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authorDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-04-07 16:49:04 +0000
committerDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-04-07 16:49:04 +0000
commit16f504a9dca3fe3b70568f67b7d41241ae485288 (patch)
treec60f36ada0496ba928b7161059ba5ab1ab224f9d /doc/manual/en_US/user_BasicConcepts.xml
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+ Copyright (C) 2006-2022 Oracle and/or its affiliates.
+
+ This file is part of VirtualBox base platform packages, as
+ available from https://www.virtualbox.org.
+
+ This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ as published by the Free Software Foundation, in version 3 of the
+ License.
+
+ This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+ WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+ General Public License for more details.
+
+ You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ along with this program; if not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses>.
+
+ SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-only
+-->
+<!DOCTYPE chapter 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;
+]>
+<chapter id="BasicConcepts">
+
+ <title>Configuring Virtual Machines</title>
+
+ <para>
+ This chapter provides detailed steps for configuring an
+ &product-name; virtual machine (VM). For an introduction to
+ &product-name; and steps to get your first virtual machine running,
+ see <xref linkend="Introduction" />.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ You have considerable latitude when deciding what virtual hardware
+ to provide to the guest. Use virtual hardware to communicate with
+ the host system or with other guests. For example, you can use
+ virtual hardware in the following ways:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Have &product-name; present an ISO CD-ROM image to a guest
+ system as if it were a physical CD-ROM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Provide a guest system access to the physical network through
+ its virtual network card.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Provide the host system, other guests, and computers on the
+ Internet access to the guest system.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <sect1 id="guestossupport">
+
+ <title>Supported Guest Operating Systems</title>
+
+ <para>
+ Because &product-name; is designed to provide a generic
+ virtualization environment for x86 systems, it can run guest
+ operating systems (OSes) of any kind.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The following guest OS platforms are supported:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Platforms With Full Support.</emphasis>
+ These guest OS platforms qualify for Oracle Premier Support.
+ See <xref linkend="table-premier-support"/>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Platforms With Limited
+ Support.</emphasis> These legacy guest OS platforms can be
+ used with &product-name;, but only qualify for <emphasis>best
+ effort</emphasis> support. Therefore, resolution of customer
+ issues is not guaranteed. See
+ <xref linkend="table-limited-support"/>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <table id="table-premier-support" tabstyle="oracle-all">
+ <title>Guest Operating Systems With Full Support</title>
+ <tgroup cols="2">
+ <thead>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Operating System</emphasis>
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Comments</emphasis>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ </thead>
+ <tbody>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows 11 (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para>
+ Insider preview builds are not supported
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para>
+ Insider preview builds are not supported
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows 8 and 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows Server 2019 (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows Server 2016 (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Solaris 11 (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Solaris 10 8/11 Update 10 and later (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Oracle Linux 8 (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para>
+ Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, CentOS 8
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Oracle Linux 7 (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para>
+ Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, CentOS 7
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Oracle Linux 6 (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para>
+ Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, CentOS 6
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ </tbody>
+ </tgroup>
+ </table>
+
+ <table id="table-limited-support" tabstyle="oracle-all">
+ <title>Legacy Guest Operating Systems With Limited Support</title>
+ <tgroup cols="2">
+ <thead>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Operating System</emphasis>
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Comments</emphasis>
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ </thead>
+ <tbody>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows Vista SP2 and later (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows XP (32-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows Vista (32-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Windows Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Oracle Linux 5 (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para>
+ Includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, CentOS 5
+ </para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (32-bit and 64-bit)
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><para>
+ OS/2 Warp 4.5
+ </para></entry>
+ <entry><para></para></entry>
+ </row>
+ </tbody>
+ </tgroup>
+ </table>
+
+ <sect2 id="intro-macosxguests">
+
+ <title>Mac OS X Guests</title>
+
+ <para>
+ &product-name; enables you to install and execute unmodified
+ versions of Mac OS X guests on supported host hardware. Note
+ that this feature is experimental and thus unsupported.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ &product-name; is the first product to provide the modern PC
+ architecture expected by OS X without requiring any of the
+ modifications used by competing virtualization solutions. For
+ example, some competing solutions perform modifications to the
+ Mac OS X install DVDs, such as a different boot loader and
+ replaced files.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Be aware of the following important issues before you attempt to
+ install a Mac OS X guest:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Mac OS X is commercial, licensed software and contains
+ <emphasis role="bold">both license and technical
+ restrictions</emphasis> that limit its use to certain
+ hardware and usage scenarios. You must understand and comply
+ with these restrictions.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ In particular, Apple prohibits the installation of most
+ versions of Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ These license restrictions are also enforced on a technical
+ level. Mac OS X verifies that it is running on Apple
+ hardware. Most DVDs that accompany Apple hardware check for
+ the exact model. These restrictions are
+ <emphasis>not</emphasis> circumvented by &product-name; and
+ continue to apply.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Only <emphasis role="bold">CPUs</emphasis> that are known
+ and tested by Apple are supported. As a result, if your
+ Intel CPU is newer than the Mac OS X build, or if you have a
+ non-Intel CPU, you will likely encounter a panic during
+ bootup with an "Unsupported CPU" exception.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Ensure that you use the Mac OS X DVD that comes with your
+ Apple hardware.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The Mac OS X installer expects the hard disk to be
+ <emphasis>partitioned</emphasis>. So, the installer will not
+ offer a partition selection to you. Before you can install
+ the software successfully, start the Disk Utility from the
+ Tools menu and partition the hard disk. Close the Disk
+ Utility and proceed with the installation.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ In addition, Mac OS X support in &product-name; is an
+ experimental feature. See <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="intro-64bitguests">
+
+ <title>64-bit Guests</title>
+
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ Be sure to enable <emphasis role="bold">I/O APIC</emphasis>
+ for virtual machines that you intend to use in 64-bit mode.
+ This is especially true for 64-bit Windows VMs. See
+ <xref linkend="settings-motherboard" />. For 64-bit Windows
+ guests, ensure that the VM uses the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Intel networking device</emphasis>
+ because there is no 64-bit driver support for the AMD PCNet
+ card. See <xref linkend="nichardware" />.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
+
+ <para>
+ If you use the <emphasis role="bold">Create VM</emphasis> wizard
+ of &vbox-mgr;, &product-name; automatically uses the correct
+ settings for each selected 64-bit OS type. See
+ <xref linkend="create-vm-wizard" />.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="basic-unattended">
+
+ <title>Unattended Guest Installation</title>
+
+ <para>
+ &product-name; can install a guest OS automatically. You only need
+ to provide the installation medium and a few other parameters,
+ such as the name of the default user.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ You can perform an unattended guest installation in the following
+ ways:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Use the Create Virtual Machine
+ wizard.</emphasis> An optional step in the wizard enables you
+ to configure unattended installation. You can specify the
+ default user credentials for the guest OS and also whether to
+ install the Guest Additions automatically. See
+ <xref linkend="create-vm-wizard"/>.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ During this step, &product-name; scans the installation medium
+ and changes certain parameters to ensure a seamless
+ installation as a guest running on &product-name;.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Use the <command>VBoxManage</command>
+ commands.</emphasis>
+ <xref linkend="unattended-guest-install-example"/> describes
+ how to perform an unattended guest installation for an Oracle
+ Linux guest.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ When you first start a VM that has been configured for unattended
+ installation, the guest OS installation is performed
+ automatically.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The installation operation changes the boot device order to boot
+ the virtual hard disk first and then the virtual DVD drive. If the
+ virtual hard disk is empty prior to the automatic installation,
+ the VM boots from the virtual DVD drive and begins the
+ installation.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ If the virtual hard disk contains a bootable OS, the installation
+ operation exits. In this case, change the boot device order
+ manually by pressing F12 during the BIOS splash screen.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect2 id="unattended-guest-install-example">
+
+ <title>Using VBoxManage Commands for Unattended Guest Installation</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The following example shows how to perform an unattended guest
+ installation for an Oracle Linux VM. The example uses various
+ <command>VBoxManage</command> commands to prepare the guest VM.
