1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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2 | <!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
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3 | "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd">
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4 | <chapter id="BasicConcepts">
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5 | <title>Configuring virtual machines</title>
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6 |
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7 | <para>Whereas <xref linkend="Introduction" /> gave you a quick introduction
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8 | to VirtualBox and how to get your first virtual machine running, the
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9 | following chapter describes in detail how to configure virtual
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10 | machines.</para>
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11 |
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12 | <para>You have considerable latitude in deciding what virtual hardware will
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13 | be provided to the guest. The virtual hardware can be used for communicating
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14 | with the host system or with other guests. For instance, if you provide
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15 | VirtualBox with the image of a CD-ROM in an ISO file, VirtualBox can present
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16 | this image to a guest system as if it were a physical CD-ROM. Similarly, you
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17 | can give a guest system access to the real network via its virtual network
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18 | card, and, if you so choose, give the host system, other guests, or
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19 | computers on the Internet access to the guest system.</para>
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20 |
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21 | <sect1 id="guestossupport">
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22 | <title>Supported guest operating systems</title>
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23 |
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24 | <para>Since VirtualBox is designed to provide a generic virtualization
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25 | environment for x86 systems, it may run operating systems of any kind,
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26 | even those not listed here. However, the focus is to optimize VirtualBox
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27 | for the following guest systems:</para>
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28 |
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29 | <para><glosslist>
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30 | <glossentry>
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31 | <glossterm>Windows NT 4.0</glossterm>
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32 |
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33 | <glossdef>
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34 | <para>All versions, editions and service packs are fully
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35 | supported; however, there are some issues with older service
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36 | packs. We recommend to install service pack 6a. Guest Additions
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37 | are available with a limited feature set.</para>
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38 | </glossdef>
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39 | </glossentry>
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40 |
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41 | <glossentry>
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42 | <glossterm>Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista / Server 2008 /
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43 | Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Server 2012</glossterm>
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44 |
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45 | <glossdef>
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46 | <para>All versions, editions and service packs are fully supported
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47 | (including 64-bit versions, under the preconditions listed below).
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48 | Guest Additions are available.</para>
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49 | </glossdef>
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50 | </glossentry>
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51 |
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52 | <glossentry>
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53 | <glossterm>DOS / Windows 3.x / 95 / 98 / ME</glossterm>
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54 |
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55 | <glossdef>
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56 | <para>Limited testing has been performed. Use beyond legacy
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57 | installation mechanisms not recommended. No Guest Additions
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58 | available.</para>
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59 | </glossdef>
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60 | </glossentry>
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61 |
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62 | <glossentry>
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63 | <glossterm>Linux 2.4</glossterm>
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64 |
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65 | <glossdef>
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66 | <para>Limited support.</para>
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67 | </glossdef>
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68 | </glossentry>
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69 |
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70 | <glossentry>
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71 | <glossterm>Linux 2.6</glossterm>
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72 |
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73 | <glossdef>
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74 | <para>All versions/editions are fully supported (32 bits and 64
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75 | bits). Guest Additions are available.</para>
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76 |
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77 | <para>We strongly recommend using a Linux kernel version 2.6.13 or
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78 | higher for better performance.<note>
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79 | <para>Certain Linux kernel releases have bugs that prevent
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80 | them from executing in a virtual environment; please see <xref
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81 | linkend="ts_linux-buggy" /> for details.</para>
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82 | </note></para>
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83 | </glossdef>
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84 | </glossentry>
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85 |
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86 | <glossentry>
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87 | <glossterm>Linux 3.x</glossterm>
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88 |
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89 | <glossdef>
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90 | <para>All versions/editions are fully supported (32 bits and 64
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91 | bits). Guest Additions are available.</para>
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92 | </glossdef>
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93 | </glossentry>
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94 |
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95 | <glossentry>
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96 | <glossterm>Solaris 10 (u6 and higher), Solaris 11 (including Solaris
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97 | 11 Express)</glossterm>
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98 |
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99 | <glossdef>
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100 | <para>Fully supported (32 bits and 64 bits). Guest Additions are
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101 | available.</para>
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102 | </glossdef>
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103 | </glossentry>
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104 |
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105 | <glossentry>
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106 | <glossterm>FreeBSD</glossterm>
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107 |
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108 | <glossdef>
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109 | <para>Requires hardware virtualization to be enabled. Limited
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110 | support. Guest Additions are not available yet.</para>
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111 | </glossdef>
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112 | </glossentry>
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113 |
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114 | <glossentry>
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115 | <glossterm>OpenBSD</glossterm>
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116 |
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117 | <glossdef>
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118 | <para>Requires hardware virtualization to be enabled. Versions 3.7
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119 | and later are supported. Guest Additions are not available
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120 | yet.</para>
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121 | </glossdef>
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122 | </glossentry>
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123 |
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124 | <glossentry>
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125 | <glossterm>OS/2 Warp 4.5</glossterm>
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126 |
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127 | <glossdef>
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128 | <para>Requires hardware virtualization to be enabled. We
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129 | officially support MCP2 only; other OS/2 versions may or may not
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130 | work. Guest Additions are available with a limited feature
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131 | set.<footnote>
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132 | <para>See <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.</para>
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133 | </footnote></para>
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134 | </glossdef>
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135 | </glossentry>
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136 |
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137 | <glossentry>
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138 | <glossterm>Mac OS X</glossterm>
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139 |
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140 | <glossdef>
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141 | <para>VirtualBox 3.2 added experimental support for Mac OS X
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142 | guests, but this comes with restrictions. Please see the following
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143 | section as well as <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.</para>
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144 | </glossdef>
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145 | </glossentry>
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146 | </glosslist></para>
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147 |
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148 | <sect2 id="intro-macosxguests">
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149 | <title>Mac OS X guests</title>
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150 |
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151 | <para>Starting with version 3.2, VirtualBox has experimental support for
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152 | Mac OS X guests. This allows you to install and execute unmodified
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153 | versions of Mac OS X on supported host hardware.</para>
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154 |
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155 | <para>Whereas competing solutions perform modifications to the Mac OS X
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156 | install DVDs (e.g. different boot loader and replaced files), VirtualBox
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157 | is the first product to provide the modern PC architecture expected by
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158 | OS X without requiring any "hacks".</para>
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159 |
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160 | <para>You should be aware of a number of <emphasis role="bold">important
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161 | issues</emphasis> before attempting to install a Mac OS X guest:<orderedlist>
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162 | <listitem>
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163 | <para>Mac OS X is commercial, licensed software and contains
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164 | <emphasis role="bold">both license and technical restrictions</emphasis>
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165 | that limit its use to certain hardware and usage scenarios. It is
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166 | important that you understand and obey these restrictions.</para>
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167 |
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168 | <para>In particular, for most versions of Mac OS X, Apple prohibits
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169 | installing them on non-Apple hardware.</para>
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170 |
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171 | <para>These license restrictions are also enforced on a technical
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172 | level. Mac OS X verifies whether it is running on Apple hardware,
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173 | and most DVDs that that come with Apple hardware even check for an
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174 | exact model. These restrictions are <emphasis>not</emphasis>
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175 | circumvented by VirtualBox and continue to apply.</para>
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176 | </listitem>
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177 |
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178 | <listitem>
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179 | <para>Only <emphasis role="bold">CPUs</emphasis> known and tested
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180 | by Apple are supported. As a result, if your Intel CPU is newer
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181 | than the build of Mac OS X, or if you have a non-Intel CPU, it will
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182 | most likely panic during bootup with an "Unsupported CPU"
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183 | exception. It is generally best to use the Mac OS X DVD that came
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184 | with your Apple hardware.</para>
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185 | </listitem>
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186 |
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187 | <listitem>
