Hi,
Is there a way how to find out the name of a VM on the host (as it is registered with VirtualBox) from within a VM?
Scenario:
I've got a VM
Name (on the host, in the VirtualBox GUI): vm001
Hostname of the VM ("inside"): vm001
Now I clone the VM (new Name in VirtualBox: vm002) and start it.
The hostname (inside) which is returned from the hostname command in Linux is still "vm011".
And I want to change this name to vm002 automatically, so somehow the Guest (RHEL 7 in my case) must find out the name of the VM on the host level.
I checked "VBoxControl" but found no solution.
Any ideas & best regards
mafl01
Is there a way to find the VirtualBox machine name from within a VM?
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- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Mostly XP
Re: Is there a way to find the VirtualBox machine name from within a VM?
Direct answer - not that I know of.
I don't know what you're trying to achieve (i.e. why the hostname matters to you), but one would normally differentiate machines on a LAN by their MAC address. I suggest you look at doing that.
I don't know what you're trying to achieve (i.e. why the hostname matters to you), but one would normally differentiate machines on a LAN by their MAC address. I suggest you look at doing that.
Re: Is there a way to find the VirtualBox machine name from within a VM?
OK, a little bit more precise:
I've got a VM "vm200" (machine name in Virtual Box and on OS level are identical) with the IP address "192.168.2.200"
Now I clone the VM into a new VM "vm201".
When I start the VM it's still "vm200" on OS level and the IP address is 192.168.2.200.
I want to write a script which is executed at runtime, which checks if the hostname (OS) is equal to the machine name (VirtualBox).
If yes: do nothing
If no: change hostname (OS level) and IP address (in this case to vm201 and 192.168.2.201.
This would simplify cloning VMs for me.
Of course, I could manipulate the MAC address of the new VM in VirtualBox and evaluate it later on on the client, but I thought comparing names would be easier.
mafl01
I've got a VM "vm200" (machine name in Virtual Box and on OS level are identical) with the IP address "192.168.2.200"
Now I clone the VM into a new VM "vm201".
When I start the VM it's still "vm200" on OS level and the IP address is 192.168.2.200.
I want to write a script which is executed at runtime, which checks if the hostname (OS) is equal to the machine name (VirtualBox).
If yes: do nothing
If no: change hostname (OS level) and IP address (in this case to vm201 and 192.168.2.201.
This would simplify cloning VMs for me.
Of course, I could manipulate the MAC address of the new VM in VirtualBox and evaluate it later on on the client, but I thought comparing names would be easier.
mafl01
-
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 39156
- Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Mostly XP
Re: Is there a way to find the VirtualBox machine name from within a VM?
I don't consider myself a networking expert, but AFAIK machine names are just a convenience, a friendly name to allow HUMANS to identity PCs listed on a network. The TCP/IP protocol itself uses IP addresses as node identifiers, and those IP address are allocated to each unique MAC on the underlying Ethernet network.
In other words, if you clone a VM and don't change the MAC addresses then they can't communicate reliably on a common TCP/IP network. Changing a friendly name won't help at all.
In other words, if you clone a VM and don't change the MAC addresses then they can't communicate reliably on a common TCP/IP network. Changing a friendly name won't help at all.
Re: Is there a way to find the VirtualBox machine name from within a VM?
Thank you for your post.
When I clone a VM, I let VirtualBox reinitialize the MAC address, so there is no issue with the MAC address.
I just want to find an easy how to sync the machine name (in VirtualBox) with the hostname (on guest OS level), because - in order to keep it simple with my up to 30 to 40 VMs I have for testing - I want to keep both in sync.
Regards
mafl01
When I clone a VM, I let VirtualBox reinitialize the MAC address, so there is no issue with the MAC address.
I just want to find an easy how to sync the machine name (in VirtualBox) with the hostname (on guest OS level), because - in order to keep it simple with my up to 30 to 40 VMs I have for testing - I want to keep both in sync.
Regards
mafl01
-
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 39156
- Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Mostly XP
Re: Is there a way to find the VirtualBox machine name from within a VM?
Two posts ago you said that the same IP had been assigned to both guests. That implies that they both have the same MAC, since a DHCP server would never serve up the same IP twice except to the same node.
Re: Is there a way to find the VirtualBox machine name from within a VM?
1. I've got a VM (my master VM). This VM has got a MAC address, a (fixed) IP address and I configured as a template for my other VMs. The master VM is usually down. I start it for changing the template, but not for daily business.
2. I clone the Master VM into a new VM. During this cloning operation, the VMs gets a new MAC address and a new machine name in VirtualBox (e.g. vm101.somewhere.local).
3. When I start the VM for the first time , I want the VM
- to find out the machine name in VirtualBox
- to set the IP address (which for a vm101.somewhere.local would be 192.168.2.101)
- set IP address and hostname
That's why I want to find out the machine name from the Guest OS.
Of course,
-I could change the MAC address during the cloning operation, so that the last byte corresponds to the future IP address (for 101 this would be 65)
- on guest OS level I could check the MAC address, extract the last byte and set the IP address
But I thought, it would be easier with the hostname/machine name.
I've got no issues with the MAC addresses.
2. I clone the Master VM into a new VM. During this cloning operation, the VMs gets a new MAC address and a new machine name in VirtualBox (e.g. vm101.somewhere.local).
3. When I start the VM for the first time , I want the VM
- to find out the machine name in VirtualBox
- to set the IP address (which for a vm101.somewhere.local would be 192.168.2.101)
- set IP address and hostname
That's why I want to find out the machine name from the Guest OS.
Of course,
-I could change the MAC address during the cloning operation, so that the last byte corresponds to the future IP address (for 101 this would be 65)
- on guest OS level I could check the MAC address, extract the last byte and set the IP address
But I thought, it would be easier with the hostname/machine name.
I've got no issues with the MAC addresses.