+ The <command>VBoxManage unattended install</command> command is
+ then used to install and configure the guest OS.
+ </para>
+
+ <orderedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Create the virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+<screen># VM="ol7-autoinstall"
+# VBoxManage list ostypes
+# VBoxManage createvm --name $VM --ostype "Oracle_64" --register</screen>
+
+ <para>
+ Note the following:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The $VM variable represents the name of the VM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The <command>VBoxManage list ostypes</command> command
+ lists the guest OSes supported by &product-name;,
+ including the name used for each OS in the
+ <command>VBoxManage</command> commands.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A 64-bit Oracle Linux 7 VM is created and registered
+ with &product-name;.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The VM has a unique UUID.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ An XML settings file is generated.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Create a virtual hard disk and storage devices for the VM.
+ </para>
+
+<screen># VBoxManage createhd --filename /VirtualBox/$VM/$VM.vdi --size 32768
+# VBoxManage storagectl $VM --name "SATA Controller" --add sata --controller IntelAHCI
+# VBoxManage storageattach $VM --storagectl "SATA Controller" --port 0 --device 0 \
+--type hdd --medium /VirtualBox/$VM/$VM.vdi
+# VBoxManage storagectl $VM --name "IDE Controller" --add ide
+# VBoxManage storageattach $VM --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 0 \
+--type dvddrive --medium /u01/Software/OL/OracleLinux-R7-U6-Server-x86_64-dvd.iso</screen>
+
+ <para>
+ The previous commands do the following:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Create a 32768 MB virtual hard disk.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Create a SATA storage controller and attach the virtual
+ hard disk.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Create an IDE storage controller for a virtual DVD drive
+ and attach an Oracle Linux installation ISO.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ (Optional) Configure some settings for the VM.
+ </para>
+
+<screen># VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --ioapic on
+# VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --boot1 dvd --boot2 disk --boot3 none --boot4 none
+# VBoxManage modifyvm $VM --memory 8192 --vram 128</screen>
+
+ <para>
+ The previous commands do the following:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Enable I/O APIC for the motherboard of the VM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Configure the boot device order for the VM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Allocate 8192 MB of RAM and 128 MB of video RAM to the
+ VM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Perform an unattended install of the OS.
+ </para>
+
+<screen># VBoxManage unattended install $VM \
+--iso=/u01/Software/OL/OracleLinux-R7-U6-Server-x86_64-dvd.iso \
+--user=<replaceable>login</replaceable> --full-user-name=<replaceable>name</replaceable> --password <replaceable>password</replaceable> \
+--install-additions --time-zone=CET</screen>
+
+ <para>
+ The previous command does the following:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Specifies an Oracle Linux ISO as the installation ISO.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Specifies a login name, full name, and login password
+ for a default user on the guest OS.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Note that the specified password is also used for the
+ root user account on the guest.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Installs the Guest Additions on the VM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sets the time zone for the guest OS to Central European
+ Time (CET).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Start the virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ This step completes the unattended installation process.
+ </para>
+
+<screen># VBoxManage startvm $VM --type headless</screen>
+
+ <para>
+ The VM starts in headless mode, which means that the
+ &vbox-mgr; window does not open.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ (Optional) Update the guest OS to use the latest Oracle
+ Linux packages.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ On the guest VM, run the following command:
+ </para>
+
+<screen># yum update</screen>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </orderedlist>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="emul-hardware">
+
+ <title>Emulated Hardware</title>
+
+ <para>
+ &product-name; virtualizes nearly all hardware of the host.
+ Depending on a VM's configuration, the guest will see the
+ following virtual hardware:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Input devices.</emphasis> &product-name;
+ can emulate a standard PS/2 keyboard and mouse. These devices
+ are supported by most guest OSes.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ In addition, &product-name; can provide virtual USB input
+ devices to avoid having to capture mouse and keyboard, as
+ described in <xref linkend="keyb_mouse_normal" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Graphics.</emphasis> The default
+ &product-name; graphics device for Windows guests is an SVGA
+ device. For Linux guests, the default graphics device emulates
+ a VMware SVGA graphics device. See
+ <xref linkend="settings-screen"/>.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ For legacy guest OSes, a VGA-compatible graphics device is
+ available.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Storage.</emphasis> &product-name;
+ emulates the most common types of hard disk controllers. See
+ <xref linkend="harddiskcontrollers" />. Whereas supporting
+ only one of these controllers would be enough for
+ &product-name; by itself, this multitude of storage adapters
+ is required for compatibility with other hypervisors. Windows
+ is very selective about its boot devices, and migrating VMs
+ between hypervisors is very difficult or impossible if the
+ storage controllers are different.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Networking.</emphasis> See
+ <xref linkend="nichardware" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">USB.</emphasis> &product-name; emulates
+ these types of USB host controllers: xHCI, EHCI, and OHCI.
+ While xHCI handles all USB transfer speeds, some legacy guest
+ OSes may not support xHCI. Note that for some legacy Windows
+ guests, third party drivers must be installed for xHCI
+ support.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Legacy guest OSes typically support OHCI and EHCI. These two
+ controllers are needed because OHCI only handles USB low-speed
+ and full-speed devices (both USB 1.x and 2.0), while EHCI only
+ handles high-speed devices (USB 2.0 only).