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188 | <para>The Mac OS X installer expects the harddisk to be
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189 | <emphasis role="bold">partitioned</emphasis> so when it does not
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190 | offer a selection, you have to launch the Disk Utility from the
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191 | "Tools" menu and partition the hard disk. Then close the Disk
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192 | Utility and proceed with the installation.</para>
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193 | </listitem>
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194 |
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195 | <listitem>
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196 | <para>In addition, as Mac OS X support in VirtualBox is currently
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197 | still experimental, please refer also to <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.</para>
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198 | </listitem>
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199 | </orderedlist></para>
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200 | </sect2>
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201 |
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202 | <sect2 id="intro-64bitguests">
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203 | <title>64-bit guests</title>
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204 |
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205 | <para>VirtualBox supports 64-bit guest operating systems, even on 32-bit
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206 | host operating systems,<footnote>
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207 | <para>64-bit guest support was added with VirtualBox 2.0; support
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208 | for 64-bit guests on 32-bit hosts was added with VirtualBox
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209 | 2.1.</para>
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210 | </footnote> provided that the following conditions are
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211 | met:<orderedlist>
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212 | <listitem>
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213 | <para>You need a 64-bit processor with hardware virtualization
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214 | support (see <xref linkend="hwvirt" />).</para>
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215 | </listitem>
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216 |
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217 | <listitem>
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218 | <para>You must enable hardware virtualization for the particular
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219 | VM for which you want 64-bit support; software virtualization is
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220 | not supported for 64-bit VMs.</para>
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221 | </listitem>
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222 |
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223 | <listitem>
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224 | <para>If you want to use 64-bit guest support on a 32-bit host
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225 | operating system, you must also select a 64-bit operating system
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226 | for the particular VM. Since supporting 64 bits on 32-bit hosts
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227 | incurs additional overhead, VirtualBox only enables this support
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228 | upon explicit request.</para>
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229 |
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230 | <para>On 64-bit hosts (which typically come with hardware
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231 | virtualization support), 64-bit guest operating systems are always
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232 | supported regardless of settings, so you can simply install a
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233 | 64-bit operating system in the guest.</para>
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234 | </listitem>
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235 | </orderedlist></para>
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236 |
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237 | <para><warning>
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238 | <para>On any host, you should enable the <emphasis role="bold">I/O
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239 | APIC</emphasis> for virtual machines that you intend to use in
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240 | 64-bit mode. This is especially true for 64-bit Windows VMs. See
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241 | <xref linkend="settings-general-advanced" />. In addition, for
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242 | 64-bit Windows guests, you should make sure that the VM uses the
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243 | <emphasis role="bold">Intel networking device</emphasis>, since
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244 | there is no 64-bit driver support for the AMD PCNet card; see <xref
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245 | linkend="nichardware" />.</para>
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246 | </warning></para>
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247 |
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248 | <para>If you use the "Create VM" wizard of the VirtualBox graphical user
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249 | interface (see <xref linkend="gui-createvm" />), VirtualBox will
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250 | automatically use the correct settings for each selected 64-bit
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251 | operating system type.</para>
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252 | </sect2>
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253 | </sect1>
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254 |
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255 | <sect1>
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256 | <title>Emulated hardware</title>
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257 |
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258 | <para>VirtualBox virtualizes nearly all hardware of the host. Depending on
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259 | a VM's configuration, the guest will see the following virtual
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260 | hardware:<itemizedlist>
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261 | <listitem>
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262 | <para><emphasis role="bold">Input devices.</emphasis> By default,
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263 | VirtualBox emulates a standard PS/2 keyboard and mouse. These
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264 | devices are supported by almost all past and present operating
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265 | systems.</para>
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266 |
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267 | <para>In addition, VirtualBox can provide virtual USB input devices
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268 | to avoid having to capture mouse and keyboard, as described in <xref
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269 | linkend="keyb_mouse_normal" />.</para>
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270 | </listitem>
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271 |
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272 | <listitem>
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273 | <para><emphasis role="bold">Graphics.</emphasis> The VirtualBox
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274 | graphics device (sometimes referred to as VGA device) is, unlike
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275 | nearly all other emulated devices, not based on any physical
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276 | counterpart. It is a simple, synthetic device which provides
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277 | compatibility with standard VGA and several extended registers used
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278 | by the VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE).</para>
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279 | </listitem>
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280 |
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281 | <listitem>
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282 | <para><emphasis role="bold">Storage.</emphasis> VirtualBox currently
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283 | emulates the standard ATA interface found on Intel PIIX3/PIIX4
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284 | chips, the SATA (AHCI) interface, and two SCSI adapters (LSI Logic
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285 | and BusLogic); see <xref linkend="harddiskcontrollers" /> for
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286 | details. Whereas providing one of these would be enough for
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287 | VirtualBox by itself, this multitude of storage adapters is required
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288 | for compatibility with other hypervisors. Windows is particularly
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289 | picky about its boot devices, and migrating VMs between hypervisors
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290 | is very difficult or impossible if the storage controllers are
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291 | different.</para>
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292 | </listitem>
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293 |
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294 | <listitem>
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295 | <para><emphasis role="bold">Networking.</emphasis> See <xref
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296 | linkend="nichardware" />.</para>
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297 | </listitem>
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298 |
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299 | <listitem>
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300 | <para><emphasis role="bold">USB.</emphasis> VirtualBox emulates two
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301 | USB host controllers, EHCI and OHCI. There is a need for two host
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302 | controllers because OHCI only handles USB low- and full-speed
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303 | devices (both USB 1.x and 2.0), while EHCI only handles high-speed
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304 | devices (USB 2.0 only). The emulated USB controllers do not
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305 | communicate directly with devices on the host but rather with a
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306 | virtual USB layer which abstracts the USB protocol and allows the
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307 | use of remote USB devices.</para>
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308 | </listitem>
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309 |
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310 | <listitem>
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311 | <para><emphasis role="bold">Audio.</emphasis> See <xref
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312 | linkend="settings-audio" />.</para>
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313 | </listitem>
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314 | </itemizedlist></para>
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315 | </sect1>
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316 |
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317 | <sect1 id="generalsettings">
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318 | <title>General settings</title>
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319 |
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320 | <para>In the Settings window, under "General", you can configure the most
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321 | fundamental aspects of the virtual machine such as memory and essential
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322 | hardware. There are three tabs, "Basic", "Advanced" and
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323 | "Description".</para>
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324 |
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325 | <sect2>
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326 | <title>"Basic" tab</title>
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327 |
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328 | <para>Under the "Basic" tab of the "General" settings category, you can
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329 | find these settings:</para>
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330 |
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331 | <glosslist>
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332 | <glossentry>
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333 | <glossterm>Name</glossterm>
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334 |
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335 | <glossdef>
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336 | <para>The name under which the VM is shown in the list of VMs in
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337 | the main window. Under this name, VirtualBox also saves the VM's
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338 | configuration files. By changing the name, VirtualBox renames
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339 | these files as well. As a result, you can only use characters
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340 | which are allowed in your host operating system's file
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341 | names.</para>
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342 |
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343 | <para>Note that internally, VirtualBox uses unique identifiers
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344 | (UUIDs) to identify virtual machines. You can display these with
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345 | <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput>.</para>
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346 | </glossdef>
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347 | </glossentry>
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348 |
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349 | <glossentry>
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350 | <glossterm>Operating system / version</glossterm>
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351 |
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352 | <glossdef>
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353 | <para>The type of the guest operating system that is (or will be)
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354 | installed in the VM. This is the same setting that was specified
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355 | in the "New Virtual Machine" wizard, as described in <xref
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356 | linkend="gui-createvm" />.</para>
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357 |
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358 | <para>Whereas the default settings of a newly created VM depend on
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359 | the selected operating system type, changing the type later has no
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360 | effect on VM settings; this value is then purely informational and
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361 | decorative.</para>
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362 | </glossdef>
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363 | </glossentry>
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364 | </glosslist>
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365 | </sect2>
