[VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
FB2000
Posts: 92
Joined: 10. Sep 2009, 13:27
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: CentOS

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by FB2000 »

maxchen wrote:Does the user run the VBoxVmService need the admin rights?
No, admin rights is not necessary but the user needs DCOM permission to connect to VirtualBox DCOM interface. Refer to the discussion at http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=de ... id=1045322.

If the user is in admin group this is enabled automatically. I am not sure why it's not enabled by default setting for Everyone, though. Hopefully somebody can give an answer.
FB2000
Posts: 92
Joined: 10. Sep 2009, 13:27
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: CentOS

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by FB2000 »

VBoxVmService 3.1 - Codename: "Coconut" has arrived.

Read the announcement here:

LINK: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8595&p=236104#p236104
AllenL
Posts: 39
Joined: 9. Sep 2010, 11:29
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: WinXP

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by AllenL »

Hi,

Its been awhile since I updated our VirtualBox & VBoxVmService (Reindeer?) releases. If it aint broke, I dont fix it :D

Anyway, I am now in the process of updating our VBox version to the latest one and I was back reading that VBox 4.2+ require VBoxVmService Coconut.

I was able to run VBoxVmService Coconut but there are a few differences on how it was implemented on Reindeer so I guess I now have new questions:

1) On Reindeer, when VBoxVmService is running, I can issue a shutdown command to a particular VM (-sd VM) then open the GUI and start the VM from the GUI. This way, I can troubleshoot whats wrong on the VM manually on the GUI. In Coconut, once the VBoxVmService is running on the background, I am not able to start the GUI and an error will popup. Is this how Coconut version is supposed to function? Anything I missed out?

2) On Reindeer, our VMs (vdi) are stored on a different folder (other that .Virtualbox) and VBoxVmService can start the VMs from there. In Coconut, this same setup wont initiate the VMs from a different folder. I have to move the VMs and reside it under the .Virtualbox folder for VBoxVmService to startup the VMs. This a necessary location for the VMs in Coconut?

This is only how far I have gone in testing this Coconut release. Item-1 above is something we need functional. VMs crash every so often and we need to restart that particular VM without shutting down the rest of the running VMs. I can live with Item-2 conditions.

Looking forward to your assistance. Thanks!
mnz2000
Posts: 2
Joined: 29. Sep 2012, 02:11

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by mnz2000 »

Hi,
AllenL wrote:In Coconut, once the VBoxVmService is running on the background, I am not able to start the GUI and an error will popup.
I fixed this with DCOMCNFG by changing the Identity of VirtualBox Application from "The launching user" to "This user" and entering my own username and password. This way the VboxVmService will run under LocalSystem, but VBoxSVC will run under my account. I can now run the GUI, and as an added bonus, I can also see the status and control the virtual machines running under VBoxVmService! I believe this gets around the "Session 0 isolation" issue discussed earlier.
AllenL wrote:2) On Reindeer, our VMs (vdi) are stored on a different folder (other that .Virtualbox) and VBoxVmService can start the VMs from there. In Coconut, this same setup wont initiate the VMs from a different folder.
I have a similar setup, and it works without any problems. I installed VirtualBox 4.2.0 fresh on a new computer, so maybe this has something to do with VM's created with older versions. I'd check the paths in VirtualBox.xml and the vbox files of the individual VM's.
AllenL
Posts: 39
Joined: 9. Sep 2010, 11:29
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: WinXP

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by AllenL »

hi mnz2000,

thanks for the reply but i am not sure i can follow you very well in the steps you mentioned to resolve the issues I have posted the other day like where do i find DCOMCNFG, what username and password is to be indicated (i did not set any password on the Win7 host)?

may i request for a much simpler or step-by-step instruction on how you did it?

for the 2nd issue i encountered of not being able to store my vdi files on other folders, i did not modify anything that was included in Coconut as well as that of VBox 4.2 installation. are you suggesting that i open the xml file in the .Virtualbox folder and edit the paths there? these were automatically created when VBox was installed.

however, you are correct that the VMs i am using are from the setup of an earlier/older machine. i am setting up a 2nd machine so we can do maintenance on the 1st one so we cloned VMs from the 1st one. there any issues with this?
mnz2000
Posts: 2
Joined: 29. Sep 2012, 02:11

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by mnz2000 »

Hi,

Actually, it seems the DCOMCNFG solution isn't perfect either. While I can modify the VM's run by VBoxVmService in the VirtualBox GUI, I CANNOT modify my other virtual machines. However, I can run them, but they run without the VirtualBox window. It seems the VirtualBox window goes to the hidden session 0 in this case. Once running, I can get their properties visible in the GUI as well! This is far from perfect, but I think I can live with it for now. Auto-starting my VM's without logging on is a top priority for me.