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The emulated USB controllers do not communicate directly with
+ devices on the host. Instead they communicate with a virtual
+ USB layer which abstracts the USB protocol and enables the use
+ of remote USB devices.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Audio.</emphasis> See
+ <xref linkend="settings-audio" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="generalsettings">
+
+ <title>General Settings</title>
+
+ <para>
+ In the <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> window, under
+ <emphasis role="bold">General</emphasis>, you can configure the
+ most fundamental aspects of the virtual machine such as memory and
+ essential hardware. The following tabs are available.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-basic">
+
+ <title>Basic Tab</title>
+
+ <para>
+ In the <emphasis role="bold">Basic</emphasis> tab of the
+ <emphasis role="bold">General</emphasis> settings category, you
+ can find these settings:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Name:</emphasis> The name of the the
+ VM, as shown in the list of VMs in the main VirtualBox
+ Manager window. Using this name, &product-name; also saves
+ the VM's configuration files. If you change the name,
+ &product-name; renames these files as well. As a result, you
+ can only use characters which are allowed for file names on
+ your host OS.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Note that internally, &product-name; uses unique identifiers
+ (UUIDs) to identify virtual machines. You can display these
+ using the <command>VBoxManage</command> commands.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Type:</emphasis> The type of the guest
+ OS for the VM. This is the same setting that is specified in
+ the <emphasis role="bold">New Virtual Machine</emphasis>
+ wizard. See <xref linkend="create-vm-wizard" />.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Whereas the default settings of a newly created VM depend on
+ the selected OS type, changing the type later has no effect
+ on VM settings. This value is purely informational and
+ decorative.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Version:</emphasis> The version of the
+ guest OS for the VM. This is the same setting that is
+ specified in the <emphasis role="bold">New Virtual
+ Machine</emphasis> wizard. See
+ <xref linkend="create-vm-wizard" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-general-advanced">
+
+ <title>Advanced Tab</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The following settings are available in the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Advanced</emphasis> tab:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Snapshot Folder:</emphasis> By
+ default, &product-name; saves snapshot data together with
+ your other &product-name; configuration data. See
+ <xref linkend="vboxconfigdata" />. With this setting, you
+ can specify any other folder for each VM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Shared Clipboard:</emphasis> You can
+ select here whether the clipboard of the guest OS should be
+ shared with that of your host. If you select
+ <emphasis role="bold">Bidirectional</emphasis>, then
+ &product-name; will always make sure that both clipboards
+ contain the same data. If you select
+ <emphasis role="bold">Host to Guest</emphasis> or
+ <emphasis role="bold">Guest to Host</emphasis>, then
+ &product-name; will only ever copy clipboard data in one
+ direction.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Clipboard sharing requires that the &product-name; Guest
+ Additions be installed. In such a case, this setting has no
+ effect. See <xref linkend="guestadditions" />.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ For security reasons, the shared clipboard is disabled by
+ default. This setting can be changed at any time using the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Shared Clipboard</emphasis> menu item
+ in the <emphasis role="bold">Devices</emphasis> menu of the
+ virtual machine.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Drag and Drop:</emphasis> This setting
+ enables support for drag and drop. Select an object, such as
+ a file, from the host or guest and directly copy or open it
+ on the guest or host. Multiple drag and drop modes for a VM
+ enable restricting of access in either direction.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ For drag and drop to work the Guest Additions need to be
+ installed on the guest.
+ </para>
+
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ Drag and drop is disabled by default. This setting can be
+ changed at any time using the <emphasis role="bold">Drag
+ and Drop</emphasis> menu item in the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Devices</emphasis> menu of the
+ virtual machine.
+ </para>
+ </note>
+
+ <para>
+ See <xref linkend="guestadd-dnd"/>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-description">
+
+ <title>Description Tab</title>
+
+ <para>
+ On the <emphasis role="bold">Description</emphasis> tab you can
+ enter a description for your virtual machine. This has no effect
+ on the functionality of the machine, but you may find this space
+ useful to note down things such as the configuration of a
+ virtual machine and the software that has been installed into
+ it.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ To insert a line break into the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Description</emphasis> text field, press
+ Shift+Enter.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-disk-encryption">
+
+ <title>Disk Encryption Tab</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">Disk Encryption</emphasis> tab enables
+ you to encrypt disks that are attached to the virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ To enable disk encryption, select the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable Disk Encryption</emphasis> check
+ box.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Settings are available to configure the cipher used for
+ encryption and the encryption password.
+ </para>
+
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ All files related to the virtual machine except disk images
+ are stored unencrypted. To encrypt these files, use the
+ <command>VBoxManage encryptvm</command> command as described
+ in <xref linkend="vmencryption"/>.
+ </para>
+ </note>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="settings-system">
+
+ <title>System Settings</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">System</emphasis> category groups
+ various settings that are related to the basic hardware that is
+ presented to the virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ As the activation mechanism of Microsoft Windows is sensitive to
+ hardware changes, if you are changing hardware settings for a
+ Windows guest, some of these changes may trigger a request for
+ another activation with Microsoft.
+ </para>
+ </note>
+
+ <para>
+ The following tabs are available.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-motherboard">
+
+ <title>Motherboard Tab</title>
+
+ <para>
+ On the <emphasis role="bold">Motherboard</emphasis> tab, you can
+ configure virtual hardware that would normally be on the
+ motherboard of a real computer.
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Base Memory:</emphasis> Sets the
+ amount of RAM that is allocated and given to the VM when it
+ is running. The specified amount of memory will be requested
+ from the host OS, so it must be available or made available
+ as free memory on the host when attempting to start the VM
+ and will not be available to the host while the VM is
+ running. This is the same setting that was specified in the
+ <emphasis role="bold">New Virtual Machine</emphasis> wizard,
+ as described in <xref linkend="create-vm-wizard" />.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Generally, it is possible to change the memory size after
+ installing the guest OS. But you must not reduce the memory
+ to an amount where the OS would no longer boot.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Boot Order:</emphasis> Determines the
+ order in which the guest OS will attempt to boot from the
+ various virtual boot devices. Analogous to a real PC's BIOS
+ setting, &product-name; can tell a guest OS to start from
+ the virtual floppy, the virtual CD/DVD drive, the virtual
+ hard drive (each of these as defined by the other VM
+ settings), the network, or none of these.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ If you select <emphasis role="bold">Network</emphasis>, the
+ VM will attempt to boot from a network using the PXE
+ mechanism. This needs to be configured in detail on the
+ command line. See <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Chipset:</emphasis> You can select
+ which chipset will be presented to the virtual machine.
+ PIIX3 is the default chipset for most guests. For some guest
+ OSes such as Mac OS X, the PIIX3 chipset is not well
+ supported. As a result, &product-name; supports an emulation
+ of the ICH9 chipset, which supports PCI express, three PCI
+ buses, PCI-to-PCI bridges and Message Signaled Interrupts
+ (MSI). This enables modern OSes to address more PCI devices
+ and no longer requires IRQ sharing. Using the ICH9 chipset
+ it is also possible to configure up to 36 network cards,
+ compared to a maximum of eight network adapters with PIIX3.
+ Note that ICH9 support is experimental and not recommended
+ for guest OSes which do not require it.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">TPM:</emphasis> Enables support for a
+ Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security processor. Choose
+ from the supported TPM versions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Pointing Device:</emphasis> The
+ default virtual pointing device for some guest OSes is the
+ traditional PS/2 mouse. If set to <emphasis role="bold">USB
+ Tablet</emphasis>, &product-name; reports to the virtual
+ machine that a USB tablet device is present and communicates
+ mouse events to the virtual machine through this device.
+ Another setting is <emphasis role="bold">USB Multi-Touch
+ Tablet</emphasis>, which is suitable for guests running
+ Windows 8 or later.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Using the virtual USB tablet has the advantage that
+ movements are reported in absolute coordinates, instead of
+ as relative position changes. This enables &product-name; to
+ translate mouse events over the VM window into tablet events
+ without having to "capture" the mouse in the guest as
+ described in <xref linkend="keyb_mouse_normal" />. This
+ makes using the VM less tedious even if Guest Additions are
+ not installed.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable I/O APIC:</emphasis> Advanced
+ Programmable Interrupt Controllers (APICs) are an x86
+ hardware feature that have replaced Programmable Interrupt
+ Controllers (PICs). With an I/O APIC, OSes can use more than
+ 16 interrupt requests (IRQs) and therefore avoid IRQ sharing
+ for improved reliability.