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366 |
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367 | <sect2 id="settings-general-advanced">
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368 | <title>"Advanced" tab</title>
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369 |
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370 | <para><glosslist>
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371 | <glossentry>
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372 | <glossterm>Snapshot folder</glossterm>
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373 |
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374 | <glossdef>
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375 | <para>By default, VirtualBox saves snapshot data together with
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376 | your other VirtualBox configuration data; see <xref
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377 | linkend="vboxconfigdata" />. With this setting, you can specify
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378 | any other folder for each VM.</para>
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379 | </glossdef>
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380 | </glossentry>
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381 |
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382 | <glossentry>
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383 | <glossterm>Shared clipboard</glossterm>
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384 |
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385 | <glossdef>
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386 | <para>You can select here whether the clipboard of the guest
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387 | operating system should be shared with that of your host. If you
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388 | select "Bidirectional", then VirtualBox will always make sure
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389 | that both clipboards contain the same data. If you select "Host
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390 | to guest" or "Guest to host", then VirtualBox will only ever
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391 | copy clipboard data in one direction.</para>
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392 |
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393 | <para>Clipboard sharing requires that the VirtualBox Guest
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394 | Additions be installed. As a result, this setting has no effect
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395 | otherwise; see <xref linkend="guestadditions" /> for
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396 | details.</para>
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397 |
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398 | <para>The shared clipboard is disabled by default. See
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399 | <xref linkend="security_clipboard"/> for an explanation. This
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400 | setting can be changed at any time using the "Shared Clipboard"
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401 | menu item in the "Devices" menu of the virtual machine.</para>
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402 | </glossdef>
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403 | </glossentry>
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404 |
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405 | <glossentry>
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406 | <glossterm>Drag'n'Drop</glossterm>
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407 | <glossdef>
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408 | <para>This setting allows to enable Drag and Drop: Select a file
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409 | on the desktop, click the left mouse button, move the mouse
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410 | to the VM window and release the mouse button. The file is
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411 | copied from the host to the guest. This feature is currently
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412 | only implemented for Linux guests and only for copying files
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413 | from the host to the guest.<footnote><para>Support
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414 | for Drag'n'Drop was added with VirtualBox 4.2</para></footnote></para>
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415 | </glossdef>
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416 | </glossentry>
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417 |
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418 | <glossentry>
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419 | <glossterm>Removable media: remember runtime changes</glossterm>
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420 |
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421 | <glossdef>
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422 | <para>If this is checked, VirtualBox will save the state of what
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423 | media has been mounted between several runs of a virtual
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424 | machine.</para>
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425 | </glossdef>
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426 | </glossentry>
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427 |
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428 | <glossentry>
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429 | <glossterm>Mini toolbar</glossterm>
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430 |
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431 | <glossdef>
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432 | <para>In full screen or seamless mode, VirtualBox can display a
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433 | small toolbar that contains some of the items that are normally
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434 | available from the virtual machine's menu bar. This toolbar
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---|
435 | reduces itself to a small gray line unless you move the mouse
|
---|
436 | over it. With the toolbar, you can return from full screen or
|
---|
437 | seamless mode, control machine execution or enable certain
|
---|
438 | devices. If you don't want to see the toolbar, disable this
|
---|
439 | setting.</para>
|
---|
440 | <para>The second setting allows to show the toolbar at the top
|
---|
441 | of the screen instead of showing it at the bottom.</para>
|
---|
442 | </glossdef>
|
---|
443 | </glossentry>
|
---|
444 | </glosslist></para>
|
---|
445 | </sect2>
|
---|
446 |
|
---|
447 | <sect2>
|
---|
448 | <title>"Description" tab</title>
|
---|
449 |
|
---|
450 | <para>Here you can enter any description for your virtual machine, if
|
---|
451 | you want. This has no effect on the functionality of the machine, but
|
---|
452 | you may find this space useful to note down things like the
|
---|
453 | configuration of a virtual machine and the software that has been
|
---|
454 | installed into it.</para>
|
---|
455 | <para>To insert a line break into the description text field, press
|
---|
456 | <emphasis>Shift+Enter</emphasis>.</para>
|
---|
457 | </sect2>
|
---|
458 | </sect1>
|
---|
459 |
|
---|
460 | <sect1 id="settings-system">
|
---|
461 | <title>System settings</title>
|
---|
462 |
|
---|
463 | <para>The "System" category groups various settings that are related to
|
---|
464 | the basic hardware that is presented to the virtual machine.<note>
|
---|
465 | <para>As the activation mechanism of Microsoft Windows is sensitive to
|
---|
466 | hardware changes, if you are changing hardware settings for a Windows
|
---|
467 | guest, some of these changes may trigger a request for another
|
---|
468 | activation with Microsoft.</para>
|
---|
469 | </note></para>
|
---|
470 |
|
---|
471 | <sect2 id="settings-motherboard">
|
---|
472 | <title>"Motherboard" tab</title>
|
---|
473 |
|
---|
474 | <para>On the "Motherboard" tab, you can influence virtual hardware that
|
---|
475 | would normally be on the motherboard of a real computer.<glosslist>
|
---|
476 | <glossentry>
|
---|
477 | <glossterm>Base memory</glossterm>
|
---|
478 |
|
---|
479 | <glossdef>
|
---|
480 | <para>This sets the amount of RAM that is allocated and given to
|
---|
481 | the VM when it is running. The specified amount of memory will
|
---|
482 | be requested from the host operating system, so it must be
|
---|
483 | available or made available as free memory on the host when
|
---|
484 | attempting to start the VM and will not be available to the host
|
---|
485 | while the VM is running. This is the same setting that was
|
---|
486 | specified in the "New Virtual Machine" wizard, as described with
|
---|
487 | guidelines under <xref linkend="gui-createvm" /> above.</para>
|
---|
488 |
|
---|
489 | <para>Generally, it is possible to change the memory size after
|
---|
490 | installing the guest operating system (provided you do not
|
---|
491 | reduce the memory to an amount where the operating system would
|
---|
492 | no longer boot).</para>
|
---|
493 | </glossdef>
|
---|
494 | </glossentry>
|
---|
495 |
|
---|
496 | <glossentry>
|
---|
497 | <glossterm>Boot order</glossterm>
|
---|
498 |
|
---|
499 | <glossdef>
|
---|
500 | <para>This setting determines the order in which the guest
|
---|
501 | operating system will attempt to boot from the various virtual
|
---|
502 | boot devices. Analogous to a real PC's BIOS setting, VirtualBox
|
---|
503 | can tell a guest OS to start from the virtual floppy, the
|
---|
504 | virtual CD/DVD drive, the virtual hard drive (each of these as
|
---|
505 | defined by the other VM settings), the network, or none of
|
---|
506 | these.</para>
|
---|
507 |
|
---|
508 | <para>If you select "Network", the VM will attempt to boot from
|
---|
509 | a network via the PXE mechanism. This needs to be configured in
|
---|
510 | detail on the command line; please see <xref
|
---|
511 | linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.</para>
|
---|
512 | </glossdef>
|
---|
513 | </glossentry>
|
---|
514 |
|
---|
515 | <glossentry>
|
---|
516 | <glossterm>Chipset</glossterm>
|
---|
517 |
|
---|
518 | <glossdef>
|
---|
519 | <para>Here you can select which chipset will be presented to the
|
---|
520 | virtual machine. Before VirtualBox 4.0, PIIX3 was the only
|
---|
521 | available option here. For modern guest operating systems such
|
---|
522 | as Mac OS X, that old chipset is no longer well supported. As a
|
---|
523 | result, VirtualBox 4.0 introduced an emulation of the more
|
---|
524 | modern ICH9 chipset, which supports PCI express, three PCI
|
---|
525 | buses, PCI-to-PCI bridges and Message Signaled Interrupts
|
---|
526 | (MSI). This allows modern operating systems to address more PCI
|
---|
527 | devices and no longer requires IRQ sharing. Note that the ICH9
|
---|
528 | support is experimental and not recommended for guest operating
|
---|
529 | systems which do not require it.</para>
|
---|
530 | </glossdef>
|
---|
531 | </glossentry>
|
---|
532 |
|
---|
533 | <glossentry>
|
---|
534 | <glossterm>Pointing Device</glossterm>
|
---|
535 |
|
---|
536 | <glossdef>
|
---|
537 | <para>The default virtual pointing devices for older guests is the
|
---|
538 | traditional PS/2 mouse. If set to <emphasis>USB tablet</emphasis>,
|
---|
539 | VirtualBox reports to the virtual machine that a USB tablet
|
---|
540 | device is present and communicates mouse events to
|
---|
541 | the virtual machine through this device. The third setting is
|
---|
542 | a <emphasis>USB Multi-Touch Tablet</emphasis> which is suited
|
---|
543 | for recent Windows guests.</para>
|
---|
544 |
|
---|
545 | <para>Using the virtual USB tablet has the advantage that
|
---|
546 | movements are reported in absolute coordinates (instead of as
|
---|
547 | relative position changes), which allows VirtualBox to translate
|
---|
548 | mouse events over the VM window into tablet events without
|
---|
549 | having to "capture" the mouse in the guest as described in <xref
|
---|
550 | linkend="keyb_mouse_normal" />. This makes using the VM less
|
---|
551 | tedious even if Guest Additions are not installed.<footnote>
|
---|
552 | <para>The virtual USB tablet was added with VirtualBox 3.2.
|
---|
553 | Depending on the guest operating system selected, this is
|
---|
554 | now enabled by default for new virtual machines.</para>
|
---|
555 | </footnote></para>
|
---|
556 | </glossdef>
|
---|
557 | </glossentry>
|
---|
558 | <glossentry>
|
---|
559 | <glossterm>Enable I/O APIC</glossterm>
|
---|
560 |
|
---|
561 | <glossdef>
|
---|
562 | <para>Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controllers (APICs) are a
|
---|
563 | newer x86 hardware feature that have replaced old-style
|
---|
564 | Programmable Interrupt Controllers (PICs) in recent years. With
|
---|
565 | an I/O APIC, operating systems can use more than 16 interrupt
|
---|
566 | requests (IRQs) and therefore avoid IRQ sharing for improved
|
---|
567 | reliability.<note>
|
---|
568 | <para>Enabling the I/O APIC is <emphasis>required</emphasis>
|
---|
569 | for 64-bit guest operating systems, especially Windows
|
---|
570 | Vista; it is also required if you want to use more than one
|
---|
571 | virtual CPU in a virtual machine.</para>
|
---|
572 | </note></para>
|
---|
573 |
|
---|
574 | <para>However, software support for I/O APICs has been
|
---|
575 | unreliable with some operating systems other than Windows. Also,
|
---|
576 | the use of an I/O APIC slightly increases the overhead of
|
---|
577 | virtualization and therefore slows down the guest OS a
|
---|
578 | little.<warning>
|
---|
579 | <para>All Windows operating systems starting with Windows
|
---|
580 | 2000 install different kernels depending on whether an I/O
|
---|
581 | APIC is available. As with ACPI, the I/O APIC therefore
|
---|
582 | <emphasis>must not be turned off after
|
---|
583 | installation</emphasis> of a Windows guest OS. Turning it on
|
---|
584 | after installation will have no effect however.</para>
|
---|
585 | </warning></para>
|
---|
586 | </glossdef>
|
---|
587 | </glossentry>
|
---|
588 |
|
---|
589 | <glossentry>
|
---|
590 | <glossterm>Enable EFI</glossterm>
|
---|
591 |
|
---|
592 | <glossdef>
|
---|
593 | <para>This enables Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), which
|
---|
594 | replaces the legacy BIOS and may be useful for certain
|
---|
595 | advanced use cases. Please refer to <xref linkend="efi" /> for
|
---|
596 | details.</para>
|
---|
597 | </glossdef>
|
---|
598 | </glossentry>
|
---|
599 |
|
---|
600 | <glossentry>
|
---|
601 | <glossterm>Hardware clock in UTC time</glossterm>
|
---|
602 |
|
---|
603 | <glossdef>
|
---|
604 | <para>If checked, VirtualBox will report the system time in UTC
|
---|
605 | format to the guest instead of local (host) time. This affects
|
---|
606 | how the virtual real-time clock (RTC) operates and may be useful
|
---|
607 | for Unix-like guest operating systems, which typically expect
|
---|
608 | the hardware clock to be set to UTC.</para>
|
---|
609 | </glossdef>
|
---|
610 | </glossentry>
|
---|
611 |
|
---|
612 | </glosslist></para>
|
---|
613 |
|
---|
614 | <para>In addition, you can turn off the <emphasis role="bold">Advanced
|
---|
615 | Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)</emphasis> which VirtualBox
|
---|
616 | presents to the guest operating system by default. ACPI is the current
|
---|
617 | industry standard to allow operating systems to recognize hardware,
|
---|
618 | configure motherboards and other devices and manage power. As all modern
|
---|
619 | PCs contain this feature and Windows and Linux have been supporting it
|
---|
620 | for years, it is also enabled by default in VirtualBox. It can only be
|
---|
621 | turned off on the command line; see <xref
|
---|
622 | linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />.<warning>
|
---|
623 | <para>All Windows operating systems starting with Windows 2000
|
---|
624 | install different kernels depending on whether ACPI is available, so
|
---|
625 | ACPI <emphasis>must not be turned off</emphasis> after installation
|
---|
626 | of a Windows guest OS. Turning it on after installation will have no
|
---|
627 | effect however.</para>
|
---|
628 | </warning></para>
|
---|
629 | </sect2>
|
---|
630 |
|
---|
631 | <sect2 id="settings-processor">
|
---|
632 | <title>"Processor" tab</title>
|
---|
633 |
|
---|
634 | <para>On the "Processor" tab, you can set how many virtual <emphasis
|
---|
635 | role="bold">CPU cores</emphasis> the guest operating systems should see.
