Filter
Top Products
8 VBoxManage reference
Note: The query subcommand does not remove or “flush” retained data. If
you query often enough you will see how old samples are gradually being
“phased out” by new samples.
collect This subcommand sets the interval between taking two samples of metric data
and the number of samples retained internally. The collected data is displayed
periodically until Ctrl-C is pressed unless the -detach option is specified. With
the -detach option, this subcommand operates the same way as setup does.
The -list option shows which metrics match the specified filter.
8.24 VBoxManage guestproperty
The “guestproperty” commands allow you to get or set properties of a running virtual
machine. Please see chapter 4.9, Guest properties, page 72 for an introduction. As
explained there, guest properties are arbitrary key/value string pairs which can be
written to and read from by either the guest or the host, so they can be used as a
low-volume communication channel for strings, provided that a guest is running and
has the Guest Additions installed. In addition, a number of values whose keys begin
with “/VirtualBox/“ are automatically set and maintained by the Guest Additions.
The following subcommands are available (where <vm>, in each case, can either be
a VM name or a VM UUID, as with the other VBoxManage commands):
• enumerate <vm> [-patterns <pattern>]: This lists all the guest prop-
erties that are available for the given VM, including the value. This list will be
very limited if the guest’s service process cannot be contacted, e.g. because the
VM is not running or the Guest Additions are not installed.
If --patterns <pattern> is specified, it acts as a filter to only list properties
that match the given pattern. The pattern can contain the following wildcard
characters:
–
*
(asterisk): represents any number of characters; for example,
“/VirtualBox
*
“ would match all properties beginning with “/VirtualBox”.
– ? (question mark): represents a single arbitrary character; for example,
“fo?“ would match both “foo” and “for”.
– | (pipe symbol): can be used to specify multiple alternative patterns; for
example, “s
*
|t
*
“ would match anything starting with either “s” or “t”.
• get <vm>: This retrieves the value of a single property only. If the property
cannot be found (e.g. because the guest is not running), this will print “No value
set¡‘.
• set <vm> <property> [<value> [-flags <flags>]]: This allows
you to set a guest property by specifying the key and value. If <value> is
124