+ </para>
+
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ Enabling the I/O APIC is <emphasis>required</emphasis>,
+ especially for 64-bit Windows guest OSes. It is also
+ required if you want to use more than one virtual CPU in a
+ virtual machine.
+ </para>
+ </note>
+
+ <para>
+ However, software support for I/O APICs has been unreliable
+ with some OSes other than Windows. Also, the use of an I/O
+ APIC slightly increases the overhead of virtualization and
+ therefore slows down the guest OS a little.
+ </para>
+
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ All Windows OSes install different kernels, depending on
+ whether an I/O APIC is available. As with ACPI, the I/O
+ APIC therefore <emphasis>must not be turned off after
+ installation</emphasis> of a Windows guest OS. Turning it
+ on after installation will have no effect however.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Hardware Clock in UTC Time:</emphasis>
+ If selected, &product-name; will report the system time in
+ UTC format to the guest instead of the local (host) time.
+ This affects how the virtual real-time clock (RTC) operates
+ and may be useful for UNIX-like guest OSes, which typically
+ expect the hardware clock to be set to UTC.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable EFI:</emphasis> Enables
+ Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), which replaces the
+ legacy BIOS and may be useful for certain advanced use
+ cases. See <xref linkend="efi" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable Secure Boot:</emphasis> Enables
+ Secure Boot, to provide a secure environment for starting
+ the guest OS.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ In addition, you can turn off the <emphasis role="bold">Advanced
+ Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)</emphasis> which
+ &product-name; presents to the guest OS by default.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ ACPI is the current industry standard to allow OSes to recognize
+ hardware, configure motherboards and other devices and manage
+ power. As most computers contain this feature and Windows and
+ Linux support ACPI, it is also enabled by default in
+ &product-name;. ACPI can only be turned off using the command
+ line. See <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.
+ </para>
+
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ All Windows OSes install different kernels, depending on
+ whether ACPI is available. This means that ACPI <emphasis>must
+ not be turned off</emphasis> after installation of a Windows
+ guest OS. However, turning it on after installation will have
+ no effect.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-processor">
+
+ <title>Processor Tab</title>
+
+ <para>
+ On the <emphasis role="bold">Processor</emphasis> tab, you can
+ configure settings for the CPU used by the virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Processor(s):</emphasis> Sets the
+ number of virtual CPU cores the guest OSes can see.
+ &product-name; supports symmetrical multiprocessing (SMP)
+ and can present up to 32 virtual CPU cores to each virtual
+ machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ You should not configure virtual machines to use more CPU
+ cores than are available physically. This includes real
+ cores, with no hyperthreads.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Execution Cap:</emphasis> Configures
+ the CPU execution cap. This limits the amount of time a host
+ CPU spends to emulate a virtual CPU. The default setting is
+ 100%, meaning that there is no limitation. A setting of 50%
+ implies a single virtual CPU can use up to 50% of a single
+ host CPU. Note that limiting the execution time of the
+ virtual CPUs may cause guest timing problems.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ A warning is displayed at the bottom of the Processor tab if
+ an Execution Cap setting is made that may affect system
+ performance.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable PAE/NX:</emphasis> Determines
+ whether the PAE and NX capabilities of the host CPU will be
+ exposed to the virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ PAE stands for Physical Address Extension. Normally, if
+ enabled and supported by the OS, then even a 32-bit x86 CPU
+ can access more than 4 GB of RAM. This is made possible by
+ adding another 4 bits to memory addresses, so that with 36
+ bits, up to 64 GB can be addressed. Some OSes, such as
+ Ubuntu Server, require PAE support from the CPU and cannot
+ be run in a virtual machine without it.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable Nested VT-x/AMD-V</emphasis>:
+ Enables nested virtualization, with passthrough of hardware
+ virtualization functions to the guest VM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ With virtual machines running modern server OSes, &product-name;
+ also supports CPU hot-plugging. For details, see
+ <xref linkend="cpuhotplug" />.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-acceleration">
+
+ <title>Acceleration Tab</title>
+
+ <para>
+ On this tab, you can configure &product-name; to use hardware
+ virtualization extensions that your host CPU supports.
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Paravirtualization
+ Interface:</emphasis> &product-name; provides
+ paravirtualization interfaces to improve time-keeping
+ accuracy and performance of guest OSes. The options
+ available are documented under the
+ <option>--paravirt-provider</option> option in
+ <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />. For further details
+ on the paravirtualization providers, see
+ <xref linkend="gimproviders" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Hardware Virtualization:</emphasis>
+ You can configure hardware virtualization features for each
+ virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable Nested Paging:</emphasis>
+ If the host CPU supports the nested paging (AMD-V) or
+ EPT (Intel VT-x) features, then you can expect a
+ significant performance increase by enabling nested
+ paging in addition to hardware virtualization. For
+ technical details, see <xref linkend="nestedpaging" />.
+ For Intel EPT security recommendations, see
+ <xref linkend="sec-rec-cve-2018-3646" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ Advanced users may be interested in technical details about
+ hardware virtualization. See <xref linkend="hwvirt" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ In most cases, the default settings on the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Acceleration</emphasis> tab will work
+ well. &product-name; selects sensible defaults, depending on the
+ OS that you selected when you created the virtual machine. In
+ certain situations, however, you may want to change the
+ preconfigured defaults.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="settings-display">
+
+ <title>Display Settings</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The following tabs are available for configuring the display for a
+ virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-screen">
+
+ <title>Screen Tab</title>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Video Memory:</emphasis> Sets the size
+ of the memory provided by the virtual graphics card
+ available to the guest, in MB. As with the main memory, the
+ specified amount will be allocated from the host's resident
+ memory. Based on the amount of video memory, higher
+ resolutions and color depths may be available.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ &vbox-mgr; will show a warning if the amount of video memory
+ is too small to be able to switch the VM into full screen
+ mode. The minimum value depends on the number of virtual
+ monitors, the screen resolution and the color depth of the
+ host display as well as on the use of <emphasis>3D
+ acceleration</emphasis> and <emphasis>2D video
+ acceleration</emphasis>. A rough estimate is
+ (<emphasis>color depth</emphasis> / 8) x <emphasis>vertical
+ pixels</emphasis> x <emphasis>horizontal pixels</emphasis> x
+ <emphasis>number of screens</emphasis> = <emphasis>number of
+ bytes</emphasis>. Extra memory may be required if display
+ acceleration is used.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Monitor Count:</emphasis> With this
+ setting, &product-name; can provide more than one virtual
+ monitor to a virtual machine. If a guest OS supports
+ multiple attached monitors, &product-name; can pretend that
+ multiple virtual monitors are present. Up to eight such
+ virtual monitors are supported.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The output of the multiple monitors are displayed on the
+ host in multiple VM windows which are running side by side.