|
---|
636 | Starting with version 3.0, VirtualBox supports symmetrical
|
---|
637 | multiprocessing (SMP) and can present up to 32 virtual CPU cores to each
|
---|
638 | virtual machine.</para>
|
---|
639 |
|
---|
640 | <para>You should not, however, configure virtual machines to use more
|
---|
641 | CPU cores than you have available physically (real cores, no hyperthreads).</para>
|
---|
642 |
|
---|
643 | <para>On this tab you can also set the <emphasis role="bold">"CPU execution
|
---|
644 | cap"</emphasis>. This setting
|
---|
645 | limits the amount of time a host CPU spents to emulate a virtual CPU.
|
---|
646 | The default setting is 100% meaning that there is no limitation. A setting
|
---|
647 | of 50% implies a single virtual CPU can use up to 50% of a single host
|
---|
648 | CPU. Note that limiting the execution time of the virtual CPUs may induce
|
---|
649 | guest timing problems.</para>
|
---|
650 |
|
---|
651 | <para>In addition, the <emphasis role="bold">"Enable PAE/NX"</emphasis>
|
---|
652 | setting determines whether the PAE and NX capabilities of the host CPU
|
---|
653 | will be exposed to the virtual machine. PAE stands for "Physical Address
|
---|
654 | Extension". Normally, if enabled and supported by the operating system,
|
---|
655 | then even a 32-bit x86 CPU can access more than 4 GB of RAM. This is
|
---|
656 | made possible by adding another 4 bits to memory addresses, so that with
|
---|
657 | 36 bits, up to 64 GB can be addressed. Some operating systems (such as
|
---|
658 | Ubuntu Server) require PAE support from the CPU and cannot be run in a
|
---|
659 | virtual machine without it.</para>
|
---|
660 |
|
---|
661 | <para>With virtual machines running modern server operating systems,
|
---|
662 | VirtualBox also supports CPU hot-plugging. For details about this,
|
---|
663 | please refer to <xref linkend="cpuhotplug" />.</para>
|
---|
664 | </sect2>
|
---|
665 |
|
---|
666 | <sect2>
|
---|
667 | <title>"Acceleration" tab</title>
|
---|
668 |
|
---|
669 | <para>On this page, you can determine whether and how VirtualBox should
|
---|
670 | use hardware virtualization extensions that your host CPU may support.
|
---|
671 | This is the case with most CPUs built after 2006.</para>
|
---|
672 |
|
---|
673 | <para>You can select for each virtual machine individually whether
|
---|
674 | VirtualBox should use software or hardware virtualization.<footnote>
|
---|
675 | <para>Prior to VirtualBox version 2.2, software virtualization was
|
---|
676 | the default; starting with version 2.2, VirtualBox will enable
|
---|
677 | hardware virtualization by default for new virtual machines that you
|
---|
678 | create. (Existing virtual machines are not automatically changed for
|
---|
679 | compatibility reasons, and the default can of course be changed for
|
---|
680 | each virtual machine.)</para>
|
---|
681 | </footnote></para>
|
---|
682 |
|
---|
683 | <para>In most cases, the default settings will be fine; VirtualBox will
|
---|
684 | have picked sensible defaults depending on the operating system that you
|
---|
685 | selected when you created the virtual machine. In certain situations,
|
---|
686 | however, you may want to change these preconfigured defaults.</para>
|
---|
687 |
|
---|
688 | <para>Advanced users may be interested in technical details about
|
---|
689 | software vs. hardware virtualization; please see <xref
|
---|
690 | linkend="hwvirt" />.</para>
|
---|
691 |
|
---|
692 | <para>If your host's CPU supports the <emphasis role="bold">nested
|
---|
693 | paging</emphasis> (AMD-V) or <emphasis role="bold">EPT</emphasis> (Intel
|
---|
694 | VT-x) features, then you can expect a significant performance increase
|
---|
695 | by enabling nested paging in addition to hardware virtualization. For
|
---|
696 | technical details, see <xref linkend="nestedpaging" />.</para>
|
---|
697 | </sect2>
|
---|
698 | </sect1>
|
---|
699 |
|
---|
700 | <sect1 id="settings-display">
|
---|
701 | <title>Display settings</title>
|
---|
702 |
|
---|
703 | <glosslist>
|
---|
704 | <glossentry>
|
---|
705 | <glossterm>Video memory size</glossterm>
|
---|
706 |
|
---|
707 | <glossdef>
|
---|
708 | <para>This sets the size of the memory provided by the virtual
|
---|
709 | graphics card available to the guest, in MB. As with the main
|
---|
710 | memory, the specified amount will be allocated from the host's
|
---|
711 | resident memory. Based on the amount of video memory, higher
|
---|
712 | resolutions and color depths may be available.</para>
|
---|
713 | <para>The GUI will show a warning if the amount of video memory
|
---|
714 | is too small to be able to switch the VM into full screen mode.
|
---|
715 | The minimum value depends on the number of virtual monitors, the
|
---|
716 | screen resolution and the color depth of the host display as well
|
---|
717 | as of the activation of <emphasis>3D acceleration</emphasis> and
|
---|
718 | <emphasis>2D video acceleration</emphasis>. A rough estimate
|
---|
719 | is (<emphasis>color depth</emphasis> / 8) x
|
---|
720 | <emphasis>vertical pixels</emphasis> x
|
---|
721 | <emphasis>horizontal pixels</emphasis> x
|
---|
722 | <emphasis>number of screens</emphasis> = <emphasis>number of bytes</emphasis>.
