Merging upstream version 7.0.16-dfsg.

Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>

9 files changed, 163 insertions, 179 deletions

diff --git a/src/VBox/Main/include/AudioSettingsImpl.h b/src/VBox/Main/include/AudioSettingsImpl.h
index e5ec0b31..d9387165 100644
--- a/src/VBox/Main/include/AudioSettingsImpl.h
+++ b/src/VBox/Main/include/AudioSettingsImpl.h
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ public:
 
     // public methods only for internal purposes
     bool     i_canChangeSettings(void);
+    Machine *i_getMachine(void);
     void     i_onAdapterChanged(IAudioAdapter *pAdapter);
     void     i_onHostDeviceChanged(IHostAudioDevice *pDevice, bool fIsNew, AudioDeviceState_T enmState, IVirtualBoxErrorInfo *pErrInfo);
     void     i_onSettingsChanged(void);
diff --git a/src/VBox/Main/src-all/win/VBoxProxyStub.c b/src/VBox/Main/src-all/win/VBoxProxyStub.c
index 87125091..63d84b9c 100644
--- a/src/VBox/Main/src-all/win/VBoxProxyStub.c
+++ b/src/VBox/Main/src-all/win/VBoxProxyStub.c
@@ -2491,7 +2491,7 @@ static void vbpsUpdateWindowsService(VBPSREGSTATE *pState, const WCHAR *pwszVBox
                                           NULL /* pwszLoadOrderGroup */,
                                           NULL /* pdwTagId */,
                                           wszzDependencies,
-                                          NULL /* pwszServiceStartName */,
+                                          pwszServiceStartName /* pwszServiceStartName */,
                                           NULL /* pwszPassword */);
                 if (hService != NULL)
                 {
diff --git a/src/VBox/Main/src-client/GuestSessionImplTasks.cpp b/src/VBox/Main/src-client/GuestSessionImplTasks.cpp
index 59fbf06c..9a74e050 100644
--- a/src/VBox/Main/src-client/GuestSessionImplTasks.cpp
+++ b/src/VBox/Main/src-client/GuestSessionImplTasks.cpp
@@ -2969,77 +2969,41 @@ int GuestSessionTaskUpdateAdditions::Run(void)
             }
             else
             {
+                if (RT_SUCCESS(vrc))
+                    vrc = setProgress(5);
+
                 Utf8Str strUpdateDir;
 
-                vrc = setProgress(5);
+                /*
+                 * Prepare the update directory.
+                 */
                 if (RT_SUCCESS(vrc))
                 {
-                    /* Try getting the installed Guest Additions version to know whether we
-                     * can install our temporary Guest Addition data into the original installation
-                     * directory.
-                     *
-                     * Because versions prior to 4.2 had bugs wrt spaces in paths we have to choose
-                     * a different location then.
-                     */
-                    bool fUseInstallDir = false;
-
-                    Utf8Str strAddsVer;
-                    vrc = getGuestProperty(pGuest, "/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Version", strAddsVer);
-                    if (   RT_SUCCESS(vrc)
-                        && RTStrVersionCompare(strAddsVer.c_str(), "4.2r80329") > 0)
-                    {
-                        fUseInstallDir = true;
-                    }
-
-                    if (fUseInstallDir)
-                    {
-                        vrc = getGuestProperty(pGuest, "/VirtualBox/GuestAdd/InstallDir", strUpdateDir);
-                        if (RT_SUCCESS(vrc))
-                        {
-                            if (strUpdateDir.isNotEmpty())
-                            {
-                                if (osType == eOSType_Windows)
-                                {
-                                    strUpdateDir.findReplace('/', '\\');
-                                    strUpdateDir.append("\\Update\\");
-                                }
-                                else
-                                    strUpdateDir.append("/update/");
-                            }
-                            /* else Older Guest Additions might not handle this property correctly. */
-                        }
-                        /* Ditto. */
-                    }
-
-                    /** @todo Set fallback installation directory. Make this a *lot* smarter. Later. */
-                    if (strUpdateDir.isEmpty())
+                    /* Note: No fallback to unsafe guest locations! See @bugref{10625}. */
+                    int vrcGuest;
+                    vrc = pSession->i_fsCreateTemp("VBoxAutoUpdate-XXXXXXXXXXXX", "" /* Use default temp dir */,
+                                                   true /* fDirectory */, strUpdateDir, 755 /* Mode */, false /* fSecure */, &vrcGuest);
+                    if (RT_SUCCESS(vrc))
                     {
                         if (osType == eOSType_Windows)
-                            strUpdateDir = "C:\\Temp\\";
+                            strUpdateDir.append("\\");
                         else
-                            strUpdateDir = "/tmp/";
-                    }
-                }
-
-                /* Create the installation directory. */
-                int vrcGuest = VERR_IPE_UNINITIALIZED_STATUS;
-                if (RT_SUCCESS(vrc))
-                {
-                    LogRel(("Guest Additions update directory is: %s\n", strUpdateDir.c_str()));
+                            strUpdateDir.append("/");
 
