VirtualBox from the command line

[Paul Schmehl]

--On Friday, March 19, 2010 11:46:51 +0800 Aiza <aiza21 at comclark.com> wrote:

>
> Why don't virtual box GUI start in vga mode?
>

VirtualBox is in ports and installs as an application like Firefox.

Here's a screenshot of it running on my workstation:
http://www.utdallas.edu/~pauls/VirtualBox_on_FreeBSD.png

And here's a shot of the menu item in KDE4:
http://www.utdallas.edu/~pauls/VirtualBox_menu_KDE4.png

It's the second item from the top, because it's a recently used program.  It 
also appears in the System menu on KDE4.  However you create icons to launch 
programs in your window manager, that's how you would create one to start 
VirtualBox.  It has to start as an X11 program, not a commandline (terminal) 
program.

> Is this telling me that I have to have Xorg and some
> desktop running before VirtualBox's gui will function?
>

Yes.  VirtualBox is a GUI program designed to run alternative OSes inside the 
native OS.  (There may be a commandline version that I'm not familiar with.)

> Are the scripts provided by vboxtool the only way to have
> command line control of VirtualBox?
> http://vboxtool.sourceforge.net/
>
> See talk about vboxweb as alternate VirtualBox manager.
> http://vboxweb.blogspot.com/
> Does not look like this is out of development yet.
> Anybody using this?
>

Well, clearly I'm using the GUI version.  I also use it on Mac Snow Leopard. 
It beats the hell out of VMware or having to run Windows natively.

-- 
Paul Schmehl, Senior Infosec Analyst
As if it wasn't already obvious, my opinions
are my own and not those of my employer.
*******************************************
"It is as useless to argue with those who have
renounced the use of reason as to administer
medication to the dead." Thomas Jefferson