Step by step instructions for DCOMCNFG:

1. Open Command Prompt (select Run from the Start menu, and enter "cmd").

2. Enter DCOMCNFG and press Enter. Component Services MMC app opens.

3. Expand Component Services -> Computers -> My Computer -> DCOM Config -> VirtualBox Application.

4. Right-click VirtualBox Application and select Properties.

5. Switch to the Identity tab and select "This user". Enter your credentials (the ones you use to log on to the server).
AllenL wrote:are you suggesting that i open the xml file in the .Virtualbox folder and edit the paths there?
Yes, this is what I'm suggesting. I haven't done it myself, so cannot help you anymore there.
AllenL
Posts: 39
Joined: 9. Sep 2010, 11:29
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: WinXP

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by AllenL »

Hi mnz2000,

Thank you for your reply. I learned a thing or two from that solution of yours :D

For some reason I do not know, I was not able to logon to this forum for the past days to give you a feedback on your suggestions.

Regarding my 2nd concern of locating VMs on a different folder assigned by the user, we dont need to touch the XML files anymore. I found out that this can be easily done by modifying the Preference settings in the VirtualBox GUI menu.

As for the DCOMCNFG option, I have been experimenting different combinations and the following are the results I got:

1) When following your suggestion of setting the Identity to "This user", we get to see the actual status of the VM and a display preview of the running VM on the GUI! This is something that everybody was asking for in thi forum before.
2) In this setting, you can Reset, Savestate or Shutdown a VM from the GUI; basic management functions that I do on VMs from time to time.
3) However, in this setting, you cannot open a VM on a window like we normally do. You have to uninstall the VboxVmService, set the DCOMCNFG back to the Identity setting of "The Launching user" and re-launch Virtualbox to do so.
4) I usually open a VM to install new or upgrade applications, that is why I was looking for this feature in VBox 4.2 & VBoxVmService v3.1. This I can do in VBox v4.1.x and Reindeer. I can issue a shutdown VM on the command prompt and open the VBox GUI and open the VM I just shutdown on the GUI.
5) To be able to launch VBox while VBoxVmService is running (or actually, installed), I will have to change the DCOMCNFG - Identity setting back to "This user".

If somebody has a much simpler or straightforward solution to this, I'd appreciate the feedback. I can live with this setup for now. On a day to day basis, we just need to be able to know the status of a particular VM and do a reset when it hangs.
FB2000
Posts: 92
Joined: 10. Sep 2009, 13:27
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: CentOS

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by FB2000 »

Hi mnz2000,

Thanks a lot for sharing. I am glad to see it's again possible to run VirtualBox GUI and VBoxVmService at the same time, and the VM status can be shared. It's unlikely the session 0 isolation issue that caused the hidden window though, since the window is hidden as long as DCOM is set to start as "This user", no matter VBoxVmService is running or not.

I've added your solution to VBoxVmService wiki (https://sourceforge.net/p/vboxvmservice/wiki/), hoping it will help more people running into this same problem.

Cheers,
FB2000
MF
Posts: 1
Joined: 25. Oct 2012, 09:22

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by MF »

Hi ..
This is my first experience with both virtualBox and Vboxvmservice.
I have installed virtualBox 4.0 and also installed Vboxvmservice 3.1-coconut.
I have installed the VM for the first time and then i have used Vboxvmservice to add the VM to service.
I restarted the machine , but i did not see my VM GUI . Then i tried to open VirtualBox manually by clicking the icon. But it gives me error " Failed to create the VirtualBox COM object!
error: Code CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE (0x80080005) - Server execution failed (extende
error: Most likely, the VirtualBox COM server is not running or failed to start.

In services i see "vboxvmservice" but i am struck with this error.
I tried the following steps also hoping to solve the issue, but that didnt work:
1. Open Command Prompt (select Run from the Start menu, and enter "cmd").