-                    vrc = pSession->i_directoryCreate(strUpdateDir, 755 /* Mode */, DirectoryCreateFlag_Parents, &vrcGuest);
-                    if (RT_FAILURE(vrc))
+                        LogRel(("Guest Additions update directory is: %s\n", strUpdateDir.c_str()));
+                    }
+                    else
                     {
                         switch (vrc)
                         {
                             case VERR_GSTCTL_GUEST_ERROR:
-                                hrc = setProgressErrorMsg(VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR, tr("Creating installation directory on guest failed"),
+                                hrc = setProgressErrorMsg(VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR, tr("Creating update directory on guest failed"),
                                                           GuestErrorInfo(GuestErrorInfo::Type_Directory, vrcGuest, strUpdateDir.c_str()));
                                 break;
 
                             default:
                                 hrc = setProgressErrorMsg(VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR,
-                                                          Utf8StrFmt(tr("Creating installation directory \"%s\" on guest failed: %Rrc"),
+                                                          Utf8StrFmt(tr("Creating update directory \"%s\" on guest failed: %Rrc"),
                                                                      strUpdateDir.c_str(), vrc));
                                 break;
                         }
diff --git a/src/VBox/Main/src-global/win/VBoxSDS.cpp b/src/VBox/Main/src-global/win/VBoxSDS.cpp
index 6bc7506f..e89bfd7a 100644
--- a/src/VBox/Main/src-global/win/VBoxSDS.cpp
+++ b/src/VBox/Main/src-global/win/VBoxSDS.cpp
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@
 #include <iprt/buildconfig.h>
 #include <iprt/dir.h>
 #include <iprt/env.h>
+#include <iprt/err.h>
 #include <iprt/getopt.h>
 #include <iprt/initterm.h>
 #include <iprt/path.h>
@@ -911,10 +912,14 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR lpCmdLine
     }
 
