VBOXCONTROL(8)

πŸ“¦
version 7.2.20-dfsg Β· 2 versions
, in ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ NAME ✨

VBoxControl β€” x86 virtualization solution πŸ¦‹


πŸ’– DESCRIPTION πŸ’–

Hiii bestie, okay so this is the Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions Command Line Management Interface β€” like, the little command-line bestie that comes with your Guest Additions, and it's here to let you poke at stuff from inside the guest. Version 7.0.16, and the copyright line says Copyright Β© 2008-2024 Oracle and/or its affiliates. Slay. πŸ‘‘

Here's the usage the page hands you, verbatim, exactly as printed β€” yes the wrapping is chaotic, no I will not be fixing it, the facts are the facts πŸ’€:

Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions Command Line Management Interface
Version 7.0.16 Copyright Β© 2008-2024 Oracle and/or its affiliates

Usage:

VBoxControl [-V|--version]           print version number and exit
VBoxControl --nologo ...             suppress the logo

VBoxControl guestproperty            get <property> [--verbose]
VBoxControl guestproperty            set <property> [<value> [--flags
<flags>]] VBoxControl guestproperty            delete|unset <property>
VBoxControl guestproperty            enumerate [--patterns <patterns>]
VBoxControl guestproperty            wait <patterns>

[--timestamp <last timestamp>]
       [--timeout <timeout in ms>

VBoxControl sharedfolder             list [--automount] VBoxControl
writecoredump VBoxControl writelog [-n|--no-newline] [--] <msg>
VBoxControl takesnapshot VBoxControl savestate VBoxControl suspend
VBoxControl poweroff VBoxControl help                     [command]
VBoxControl version

πŸŽ€ the whole vibe, command by command πŸŽ€

So basically the page is a list of things VBoxControl can do, and here they all are, in the same order the page puts them, no skipping, no gatekeeping:

  • VBoxControl [-V|--version] β€” prints the version number and exits. That's the whole thing, it's giving one job and doing it flawlessly πŸ’…
  • VBoxControl --nologo ... β€” suppresses the logo. The ... is literally part of the line, keep it, it's part of the fit 🫢
  • VBoxControl guestproperty get <property> [--verbose] β€” get a guest property. There's an optional --verbose in there for when you want the whole tea β˜•
  • VBoxControl guestproperty set <property> [<value> [--flags <flags>]] β€” set a guest property. The <value> is optional, and so are the --flags <flags>. Note how the usage block wraps [--flags and <flags>]] onto two lines β€” that's just line wrapping, the flags themselves are fine ✨
  • VBoxControl guestproperty delete|unset <property> β€” delete a guest property, or unset it, whichever word you're feeling that day. Two spellings, same slot 🌸
  • VBoxControl guestproperty enumerate [--patterns <patterns>] β€” enumerate guest properties, optionally filtered by --patterns <patterns> πŸ”
  • VBoxControl guestproperty wait <patterns> β€” wait on <patterns>. And then, hanging out right below it on their own lines in the usage block, are two extras: [--timestamp <last timestamp>] and [--timeout <timeout in ms> β€” that second one closes with a > that the page never actually prints, so I'm leaving it exactly as it appears 😭 no cap, character for character
  • VBoxControl sharedfolder list [--automount] β€” list shared folders, with an optional --automount πŸ“
  • VBoxControl writecoredump β€” write a coredump πŸ“¦
  • VBoxControl writelog [-n|--no-newline] [--] <msg> β€” write a log message. You've got -n / --no-newline, you've got a literal bare -- sitting in there, and then your <msg> ✍️
  • VBoxControl takesnapshot β€” take a snapshot πŸ“Έ
  • VBoxControl savestate β€” save state πŸ’Ύ
  • VBoxControl suspend β€” suspend 😴
  • VBoxControl poweroff β€” power off πŸ”Œ
  • VBoxControl help [command] β€” help, and you can hand it a [command] if you want help on one specific thing πŸ™‹β€β™€οΈ
  • VBoxControl version β€” version. Yes, alongside -V / --version. Two doors, same room πŸšͺ

πŸ’œ the flag roundup πŸ’œ

Just so nothing slips through the cracks, here's every flag and value that shows up on this page, one bullet each, nothing merged, nothing invented:

  • -V, --version β€” print version number and exit πŸ‘‘
  • --nologo β€” suppress the logo
  • --verbose β€” for guestproperty get <property>
  • --flags <flags> β€” for guestproperty set <property>
  • --patterns <patterns> β€” for guestproperty enumerate
  • --timestamp <last timestamp> β€” listed right after guestproperty wait <patterns>
  • --timeout <timeout in ms> β€” also listed right after guestproperty wait <patterns>
  • --automount β€” for sharedfolder list
  • -n, --no-newline β€” for writelog
  • -- β€” appears in writelog [-n|--no-newline] [--] <msg>, literally just there, as written

Heads up bestie: the usage block up there is reproduced exactly as the page prints it β€” weird wrapping, unclosed >, all of it. Don't "tidy" it, it's load-bearing 🫠

And that's the whole page, fr fr. This little icon lives in the System Administration Utilities collection, dated April 2024, filed under the manual name VBOXCONTROL(8) β€” and it's signed off by VBoxControl itself. Go be the main character of your guest VM πŸ’–βœ¨πŸŽ€πŸ¦‹