+ However, in full screen and seamless mode, they use the
+ available physical monitors attached to the host. As a
+ result, for full screen and seamless modes to work with
+ multiple monitors, you will need at least as many physical
+ monitors as you have virtual monitors configured, or
+ &product-name; will report an error.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ You can configure the relationship between guest and host
+ monitors using the <emphasis role="bold">View</emphasis>
+ menu by pressing Host key + Home when you are in full screen
+ or seamless mode.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ See also <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Scale Factor:</emphasis> Enables
+ scaling of the display size. For multiple monitor displays,
+ you can set the scale factor for individual monitors, or
+ globally for all of the monitors. Use the slider to select a
+ scaling factor up to 200%.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ You can set a default scale factor for all VMs. Use the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Display</emphasis> tab in the
+ Preferences window.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Graphics Controller:</emphasis>
+ Specifies the graphics adapter type used by the guest VM.
+ Note that you must install the Guest Additions on the guest
+ VM to specify the VBoxSVGA or VMSVGA graphics controller.
+ The following options are available:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">VBoxSVGA:</emphasis> The default
+ graphics controller for new VMs that use Windows 7 or
+ later.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ This graphics controller improves performance and 3D
+ support when compared to the legacy VBoxVGA option.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">VBoxVGA:</emphasis> Use this
+ graphics controller for legacy guest OSes. This is the
+ default graphics controller for Windows versions before
+ Windows 7 and for Oracle Solaris.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ 3D acceleration is not supported for this graphics
+ controller.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">VMSVGA:</emphasis> Use this
+ graphics controller to emulate a VMware SVGA graphics
+ device. This is the default graphics controller for
+ Linux guests.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">None:</emphasis> Does not emulate
+ a graphics adapter type.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable 3D Acceleration:</emphasis> If
+ a virtual machine has Guest Additions installed, you can
+ select here whether the guest should support accelerated 3D
+ graphics. See <xref linkend="guestadd-3d" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-remote-display">
+
+ <title>Remote Display Tab</title>
+
+ <para>
+ On the <emphasis role="bold">Remote Display</emphasis> tab, if
+ the VirtualBox Remote Display Extension (VRDE) is installed, you
+ can enable the VRDP server that is built into &product-name;.
+ This enables you to connect to the console of the virtual
+ machine remotely with any standard RDP viewer, such as
+ <command>mstsc.exe</command> that comes with Microsoft Windows.
+ On Linux and Oracle Solaris systems you can use the standard
+ open source <command>rdesktop</command> program. These features
+ are described in <xref linkend="vrde" />.
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable Server:</emphasis> Select this
+ check box and configure settings for the remote display
+ connection.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-capture">
+
+ <title>Recording Tab</title>
+
+ <para>
+ On the <emphasis role="bold">Recording</emphasis> tab you can
+ enable video and audio recording for a virtual machine and
+ change related settings. Note that these features can be enabled
+ and disabled while a VM is running.
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable Recording:</emphasis> Select
+ this check box and select a <emphasis role="bold">Recording
+ Mode</emphasis> option.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Recording Mode:</emphasis> You can
+ choose to record video, audio, or both video and audio.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Some settings on the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Recording</emphasis> tab may be grayed
+ out, depending on the <emphasis role="bold">Recording
+ Mode</emphasis> setting.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">File Path:</emphasis> The file where
+ the recording is saved.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Frame Size:</emphasis> The video
+ resolution of the recorded video, in pixels. The drop-down
+ list enables you to select from common frame sizes.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Frame Rate:</emphasis> Use the slider
+ to set the maximum number of video frames per second (FPS)
+ to record. Frames that have a higher frequency are skipped.
+ Increasing this value reduces the number of skipped frames
+ and increases the file size.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Video Quality:</emphasis> Use the
+ slider to set the the bit rate of the video in kilobits per
+ second. Increasing this value improves the appearance of the
+ video at the cost of an increased file size.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Audio Quality:</emphasis> Use the
+ slider to set the quality of the audio recording. Increasing
+ this value improves the audio quality at the cost of an
+ increased file size.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Screens:</emphasis> For a multiple
+ monitor display, you can select which screens to record
+ video from.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ As you adjust the video and audio recording settings, the
+ approximate output file size for a five minute video is shown.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="settings-storage">
+
+ <title>Storage Settings</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">Storage</emphasis> category in the VM
+ settings enables you to connect virtual hard disk, CD/DVD, and
+ floppy images and drives to your virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ In a real computer, so-called <emphasis>storage
+ controllers</emphasis> connect physical disk drives to the rest of
+ the computer. Similarly, &product-name; presents virtual storage
+ controllers to a virtual machine. Under each controller, the
+ virtual devices, such as hard disks, CD/DVD or floppy drives,
+ attached to the controller are shown.
+ </para>
+
+ <note>
+ <para>
+ This section gives a quick introduction to the &product-name;
+ storage settings. See <xref linkend="storage" /> for a full
+ description of the available storage settings in &product-name;.
+ </para>
+ </note>
+
+ <para>
+ If you have used the <emphasis role="bold">Create Virtual
+ Machine</emphasis> wizard to create a machine, you will normally
+ see something like the following:
+ </para>
+
+ <figure id="fig-storage-settings">
+ <title>Storage Settings for a Virtual Machine</title>
+ <mediaobject>
+ <imageobject>
+ <imagedata align="center" fileref="images/vm-settings-harddisk.png"
+ width="10cm" />
+ </imageobject>
+ </mediaobject>
+ </figure>
+
+ <para>
+ Depending on the guest OS type that you selected when you created
+ the VM, a new VM includes the following storage devices:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">IDE controller.</emphasis> A virtual
+ CD/DVD drive is attached to device 0 on the secondary channel
+ of the IDE controller.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">SATA controller.</emphasis> This is a
+ modern type of storage controller for higher hard disk data
+ throughput, to which the virtual hard disks are attached.
+ Initially you will normally have one such virtual disk, but as
+ shown in the previous screenshot, you can have more than one.