     /*
-     * Default log location is %ProgramData%\VirtualBox\VBoxSDS.log, falling back
-     * on %_CWD%\VBoxSDS.log (where _CWD typicaly is 'C:\Windows\System32').
+     * Default log location (LOGDIR) is %APPDATA%\VirtualBox\VBoxSDS.log.
      *
-     * We change the current directory to %ProgramData%\VirtualBox\ if possible.
+     * When running VBoxSDS as a regular user, LOGDIR typically will be 'C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\VirtualBox\'.
+     * When running VBoxSDS as a service (via SCM), LOGDIR typically will be 'C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\VirtualBox\'.
+     *
+     * We change the current directory to LOGDIR if possible.
+     *
+     * See @bugref{10632}.
      *
      * We only create the log file when running VBoxSDS normally, but not
      * when registering/unregistering, at least for now.
@@ -924,14 +929,19 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR lpCmdLine
         char szLogFile[RTPATH_MAX];
         if (!pszLogFile || !*pszLogFile)
         {
-            WCHAR wszAppData[MAX_PATH + 16];
-            if (SHGetSpecialFolderPathW(NULL, wszAppData, CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA, TRUE /*fCreate*/))
+            WCHAR wszSpecialFolder[MAX_PATH + 16];
+            if (SHGetSpecialFolderPathW(NULL, wszSpecialFolder, CSIDL_APPDATA, TRUE /*fCreate*/))
             {
                 char *pszConv = szLogFile;
-                vrc = RTUtf16ToUtf8Ex(wszAppData, RTSTR_MAX, &pszConv, sizeof(szLogFile) - 12, NULL);
+                vrc = RTUtf16ToUtf8Ex(wszSpecialFolder, RTSTR_MAX, &pszConv, sizeof(szLogFile) - 12, NULL);
             }
-            else
-                vrc = RTEnvGetUtf8("ProgramData", szLogFile, sizeof(szLogFile) - sizeof("VBoxSDS.log"), NULL);
+            else if (SHGetSpecialFolderPathW(NULL, wszSpecialFolder, CSIDL_SYSTEM, TRUE /*fCreate*/))
+            {
+                char *pszConv = szLogFile;
+                vrc = RTUtf16ToUtf8Ex(wszSpecialFolder, RTSTR_MAX, &pszConv, sizeof(szLogFile) - 12, NULL);
+            }
+            else /* Note! No fallback to environment variables or such. See @bugref{10632}. */
+                vrc = VERR_PATH_NOT_FOUND;
             if (RT_SUCCESS(vrc))
             {
                 vrc = RTPathAppend(szLogFile, sizeof(szLogFile), "VirtualBox\\");
@@ -942,14 +952,14 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR lpCmdLine
                         vrc = RTDirCreate(szLogFile, 0755, RTDIRCREATE_FLAGS_NOT_CONTENT_INDEXED_DONT_SET);
                     if (RT_SUCCESS(vrc))
                     {
-                        /* Change into it. */
-                        RTPathSetCurrent(szLogFile);
+                        /* Change into it.
+                         * If this fails, better don't continue, as there might be something fishy. */
+                        vrc = RTPathSetCurrent(szLogFile);
+                        if (RT_SUCCESS(vrc))
+                            vrc = RTStrCat(szLogFile, sizeof(szLogFile), "VBoxSDS.log");
                     }
                 }
             }
-            if (RT_FAILURE(vrc))     /* ignore any failure above */
-                szLogFile[0] = '\0';
-            vrc = RTStrCat(szLogFile, sizeof(szLogFile), "VBoxSDS.log");
             if (RT_FAILURE(vrc))
                 return RTMsgErrorExit(RTEXITCODE_FAILURE, "Failed to construct release log filename: %Rrc", vrc);
             pszLogFile = szLogFile;
diff --git a/src/VBox/Main/src-global/win/VirtualBoxSDSImpl.cpp b/src/VBox/Main/src-global/win/VirtualBoxSDSImpl.cpp
index 1b98c629..1db8fa61 100644
--- a/src/VBox/Main/src-global/win/VirtualBoxSDSImpl.cpp
+++ b/src/VBox/Main/src-global/win/VirtualBoxSDSImpl.cpp
@@ -609,7 +609,7 @@ STDMETHODIMP VirtualBoxSDS::LaunchVMProcess(IN_BSTR aMachine, IN_BSTR aComment,
             else
             {
                 hrc = VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR;
-                LogRel(("VirtualBoxSDS::LaunchVMProcess: launchVM failed: %Rhrc (%Rrc)\n", hrc));
+                LogRel(("VirtualBoxSDS::LaunchVMProcess: launchVM failed: %Rhrc (%Rrc)\n", hrc, vrc));
             }
         }
         catch (...)
diff --git a/src/VBox/Main/src-server/AudioAdapterImpl.cpp b/src/VBox/Main/src-server/AudioAdapterImpl.cpp
index 66e40c6e..5c388771 100644
--- a/src/VBox/Main/src-server/AudioAdapterImpl.cpp
+++ b/src/VBox/Main/src-server/AudioAdapterImpl.cpp
@@ -233,6 +233,10 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setEnabled(BOOL aEnabled)
     AutoCaller autoCaller(this);
     if (FAILED(autoCaller.hrc())) return autoCaller.hrc();
 
+    /* the machine needs to be mutable */
+    AutoMutableStateDependency adep(m->pParent->i_getMachine());
+    if (FAILED(adep.hrc())) return adep.hrc();
+
     AutoWriteLock alock(this COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
 
     if (m->bd->fEnabled != RT_BOOL(aEnabled))
@@ -241,7 +245,7 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setEnabled(BOOL aEnabled)
         m->bd->fEnabled = RT_BOOL(aEnabled);
         alock.release();
 
-        m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // mParent is const, needs no locking
+        m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // m->pParent is const, needs no locking
         m->pParent->i_onAdapterChanged(this);
     }
 
@@ -265,6 +269,10 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setEnabledIn(BOOL aEnabled)
     AutoCaller autoCaller(this);
     if (FAILED(autoCaller.hrc())) return autoCaller.hrc();
 