|
---|
723 | Like said above, there might be extra memory required for any
|
---|
724 | activated display acceleration setting.</para>
|
---|
725 | </glossdef>
|
---|
726 | </glossentry>
|
---|
727 |
|
---|
728 | <glossentry>
|
---|
729 | <glossterm>Monitor count</glossterm>
|
---|
730 |
|
---|
731 | <glossdef>
|
---|
732 | <para>With this setting VirtualBox can provide more than one virtual
|
---|
733 | monitor to a virtual machine. If a guest operating system (such as
|
---|
734 | Windows) supports multiple attached monitors, VirtualBox can pretend
|
---|
735 | that multiple virtual monitors are present.<footnote>
|
---|
736 | <para>Multiple monitor support was added with VirtualBox
|
---|
737 | 3.2.</para>
|
---|
738 | </footnote> Up to 8 such virtual monitors are supported.</para>
|
---|
739 |
|
---|
740 | <para>The output of the multiple monitors will be displayed on the
|
---|
741 | host in multiple VM windows which are running side by side.</para>
|
---|
742 |
|
---|
743 | <para>However, in full screen and seamless mode, they will use the
|
---|
744 | available physical monitors attached to the host. As a result, for
|
---|
745 | full screen and seamless modes to work with multiple monitors, you
|
---|
746 | will need at least as many physical monitors as you have virtual
|
---|
747 | monitors configured, or VirtualBox will report an error. You can
|
---|
748 | configure the relationship between guest and host monitors using the
|
---|
749 | view menu by pressing Host key + Home when you are in full screen or
|
---|
750 | seamless mode.</para>
|
---|
751 |
|
---|
752 | <para>Please see <xref linkend="KnownIssues" /> also.</para>
|
---|
753 | </glossdef>
|
---|
754 | </glossentry>
|
---|
755 |
|
---|
756 | <glossentry>
|
---|
757 | <glossterm>Enable 3D acceleration</glossterm>
|
---|
758 |
|
---|
759 | <glossdef>
|
---|
760 | <para>If a virtual machine has Guest Additions installed, you can
|
---|
761 | select here whether the guest should support accelerated 3D
|
---|
762 | graphics. Please refer to <xref linkend="guestadd-3d" /> for
|
---|
763 | details.</para>
|
---|
764 | </glossdef>
|
---|
765 | </glossentry>
|
---|
766 |
|
---|
767 | <glossentry>
|
---|
768 | <glossterm>Enable 2D video acceleration</glossterm>
|
---|
769 |
|
---|
770 | <glossdef>
|
---|
771 | <para>If a virtual machine with Microsoft Windows has Guest
|
---|
772 | Additions installed, you can select here whether the guest should
|
---|
773 | support accelerated 2D video graphics. Please refer to <xref
|
---|
774 | linkend="guestadd-2d" /> for details.</para>
|
---|
775 | </glossdef>
|
---|
776 | </glossentry>
|
---|
777 |
|
---|
778 | <glossentry>
|
---|
779 | <glossterm>Remote display</glossterm>
|
---|
780 |
|
---|
781 | <glossdef>
|
---|
782 | <para>Under the "Remote display" tab, if the VirtualBox Remote
|
---|
783 | Display Extension (VRDE) is installed, you can enable the VRDP server
|
---|
784 | that is built into VirtualBox. This allows you to connect to the
|
---|
785 | console of the virtual machine remotely with any standard RDP viewer,
|
---|
786 | such as <computeroutput>mstsc.exe</computeroutput> that comes with
|
---|
787 | Microsoft Windows. On Linux and Solaris systems you can use the
|
---|
788 | standard open-source <computeroutput>rdesktop</computeroutput>
|
---|
789 | program. These features are described in detail in
|
---|
790 | <xref linkend="vrde" />.</para>
|
---|
791 | </glossdef>
|
---|
792 | </glossentry>
|
---|
793 |
|
---|
794 | <glossentry>
|
---|
795 | <glossterm>Video Capture</glossterm>
|
---|
796 |
|
---|
797 | <glossdef>
|
---|
798 | <para>Under the "Video Capture" tab you can enable video capturing
|
---|
799 | for this VM. Note that this feature can also be enabled/disabled
|
---|
800 | while the VM is executed.</para>
|
---|
801 | </glossdef>
|
---|
802 | </glossentry>
|
---|
803 | </glosslist>
|
---|
804 | </sect1>
|
---|
805 |
|
---|
806 | <sect1 id="settings-storage">
|
---|
807 | <title>Storage settings</title>
|
---|
808 |
|
---|
809 | <para>The "Storage" category in the VM settings allows you to connect
|
---|
810 | virtual hard disk, CD/DVD and floppy images and drives to your virtual
|
---|
811 | machine.</para>
|
---|
812 |
|
---|
813 | <para>In a real PC, so-called "storage controllers" connect physical disk
|
---|
814 | drives to the rest of the computer. Similarly, VirtualBox presents virtual
|
---|
815 | storage controllers to a virtual machine. Under each controller, the
|
---|
816 | virtual devices (hard disks, CD/DVD or floppy drives) attached to the
|
---|
817 | controller are shown.<note>
|
---|
818 | <para>This section can only give you a quick introduction to the
|
---|
819 | VirtualBox storage settings. Since VirtualBox gives you an enormous
|
---|
820 | wealth of options in this area, we have dedicated an entire chapter of
|
---|
821 | this User Manual to explaining all the details: please see <xref
|
---|
822 | linkend="storage" />.</para>
|
---|
823 | </note></para>
|
---|
824 |
|
---|
825 | <para>If you have used the "Create VM" wizard to create a machine, you
|
---|
826 | will normally see something like the following:</para>
|
---|
827 |
|
---|
828 | <para><mediaobject>
|
---|
829 | <imageobject>
|
---|
830 | <imagedata align="center" fileref="images/vm-settings-harddisk.png"
|
---|
831 | width="10cm" />
|
---|
832 | </imageobject>
|
---|
833 | </mediaobject></para>
|
---|
834 |
|
---|
835 | <para>Depending on the guest operating system type that you selected when
|
---|
836 | you created the VM, the typical layout of storage devices in a new VM is
|
---|
837 | as follows:<itemizedlist>
|
---|
838 | <listitem>
|
---|
839 | <para>You will see an <emphasis role="bold">IDE
|
---|
840 | controller,</emphasis> to which a virtual CD/DVD drive has been
|
---|
841 | attached (to the "secondary master" port of the IDE
|
---|
842 | controller).</para>
|
---|
843 | </listitem>
|
---|
844 |
|
---|
845 | <listitem>
|
---|
846 | <para>You will also see a <emphasis role="bold">SATA
|
---|
847 | controller,</emphasis> which is a more modern type of storage
|
---|
848 | controller for higher hard disk data throughput, to which the
|
---|
849 | virtual hard disks are attached. Initially you will normally have
|
---|
850 | one such virtual disk, but as you can see in the above screenshot,
|
---|
851 | you can have more than one, each represented by a disk image file
|
---|
852 | (VDI files, in this case).</para>
|
---|
853 | </listitem>
|
---|
854 | </itemizedlist></para>
|
---|
855 |
|
---|
856 | <para>If you created your VM with an older version of VirtualBox, the
|
---|
857 | default storage layout may differ. You might then only have an IDE
|
---|
858 | controller to which both the CD/DVD drive and the hard disks have been
|
---|
859 | attached. This might also apply if you selected an older operating system
|
---|
860 | type when you created the VM. Since older operating systems do not support
|
---|
861 | SATA without additional drivers, VirtualBox will make sure that no such
|
---|
862 | devices are present initially. Please see <xref
|
---|
863 | linkend="harddiskcontrollers" /> for additional information.</para>
|
---|
864 |
|
---|
865 | <para>VirtualBox also provides a <emphasis role="bold">floppy
|
---|
866 | controller</emphasis>, which is special: you cannot add devices other than
|
---|
867 | floppy drives to it. Virtual floppy drives, like virtual CD/DVD drives,
|
---|
868 | can be connected to either a host floppy drive (if you have one) or a disk
|
---|
869 | image, which in this case must be in RAW format.</para>
|
---|
870 |
|
---|
871 | <para>You can modify these media attachments freely. For example, if you
|
---|
872 | wish to copy some files from another virtual disk that you created, you
|
---|
873 | can connect that disk as a second hard disk, as in the above screenshot.
|
---|
874 | You could also add a second virtual CD/DVD drive, or change where these
|
---|
875 | items are attached. The following options are available:<itemizedlist>
|
---|
876 | <listitem>
|
---|
877 | <para>To <emphasis role="bold">add another virtual hard disk, or a
|
---|
878 | CD/DVD or floppy drive,</emphasis> select the storage controller to
|
---|
879 | which it should be added (IDE, SATA, SCSI, SAS, floppy controller)
|
---|
880 | and then click on the "add disk" button below the tree. You can then
|
---|
881 | either select "Add CD/DVD device" or "Add Hard Disk". (If you
|
---|
882 | clicked on a floppy controller, you can add a floppy drive instead.)