+ Each is represented by a disk image file, such as a VDI file
+ in this example.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ If you created your VM with an older version of &product-name;,
+ the default storage layout may differ. You might then only have an
+ IDE controller to which both the CD/DVD drive and the hard disks
+ have been attached. This might also apply if you selected an older
+ OS type when you created the VM. Since older OSes do not support
+ SATA without additional drivers, &product-name; will make sure
+ that no such devices are present initially. See
+ <xref linkend="harddiskcontrollers" />.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ &product-name; also provides a <emphasis>floppy
+ controller</emphasis>. You cannot add devices other than floppy
+ drives to this controller. Virtual floppy drives, like virtual
+ CD/DVD drives, can be connected to either a host floppy drive, if
+ you have one, or a disk image, which in this case must be in RAW
+ format.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ You can modify these media attachments freely. For example, if you
+ wish to copy some files from another virtual disk that you
+ created, you can connect that disk as a second hard disk, as in
+ the above screenshot. You could also add a second virtual CD/DVD
+ drive, or change where these items are attached. The following
+ options are available:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ To <emphasis role="bold">add another virtual hard disk, or a
+ CD/DVD or floppy drive</emphasis>, select the storage
+ controller to which it should be added (such as IDE, SATA,
+ SCSI, SAS, floppy controller) and then click the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Add Disk</emphasis> button below the
+ tree. You can then either select <emphasis role="bold">Optical
+ Drive</emphasis> or <emphasis role="bold">Hard
+ Disk</emphasis>. If you clicked on a floppy controller, you
+ can add a floppy drive instead. Alternatively, right-click on
+ the storage controller and select a menu item there.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ A dialog is displayed, enabling you to select an existing disk
+ image file or to create a new disk image file. Depending on
+ the type of disk image, the dialog is called
+ <emphasis role="bold">Hard Disk Selector</emphasis>,
+ <emphasis role="bold">Optical Disk Selector</emphasis>, or
+ <emphasis role="bold">Floppy Disk Selector</emphasis>.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ See <xref linkend="vdidetails"/> for information on the image
+ file types that are supported by &product-name;.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ For virtual CD/DVD drives, the image files will typically be
+ in the standard ISO format instead. Most commonly, you will
+ select this option when installing an OS from an ISO file that
+ you have obtained from the Internet. For example, most Linux
+ distributions are available in this way.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Depending on the type of disk image, you can set the following
+ <emphasis role="bold">Attributes</emphasis> for the disk image
+ in the right part of the Storage settings page:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">device slot</emphasis> of the
+ controller that the virtual disk is connected to. IDE
+ controllers have four slots: primary device 0, primary
+ device 1, secondary device 0, and secondary device 1. By
+ contrast, SATA and SCSI controllers offer you up to 30
+ slots for attaching virtual devices.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Solid-state Drive</emphasis>
+ presents a virtual disk to the guest as a solid-state
+ device.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Hot-pluggable</emphasis> presents a
+ virtual disk to the guest as a hot-pluggable device.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ For virtual CD/DVD drives, you can select
+ <emphasis role="bold">Live CD/DVD</emphasis>. This means
+ that the virtual optical disk is not removed from when the
+ guest system ejects it.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ To <emphasis role="bold">remove an attachment</emphasis>,
+ either select it and click on the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Remove</emphasis> icon at the bottom, or
+ right-click on it and select the menu item.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ Removable media, such as CD/DVDs and floppies, can be changed
+ while the guest is running. Since the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> window is not available
+ at that time, you can also access these settings from the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Devices</emphasis> menu of your virtual
+ machine window.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="settings-audio">
+
+ <title>Audio Settings</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">Audio</emphasis> section in a virtual
+ machine's <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> window
+ determines whether the VM will detect a connected sound card, and
+ if the audio output should be played on the host system.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ To enable audio for a guest, select the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable Audio</emphasis> check box. The
+ following settings are available:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Host Audio Driver:</emphasis> The audio
+ driver that &product-name; uses on the host.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">Default</emphasis> option is enabled
+ by default for all new VMs. This option selects the best audio
+ driver for the host platform automatically. This enables you
+ to move VMs between different platforms without having to
+ change the audio driver.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ On a Linux host, depending on your host configuration, you can
+ select between the OSS, ALSA, or the PulseAudio subsystem. On
+ newer Linux distributions, the PulseAudio subsystem is
+ preferred.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Only OSS is supported on Oracle Solaris hosts. The Oracle
+ Solaris Audio audio backend is no longer supported on Oracle
+ Solaris hosts.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Audio Controller:</emphasis> You can
+ choose between the emulation of an Intel AC'97 controller, an
+ Intel HD Audio controller, or a SoundBlaster 16 card.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable Audio Output:</emphasis> Enables
+ audio output only for the VM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Enable Audio Input:</emphasis> Enables
+ audio input only for the VM.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="settings-network">
+
+ <title>Network Settings</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">Network</emphasis> section in a virtual
+ machine's <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> window enables
+ you to configure how &product-name; presents virtual network cards
+ to your VM, and how they operate.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ When you first create a virtual machine, &product-name; by default
+ enables one virtual network card and selects the Network Address
+ Translation (NAT) mode for it. This way the guest can connect to
+ the outside world using the host's networking and the outside
+ world can connect to services on the guest which you choose to
+ make visible outside of the virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ This default setup is good for the majority of &product-name;
+ users. However, &product-name; is extremely flexible in how it can
+ virtualize networking. It supports many virtual network cards per
+ virtual machine. The first four virtual network cards can be
+ configured in detail in &vbox-mgr;. Additional network cards can
+ be configured using the <command>VBoxManage</command> command.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Many networking options are available. See
+ <xref linkend="networkingdetails" /> for more information.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="serialports">
+
+ <title>Serial Ports</title>
+
+ <para>
+ &product-name; supports the use of virtual serial ports in a
+ virtual machine.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Ever since the original IBM PC, personal computers have been
+ equipped with one or two serial ports, also called COM ports by
+ DOS and Windows. Serial ports were commonly used with modems, and
+ some computer mice used to be connected to serial ports before USB
+ became commonplace.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ While serial ports are no longer as common as they used to be,
+ there are still some important uses left for them. For example,
+ serial ports can be used to set up a primitive network over a
+ null-modem cable, in case Ethernet is not available. Also, serial
+ ports are indispensable for system programmers needing to do
+ kernel debugging, since kernel debugging software usually
+ interacts with developers over a serial port. With virtual serial
+ ports, system programmers can do kernel debugging on a virtual
+ machine instead of needing a real computer to connect to.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ If a virtual serial port is enabled, the guest OS sees a standard
+ 16550A compatible UART device. Other UART types can be configured
+ using the <command>VBoxManage modifyvm</command> command. Both
+ receiving and transmitting data is supported. How this virtual
+ serial port is then connected to the host is configurable, and the
+ details depend on your host OS.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ You can use either the Settings tabs or the
+ <command>VBoxManage</command> command to set up virtual serial
+ ports. For the latter, see <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />
+ for information on the <option>--uart</option>,
+ <option>--uart-mode</option> and <option>--uart-type</option>
+ options.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ You can configure up to four virtual serial ports per virtual
+ machine. For each device, you must set the following:
+ </para>
+
+ <orderedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Port Number:</emphasis> This determines
+ the serial port that the virtual machine should see. For best
+ results, use the traditional values as follows:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ COM1: I/O base 0x3F8, IRQ 4
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ COM2: I/O base 0x2F8, IRQ 3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ COM3: I/O base 0x3E8, IRQ 4
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ COM4: I/O base 0x2E8, IRQ 3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ You can also configure a user-defined serial port. Enter an
+ I/O base address and interrupt (IRQ).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Port Mode:</emphasis> What the virtual
+ port is connected to. For each virtual serial port, you have
+ the following options:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Disconnected:</emphasis> The guest
+ will see the device, but it will behave as if no cable had
+ been connected to it.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Host Device:</emphasis> Connects the
+ virtual serial port to a physical serial port on your
+ host. On a Windows host, this will be a name like
+ <literal>COM1</literal>. On Linux or Oracle Solaris hosts,
+ it will be a device node like
+ <filename>/dev/ttyS0</filename>. &product-name; will then
+ simply redirect all data received from and sent to the
+ virtual serial port to the physical device.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Host Pipe:</emphasis> Configure
+ &product-name; to connect the virtual serial port to a
+ software pipe on the host. This depends on your host OS,
+ as follows:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ On a Windows host, data will be sent and received
+ through a named pipe. The pipe name must be in the
+ format
+ <filename>\\.\pipe\<replaceable>name</replaceable></filename>
+ where <replaceable>name</replaceable> should identify
+ the virtual machine but may be freely chosen.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ On a Mac OS, Linux, or Oracle Solaris host, a local
+ domain socket is used instead. The socket filename
+ must be chosen such that the user running
+ &product-name; has sufficient privileges to create and
+ write to it. The <filename>/tmp</filename> directory
+ is often a good candidate.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ On Linux there are various tools which can connect to
+ a local domain socket or create one in server mode.