+    /* the machine needs to be mutable */
+    AutoMutableOrSavedOrRunningStateDependency adep(m->pParent->i_getMachine());
+    if (FAILED(adep.hrc())) return adep.hrc();
+
     AutoWriteLock alock(this COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
 
     if (RT_BOOL(aEnabled) != m->bd->fEnabledIn)
@@ -274,7 +282,7 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setEnabledIn(BOOL aEnabled)
 
         alock.release();
 
-        m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // mParent is const, needs no locking
+        m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // m->pParent is const, needs no locking
         m->pParent->i_onAdapterChanged(this);
     }
 
@@ -298,6 +306,10 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setEnabledOut(BOOL aEnabled)
     AutoCaller autoCaller(this);
     if (FAILED(autoCaller.hrc())) return autoCaller.hrc();
 
+    /* the machine needs to be mutable */
+    AutoMutableOrSavedOrRunningStateDependency adep(m->pParent->i_getMachine());
+    if (FAILED(adep.hrc())) return adep.hrc();
+
     AutoWriteLock alock(this COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
 
     if (RT_BOOL(aEnabled) != m->bd->fEnabledOut)
@@ -307,7 +319,7 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setEnabledOut(BOOL aEnabled)
 
         alock.release();
 
-        m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // mParent is const, needs no locking
+        m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // m->pParent is const, needs no locking
         m->pParent->i_onAdapterChanged(this);
     }
 
@@ -331,6 +343,10 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setAudioDriver(AudioDriverType_T aAudioDriver)
     AutoCaller autoCaller(this);
     if (FAILED(autoCaller.hrc())) return autoCaller.hrc();
 
+    /* the machine needs to be mutable */
+    AutoMutableOrSavedStateDependency adep(m->pParent->i_getMachine());
+    if (FAILED(adep.hrc())) return adep.hrc();
+
     AutoWriteLock alock(this COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
 
     HRESULT hrc = S_OK;
@@ -344,7 +360,7 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setAudioDriver(AudioDriverType_T aAudioDriver)
 
             alock.release();
 
-            m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // mParent is const, needs no locking
+            m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // m->pParent is const, needs no locking
         }
         else
         {
@@ -373,6 +389,10 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setAudioController(AudioControllerType_T aAudioController)
     AutoCaller autoCaller(this);
     if (FAILED(autoCaller.hrc())) return autoCaller.hrc();
 
+    /* the machine needs to be mutable */
+    AutoMutableStateDependency adep(m->pParent->i_getMachine());
+    if (FAILED(adep.hrc())) return adep.hrc();
+
     AutoWriteLock alock(this COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
 
     HRESULT hrc = S_OK;
@@ -411,7 +431,7 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setAudioController(AudioControllerType_T aAudioController)
 
             alock.release();
 
-            m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // mParent is const, needs no locking
+            m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // m->pParent is const, needs no locking
         }
     }
 
@@ -435,6 +455,10 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setAudioCodec(AudioCodecType_T aAudioCodec)
     AutoCaller autoCaller(this);
     if (FAILED(autoCaller.hrc())) return autoCaller.hrc();
 
+    /* the machine needs to be mutable */
+    AutoMutableStateDependency adep(m->pParent->i_getMachine());
+    if (FAILED(adep.hrc())) return adep.hrc();
+
     AutoWriteLock alock(this COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
 
     HRESULT hrc = S_OK;
@@ -484,7 +508,7 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setAudioCodec(AudioCodecType_T aAudioCodec)
 
         alock.release();
 
-        m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // mParent is const, needs no locking
+        m->pParent->i_onSettingsChanged(); // m->pParent is const, needs no locking
     }
 
     return hrc;
@@ -530,6 +554,10 @@ HRESULT AudioAdapter::setProperty(const com::Utf8Str &aKey, const com::Utf8Str &
     AutoCaller autoCaller(this);
     if (FAILED(autoCaller.hrc())) return autoCaller.hrc();
 
+    /* the machine needs to be mutable */
+    AutoMutableStateDependency adep(m->pParent->i_getMachine());
+    if (FAILED(adep.hrc())) return adep.hrc();
+
     AutoWriteLock alock(this COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
 
     /* Generic properties processing.
diff --git a/src/VBox/Main/src-server/AudioSettingsImpl.cpp b/src/VBox/Main/src-server/AudioSettingsImpl.cpp
index b7736f1f..851fea77 100644
--- a/src/VBox/Main/src-server/AudioSettingsImpl.cpp
+++ b/src/VBox/Main/src-server/AudioSettingsImpl.cpp
@@ -247,6 +247,16 @@ bool AudioSettings::i_canChangeSettings(void)
 }
 
