virtualbox.org

Win2008 server core host
XP guest
VB 2.2.2
Unable to add new iso from the Devices > Mount CD/DVD-ROM > VMM . All except Add and Refresh Tabs and menu options are greyed out, but the Add does not work.
I have 3 xp guests and all are the same so i think i might be missing a setting? Can be done in VBoxManage?
Attached jpg



TIA

Were ISO images in there to begin with? You say that you have 3 guests were they working in this VBox?

They were there when i had xp as host.
I have deleted and reinstalled vb and the server host since.
When I installed Guest Additions it showed up in the list as a by product of the install.
I removed it.

Well that explains why it is blank. You may need to reinstall VBox as admin and select repair to see if it did not complete the install for some reason. Then reboot the host and try to add a new VM.

I'lll try that and get back

Downloaded 2.2.2 again
Installed as repair install
Added new test vm
Didn't change anything noticable.
Uninstalled vb
New install of vb
Added new test2 vm
Still same situation not allowing me to add isos
Ran the Guest Additions
- the iso shows up in the list, this time with the release option enabled on buttons
- unmounted the mount on the Guest Addition iso
- the remove button is now enabled, and the release button is disabled.
The Guest Addition screen shows a path for an iso file, which does not show up in a search of my computer. I am still wondering if I need to set a path or some configuration for the other iso files - they are located in one directory on a seperate physical drive.

What happens when you press add?
What do you then do?

When I click on Add, it flashes like it is going to open the dialog to select a file, quickly ( 1 or 2 seconds) and then nothing.

When you click add and it flashes, did you have a look behind that screen, maybe the dialog is hiding behind it. Or the default path the add function is trying to use doesn't exist(anymore).
Also have a look in VirtualBox.xml and the entries like:
<DVDImages>
<Image uuid="{47cf0bde-d4c4-497b-a589-xxxxxxxx}" src="C:\PROGRA~1\Sun\XVMVIR~1/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso"/>
</DVDImages>

Or, deinstall, manually remove VirtualBox.xml, reinstall.

No VirtualBox.xml on my computer. I would guess that is a screwed up install?
win server core 2008 datacenter-
command line install of VirtualBox is c:\Downloads\VirtualBox-2.2.2-46594-Win.exe -
win 2008 server core is on supported list, but could datacenter be an issue? anyone else you know of usining it?

When I reinstalled before, the guests were immediately recognized and listed on the left when the GUI displayed.

I will carefully uninstall and reinstall vb again and see what that does.

Thanks for all the help.

OK I see what may be causing your problem. Open the CMD window as administrator and then run the install command.

I ran virtualbox.exe and selected "remove".
Then removed all the remaining installed directories under c:\Program Files\Sun.

>>OK I see what may be causing your problem. Open the CMD window as administrator and then run the install
command.

Since I am running Server Core only, I am installing from the command box, which (I think) is the only way to run the VB install.

I run the command "whoami" at the command line and the response is "ltservercore\administrator" so I believe I am installing as admin.

Appears that install is not completing correctly. Can I create the virtualbox.xml ? Where can I get the file template and where should the file be located? Or is this not going to be enough to cure the problem?

If it detected VM's as you indicated before, there must be a vbox.xml file somewhere, usually in your profile folder(s), do a search including hidden folders. It might be a rights/owner issue.

I have gone through complete delete format disk and reinstall with the core server, which i really like. Ended up with full server 2008 datacenter version and vb functionality now seems to be much better. Able to browse for the folder containing iso files.

Interestingly, when I tried to use another text editor (TextPad) it was unable to browse also - no error - just no response to open file request, which is normally a browse dialog. I wonder if it has something to do with the Core server not having support for GUI browsing.

Anyway, so far it looks like I am able to accomplish creating the VMs I need to do development work and testing.

Thank you all for your time and advice.