+ The most flexible tool is <command>socat</command> and
+ is available as part of many distributions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ In this case, you can configure whether &product-name;
+ should create the named pipe, or the local domain socket
+ non-Windows hosts, itself or whether &product-name; should
+ assume that the pipe or socket exists already. With the
+ <command>VBoxManage</command> command-line options, this
+ is referred to as server mode or client mode,
+ respectively.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ For a direct connection between two virtual machines,
+ corresponding to a null-modem cable, simply configure one
+ VM to create a pipe or socket and another to attach to it.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Raw File:</emphasis> Send the
+ virtual serial port output to a file. This option is very
+ useful for capturing diagnostic output from a guest. Any
+ file may be used for this purpose, as long as the user
+ running &product-name; has sufficient privileges to create
+ and write to the file.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">TCP:</emphasis> Useful for
+ forwarding serial traffic over TCP/IP, acting as a server,
+ or it can act as a TCP client connecting to other servers.
+ This option enables a remote machine to directly connect
+ to the guest's serial port using TCP.
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">TCP Server:</emphasis> Deselect
+ the <emphasis role="bold">Connect to Existing
+ Pipe/Socket</emphasis> check box and specify the port
+ number in the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Path/Address</emphasis> field.
+ This is typically 23 or 2023. Note that on UNIX-like
+ systems you will have to use a port a number greater
+ than 1024 for regular users.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The client can use software such as
+ <command>PuTTY</command> or the
+ <command>telnet</command> command line tool to access
+ the TCP Server.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">TCP Client:</emphasis> To create
+ a virtual null-modem cable over the Internet or LAN,
+ the other side can connect using TCP by specifying
+ <literal><replaceable>hostname</replaceable>:<replaceable>port</replaceable></literal>
+ in the <emphasis role="bold">Path/Address</emphasis>
+ field. The TCP socket will act in client mode if you
+ select the <emphasis role="bold">Connect to Existing
+ Pipe/Socket</emphasis> check box.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </orderedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ Up to four serial ports can be configured per virtual machine, but
+ you can pick any port numbers out of the above. However, serial
+ ports cannot reliably share interrupts. If both ports are to be
+ used at the same time, they must use different interrupt levels,
+ for example COM1 and COM2, but not COM1 and COM3.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="usb-support">
+
+ <title>USB Support</title>
+
+ <sect2 id="settings-usb">
+
+ <title>USB Settings</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">USB</emphasis> section in a virtual
+ machine's <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis> window
+ enables you to configure &product-name;'s sophisticated USB
+ support.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ &product-name; can enable virtual machines to access the USB
+ devices on your host directly. To achieve this, &product-name;
+ presents the guest OS with a virtual USB controller. As soon as
+ the guest system starts using a USB device, it will appear as
+ unavailable on the host.
+ </para>
+
+ <note>
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Be careful with USB devices that are currently in use on
+ the host. For example, if you allow your guest to connect
+ to your USB hard disk that is currently mounted on the
+ host, when the guest is activated, it will be disconnected
+ from the host without a proper shutdown. This may cause
+ data loss.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Oracle Solaris hosts have a few known limitations
+ regarding USB support. See <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </note>
+
+ <para>
+ In addition to allowing a guest access to your local USB
+ devices, &product-name; even enables your guests to connect to
+ remote USB devices by use of the VirtualBox Remote Desktop
+ Extension (VRDE). See <xref linkend="usb-over-rdp" />.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ To enable USB for a VM, select the <emphasis role="bold">Enable
+ USB Controller</emphasis> check box. The following settings are
+ available:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">USB Controller:</emphasis> Selects a
+ controller with the specified level of USB support, as
+ follows:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ OHCI for USB 1.1
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ EHCI for USB 2.0. This also enables OHCI.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ xHCI for USB 3.0. This supports all USB speeds.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">USB Device Filters:</emphasis> When
+ USB support is enabled for a VM, you can determine in detail
+ which devices will be automatically attached to the guest.
+ For this, you can create filters by specifying certain
+ properties of the USB device. USB devices with a matching
+ filter will be automatically passed to the guest once they
+ are attached to the host. USB devices without a matching
+ filter can be passed manually to the guest, for example by
+ using the <emphasis role="bold">Devices</emphasis>,
+ <emphasis role="bold">USB</emphasis> menu.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Clicking on the <emphasis role="bold">+</emphasis> button to
+ the right of the <emphasis role="bold">USB Device
+ Filters</emphasis> window creates a new filter. You can give
+ the filter a name, for later reference, and specify the
+ filter criteria. The more criteria you specify, the more
+ precisely devices will be selected. For instance, if you
+ specify only a vendor ID of 046d, all devices produced by
+ Logitech will be available to the guest. If you fill in all
+ fields, on the other hand, the filter will only apply to a
+ particular device model from a particular vendor, and not
+ even to other devices of the same type with a different
+ revision and serial number.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ In detail, the following criteria are available:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Vendor and Product ID.</emphasis>
+ With USB, each vendor of USB products carries an
+ identification number that is unique world-wide, called
+ the <emphasis>vendor ID</emphasis>. Similarly, each line
+ of products is assigned a <emphasis>product
+ ID</emphasis> number. Both numbers are commonly written
+ in hexadecimal, and a colon separates the vendor from
+ the product ID. For example,
+ <literal>046d:c016</literal> stands for Logitech as a
+ vendor, and the M-UV69a Optical Wheel Mouse product.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Alternatively, you can also specify
+ <emphasis role="bold">Manufacturer</emphasis> and
+ <emphasis role="bold">Product</emphasis> by name.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ To list all the USB devices that are connected to your
+ host machine with their respective vendor IDs and
+ product IDs, use the following command:
+ </para>
+
+<screen>VBoxManage list usbhost</screen>
+
+ <para>
+ On Windows, you can also see all USB devices that are
+ attached to your system in the Device Manager. On Linux,
+ you can use the <command>lsusb</command> command.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Serial Number.</emphasis> While
+ vendor ID and product ID are quite specific to identify
+ USB devices, if you have two identical devices of the
+ same brand and product line, you will also need their
+ serial numbers to filter them out correctly.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Remote.</emphasis> This setting
+ specifies whether the device will be local only, remote
+ only, such as over VRDP, or either.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ <para>
+ On a Windows host, you will need to unplug and reconnect a
+ USB device to use it after creating a filter for it.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ As an example, you could create a new USB filter and specify
+ a vendor ID of 046d for Logitech, Inc, a manufacturer index
+ of 1, and "not remote". Then any USB devices on the host
+ system produced by Logitech, Inc with a manufacturer index
+ of 1 will be visible to the guest system.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Several filters can select a single device. For example, a
+ filter which selects all Logitech devices, and one which
+ selects a particular webcam.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ You can deactivate filters without deleting them by
+ deselecting the check box next to the filter name.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="usb-implementation-notes">
+
+ <title>Implementation Notes for Windows and Linux Hosts</title>
+
+ <para>
+ On Windows hosts, a kernel mode device driver provides USB proxy
+ support. It implements both a USB monitor, which enables
+ &product-name; to capture devices when they are plugged in, and
+ a USB device driver to claim USB devices for a particular
+ virtual machine. System reboots are not necessary after
+ installing the driver. Also, you do not need to replug devices
+ for &product-name; to claim them.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ On supported Linux hosts, &product-name; accesses USB devices
+ through special files in the file system. When &product-name; is
+ installed, these are made available to all users in the
+ <literal>vboxusers</literal> system group. In order to be able
+ to access USB from guest systems, make sure that you are a
+ member of this group.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="shared-folders">
+
+ <title>Shared Folders</title>
+
+ <para>
+ Shared folders enable you to easily exchange data between a
+ virtual machine and your host. This feature requires that the
+ &product-name; Guest Additions be installed in a virtual machine
+ and is described in detail in <xref linkend="sharedfolders" />.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="user-interface">
+
+ <title>User Interface</title>
+
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">User Interface</emphasis> section
+ enables you to change certain aspects of the user interface of the
+ selected VM.