 /**
+ * Returns a (weak) pointer of the audio setting's machine object.
+ *
+ * @returns Wweak pointer of the audio setting's machine object.
+ */
+Machine *AudioSettings::i_getMachine(void)
+{
+    return m->pMachine; // m->pMachine is const, needs no locking
+}
+
+/**
  * Gets called when the machine object needs to know that audio adapter settings
  * have been changed.
  *
@@ -255,7 +265,7 @@ bool AudioSettings::i_canChangeSettings(void)
 void AudioSettings::i_onAdapterChanged(IAudioAdapter *pAdapter)
 {
     AssertPtrReturnVoid(pAdapter);
-    m->pMachine->i_onAudioAdapterChange(pAdapter); // mParent is const, needs no locking
+    m->pMachine->i_onAudioAdapterChange(pAdapter); // m->pMachine is const, needs no locking
 }
 
 /**
@@ -271,7 +281,7 @@ void AudioSettings::i_onHostDeviceChanged(IHostAudioDevice *pDevice,
                                           bool fIsNew, AudioDeviceState_T enmState, IVirtualBoxErrorInfo *pErrInfo)
 {
     AssertPtrReturnVoid(pDevice);
-    m->pMachine->i_onHostAudioDeviceChange(pDevice, fIsNew, enmState, pErrInfo); // mParent is const, needs no locking
+    m->pMachine->i_onHostAudioDeviceChange(pDevice, fIsNew, enmState, pErrInfo); // m->pMachine is const, needs no locking
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/VBox/Main/webservice/vboxweb.cpp b/src/VBox/Main/webservice/vboxweb.cpp
index eb1c44a0..e3052600 100644
--- a/src/VBox/Main/webservice/vboxweb.cpp
+++ b/src/VBox/Main/webservice/vboxweb.cpp
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ static int              g_iWatchdogCheckInterval = 5;
 
 static const char       *g_pcszBindToHost = NULL;       // host; NULL = localhost
 static unsigned int     g_uBindToPort = 18083;          // port
-static unsigned int     g_uBacklog = 100;               // backlog = max queue size for requests
+static unsigned int     g_uBacklog = 100;               // backlog = max queue size for connections
 
 #ifdef WITH_OPENSSL
 static bool             g_fSSL = false;                 // if SSL is enabled
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ static void DisplayHelp()
                 break;
 
             case 'k':
-                pcszDescr = "Maximum number of requests before a socket will be closed (100).";
+                pcszDescr = "Maximum number of requests before a connection will be closed (100).";
                 break;
 
             case 'A':
@@ -361,30 +361,13 @@ public:
      * Constructor. Creates the new thread and makes it call process() for processing the queue.
      * @param u Thread number. (So we can count from 1 and be readable.)
      * @param q SoapQ instance which has the queue to process.
-     * @param soap struct soap instance from main() which we copy here.
      */
     SoapThread(size_t u,
-               SoapQ &q,
-               const struct soap *soap)
+               SoapQ &q)
         : m_u(u),
-          m_strThread(com::Utf8StrFmt("SQW%02d", m_u)),
           m_pQ(&q)
     {
-        // make a copy of the soap struct for the new thread
-        m_soap = soap_copy(soap);
-        m_soap->fget = fnHttpGet;
-
-        /* The soap.max_keep_alive value can be set to the maximum keep-alive calls allowed,
-         * which is important to avoid a client from holding a thread indefinitely.
-         * http://www.cs.fsu.edu/~engelen/soapdoc2.html#sec:keepalive
-         *
-         * Strings with 8-bit content can hold ASCII (default) or UTF8. The latter is
-         * possible by enabling the SOAP_C_UTFSTRING flag.
-         */
-        soap_set_omode(m_soap, SOAP_IO_KEEPALIVE | SOAP_C_UTFSTRING);
-        soap_set_imode(m_soap, SOAP_IO_KEEPALIVE | SOAP_C_UTFSTRING);
-        m_soap->max_keep_alive = g_cMaxKeepAlive;
-
+         m_strThread = com::Utf8StrFmt("SQW%02d", m_u);
         int vrc = RTThreadCreate(&m_pThread,
                                  fntWrapper,
                                  this,           // pvUser
@@ -431,7 +414,6 @@ public:
     size_t          m_u;            // thread number
     com::Utf8Str    m_strThread;    // thread name ("SoapQWrkXX")
     SoapQ           *m_pQ;          // the single SOAP queue that all the threads service
-    struct soap     *m_soap;        // copy of the soap structure for this thread (from soap_copy())
     RTTHREAD        m_pThread;      // IPRT thread struct for this thread
 };
 
