that are displayed on the
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desktop of the virtual machine can be mapped on the host's
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desktop, as if the underlying application was actually running
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on the host. See <xref href="seamlesswindows.dita#seamlesswindows"/>.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><b outputclass="bold">Generic host/guest communication
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channels.</b> The Guest Additions enable you to control
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and monitor guest execution. The <i>guest
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properties</i> provide a generic string-based mechanism
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to exchange data bits between a guest and a host, some of
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which have special meanings for controlling and monitoring the
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guest. See <xref href="guestadd-guestprops.dita#guestadd-guestprops"/>.
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</p>
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<p>Additionally, applications can be started in a guest from the host. See <xref
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href="guestadd-guestcontrol.dita#guestadd-guestcontrol"/>. </p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><b outputclass="bold">Time synchronization.</b> With
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the Guest Additions installed, <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> can ensure that
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the guest's system time is better synchronized with that of
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the host.
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</p>
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<p>For various reasons, the time in the guest might run at a slightly different rate than the time on the host.
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The host could be receiving updates through NTP and its own time might not run linearly. A VM could also be
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paused, which stops the flow of time in the guest for a shorter or longer period of time. When the wall clock
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time between the guest and host only differs slightly, the time synchronization service attempts to gradually
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and smoothly adjust the guest time in small increments to either catch up or lose time. When the difference is
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too great, for example if a VM paused for hours or restored from saved state, the guest time is changed
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immediately, without a gradual adjustment. </p>
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<p>The Guest Additions will resynchronize the time regularly. See <xref href="changetimesync.dita">Tuning the
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Guest Additions Time Synchronization Parameters</xref> for how to configure the parameters of the time
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synchronization mechanism. </p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><b outputclass="bold">Shared clipboard.</b> With the
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Guest Additions installed, the clipboard of the guest
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operating system can optionally be shared with your host
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operating system. See <xref href="generalsettings.dita"/>.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><b outputclass="bold">Automated logins.</b> Also called
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credentials passing. See <xref href="autologon.dita">Automated Guest Logins</xref>.
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</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Each version of <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/>, even minor releases, ship with their own
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version of the Guest Additions. While the interfaces through which the <ph
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conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> core communicates with the Guest Additions are kept stable so
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that Guest Additions already installed in a VM should continue to work when <ph
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conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> is upgraded on the host, for best results, it is recommended
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to keep the Guest Additions at the same version. </p>
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<p>The Windows and Linux Guest Additions therefore check automatically whether they have to be updated. If the host
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is running a newer <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> version than the Guest Additions, a
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notification with further instructions is displayed in the guest. </p>
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<p>To disable this update check for the Guest Additions of a given virtual machine, set the value of its
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<codeph>/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/CheckHostVersion</codeph> guest property to <codeph>0</codeph>. See <xref
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href="guestadd-guestprops.dita#guestadd-guestprops"/>. </p>
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</body>
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</topic>
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