VBoxManage storeageattach error

[tagman]

Hello

I am running VirtualBox ver 4.1.8 r75467 on an Ubuntu 10.04.2 server. When I try to do the following command I keep running into a problem:

VBoxManage storageattach Machinename --storagectl "SATA Controller" --port 0 --type hdd --medium iscsi
--server xx.xx.x.xx --target iSCSI address --tport 3260

when I run the command I keep getting an error:
VBoxManage: Error: Invalid parameter 'Controller'

The name of the controller in the vm that I created is SATA Controller. It shows up in the VBoxManage showvminfo for the vm. If I do a storagectl to put in the SATA, it will tell me there are already a device of this type. If I remove Controller, the error message is the same, only saying 'SATA' instead.

What do I need to do to get around this problem?

[mpack]

I don't see anything wrong with what you are doing, syntax wise. At first blush it looks like VirtualBox is not honoring the quote chars around the controller name.

I would be tempted to try editing the .vbox file manually. I.e. make sure VBox is shut down, then edit the <StorageController> line for the SATA controller, changing its name to something that doesn't include any spaces or special chars - lets say name="StorageCtl". Then I would try the command again, using the simpler name. As long as the type remains "AHCI" then it should still be recognized as a SATA controller.

Let me know how it goes. I'll raise a ticket for it if we can confirm the problem.

[tagman]

Changed the controller name to StorageCtl, changed line in the command to read --storagectl "StorageCtl", got error message:
VBoxManage: error: Could not find a controller named ' "StorageCtl"'

[mpack]

So problem not confirmed.

Well, I'm stumped. Looks like you'll have to raise a ticket for this in BugTracker. Remember to include a link to this discussion in the bug description. If you haven't used BugTracker before, it's a separate system but the login is with your OSSO account, like here. You'll have to give yourself a nickname for that system on first login. Of course it's easier to understand who posted it if you use the same nickname as here.

[klaus]

This cannot be a VBoxManage bug. The shell is responsible for handling the quotes, and pass things as one parameter. I guess that you're using some strange unicode quotes, and not the normal ASCII single or double quotes. This means that your interpretation and what the shell actually does is different.

[mpack]

I guess that you're using some strange unicode quotes

I thought of that, but if I edit his message and search for the normal " character, it finds his quotes. So, either he used normal quotes or something replaces them with normal quotes somewhere along the path from he to me. - or else Firefox's string search box treats all quotes as equal, which I find unlikely.

In any case, I assume that his 2nd attempt with the replacement name (no spaces) did not use quotes, but he still got the same error. That is what stumped me.

[tagman]

After reading your replies, I tried a different tact. I used the name StorageCtl, without quotes. It worked. I had used quotes (which I showed in my reply) because that is how the storage controller is designated in the command. Thanks for all the help.

[mpack]

I see. In that case the issue is exactly what Klaus said.

[Steve Meckstroth]

I recognize this is a very old post, but it was the one I found when I googled the error message.

For me it was an issue with copying/pasting command lines from the internet. Once I manually typed the command it worked fine. My guess for this is the encoding, but I didn't investigate it any further once it just worked.