@@ -446,11 +428,9 @@ public:
 
     /**
      * Constructor. Creates the soap queue.
-     * @param pSoap
      */
-    SoapQ(const struct soap *pSoap)
-        : m_soap(pSoap),
-          m_mutex(util::LOCKCLASS_OBJECTSTATE),     // lowest lock order, no other may be held while this is held
+    SoapQ()
+        : m_mutex(util::LOCKCLASS_OBJECTSTATE),     // lowest lock order, no other may be held while this is held
           m_cIdleThreads(0)
     {
         RTSemEventMultiCreate(&m_event);
@@ -474,16 +454,29 @@ public:
         }
 
         RTSemEventMultiDestroy(m_event);
+
+        while (!m_llSocketsQ.empty())
+        {
+            struct soap *pSoap = m_llSocketsQ.front();
+            m_llSocketsQ.pop_front();
+
+            if (pSoap == NULL || !soap_valid_socket(pSoap->socket))
+                continue;
+
+            soap_destroy(pSoap); // clean up class instances
+            soap_end(pSoap); // clean up everything and close socket
+            soap_free(pSoap); // free soap connection
+        }
     }
 
     /**
-     * Adds the given socket to the SOAP queue and posts the
+     * Adds the given soap connection to the SOAP queue and posts the
      * member event sem to wake up the workers. Called on the main thread
-     * whenever a socket has work to do. Creates a new SOAP thread on the
+     * whenever a connection comes in. Creates a new SOAP thread on the
      * first call or when all existing threads are busy.
-     * @param s Socket from soap_accept() which has work to do.
+     * @param pSoap connection
      */
-    size_t add(SOAP_SOCKET s)
+    size_t add(const struct soap *pSoap)
     {
         size_t cItems;
         util::AutoWriteLock qlock(m_mutex COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
@@ -496,17 +489,16 @@ public:
            )
         {
             SoapThread *pst = new SoapThread(m_llAllThreads.size() + 1,
-                                             *this,
-                                             m_soap);
+                                             *this);
             m_llAllThreads.push_back(pst);
             util::AutoWriteLock thrLock(g_pThreadsLockHandle COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
             g_mapThreads[pst->m_pThread] = com::Utf8StrFmt("[%3u]", pst->m_u);
             ++m_cIdleThreads;
         }
 
-        // enqueue the socket of this connection and post eventsem so that
-        // one of the threads (possibly the one just created) can pick it up
-        m_llSocketsQ.push_back(s);
+        // enqueue this connection and post eventsem so that one of the threads
+        // (possibly the one just created) can pick it up
+        m_llSocketsQ.push_back(soap_copy(pSoap));
         cItems = m_llSocketsQ.size();
         qlock.release();
 
@@ -518,14 +510,14 @@ public:
 
     /**
      * Blocks the current thread until work comes in; then returns
-     * the SOAP socket which has work to do. This reduces m_cIdleThreads
+     * the SOAP connection which has work to do. This reduces m_cIdleThreads
      * by one, and the caller MUST call done() when it's done processing.
      * Called from the worker threads.
      * @param cIdleThreads out: no. of threads which are currently idle (not counting the caller)
      * @param cThreads out: total no. of SOAP threads running
      * @return
      */
-    SOAP_SOCKET get(size_t &cIdleThreads, size_t &cThreads)
+    struct soap *get(size_t &cIdleThreads, size_t &cThreads)
     {
         while (g_fKeepRunning)
         {
@@ -538,7 +530,7 @@ public:
             util::AutoWriteLock qlock(m_mutex COMMA_LOCKVAL_SRC_POS);
             if (!m_llSocketsQ.empty())
             {
-                SOAP_SOCKET socket = m_llSocketsQ.front();
+                struct soap *pSoap = m_llSocketsQ.front();
                 m_llSocketsQ.pop_front();
                 cIdleThreads = --m_cIdleThreads;
                 cThreads = m_llAllThreads.size();
@@ -551,12 +543,12 @@ public:
 
                 qlock.release();
 
-                return socket;
+                return pSoap;
             }
 
             // nothing to do: keep looping
         }
-        return SOAP_INVALID_SOCKET;
+        return NULL;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -571,7 +563,7 @@ public:
 
