Oct 23, 2023

6.1 Creating a Virtual Server with VBoxManage

VBoxManage is the Command Line Interface (CLI)¹ to VirtualBox. I am using the CLI rather than the more common Graphical User Interface (GUI)²³ for two reasons:

1. Education; using the CLI discloses more about how a VM is put together in VirtualBox, this leads to a better understanding of virtualisation.
2. System as Code; a central tenet of the technical aspects of DevOps is the system as code. Graphical interfaces are not easy to handle programmatically whereas a CLI is ideal for scripting.

Readers interested in more detail of virtualisation and VirtualBox specifically may find VirtualBox from Scratch[Boo20f] useful.

¹Application interface using the computers command shell.

²User interface using a visual desktop metaphor.

³If you are interested in using the VirtualBox GUI there are plenty of examples online.