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Menu Bar:</emphasis> This widget enables
+ you to disable a complete menu, by clicking on the menu name
+ to deselect it. Menu entries can be disabled, by deselecting
+ the check box next to the entry. On Windows and Linux hosts,
+ the complete menu bar can be disabled by deselecting the check
+ box on the right.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Mini ToolBar:</emphasis> In full screen
+ or seamless mode, &product-name; can display a small toolbar
+ that contains some of the items that are normally available
+ from the virtual machine's menu bar. This toolbar reduces
+ itself to a small gray line unless you move the mouse over it.
+ With the toolbar, you can return from full screen or seamless
+ mode, control machine execution, or enable certain devices. If
+ you do not want to see the toolbar, disable the
+ <emphasis role="bold">Show in Full Screen/Seamless</emphasis>
+ setting.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The <emphasis role="bold">Show at Top of Screen</emphasis>
+ setting enables you to show the toolbar at the top of the
+ screen, instead of showing it at the bottom.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The Mini Toolbar is not available on macOS hosts.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis role="bold">Status Bar:</emphasis> This widget
+ enables you to disable and reorder icons on the status bar.
+ Deselect the check box of an icon to disable it, or rearrange
+ icons by dragging and dropping the icon. To disable the
+ complete status bar deselect the check box on the left.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="efi">
+
+ <title>Alternative Firmware (EFI)</title>
+
+ <para>
+ &product-name; includes experimental support for the Extensible
+ Firmware Interface (EFI), which is an industry standard intended
+ to replace the legacy BIOS as the primary interface for
+ bootstrapping computers and certain system services later.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ By default, &product-name; uses the BIOS firmware for virtual
+ machines. To use EFI for a given virtual machine, you can enable
+ EFI in the machine's <emphasis role="bold">Settings</emphasis>
+ window. See <xref linkend="settings-motherboard"/>. Alternatively,
+ use the <command>VBoxManage</command> command line interface as
+ follows:
+ </para>
+
+<screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "VM name" --firmware efi</screen>
+
+ <para>
+ To switch back to using the BIOS:
+ </para>
+
+<screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "VM name" --firmware bios</screen>
+
+ <para>
+ One notable user of EFI is Apple Mac OS X. More recent Linux
+ versions and Windows releases, starting with Vista, also offer
+ special versions that can be booted using EFI.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Another possible use of EFI in &product-name; is development and
+ testing of EFI applications, without booting any OS.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Note that the &product-name; EFI support is experimental and will
+ be enhanced as EFI matures and becomes more widespread. Mac OS X,
+ Linux, and newer Windows guests are known to work fine. Windows 7
+ guests are unable to boot with the &product-name; EFI
+ implementation.
+ </para>
+
+ <sect2 id="efividmode">
+
+ <title>Video Modes in EFI</title>
+
+ <para>
+ EFI provides two distinct video interfaces: GOP (Graphics Output
+ Protocol) and UGA (Universal Graphics Adapter). Modern OSes,
+ such as Mac OS X, generally use GOP, while some older ones still
+ use UGA. &product-name; provides a configuration option to
+ control the graphics resolution for both interfaces, making the
+ difference mostly irrelevant for users.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The default resolution is 1024x768. To select a graphics
+ resolution for EFI, use the following
+ <command>VBoxManage</command> command:
+ </para>
+
+<screen>VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution HxV</screen>
+
+ <para>
+ Determine the horizontal resolution H and the vertical
+ resolution V from the following list of default resolutions:
+ </para>
+
+ <variablelist>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ VGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 640x480, 32bpp, 4:3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ SVGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 800x600, 32bpp, 4:3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ XGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1024x768, 32bpp, 4:3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ XGA+
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1152x864, 32bpp, 4:3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ HD
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1280x720, 32bpp, 16:9
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ WXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1280x800, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ SXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1280x1024, 32bpp, 5:4
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ SXGA+
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1400x1050, 32bpp, 4:3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ WXGA+
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1440x900, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ HD+
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1600x900, 32bpp, 16:9
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ UXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1600x1200, 32bpp, 4:3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ WSXGA+
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1680x1050, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ Full HD
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1920x1080, 32bpp, 16:9
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ WUXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 1920x1200, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ DCI 2K
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 2048x1080, 32bpp, 19:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ Full HD+
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 2160x1440, 32bpp, 3:2
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ Unnamed
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 2304x1440, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ QHD
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 2560x1440, 32bpp, 16:9
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ WQXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 2560x1600, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ QWXGA+
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 2880x1800, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ QHD+
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 3200x1800, 32bpp, 16:9
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ WQSXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 3200x2048, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ 4K UHD
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 3840x2160, 32bpp, 16:9
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ WQUXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 3840x2400, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ DCI 4K
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 4096x2160, 32bpp, 19:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ HXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 4096x3072, 32bpp, 4:3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ UHD+
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 5120x2880, 32bpp, 16:9
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ WHXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 5120x3200, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ WHSXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 6400x4096, 32bpp, 16:10
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ HUXGA
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 6400x4800, 32bpp, 4:3
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>
+ 8K UHD2
+ </term>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 7680x4320, 32bpp, 16:9
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ </variablelist>
+
+ <para>
+ If this list of default resolution does not cover your needs,
+ see <xref linkend="customvesa" />. Note that the color depth
+ value specified in a custom video mode must be specified. Color
+ depths of 8, 16, 24, and 32 are accepted. EFI assumes a color
+ depth of 32 by default.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The EFI default video resolution settings can only be changed
+ when the VM is powered off.
+ </para>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="efibootargs">
+
+ <title>Specifying Boot Arguments</title>
+
+ <para>
+ It is currently not possible to manipulate EFI variables from
+ within a running guest. For example, setting the
+ <literal>boot-args</literal> variable by running the
+ <command>nvram</command> tool in a Mac OS X guest will not work.
+ As an alternative method,
+ <literal>VBoxInternal2/EfiBootArgs</literal> extradata can be
+ passed to a VM in order to set the <literal>boot-args</literal>
+ variable. To change the <literal>boot-args</literal> EFI
+ variable, use the following command:
+ </para>
+
+<screen>VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" VBoxInternal2/EfiBootArgs &lt;value&gt;</screen>
+
+ </sect2>
+
+ </sect1>
+
+</chapter>