VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tray

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
Y E T I
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Joined: 9. Aug 2010, 01:47
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Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by Y E T I »

justinrpg wrote:Why is NOBODY telling me if this is compatible????
Instead of whining like a little baby what don't you try it and see.
Hans Eberhardt
Posts: 76
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Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by Hans Eberhardt »

If nobody says it is incompatible, it is compatible!
there were no major changes in 4.1.x that will make it incompatible!
doveman1
Posts: 45
Joined: 13. Feb 2012, 08:23

Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by doveman1 »

I'd like to use this utility to start a Vbox when a Win7 HTPC boots up and save it when it goes into standby. The HTPC is only connected to a TV and the user will either RDP/VRDP in to the Vbox or a separate Win7 account, so as not to disturb the HTPC functions.

On some occassions, the user may want to suspend/pause or manually save the Vbox and unpause/restart it later, either because they need to free up the RAM for something else or if it's causing issues with smooth video playback. I'm wondering what the best way to do this is. Ideally they would be able to do it from the XP terminal they're using to RDP in with but if that's not possible I guess they could RDP into their Win7 account and run something from there to do it. Perhaps VboxHeadlessTray would do the job, but that would mean there would be two instances of it running (one for the HTPC user and one for user2) and I don't know if it supports that. Certainly when the second instance loads it musn't try and start the Vbox, unlike the first instance which should do so.
BoldyBoddinton
Posts: 14
Joined: 15. Sep 2012, 11:24

Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by BoldyBoddinton »

Just tried this today with Ver 4.1.22, but cannot connect remote desktop, says console already in use, I tried ticking allow multiple in VM settings but no go.
Tried starting from VB and from tray but same. Think I tried most every combo possible but will not connect. everything else seems to work fine though.


Nice tool, keep up the excellent work.
Regards
bryanc
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Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by bryanc »

Any plans to make it compatible with VBox 4.2 ? I Just get an empty list when I run the current version against VBox 4.2
damiankw
Posts: 3
Joined: 5. Oct 2012, 01:50

Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by damiankw »

bryanc wrote:Any plans to make it compatible with VBox 4.2 ? I Just get an empty list when I run the current version against VBox 4.2
Ahh, I was wondering why it wasn't working on my machine. I'm having the same issue, 4.2.0 isn't recognising any of the virtual machines. Looks like an awesome application if it worked with it though :D
picasso566
Posts: 1
Joined: 15. Oct 2012, 08:31

Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by picasso566 »

First of all, thanks for writing this utility.

I have an issue with the VM not saving state when I log off or shutdown the host. When I start the machine back up again, the client is stuck at the Windows boot menu asking if I want to start normally.

Host machine is a Z77 i5 running Windows 7 Ultimate.
The client machine is a Windows 2008r2 Server.
The version of Virtualbox I'm using is 4.2.0 r80737

Is there anything I can do to ensure the client machine shuts down properly?

Thanks
monkry
Posts: 7
Joined: 16. Oct 2012, 10:19

Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by monkry »

Hello everyone,

I am really happy that I have found this small yet very useful application but did any of you manage to go from headless to GUI (or the other way around : GUI -> headless ) without saving the machine's state and then restoring it's state in the other mode ? What I mean here is that, when you press e.g. launch GUI mode it saves machine's state and then restores it in GUI mode and I want to do it seamlessly without interrupting the machine's work.
Joe's Morgue
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Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by Joe's Morgue »

I MUST say, I LOVE IT, but [Yes, again with the but...]

It's confusing. I don't know of a way to check the version number. Right now, I only have one VM on it, and I don't see how I can create another VM with it [I think I can't] Right clicking or left clicking gives me the same menu, and I don't see anything that deals with settings for the program itself. [Even an about...]

ALSO, when XP is running, it shows on my Win7 Ult's Taskbar. Is there a way it wouldn't? [It should be in the tray with your icon.]

Again, thank you for the wonderful program!
AMD 8-Core O.C'd to 4.31Ghz. 16 Gigs RAM. Win10 on SSD, Win10 on HDD, All user generated data sits on NAS...
Ranking
Posts: 1
Joined: 26. Feb 2013, 18:22

Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by Ranking »

Its convenient and i love it. Thanks
DAE51D
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Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by DAE51D »

I absolutely love this tool and I'm sad to see that VBox 4.3 seems to have broken it somehow. I get a "COM" error when it launches. If I specify the VM on the command line, then it does seem to load it, however if I don't, then there is no list of VMs available.

Would be great if Oracle would either fix whatever "bug" they broke, or if the author of this tool would update it to handle the new "features" of 4.3.
shootdaj
Posts: 1
Joined: 11. Nov 2013, 07:53

Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by shootdaj »

The site for this utility seems to be down. Anyone have a mirror? I tried to look but all sources point to the same site at toptensoftware.
Thanks to anyone who can help.
DAE51D
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Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by DAE51D »

Here you go. it's in 7-zip format.
Attachments
VBoxHeadlessTray42Setup.7z
(492.94 KiB) Downloaded 220 times
Molina
Posts: 1
Joined: 27. May 2014, 19:37

Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by Molina »

Boa noite pessoal, estou com um problema com o virtual box, quando tento abri-lo pelo lançador, aparece-me a seguinte mensagem:

Falha ao criar o objeto COM VirtualBox.

A aplicação será agora terminada

Código do Resultado: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Componente: VirtualBox
Interface: IVirtualBox {c28be65f-1a8f-43b4-81f1-eb60cb516e66}

O que devo fazer ?
Rirawen
Posts: 2
Joined: 12. Nov 2011, 19:10
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VBox Version: PUEL
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Re: VBoxHeadlessTray - free utility to run VMs in Windows tr

Post by Rirawen »

It would be nice if virtualbox included native support for running VMs headless.
A context menu selector or setting in the VM settings.

I don't mind using third-party tools, but if I can help it, I would prefer native.
It would also help make Virtualbox a fuller more complete package, and therefore more appealing to power users.

(by that I mean I'd like to set a VM to run headless directly as having the VM window open but doing nothing is a (albeit small) resource drain.)
n than from Nov "13 ?
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