     /**
      * To be called by a worker thread when signing off, i.e. no longer
-     * willing to process requests.
+     * willing to process SOAP connections.
      */
     void signoff(SoapThread *th)
     {
@@ -587,8 +579,6 @@ public:
         }
     }
 
-    const struct soap       *m_soap;            // soap structure created by main(), passed to constructor
-
     util::WriteLockHandle   m_mutex;
     RTSEMEVENTMULTI         m_event;            // posted by add(), blocked on by get()
 
@@ -596,15 +586,15 @@ public:
     size_t                  m_cIdleThreads;     // threads which are currently idle (statistics)
 
     // A std::list abused as a queue; this contains the actual jobs to do,
-    // each int being a socket from soap_accept()
-    std::list<SOAP_SOCKET>  m_llSocketsQ;
+    // each entry being a connection from soap_accept() passed through SoapQ::add.
+    std::list<struct soap *>  m_llSocketsQ;
 };
 
 /**
  * Thread function for each of the SOAP queue worker threads. This keeps
  * running, blocks on the event semaphore in SoapThread.SoapQ and picks
- * up a socket from the queue therein, which has been put there by
- * beginProcessing().
+ * up a connection from the queue therein, which has been put there by
+ * SoapQ::add().
  */
 void SoapThread::process()
 {
@@ -612,39 +602,54 @@ void SoapThread::process()
 
     while (g_fKeepRunning)
     {
-        // wait for a socket to arrive on the queue
+        // wait for a job to arrive on the queue
         size_t cIdleThreads = 0, cThreads = 0;
-        m_soap->socket = m_pQ->get(cIdleThreads, cThreads);
+        struct soap *pSoap = m_pQ->get(cIdleThreads, cThreads);
 
-        if (!soap_valid_socket(m_soap->socket))
+        if (pSoap == NULL || !soap_valid_socket(pSoap->socket))
             continue;
 
+        pSoap->fget = fnHttpGet;
+
+        /* The soap.max_keep_alive value can be set to the maximum keep-alive calls allowed,
+         * which is important to avoid a client from holding a thread indefinitely.
+         * http://www.cs.fsu.edu/~engelen/soapdoc2.html#sec:keepalive
+         *
+         * Strings with 8-bit content can hold ASCII (default) or UTF8. The latter is
+         * possible by enabling the SOAP_C_UTFSTRING flag.
+         */
+        soap_set_omode(pSoap, SOAP_IO_KEEPALIVE | SOAP_C_UTFSTRING);
+        soap_set_imode(pSoap, SOAP_IO_KEEPALIVE | SOAP_C_UTFSTRING);
+        pSoap->max_keep_alive = g_cMaxKeepAlive;
+
         LogRel(("Processing connection from IP=%RTnaipv4 socket=%d (%d out of %d threads idle)\n",
-                RT_H2N_U32(m_soap->ip), m_soap->socket, cIdleThreads, cThreads));
+                RT_H2N_U32(pSoap->ip), pSoap->socket, cIdleThreads, cThreads));
 
         // Ensure that we don't get stuck indefinitely for connections using
         // keepalive, otherwise stale connections tie up worker threads.
-        m_soap->send_timeout = 60;
-        m_soap->recv_timeout = 60;
+        pSoap->send_timeout = 60;
+        pSoap->recv_timeout = 60;
         // Limit the maximum SOAP request size to a generous amount, just to
         // be on the safe side (SOAP is quite wordy when representing arrays,
         // and some API uses need to deal with large arrays). Good that binary
         // data is no longer represented by byte arrays...
-        m_soap->recv_maxlength = _16M;
+        pSoap->recv_maxlength = _16M;
         // process the request; this goes into the COM code in methodmaps.cpp
+
         do {
 #ifdef WITH_OPENSSL
-            if (g_fSSL && soap_ssl_accept(m_soap))
+            if (g_fSSL && soap_ssl_accept(pSoap))
             {
-                WebLogSoapError(m_soap);
+                WebLogSoapError(pSoap);
                 break;
             }
 #endif /* WITH_OPENSSL */
-            soap_serve(m_soap);
+            soap_serve(pSoap);
         } while (0);
 
-        soap_destroy(m_soap); // clean up class instances
-        soap_end(m_soap); // clean up everything and close socket
+        soap_destroy(pSoap); // clean up class instances
+        soap_end(pSoap); // clean up everything and close connection
+        soap_free(pSoap); // free soap connection
 
