8VBoxManage reference
8.7VBoxManage export
This command exports one or more virtual machines from VirtualBox into a virtual appliance in OVF format, including copying their virtual disk images to compressed VMDK. See chapter 1.11, Importing and exporting virtual machines, page 29 for an introduction to appliances.
The export command is simple to use: list the machine (or the machines) that you would like to export to the same OVF file and specify the target OVF file after an additional --output or -o option. Note that the directory of the target OVF file will also receive the exported disk images in the compressed VMDK format (regardless of the original format) and should have enough disk space left for them.
Beside a simple export of a given virtual machine, you can append several prod- uct information to the appliance file. Use --product, --producturl, --vendor, --vendorurl and --version to specify this additional information. For legal rea- sons you may add a license text or the content of a license file by using the --eula and --eulafile option respectively. As with OVF import, you must use the --vsys X option to direct the previously mentioned options to the correct virtual machine.
For virtualization products which aren’t fully compatible with the OVF standard 1.0 you can enable a OVF 0.9 legacy mode with the --legacy09 option.
8.8 VBoxManage startvm
This command starts a virtual machine that is currently in the “Powered off” or “Saved” states.
Note: This is provided for backwards compatibility only. We recommend to start virtual machines directly by running the respective front-end, as you might otherwise miss important error and state information that VirtualBox may display on the console. This is especially important for front-ends other than VirtualBox, our graphical user interface, because those cannot display error messages in a popup window. See chapter 7.4.2, VBoxHeadless, the VRDP-only server, page 101 for more information.
The optional --type specifier determines whether the machine will be started in a window (GUI mode, which is the default) or whether the output should go through VBoxHeadless, with VRDP enabled or not; see chapter 7.4.2, VBoxHeadless, the VRDP-only server, page 101 for more information. The list of types is subject to change, and it’s not guaranteed that all types are accepted by any product variant.
The following values are allowed:
gui Starts a VM showing a GUI window. This is the default.
vrdp Starts a VM showing a GUI window, with its graphics card output accessible by an RDP client.