2. Enter DCOMCNFG and press Enter. Component Services MMC app opens.

3. Expand Component Services -> Computers -> My Computer -> DCOM Config -> VirtualBox Application.

4. Right-click VirtualBox Application and select Properties.

5. Switch to the Identity tab and select "This user". Enter your credentials (the ones you use to log on to the server).

. Any immediate help on this would be appreciated
FB2000
Posts: 92
Joined: 10. Sep 2009, 13:27
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: CentOS

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by FB2000 »

MF wrote: I have installed virtualBox 4.0 and also installed Vboxvmservice 3.1-coconut.
VboxVmService 3.1 will only work on VirtualBox 4.2.0 and later. Read the document Howto.txt under doc folder.
TvR
Posts: 1
Joined: 22. Nov 2012, 11:18

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by TvR »

Hello,

Is there any chance to add an option for the VBoxWebSrv in the ini file. I`ve got to add the -H option to bind the webservice to a different host than localhost.
Another way would be to have a config file for the webservice, but on windows i do not find one. It is only mentioned, that on Linux there is one in /etc/... .

Can anybody help?

Best regards,
Thimo

OK... I solved this issue by myself. A glance at the code showed me, that there is an option called WebServiceParam in the VBoxVmService.ini file.
The value of the option is the parameter string. So WebServiceParam=-H myHostname helped.
nealix
Posts: 1
Joined: 20. Mar 2013, 01:46

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by nealix »

I am trying to use VBoxVmService 3.1 for the first time. I have VirtualBox 4.2.10 installed on win 7 x64, and can start
my Fedora 18 vm and stop it, both from the VirtualBox GUI or via .VBS logon and logoff scripts for the user via gpedit.msc

When I installed "vmservicecontrol -i" and rebooted, nothing happened. (No vboxheadless process running)

So I opened a cmd tool, cd to C:\vms, and

C:\vms>vmservicecontrol -su 0
Start your virtual machine, VM0

Could not open remote session! rc = 0x80bb0007

My .ini file is;
C:\vms>type vboxvmservice.ini
[Settings]
ServiceName=VBoxVmService
VBOX_USER_HOME=C:\Users\Neal\.VirtualBox\
RunWebService=no
PauseShutdown=5000

[Vm0]
VmName=Fedora-18-x64
ShutdownMethod=savestate
AutoStart=yes

This VM is configured to start remote display vrdp on port 3010 and
does have the extensions pack installed (vrdp works when the vm is manually started).

Any ideas what to try next?

Thanks,

Neal
Freddy_Flint
Posts: 6
Joined: 26. Apr 2013, 00:52

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by Freddy_Flint »

nealix wrote:I am trying to use VBoxVmService 3.1 for the first time. I have VirtualBox 4.2.10 installed on win 7 x64, and can start
my Fedora 18 vm and stop it, both from the VirtualBox GUI or via .VBS logon and logoff scripts for the user via gpedit.msc

When I installed "vmservicecontrol -i" and rebooted, nothing happened. (No vboxheadless process running)

So I opened a cmd tool, cd to C:\vms, and

C:\vms>vmservicecontrol -su 0
Start your virtual machine, VM0

Could not open remote session! rc = 0x80bb0007
I'm have the same problem. My diagnostics appears to be something wrong with the 64-bit version of vboxservices.exe
--------------
Failed to create the VirtualBox COM object.
The application will now terminate.
Callee RC: CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE (0x80080005)
-------------

I'v only experienced this problem since removal and reinstalling newer version of 4.2.??? and coconut
To solve it I am uninstalling (for the 2nd time) and going back to a pre 2012 version that worked !

unless a fix or solution is provided or advised ASAP, as I need these servers up and running after power failure.
-Fred
FB2000
Posts: 92
Joined: 10. Sep 2009, 13:27
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: CentOS

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by FB2000 »

Freddy_Flint wrote: --------------
Failed to create the VirtualBox COM object.
The application will now terminate.
Callee RC: CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE (0x80080005)
-------------
I'v only experienced this problem since removal and reinstalling newer version of 4.2.??? and coconut
To solve it I am uninstalling (for the 2nd time) and going back to a pre 2012 version that worked !
-Fred
Error 0x80080005 simply means VirtualBox COM interface can't be opened. Most likely there is a VirtualBox GUI process running while you starting VBoxVmService. Refer to project wiki https://sourceforge.net/p/vboxvmservice/wiki/Home/ for more details about running VirtualBox GUI together with VBoxVmService.
Last edited by FB2000 on 22. May 2013, 12:41, edited 1 time in total.
FB2000
Posts: 92
Joined: 10. Sep 2009, 13:27
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: CentOS

Re: [VBoxVmService] -> Discussion & Support

Post by FB2000 »

VBoxVmService 4.0 - Codename: "Bayberry" has arrived.

Read the announcement here:

LINK: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8595&p=256821#p259711
Post Reply