9.20. Locking down the VirtualBox manager GUI

9.20.1. GUI customization

There are several advanced customization settings for locking down the VirtualBox manager, that is, removing some features that the user should not see.

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/Customizations OPTION[,OPTION...]

where OPTION is one of the following keywords:

noSelector

Don't allow to start the VirtualBox manager. Trying to do so will show a window containing a proper error message.

noMenuBar

VM windows will not contain a menu bar.

noStatusBar

VM windows will not contain a status bar.

To disable any GUI customization do

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/Customizations

9.20.2. Host Key customization

To disable all host key combinations, open the preferences and change the host key to None. This might be useful when using VirtualBox in a kiosk mode.

To redefine or disable certain host key actions, use the following command:

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/Input/MachineShortcuts "FullscreenMode=F,...."

The following list shows the possible host key actions together with their default host key shortcut. Setting an action to None will disable that host key action.

Table 9.1. ignoreme

ActionDefault Host KeyAction
SettingsDialogSopen the VM settings dialog
TakeSnapshotStake a snapshot
InformationsDialogNshow the VM information dialog
MouseIntegrationItoggle mouse integration
TypeCADDelinject Ctrl+Alt+Del
TypeCABSBackspaceinject Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
PausePPause the VM
ResetR(hard) reset the guest
ShutdownHpress the ACPI power button
CloseQshow the VM close dialog
FullscreenModeFswitch the VM into fullscreen
SeamlessModeLswitch the VM into seamless mode
ScaleModeCswitch the VM into scale mode
PopupMenuHomeshow popup menu in fullscreen / seamless mode

To disable the fullscreen mode as well as the seamless mode, use the following command:

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/Input/MachineShortcuts "FullscreenMode=None,SeamlessMode=None"

9.20.3. Action when terminating the VM

You can disallow certain actions when terminating a VM. To disallow specific actions, type:

VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" GUI/RestrictedCloseActions OPTION[,OPTION...]

where OPTION is one of the following keywords:

SaveState

Don't allow the user to save the VM state when terminating the VM.

Shutdown

Don't allow the user to shutdown the VM by sending the ACPI power-off event to the guest.

PowerOff

Don't allow the user to power off the VM.

Restore

Don't allow the user to return to the last snapshot when powering off the VM.

Any combination of the above is allowed. If all options are specified, the VM cannot be shut down at all.