|
---|
883 | Alternatively, right-click on the storage controller and select a
|
---|
884 | menu item there.</para>
|
---|
885 |
|
---|
886 | <para>On the right part of the window, you can then set the
|
---|
887 | following:<orderedlist>
|
---|
888 | <listitem>
|
---|
889 | <para>You can then select to which <emphasis
|
---|
890 | role="bold">device slot</emphasis> of the controller the
|
---|
891 | virtual disk should be connected to. IDE controllers have four
|
---|
892 | slots which have traditionally been called "primary master",
|
---|
893 | "primary slave", "secondary master" and "secondary slave". By
|
---|
894 | contrast, SATA and SCSI controllers offer you up to 30 slots
|
---|
895 | to which virtual devices can be attached.</para>
|
---|
896 | </listitem>
|
---|
897 |
|
---|
898 | <listitem>
|
---|
899 | <para>You can select which <emphasis role="bold">image
|
---|
900 | file</emphasis> to use.<itemizedlist>
|
---|
901 | <listitem>
|
---|
902 | <para>For virtual hard disks, a button with a drop-down
|
---|
903 | list appears on the right, offering you to either select
|
---|
904 | a <emphasis role="bold">virtual hard disk
|
---|
905 | file</emphasis> using a standard file dialog or to
|
---|
906 | <emphasis role="bold">create a new hard disk</emphasis>
|
---|
907 | (image file), which will bring up the "Create new disk"
|
---|
908 | wizard, which was described in <xref
|
---|
909 | linkend="gui-createvm" />.</para>
|
---|
910 |
|
---|
911 | <para>For details on the image file types that are
|
---|
912 | supported, please see <xref
|
---|
913 | linkend="vdidetails" />.</para>
|
---|
914 | </listitem>
|
---|
915 |
|
---|
916 | <listitem>
|
---|
917 | <para>For virtual CD/DVD drives, the image files will
|
---|
918 | typically be in the standard ISO format instead. Most
|
---|
919 | commonly, you will select this option when installing an
|
---|
920 | operating system from an ISO file that you have obtained
|
---|
921 | from the Internet. For example, most Linux distributions
|
---|
922 | are available in this way.</para>
|
---|
923 |
|
---|
924 | <para>For virtual CD/DVD drives, the following
|
---|
925 | additional options are available:</para>
|
---|
926 |
|
---|
927 | <para><itemizedlist>
|
---|
928 | <listitem>
|
---|
929 | <para>If you select <emphasis role="bold">"Host
|
---|
930 | drive"</emphasis> from the list, then the physical
|
---|
931 | device of the host computer is connected to the VM,
|
---|
932 | so that the guest operating system can read from and
|
---|
933 | write to your physical device. This is, for
|
---|
934 | instance, useful if you want to install Windows from
|
---|
935 | a real installation CD. In this case, select your
|
---|
936 | host drive from the drop-down list presented.</para>
|
---|
937 |
|
---|
938 | <para>If you want to write (burn) CDs or DVDs using
|
---|
939 | the host drive, you need to also enable the
|
---|
940 | <emphasis role="bold">"Passthrough"</emphasis>
|
---|
941 | option; see <xref linkend="storage-cds" />.</para>
|
---|
942 | </listitem>
|
---|
943 |
|
---|
944 | <listitem>
|
---|
945 | <para>If you select <emphasis role="bold">"Remove
|
---|
946 | disk from virtual drive",</emphasis> VirtualBox will
|
---|
947 | present an empty CD/DVD drive to the guest into
|
---|
948 | which no media has been inserted.</para>
|
---|
949 | </listitem>
|
---|
950 | </itemizedlist></para>
|
---|
951 | </listitem>
|
---|
952 | </itemizedlist></para>
|
---|
953 | </listitem>
|
---|
954 | </orderedlist></para>
|
---|
955 | </listitem>
|
---|
956 |
|
---|
957 | <listitem>
|
---|
958 | <para>To <emphasis role="bold">remove an attachment,</emphasis>
|
---|
959 | select it and click on the "remove" icon at the bottom (or
|
---|
960 | right-click on it and select the menu item).</para>
|
---|
961 | </listitem>
|
---|
962 | </itemizedlist></para>
|
---|
963 |
|
---|
964 | <para>Removable media (CD/DVDs and floppies) can be changed while the
|
---|
965 | guest is running. Since the "Settings" dialog is not available at that
|
---|
966 | time, you can also access these settings from the "Devices" menu of your
|
---|
967 | virtual machine window.</para>
|
---|
968 | </sect1>
|
---|
969 |
|
---|
970 | <sect1 id="settings-audio">
|
---|
971 | <title>Audio settings</title>
|
---|
972 |
|
---|
973 | <para>The "Audio" section in a virtual machine's Settings window
|
---|
974 | determines whether the VM will see a sound card connected, and whether the
|
---|
975 | audio output should be heard on the host system.</para>
|
---|
976 |
|
---|
977 | <para>If audio is enabled for a guest, you can choose between the
|
---|
978 | emulation of an Intel AC'97 controller, an Intel HD Audio
|
---|
979 | controller<footnote>
|
---|
980 | <para>Intel HD Audio support was added with VirtualBox 4.0 because
|
---|
981 | Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit versions) as well as 64-bit Windows Vista
|
---|
982 | do not support the Intel AC'97 controller.</para>
|
---|
983 | </footnote> or a SoundBlaster 16 card. In any case, you can select what
|
---|
984 | audio driver VirtualBox will use on the host.</para>
|
---|
985 |
|
---|
986 | <para>On a Linux host, depending on your host configuration, you can also
|
---|
987 | select between the OSS, ALSA or the PulseAudio subsystem. On newer Linux
|
---|
988 | distributions (Fedora 8 and above, Ubuntu 8.04 and above), the PulseAudio
|
---|
989 | subsystem should be preferred.</para>
|
---|
990 | </sect1>
|
---|
991 |
|
---|
992 | <sect1 id="settings-network">
|
---|
993 | <title>Network settings</title>
|
---|
994 |
|
---|
995 | <para>The "Network" section in a virtual machine's Settings window allows
|
---|
996 | you to configure how VirtualBox presents virtual network cards to your VM,
|
---|
997 | and how they operate.</para>
|
---|
998 |
|
---|
999 | <para>When you first create a virtual machine, VirtualBox by default
|
---|
1000 | enables one virtual network card and selects the "Network Address
|
---|
1001 | Translation" (NAT) mode for it. This way the guest can connect to the
|
---|
1002 | outside world using the host's networking and the outside world can
|
---|
1003 | connect to services on the guest which you choose to make visible outside
|
---|
1004 | of the virtual machine.</para>
|
---|
1005 |
|
---|
1006 | <para>This default setup is good for probably 95% of VirtualBox users.
|
---|
1007 | However, VirtualBox is extremely flexible in how it can virtualize
|
---|
1008 | networking. It supports many virtual network cards per virtual machine,
|
---|
1009 | the first four of which can be configured in detail in the Manager window.
|
---|
1010 | Additional network cards can be configured on the command line with
|
---|
1011 | VBoxManage. </para>
|
---|
1012 |
|
---|
1013 | <para>Because of the vast array of options available, we have dedicated an
|
---|
1014 | entire chapter of this manual to discussing networking configuration;
|
---|
1015 | please see <xref linkend="networkingdetails" />.</para>
|
---|
1016 | </sect1>
|
---|
1017 |
|
---|
1018 | <sect1 id="serialports">
|
---|
1019 | <title>Serial ports</title>
|
---|
1020 |
|
---|
1021 | <para>VirtualBox fully supports virtual serial ports in a virtual machine
|
---|
1022 | in an easy-to-use manner.<footnote>
|
---|
1023 | <para>Serial port support was added with VirtualBox 1.5.</para>
|
---|
1024 | </footnote></para>
|
---|
1025 |
|
---|
1026 | <para>Ever since the original IBM PC, personal computers have been
|
---|
1027 | equipped with one or two serial ports (also called COM ports by DOS and
|
---|
1028 | Windows). Serial ports were commonly used with modems, and some
|
---|
1029 | computer mice used to be connected to serial ports before USB became
|
---|
1030 | commonplace.
|
---|
1031 | </para>
|
---|
1032 |
|
---|
1033 | <para>While serial ports are no longer as ubiquitous as they used to be,
|
---|
1034 | there are still some important uses left for them. For example, serial
|
---|
1035 | ports can be used to set up a primitive network over a null-modem cable,
|
---|
1036 | in case Ethernet is not available. Also, serial ports are indispensable
|
---|
1037 | for system programmers needing to do kernel debugging, since kernel
|
---|
1038 | debugging software usually interacts with developers over a serial port.
|
---|
1039 | With virtual serial ports, system programmers can do kernel debugging on a
|
---|
1040 | virtual machine instead of needing a real computer to connect to.</para>
|
---|
1041 |
|
---|
1042 | <para>If a virtual serial port is enabled, the guest operating system sees
|
---|
1043 | a standard 16550A compatible UART device. Both receiving and transmitting
|
---|
1044 | data is supported. How this virtual serial port is then connected to the
|
---|
1045 | host is configurable, and the details depend on your host operating system.
