| 1 | <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
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| 2 | <!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
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| 3 | <topic xml:lang="en-us" id="guestadd-guestprops">
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| 4 | <title>Guest Properties</title>
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| 5 |
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| 6 | <body>
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| 7 | <p>
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| 8 | Oracle VM VirtualBox enables requests of some properties from a running
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| 9 | guest, provided that the Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions are
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| 10 | installed and the VM is running. This provides the following
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| 11 | advantages:
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| 12 | </p>
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| 13 | <ul>
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| 14 | <li>
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| 15 | <p>
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| 16 | A number of predefined VM characteristics are automatically
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| 17 | maintained by Oracle VM VirtualBox and can be retrieved on the host.
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| 18 | For example, to monitor VM performance and statistics.
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| 19 | </p>
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| 20 | </li>
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| 21 | <li>
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| 22 | <p>
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| 23 | Arbitrary string data can be exchanged between guest and host.
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| 24 | This works in both directions.
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| 25 | </p>
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| 26 | </li>
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| 27 | </ul>
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| 28 | <p>
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| 29 | To accomplish this, Oracle VM VirtualBox establishes a private
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| 30 | communication channel between the Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions
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| 31 | and the host, and software on both sides can use this channel to
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| 32 | exchange string data for arbitrary purposes. Guest properties are
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| 33 | simply string keys to which a value is attached. They can be set,
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| 34 | or written to, by either the host and the guest. They can also be
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| 35 | read from both sides.
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| 36 | </p>
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| 37 | <p>
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| 38 | In addition to establishing the general mechanism of reading and
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| 39 | writing values, a set of predefined guest properties is
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| 40 | automatically maintained by the Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions to
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| 41 | allow for retrieving interesting guest data such as the guest's
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| 42 | exact operating system and service pack level, the installed
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| 43 | version of the Guest Additions, users that are currently logged
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| 44 | into the guest OS, network statistics and more. These predefined
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| 45 | properties are all prefixed with <codeph>/VirtualBox/</codeph>
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| 46 | and organized into a hierarchical tree of keys.
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| 47 | </p>
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| 48 | <p>
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| 49 | Some of this runtime information is shown when you select
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| 50 | <b outputclass="bold">Session Information Dialog</b> from a
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| 51 | virtual machine's <b outputclass="bold">Machine</b> menu.
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| 52 | </p>
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| 53 | <p>
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| 54 | A more flexible way to use this channel is with the
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| 55 | <userinput>VBoxManage guestproperty</userinput> command. See
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| 56 | <xref href="man_VBoxManage-guestproperty.dita#vboxmanage-guestproperty"/>. For example, to have
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| 57 | <i>all</i> the available guest properties for a
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| 58 | given running VM listed with their respective values, use this
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| 59 | command:
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| 60 | </p>
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| 61 | <pre xml:space="preserve">$ VBoxManage guestproperty enumerate "Windows Vista III"
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| 62 | VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version <varname>version-number</varname>
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| 63 | Copyright (C) 2005-2022 Oracle and/or its affiliates
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| 64 |
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| 65 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Product, value: Windows Vista Business Edition,
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| 66 | timestamp: 1229098278843087000, flags:
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| 67 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Release, value: 6.0.6001,
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| 68 | timestamp: 1229098278950553000, flags:
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| 69 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/ServicePack, value: 1,
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| 70 | timestamp: 1229098279122627000, flags:
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| 71 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/InstallDir,
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| 72 | value: C:/Program Files/Oracle/VirtualBox
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| 73 | Guest Additions, timestamp: 1229098279269739000, flags:
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| 74 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Revision, value: 40720,
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| 75 | timestamp: 1229098279345664000, flags:
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| 76 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Version, value: <varname>version-number</varname>,
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| 77 | timestamp: 1229098279479515000, flags:
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| 78 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxControl.exe, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 79 | timestamp: 1229098279651731000, flags:
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| 80 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxHook.dll, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 81 | timestamp: 1229098279804835000, flags:
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| 82 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxDisp.dll, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 83 | timestamp: 1229098279880611000, flags:
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| 84 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxMRXNP.dll, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 85 | timestamp: 1229098279882618000, flags:
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| 86 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxService.exe, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 87 | timestamp: 1229098279883195000, flags:
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| 88 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxTray.exe, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 89 | timestamp: 1229098279885027000, flags:
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| 90 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxGuest.sys, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 91 | timestamp: 1229098279886838000, flags:
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| 92 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxMouse.sys, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 93 | timestamp: 1229098279890600000, flags:
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| 94 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxSF.sys, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 95 | timestamp: 1229098279893056000, flags:
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| 96 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestAdd/Components/VBoxVideo.sys, value: <varname>version-number</varname>r40720,
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| 97 | timestamp: 1229098279895767000, flags:
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| 98 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/LoggedInUsers, value: 1,
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| 99 | timestamp: 1229099826317660000, flags:
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| 100 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/NoLoggedInUsers, value: false,
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| 101 | timestamp: 1229098455580553000, flags:
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| 102 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/Count, value: 1,
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| 103 | timestamp: 1229099826299785000, flags:
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| 104 | Name: /VirtualBox/HostInfo/GUI/LanguageID, value: C,
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| 105 | timestamp: 1229098151272771000, flags:
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| 106 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/0/V4/IP, value: 192.168.2.102,
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| 107 | timestamp: 1229099826300088000, flags:
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| 108 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/0/V4/Broadcast, value: 255.255.255.255,
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| 109 | timestamp: 1229099826300220000, flags:
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| 110 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/0/V4/Netmask, value: 255.255.255.0,
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| 111 | timestamp: 1229099826300350000, flags:
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| 112 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/Net/0/Status, value: Up,
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| 113 | timestamp: 1229099826300524000, flags:
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| 114 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/LoggedInUsersList, value: username,
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| 115 | timestamp: 1229099826317386000, flags:</pre>
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| 116 | <p>
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| 117 | To query the value of a single property, use the
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| 118 | <userinput>get</userinput> subcommand as follows:
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| 119 | </p>
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| 120 | <pre xml:space="preserve">$ VBoxManage guestproperty get "Windows Vista III" "/VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Product"
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| 121 | VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version <varname>version-number</varname>
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| 122 | Copyright (C) 2005-2022 Oracle and/or its affiliates
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| 123 |
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| 124 | Value: Windows Vista Business Edition</pre>
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| 125 | <p>
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| 126 | To add or change guest properties from the guest, use the tool
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| 127 | <userinput>VBoxControl</userinput>. This tool is included in the Guest
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| 128 | Additions. When started from a Linux guest, this tool requires
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| 129 | root privileges for security reasons.
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| 130 | </p>
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| 131 | <pre xml:space="preserve">$ sudo VBoxControl guestproperty enumerate
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| 132 | VirtualBox Guest Additions Command Line Management Interface Version <varname>version-number</varname>
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| 133 | Copyright (C) 2005-2022 Oracle and/or its affiliates
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| 134 |
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| 135 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Release, value: 2.6.28-18-generic,
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| 136 | timestamp: 1265813265835667000, flags: <NULL>
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| 137 | Name: /VirtualBox/GuestInfo/OS/Version, value: #59-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 28 01:23:03 UTC 2010,
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| 138 | timestamp: 1265813265836305000, flags: <NULL>
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| 139 | ...</pre>
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| 140 | <p>
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| 141 | For more complex needs, you can use the Oracle VM VirtualBox programming
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| 142 | interfaces. See <xref href="VirtualBoxAPI.dita">Oracle VM VirtualBox Programming Interfaces</xref>.
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| 143 | </p>
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| 144 | </body>
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| 145 | </topic>
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