VBoxManage not working

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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Illyankesh
Posts: 5
Joined: 23. May 2008, 00:42

VBoxManage not working

Post by Illyankesh »

The user manual refers to the VBoxManage command line tool/interface to do a bunch of things such as port forwarding that are not available in the GUI.

However I cannot get VBoxManage to open/operate.

When I enter the entire pathway and command, a small command window opens, and bunch of stuff whips past and then the small window vanishes.
I cannot seem to get a prompt even when entering the full pathway.

Is there another way to get to the VBoxManage command line tool?
Or am I doing something wrong/stupid.

I have a xp host, and am guesting a debian linux distro.
JohnG
Volunteer
Posts: 77
Joined: 23. Feb 2008, 00:51
Location: Canada

Post by JohnG »

You have to first open a Command window (aka Console window), change to the VirtualBox program folder, and run the VBoxManage command from there.

See this post for an example of running VBoxManage (the "Output" section):
http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=6199
Illyankesh
Posts: 5
Joined: 23. May 2008, 00:42

I'm sorry

Post by Illyankesh »

I'm sorry for being obtuse but that made no sense.

I went through the command line, and could move about, but when I hit the

C:\Program Files\Sun\xVM VirtualBox>VBoxManage.exe clonevdi "D:\VirtualBox\VirtualDrives\W98_1.vdi" "D:\VirtualBox\VirtualDrives\W98_1_test2.vdi"

I got nothing but is "not recognized as an internal or external command"

I'm running winxp SP2 if that helps at all.
JohnG
Volunteer
Posts: 77
Joined: 23. Feb 2008, 00:51
Location: Canada

Post by JohnG »

Are you familiar with running DOS commands in a Command window?
If not, you need to google for a how-to.

1. open a Command window
(either from the Start menu (Start | Accessories | Command Prompt), or: Start | Run | cmd)
2. change directory to the root of the C: drive (by typing: cd\ + [Enter])
(this assumes you installed VBox somewhere on the C: drive)
3. change directory to the VirtualBox program folder
4. run your VBoxManage command
(eg: VBoxManage CloneVdi source_file_path target_file_path)
Mia
Posts: 1
Joined: 6. Oct 2014, 16:29

Re: VBoxManage not working

Post by Mia »

Hi,

I want to add an interface via VBoxManage command (like VBoxManage modifyvm network-test --nic5 intnet,...) to VM but once I use vboacommand command in Command prompt of windows7(32bits) it gives following error:
"vboxmanage is not recognized as an internal or external"
Although I've added the path of VB in system variables (C:\Users\EHSAN\VirtualBox VMs\OpenSwitch2) and also I've tried it by going to directory of vm path (cd /Users/.../VirtualBox VMs/OpenSwitch2)
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: VBoxManage not working

Post by scottgus1 »

Hello, Mia!
Vboxmanage is in the folder that was made when you installed Virtualbox - the program itself, not the guest that you made afterwards. The path you added to your system path is to your guest, not the Virtualbox install folder, likely "C:\Program Files\Oracle\Virtualbox" (you'll need to hunt around for it). The Virtualbox GUI window that shows your guests and their settings runs from the same folder as Vboxmanage, so you can get the correct path from a shortcut to the Virtualbox GUI.
Hemlock
Posts: 1
Joined: 1. Mar 2016, 21:24

Re: VBoxManage not working

Post by Hemlock »

that is not the issue issue is that vboxmanage pops up then goes away no problem accessing it as the post author stated earlier
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: VBoxManage not working

Post by mpack »

Hemlock wrote:that is not the issue issue is that vboxmanage pops up then goes away no problem accessing it as the post author stated earlier
VBoxManage is a console application, it needs to be run from a command prompt (i.e. run cmd.exe).
asidlinskiy
Posts: 2
Joined: 11. May 2016, 22:26

Re: VBoxManage not working

Post by asidlinskiy »

I'm executing

Code: Select all

VBoxManage modifyhd "Ubuntu 16 64-bit.vdi" --resize 61920
command with VirtualBox Vm's Path and it's still won't recognize VBoxManage command.
Here's my command prompt.

Code: Select all

C:\Users\alexsi\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu 16 64-bit>dir
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is C060-8F8C

 Directory of C:\Users\alexsi\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu 16 64-bit

05/11/2016  11:11 AM    <DIR>          .
05/11/2016  11:11 AM    <DIR>          ..
05/11/2016  07:47 AM    <DIR>          Logs
05/11/2016  11:00 AM    <DIR>          Snapshots
05/11/2016  11:03 AM            10,078 Ubuntu 16 64-bit.vbox
05/11/2016  11:00 AM            10,078 Ubuntu 16 64-bit.vbox-prev
05/11/2016  10:50 AM     6,251,610,112 Ubuntu 16 64-bit.vdi
05/11/2016  11:12 AM     6,251,610,112 ubuntu.backup.vdi
               4 File(s) 12,503,240,380 bytes
               4 Dir(s)  157,294,325,760 bytes free

C:\Users\alexsi\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu 16 64-bit>VBoxManage modifyhd "Ubuntu 16 64-bit.vdi" --resize 61920
'VBoxManage' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
What am I doing wrong?
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: VBoxManage not working

Post by Perryg »

You need to be in the directory that actually has VBoxManage.exe and use the absolute path to the HD file, or add it to your environmental variables.
asidlinskiy
Posts: 2
Joined: 11. May 2016, 22:26

Re: VBoxManage not working

Post by asidlinskiy »

I figured it out. I was not in the "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox" directory as I should've been. Once I ran the command from there it was a success.
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