|
---|
1046 | </para>
|
---|
1047 |
|
---|
1048 | <para>You can use either the graphical user interface or the command-line
|
---|
1049 | <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> tool to set up virtual serial
|
---|
1050 | ports. For the latter, please refer to <xref
|
---|
1051 | linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm" />; in that section, look for the
|
---|
1052 | <computeroutput>--uart</computeroutput> and
|
---|
1053 | <computeroutput>--uartmode</computeroutput> options.</para>
|
---|
1054 |
|
---|
1055 | <para>In either case, you can configure up to two virtual serial ports per
|
---|
1056 | virtual machine. For each such device, you will need to
|
---|
1057 | determine<orderedlist>
|
---|
1058 | <listitem>
|
---|
1059 | <para>what kind of serial port the virtual machine should see by
|
---|
1060 | selecting an I/O base address and interrupt (IRQ). For these, we
|
---|
1061 | recommend to use the traditional values<footnote>
|
---|
1062 | <para>See, for example, <ulink
|
---|
1063 | url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COM_(hardware_interface)">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COM_(hardware_interface)</ulink>.</para>
|
---|
1064 | </footnote>, which are:</para>
|
---|
1065 |
|
---|
1066 | <para><orderedlist>
|
---|
1067 | <listitem>
|
---|
1068 | <para>COM1: I/O base 0x3F8, IRQ 4</para>
|
---|
1069 | </listitem>
|
---|
1070 |
|
---|
1071 | <listitem>
|
---|
1072 | <para>COM2: I/O base 0x2F8, IRQ 3</para>
|
---|
1073 | </listitem>
|
---|
1074 |
|
---|
1075 | <listitem>
|
---|
1076 | <para>COM3: I/O base 0x3E8, IRQ 4</para>
|
---|
1077 | </listitem>
|
---|
1078 |
|
---|
1079 | <listitem>
|
---|
1080 | <para>COM4: I/O base 0x2E8, IRQ 3</para>
|
---|
1081 | </listitem>
|
---|
1082 | </orderedlist></para>
|
---|
1083 | </listitem>
|
---|
1084 |
|
---|
1085 | <listitem>
|
---|
1086 | <para>Then, you will need to determine what this virtual port should
|
---|
1087 | be connected to. For each virtual serial port, you have the
|
---|
1088 | following options:</para>
|
---|
1089 |
|
---|
1090 | <para><itemizedlist>
|
---|
1091 | <listitem>
|
---|
1092 | <para>You can elect to have the virtual serial port
|
---|
1093 | "disconnected", which means that the guest will see the
|
---|
1094 | device, but it will behave as if no cable had been connected
|
---|
1095 | to it.</para>
|
---|
1096 | </listitem>
|
---|
1097 |
|
---|
1098 | <listitem>
|
---|
1099 | <para>You can connect the virtual serial port to a physical
|
---|
1100 | serial port on your host. (On a Windows host, this will be a
|
---|
1101 | name like <computeroutput>COM1</computeroutput>; on Linux or
|
---|
1102 | Solaris hosts, it will be a device node like
|
---|
1103 | <computeroutput>/dev/ttyS0</computeroutput>). VirtualBox will
|
---|
1104 | then simply redirect all data received from and sent to the
|
---|
1105 | virtual serial port to the physical device.</para>
|
---|
1106 | </listitem>
|
---|
1107 |
|
---|
1108 | <listitem>
|
---|
1109 | <para>You can tell VirtualBox to connect the virtual serial
|
---|
1110 | port to a software pipe on the host. This depends on your host
|
---|
1111 | operating system:<itemizedlist>
|
---|
1112 | <listitem>
|
---|
1113 | <para>On a Windows host, data will be sent and received
|
---|
1114 | through a named pipe. The pipe name must be in the format
|
---|
1115 | <computeroutput>\\.\pipe\<name></computeroutput>
|
---|
1116 | where <computeroutput><name></computeroutput> should
|
---|
1117 | identify the virtual machine but may be freely
|
---|
1118 | chosen.</para>
|
---|
1119 | <para>For forwarding serial traffic, you can use a helper
|
---|
1120 | program called VMware Serial Line Gateway, available for
|
---|
1121 | download at
|
---|
1122 | <literal> <ulink
|
---|
1123 | url="http://www.l4ka.org/91.php">http://www.l4ka.org/91.php</ulink>
|
---|
1124 | </literal>. This tool provides a fixed server mode named
|
---|
1125 | pipe at
|
---|
1126 | <computeroutput>\\.\pipe\vmwaredebug</computeroutput>
|
---|
1127 | and connects incoming TCP connections on port 567 with
|
---|
1128 | the named pipe.</para>
|
---|
1129 | </listitem>
|
---|
1130 |
|
---|
1131 | <listitem>
|
---|
1132 | <para>On a Mac, Linux or Solaris host, a local
|
---|
1133 | domain socket is used instead. The socket filename must be
|
---|
1134 | chosen such that the user running VirtualBox has
|
---|
1135 | sufficient privileges to create and write to it. The
|
---|
1136 | <computeroutput>/tmp</computeroutput> directory is often a
|
---|
1137 | good candidate.</para>
|
---|
1138 | <para>On Linux there are various tools which can connect
|
---|
1139 | to a local domain socket or create one in server mode. The
|
---|
1140 | most flexible tool is
|
---|
1141 | <computeroutput>socat</computeroutput> and is available
|
---|
1142 | as part of many distributions.</para>
|
---|
1143 | </listitem>
|
---|
1144 | </itemizedlist></para>
|
---|
1145 |
|
---|
1146 | <para>In this case, you can configure whether VirtualBox
|
---|
1147 | should create the named pipe (or, on non-Windows hosts, the
|
---|
1148 | local domain socket) itself or whether VirtualBox should
|
---|
1149 | assume that the pipe (or socket) exists already. With the
|
---|
1150 | <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> command-line
|
---|
1151 | options, this is referred to as "server" or "client" mode,
|
---|
1152 | respectively.</para>
|
---|
1153 |
|
---|
1154 | <para>For a direct connection between two virtual machines
|
---|
1155 | (corresponding to a null-modem cable), simply configure one VM
|
---|
1156 | to create a pipe/socket and another to attach to it.
|
---|
1157 | </para>
|
---|
1158 | </listitem>
|
---|
1159 |
|
---|
1160 | <listitem>
|
---|
1161 | <para>You can send the virtual serial port output to a file.
|
---|
1162 | This option is very useful for capturing diagnostic output from
|
---|
1163 | a guest. Any file may be used for this purpose, as long as the
|
---|
1164 | user running VirtualBox has sufficient privileges to create and
|
---|
1165 | write to the file.
|
---|
1166 | </para>
|
---|
1167 | </listitem>
|
---|
1168 | </itemizedlist></para>
|
---|
1169 | </listitem>
|
---|
1170 | </orderedlist>Up to two serial ports can be configured per virtual
|
---|
1171 | machine, but you can pick any port numbers out of the above. However,
|
---|
1172 | serial ports cannot reliably share interrupts; if both ports are to be
|
---|
1173 | used at the same time, they must use different interrupt levels, for
|
---|
1174 | example COM1 and COM2, but not COM1 and COM3.
|
---|
1175 | </para>
|
---|
1176 | </sect1>
|
---|
1177 |
|
---|
1178 | <sect1>
|
---|
1179 | <title>USB support</title>
|
---|
1180 |
|
---|
1181 | <sect2 id="settings-usb">
|
---|
1182 | <title>USB settings</title>
|
---|
1183 |
|
---|
1184 | <para>The "USB" section in a virtual machine's Settings window allows
|
---|
1185 | you to configure VirtualBox's sophisticated USB support.</para>
|
---|
1186 |
|
---|
1187 | <para>VirtualBox can allow virtual machines to access the USB devices on
|
---|
1188 | your host directly. To achieve this, VirtualBox presents the guest
|
---|
1189 | operating system with a virtual USB controller. As soon as the guest
|
---|
1190 | system starts using a USB device, it will appear as unavailable on the
|
---|
1191 | host.<note>
|
---|
1192 | <orderedlist>
|
---|
1193 | <listitem>
|
---|
1194 | <para>Be careful with USB devices that are currently in use on
|
---|
1195 | the host! For example, if you allow your guest to connect to
|
---|
1196 | your USB hard disk that is currently mounted on the host, when
|
---|
1197 | the guest is activated, it will be disconnected from the host
|
---|
1198 | without a proper shutdown. This may cause data loss.</para>
|
---|
1199 | </listitem>
|
---|
1200 |
|
---|
1201 | <listitem>
|
---|
1202 | <para>Solaris hosts have a few known limitations regarding USB
|
---|
1203 | support; please see <xref linkend="KnownIssues" />.</para>
|
---|
1204 | </listitem>
|
---|
1205 | </orderedlist>
|
---|
1206 | </note></para>
|
---|
1207 |
|
---|
1208 | <para>In addition to allowing a guest access to your local USB devices,
|
---|
1209 | VirtualBox even allows your guests to connect to remote USB devices by
|
---|
1210 | use of the VirtualBox Remote Desktop Extension (VRDE). For details about
|
---|
1211 | this, see <xref linkend="usb-over-rdp" />.</para>
|
---|
1212 |
|
---|
1213 | <para>In the Settings dialog, you can first configure whether USB is
|
---|
1214 | available in the guest at all, and in addition also optionally enable
|
---|
1215 | the USB 2.0 (EHCI) controller for the guest. If so, you can determine in
|
---|
1216 | detail which devices are available. For this, you must create so-called
|
---|
1217 | "filters" by specifying certain properties of the USB device.<note>
|
---|
1218 | <para>The EHCI controller is shipped as a VirtualBox extension
|
---|
1219 | package, which must be installed separately. See <xref
|
---|
1220 | linkend="intro-installing" /> for more information.</para>
|
---|
1221 | </note></para>
|
---|
1222 |
|
---|
1223 | <para>Clicking on the "+" button to the right of the "USB Device
|
---|
1224 | Filters" window creates a <emphasis role="bold">new filter.</emphasis>
|
---|
1225 | You can give the filter a name (for referencing it later) and specify
|
---|
1226 | the filter criteria. The more criteria you specify, the more precisely
|
---|
