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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
manpage, user manual, usage: VBoxManage guestproperty
Copyright (C) 2006-2020 Oracle Corporation
This file is part of VirtualBox Open Source Edition (OSE), as
available from http://www.virtualbox.org. This file is free software;
you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU
General Public License (GPL) as published by the Free Software
Foundation, in version 2 as it comes in the "COPYING" file of the
VirtualBox OSE distribution. VirtualBox OSE is distributed in the
hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY of any kind.
-->
<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd"[
<!ENTITY % all.entities SYSTEM "all-entities.ent">
%all.entities;
]>
<refentry id="vboxmanage-guestproperty" lang="en">
<refentryinfo>
<pubdate>September 2019</pubdate>
<title>VBoxManage guestproperty</title>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>VBoxManage-guestproperty</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>VBoxManage-guestproperty</refname>
<refpurpose>manage virtual machine guest properties</refpurpose>
<refclass>Oracle VM VirtualBox</refclass>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<!-- The 'id' is mandatory and must start with 'synopsis-'. -->
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-guestproperty-get">
<command>VBoxManage guestproperty get</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="req"><replaceable>property-name</replaceable></arg>
<arg>--verbose</arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-guestproperty-enumerate">
<command>VBoxManage guestproperty enumerate</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg>--patterns=<replaceable>patterns</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-guestproperty-set">
<command>VBoxManage guestproperty set</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="req"><replaceable>property-name</replaceable></arg>
<arg><replaceable>property-value</replaceable><arg>--flags=<replaceable>flags</replaceable></arg></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-guestproperty-unset">
<command>VBoxManage guestproperty unset</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="req"><replaceable>property-name</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-guestproperty-wait">
<command>VBoxManage guestproperty wait</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="req"><replaceable>patterns</replaceable></arg>
<arg>--timeout=<replaceable>msec</replaceable></arg>
<arg>--fail-on-timeout</arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage guestproperty</command> command enables
you to set or retrieve the properties of a running virtual machine
(VM). See <xref linkend="guestadd-guestprops" />. Guest properties
are arbitrary name-value string pairs that can be written to and
read from by either the guest or the host. As a result, these
properties can be used as a low-volume communication channel for
strings provided that a guest is running and has the Guest
Additions installed. In addition, the Guest Additions
automatically set and maintain values whose keywords begin with
<literal>/VirtualBox/</literal>.
</para>
<refsect2>
<title>General Command Operand</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>uuid</replaceable>|<replaceable>vmname</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) or name
of the VM.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-guestproperty-enumerate">
<title>List All Properties for a Virtual Machine</title>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage guestproperty enumerate</command>
command lists each guest property and value for the specified
VM. Note that the output is limited if the guest's service
process cannot be contacted, for example because the VM is not
running or because the Guest Additions are not installed.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--patterns=<replaceable>pattern</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem><para>
Filters the list of properties based on the specified
pattern, which can contain the following wildcard
characters:
</para><variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>*</literal> (asterisk)</term>
<listitem><para>
Represents any number of characters. For example,
the <literal>/VirtualBox*</literal> pattern matches
all properties that begin with
<literal>/VirtualBox</literal>.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>?</literal> (question mark)</term>
<listitem><para>
Represents a single arbitrary character. For
example, the <literal>fo?</literal> pattern matches
both <literal>foo</literal> and
<literal>for</literal>.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>|</literal> (pipe)</term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies multiple alternative patterns. For
example, the <literal>s*|t*</literal> pattern
matches any property that begins with
<literal>s</literal> or <literal>t</literal>.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-guestproperty-get">
<title>Retrieve a Property Value for a Virtual Machine</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage guestproperty get</command> command
retrieves the value of the specified property. If the property
cannot be found, for example because the guest is not running,
the command issues the following message:
</para>
<screen>No value set!</screen>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>property-name</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the name of the property.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--verbose</option></term>
<listitem><para>
Provides the property value, timestamp, and any specified
value attributes.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-guestproperty-set">
<title>Set a Property Value for a Virtual Machine</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage guestproperty set</command> command
enables you to set a guest property by specifying the property
and its value. If you omit the value, the property is deleted.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>property-name</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the name of the property.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>property-value</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the value of the property. If no value is
specified, any existing value is removed.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--flags=<replaceable>flags</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specify the additional attributes of the value. The
following attributes can be specified as a comma-separated
list:
</para><variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>TRANSIENT</literal></term>
<listitem><para>
Removes the value with the VM data when the VM
exits.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>TRANSRESET</literal></term>
<listitem><para>
Removes the value when the VM restarts or exits.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>RDONLYGUEST</literal></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies that the value can be changed only by the
host and that the guest can read the value.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>RDONLYHOST</literal></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies that the value can be changed only by the
guest and that the host can read the value.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>READONLY</literal></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies that the value cannot be changed.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-guestproperty-wait">
<title>Wait for a Property Value to Be Created, Deleted, or Changed</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage guestproperty wait</command> command
waits for a particular value that is described by the pattern
string to change, to be deleted, or to be created.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>patterns</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies a pattern that matches the properties on which
you want to wait. For information about the pattern
wildcards, see the description of the
<option>--patterns</option> option.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--timeout<replaceable>msec</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the number of microseconds to wait.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--fail-on-timeout</option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies that the command fails if the timeout is
reached.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-guestproperty-unset">
<title>Unset a Virtual Machine Property Value</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage guestproperty unset</command> command
unsets the value of a guest property.
</para>
<para>
The alternate form of this subcommand is
<command>delete</command>.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>property-name</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the name of the property.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Examples</title>
<remark role="help-scope" condition="GLOBAL" />
<para>
The following command lists the guest properties and their values
for the <literal>win8</literal> VM.
</para>
<screen>$ VBoxManage guestproperty enumerate win8</screen>
<para>
The following command creates a guest property called
<literal>region</literal> for the <literal>win8</literal> VM. The
value of the property is set to <literal>west</literal>.
</para>
<screen>$ VBoxManage guestproperty set win8 region west</screen>
</refsect1>
</refentry>
|