         // tell the queue we're idle again
         m_pQ->done();
@@ -908,6 +913,7 @@ static void doQueuesLoop()
     }
 #endif /* WITH_OPENSSL */
 
+    soap.accept_timeout = 60;
     soap.bind_flags |= SO_REUSEADDR;
             // avoid EADDRINUSE on bind()
 
@@ -915,7 +921,7 @@ static void doQueuesLoop()
     m = soap_bind(&soap,
                   g_pcszBindToHost ? g_pcszBindToHost : "localhost",    // safe default host
                   g_uBindToPort,    // port
-                  g_uBacklog);      // backlog = max queue size for requests
+                  g_uBacklog);      // backlog = max queue size for connections
     if (m == SOAP_INVALID_SOCKET)
         WebLogSoapError(&soap);
     else
@@ -930,65 +936,30 @@ static void doQueuesLoop()
                 g_uBindToPort, pszSsl, m));
 
         // initialize thread queue, mutex and eventsem
-        g_pSoapQ = new SoapQ(&soap);
+        g_pSoapQ = new SoapQ();
 
         uint64_t cAccepted = 1;
         while (g_fKeepRunning)
         {
-            struct timeval timeout;
-            fd_set ReadFds, WriteFds, XcptFds;
-            int rv;
-            for (;;)
-            {
-                timeout.tv_sec = 60;
-                timeout.tv_usec = 0;
-                FD_ZERO(&ReadFds);
-                FD_SET(soap.master, &ReadFds);
-                FD_ZERO(&WriteFds);
-                FD_SET(soap.master, &WriteFds);
-                FD_ZERO(&XcptFds);
-                FD_SET(soap.master, &XcptFds);
-                rv = select((int)soap.master + 1, &ReadFds, &WriteFds, &XcptFds, &timeout);
-                if (rv > 0)
-                    break; // work is waiting
-                if (rv == 0)
-                    continue; // timeout, not necessary to bother gsoap
-                // r < 0, errno
-#if GSOAP_VERSION >= 208103
-                if (soap_socket_errno == SOAP_EINTR)
-#else
-                if (soap_socket_errno(soap.master) == SOAP_EINTR)
-#endif
-                    rv = 0; // re-check if we should terminate
-                break;
-            }
-            if (rv == 0)
-                continue;
-
-            // call gSOAP to handle incoming SOAP connection
-            soap.accept_timeout = -1; // 1usec timeout, actual waiting is above
             s = soap_accept(&soap);
             if (!soap_valid_socket(s))
             {
-                if (soap.errnum)
+                if (soap.errnum != SOAP_EINTR)
                     WebLogSoapError(&soap);
                 continue;
             }
 
-            // add the socket to the queue and tell worker threads to
+            // add the connection to the queue and tell worker threads to
             // pick up the job
-            size_t cItemsOnQ = g_pSoapQ->add(s);
-            LogRel(("Request %llu on socket %d queued for processing (%d items on Q)\n", cAccepted, s, cItemsOnQ));
+            size_t cItemsOnQ = g_pSoapQ->add(&soap);
+            LogRel(("Connection %llu on socket %d queued for processing (%d items on Q)\n", cAccepted, s, cItemsOnQ));
             cAccepted++;
         }
 
         delete g_pSoapQ;
         g_pSoapQ = NULL;
 
-        LogRel(("ending SOAP request handling\n"));
-
-        delete g_pSoapQ;
-        g_pSoapQ = NULL;
+        LogRel(("Ending SOAP connection handling\n"));
 
     }
     soap_done(&soap); // close master socket and detach environment
@@ -1001,7 +972,7 @@ static void doQueuesLoop()
 
 /**
  * Thread function for the "queue pumper" thread started from main(). This implements
- * the loop that takes SOAP calls from HTTP and serves them by handing sockets to the
+ * the loop that takes SOAP calls from HTTP and serves them by handing connections to the
  * SOAP queue worker threads.
  */
 static DECLCALLBACK(int) fntQPumper(RTTHREAD hThreadSelf, void *pvUser)
diff --git a/src/VBox/Main/webservice/websrv-python.xsl b/src/VBox/Main/webservice/websrv-python.xsl
index c49677b5..c49677b5 100644..100755
--- a/src/VBox/Main/webservice/websrv-python.xsl
+++ b/src/VBox/Main/webservice/websrv-python.xsl