1227 | devices will be selected. For instance, if you specify only a vendor ID
|
---|
1228 | of 046d, all devices produced by Logitech will be available to the
|
---|
1229 | guest. If you fill in all fields, on the other hand, the filter will
|
---|
1230 | only apply to a particular device model from a particular vendor, and
|
---|
1231 | not even to other devices of the same type with a different revision and
|
---|
1232 | serial number.</para>
|
---|
1233 |
|
---|
1234 | <para>In detail, the following criteria are available:</para>
|
---|
1235 |
|
---|
1236 | <orderedlist>
|
---|
1237 | <listitem>
|
---|
1238 | <para><emphasis role="bold">Vendor and product ID.</emphasis> With
|
---|
1239 | USB, each vendor of USB products carries an identification number
|
---|
1240 | that is unique world-wide, the "vendor ID". Similarly, each line of
|
---|
1241 | products is assigned a "product ID" number. Both numbers are
|
---|
1242 | commonly written in hexadecimal (that is, they are composed of the
|
---|
1243 | numbers 0-9 and the letters A-F), and a colon separates the vendor
|
---|
1244 | from the product ID. For example,
|
---|
1245 | <computeroutput>046d:c016</computeroutput> stands for Logitech as a
|
---|
1246 | vendor, and the "M-UV69a Optical Wheel Mouse" product.</para>
|
---|
1247 |
|
---|
1248 | <para>Alternatively, you can also specify <emphasis
|
---|
1249 | role="bold">"Manufacturer"</emphasis> and <emphasis
|
---|
1250 | role="bold">"Product"</emphasis> by name.</para>
|
---|
1251 |
|
---|
1252 | <para>To list all the USB devices that are connected to your host
|
---|
1253 | machine with their respective vendor and product IDs, you can use
|
---|
1254 | the following command (see <xref linkend="vboxmanage" />): <screen>VBoxManage list usbhost</screen></para>
|
---|
1255 |
|
---|
1256 | <para>On Windows, you can also see all USB devices that are attached
|
---|
1257 | to your system in the Device Manager. On Linux, you can use the
|
---|
1258 | <computeroutput>lsusb</computeroutput> command.</para>
|
---|
1259 | </listitem>
|
---|
1260 |
|
---|
1261 | <listitem>
|
---|
1262 | <para><emphasis role="bold">Serial number.</emphasis> While vendor
|
---|
1263 | and product ID are already quite specific to identify USB devices,
|
---|
1264 | if you have two identical devices of the same brand and product
|
---|
1265 | line, you will also need their serial numbers to filter them out
|
---|
1266 | correctly.</para>
|
---|
1267 | </listitem>
|
---|
1268 |
|
---|
1269 | <listitem>
|
---|
1270 | <para><emphasis role="bold">Remote.</emphasis> This setting
|
---|
1271 | specifies whether the device will be local only, or remote only
|
---|
1272 | (over VRDP), or either.</para>
|
---|
1273 | </listitem>
|
---|
1274 | </orderedlist>
|
---|
1275 |
|
---|
1276 | <para>On a Windows host, you will need to unplug and reconnect a USB
|
---|
1277 | device to use it after creating a filter for it.</para>
|
---|
1278 |
|
---|
1279 | <para>As an example, you could create a new USB filter and specify a
|
---|
1280 | vendor ID of 046d (Logitech, Inc), a manufacturer index of 1, and "not
|
---|
1281 | remote". Then any USB devices on the host system produced by Logitech,
|
---|
1282 | Inc with a manufacturer index of 1 will be visible to the guest
|
---|
1283 | system.</para>
|
---|
1284 |
|
---|
1285 | <para>Several filters can select a single device -- for example, a
|
---|
1286 | filter which selects all Logitech devices, and one which selects a
|
---|
1287 | particular webcam.</para>
|
---|
1288 |
|
---|
1289 | <para>You can <emphasis role="bold">deactivate</emphasis> filters
|
---|
1290 | without deleting them by clicking in the checkbox next to the filter
|
---|
1291 | name.</para>
|
---|
1292 | </sect2>
|
---|
1293 |
|
---|
1294 | <sect2>
|
---|
1295 | <title>Implementation notes for Windows and Linux hosts</title>
|
---|
1296 |
|
---|
1297 | <para>On Windows hosts, a kernel mode device driver provides USB proxy
|
---|
1298 | support. It implements both a USB monitor, which allows VirtualBox to
|
---|
1299 | capture devices when they are plugged in, and a USB device driver to
|
---|
1300 | claim USB devices for a particular virtual machine. As opposed to
|
---|
1301 | VirtualBox versions before 1.4.0, system reboots are no longer necessary
|
---|
1302 | after installing the driver. Also, you no longer need to replug devices
|
---|
1303 | for VirtualBox to claim them.</para>
|
---|
1304 |
|
---|
1305 | <para>On newer Linux hosts, VirtualBox accesses USB devices through
|
---|
1306 | special files in the file system. When VirtualBox is installed, these
|
---|
1307 | are made available to all users in the
|
---|
1308 | <computeroutput>vboxusers</computeroutput> system group. In order to be
|
---|
1309 | able to access USB from guest systems, make sure that you are a member
|
---|
1310 | of this group.</para>
|
---|
1311 |
|
---|
1312 | <para>On older Linux hosts, USB devices are accessed using the
|
---|
1313 | <computeroutput>usbfs</computeroutput> file system. Therefore, the user
|
---|
1314 | executing VirtualBox needs read and write permission to the USB file
|
---|
1315 | system. Most distributions provide a group (e.g.
|
---|
1316 | <computeroutput>usbusers</computeroutput>) which the VirtualBox user
|
---|
1317 | needs to be added to. Also, VirtualBox can only proxy to virtual
|
---|
1318 | machines USB devices which are not claimed by a Linux host USB driver.
|
---|
1319 | The <computeroutput>Driver=</computeroutput> entry in
|
---|
1320 | <computeroutput>/proc/bus/usb/devices</computeroutput> will show you
|
---|
1321 | which devices are currently claimed. Please refer to <xref
|
---|
1322 | linkend="ts_usb-linux" /> also for details about
|
---|
1323 | <computeroutput>usbfs</computeroutput>.</para>
|
---|
1324 | </sect2>
|
---|
1325 | </sect1>
|
---|
1326 |
|
---|
1327 | <sect1>
|
---|
1328 | <title>Shared folders</title>
|
---|
1329 |
|
---|
1330 | <para>Shared folders allow you to easily exchange data between a virtual
|
---|
1331 | machine and your host. This feature requires that the VirtualBox Guest
|
---|
1332 | Additions be installed in a virtual machine and is described in detail in
|
---|
1333 | <xref linkend="sharedfolders" />.</para>
|
---|
1334 | </sect1>
|
---|
1335 |
|
---|
1336 | <sect1 id="efi">
|
---|
1337 | <title>Alternative firmware (EFI)</title>
|
---|
1338 |
|
---|
1339 | <para>Starting with release 3.1, VirtualBox includes experimental support
|
---|
1340 | for the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), which is a new industry
|
---|
1341 | standard intended to eventually replace the legacy BIOS as the primary
|
---|
1342 | interface for bootstrapping computers and certain system services
|
---|
1343 | later.</para>
|
---|
1344 |
|
---|
1345 | <para>By default, VirtualBox uses the BIOS firmware for virtual machines.
|
---|
1346 | To use EFI for a given virtual machine, you can enable EFI in the
|
---|
1347 | machine's "Settings" dialog (see <xref linkend="settings-motherboard" />).
|
---|
1348 | Alternatively, use the <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> command
|
---|
1349 | line interface like this: <screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "VM name" --firmware efi</screen>
|
---|
1350 | To switch back to using the BIOS, use: <screen>VBoxManage modifyvm "VM name" --firmware bios</screen>One
|
---|
1351 | notable user of EFI is Apple's Mac OS X, but recent Linuxes (such as Fedora
|
---|
1352 | 11) and Windows (starting with Vista) offer special versions that can be
|
---|
1353 | booted using EFI as well.</para>
|
---|
1354 |
|
---|
1355 | <para>Another possible use of EFI in VirtualBox is development and testing
|
---|
1356 | of EFI applications, without booting any OS.</para>
|
---|
1357 |
|
---|
1358 | <para>Note that the VirtualBox EFI support is experimental and will be
|
---|
1359 | enhanced as EFI matures and becomes more widespread. While Mac OS X and
|
---|
1360 | Linux guests are known to work fine, Windows guests are currently unable
|
---|
1361 | to boot with the VirtualBox EFI implementation.</para>
|
---|
1362 |
|
---|
1363 | <sect2 id="efividmode">
|
---|
1364 | <title>Video modes in EFI</title>
|
---|
1365 |
|
---|
1366 | <para>EFI provides two distinct video interfaces: GOP (Graphics Output
|
---|
1367 | Protocol) and UGA (Universal Graphics Adapter). Mac OS X uses GOP, while
|
---|
1368 | Linux tends to use UGA. VirtualBox provides a configuration option to
|
---|
1369 | control the framebuffer size for both interfaces.</para>
|
---|
1370 |
|
---|
1371 | <para>To control GOP, use the following
|
---|
1372 | <computeroutput>VBoxManage</computeroutput> command: <screen>VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" VBoxInternal2/EfiGopMode N</screen>
|
---|
1373 | Where N can be one of 0,1,2,3,4 referring to the 640x480, 800x600,
|
---|
1374 | 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900 screen resolution respectively.</para>
|
---|
1375 |
|
---|
1376 | <para>To change the UGA resolution: <screen>VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" VBoxInternal2/UgaHorizontalResolution 1440
|
---|
1377 | VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" VBoxInternal2/UgaVerticalResolution 900</screen></para>
|
---|
1378 |
|
---|
1379 | <para>The video mode for both GOP and UGA can only be changed when the
|
---|
1380 | VM is powered off and remains persistent until changed.</para>
|
---|
1381 | </sect2>
|
---|
1382 | </sect1>
|
---|
1383 | </chapter>
|
---|