github.com/aspring/packer@v0.8.1-0.20150629211158-9db281ac0f89/website/source/docs/builders/virtualbox-iso.html.markdown

---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "VirtualBox Builder (from an ISO)"
description: |-
  The VirtualBox Packer builder is able to create VirtualBox virtual machines and export them in the OVF format, starting from an ISO image.
---

# VirtualBox Builder (from an ISO)

Type: `virtualbox-iso`

The VirtualBox Packer builder is able to create [VirtualBox](https://www.virtualbox.org/)
virtual machines and export them in the OVF format, starting from an
ISO image.

The builder builds a virtual machine by creating a new virtual machine
from scratch, booting it, installing an OS, provisioning software within
the OS, then shutting it down. The result of the VirtualBox builder is a directory
containing all the files necessary to run the virtual machine portably.

## Basic Example

Here is a basic example. This example is not functional. It will start the
OS installer but then fail because we don't provide the preseed file for
Ubuntu to self-install. Still, the example serves to show the basic configuration:

```javascript
{
  "type": "virtualbox-iso",
  "guest_os_type": "Ubuntu_64",
  "iso_url": "http://releases.ubuntu.com/12.04/ubuntu-12.04.5-server-amd64.iso",
  "iso_checksum": "769474248a3897f4865817446f9a4a53",
  "iso_checksum_type": "md5",
  "ssh_username": "packer",
  "ssh_password": "packer",
  "ssh_wait_timeout": "30s",
  "shutdown_command": "echo 'packer' | sudo -S shutdown -P now"
}
```

It is important to add a `shutdown_command`. By default Packer halts the
virtual machine and the file system may not be sync'd. Thus, changes made in a
provisioner might not be saved.

## Configuration Reference

There are many configuration options available for the VirtualBox builder.
They are organized below into two categories: required and optional. Within
each category, the available options are alphabetized and described.

In addition to the options listed here, a
[communicator](/docs/templates/communicator.html)
can be configured for this builder.

### Required:

* `iso_checksum` (string) - The checksum for the OS ISO file. Because ISO
  files are so large, this is required and Packer will verify it prior
  to booting a virtual machine with the ISO attached. The type of the
  checksum is specified with `iso_checksum_type`, documented below.

* `iso_checksum_type` (string) - The type of the checksum specified in
  `iso_checksum`. Valid values are "none", "md5", "sha1", "sha256", or
  "sha512" currently. While "none" will skip checksumming, this is not
  recommended since ISO files are generally large and corruption does happen
  from time to time.

* `iso_url` (string) - A URL to the ISO containing the installation image.
  This URL can be either an HTTP URL or a file URL (or path to a file).
  If this is an HTTP URL, Packer will download it and cache it between
  runs.

* `ssh_username` (string) - The username to use to SSH into the machine
  once the OS is installed.

### Optional:

* `boot_command` (array of strings) - This is an array of commands to type
  when the virtual machine is first booted. The goal of these commands should
  be to type just enough to initialize the operating system installer. Special
  keys can be typed as well, and are covered in the section below on the boot
  command. If this is not specified, it is assumed the installer will start
  itself.

* `boot_wait` (string) - The time to wait after booting the initial virtual
  machine before typing the `boot_command`. The value of this should be
  a duration. Examples are "5s" and "1m30s" which will cause Packer to wait
  five seconds and one minute 30 seconds, respectively. If this isn't specified,
  the default is 10 seconds.

* `disk_size` (integer) - The size, in megabytes, of the hard disk to create
  for the VM. By default, this is 40000 (about 40 GB).

* `export_opts` (array of strings) - Additional options to pass to the `VBoxManage export`.
  This can be useful for passing product information to include in the resulting
  appliance file.

* `floppy_files` (array of strings) - A list of files to place onto a floppy
  disk that is attached when the VM is booted. This is most useful
  for unattended Windows installs, which look for an `Autounattend.xml` file
  on removable media. By default, no floppy will be attached. All files
  listed in this setting get placed into the root directory of the floppy
  and the floppy is attached as the first floppy device. Currently, no
  support exists for creating sub-directories on the floppy. Wildcard
  characters (*, ?, and []) are allowed. Directory names are also allowed,
  which will add all the files found in the directory to the floppy.

* `format` (string) - Either "ovf" or "ova", this specifies the output
  format of the exported virtual machine. This defaults to "ovf".

* `guest_additions_mode` (string) - The method by which guest additions
  are made available to the guest for installation. Valid options are
  "upload", "attach", or "disable". If the mode is "attach" the guest
  additions ISO will be attached as a CD device to the virtual machine.
  If the mode is "upload" the guest additions ISO will be uploaded to
  the path specified by `guest_additions_path`. The default value is
  "upload". If "disable" is used, guest additions won't be downloaded,
  either.

* `guest_additions_path` (string) - The path on the guest virtual machine
  where the VirtualBox guest additions ISO will be uploaded. By default this
  is "VBoxGuestAdditions.iso" which should upload into the login directory
  of the user. This is a [configuration template](/docs/templates/configuration-templates.html)
  where the `Version` variable is replaced with the VirtualBox version.

* `guest_additions_sha256` (string) - The SHA256 checksum of the guest
  additions ISO that will be uploaded to the guest VM. By default the
  checksums will be downloaded from the VirtualBox website, so this only
  needs to be set if you want to be explicit about the checksum.

* `guest_additions_url` (string) - The URL to the guest additions ISO
  to upload. This can also be a file URL if the ISO is at a local path.
  By default, the VirtualBox builder will attempt to find the guest additions
  ISO on the local file system. If it is not available locally, the builder
  will download the proper guest additions ISO from the internet.

* `guest_os_type` (string) - The guest OS type being installed. By default
  this is "other", but you can get _dramatic_ performance improvements by
  setting this to the proper value. To view all available values for this
  run `VBoxManage list ostypes`. Setting the correct value hints to VirtualBox
  how to optimize the virtual hardware to work best with that operating
  system.

* `hard_drive_interface` (string) - The type of controller that the primary
  hard drive is attached to, defaults to "ide".  When set to "sata", the
  drive is attached to an AHCI SATA controller. When set to "scsi", the drive
  is attached to an LsiLogic SCSI controller.

* `headless` (boolean) - Packer defaults to building VirtualBox
  virtual machines by launching a GUI that shows the console of the
  machine being built. When this value is set to true, the machine will
  start without a console.

* `http_directory` (string) - Path to a directory to serve using an HTTP
  server. The files in this directory will be available over HTTP that will
  be requestable from the virtual machine. This is useful for hosting
  kickstart files and so on. By default this is "", which means no HTTP
  server will be started. The address and port of the HTTP server will be
  available as variables in `boot_command`. This is covered in more detail
  below.

* `http_port_min` and `http_port_max` (integer) - These are the minimum and
  maximum port to use for the HTTP server started to serve the `http_directory`.
  Because Packer often runs in parallel, Packer will choose a randomly available
  port in this range to run the HTTP server. If you want to force the HTTP
  server to be on one port, make this minimum and maximum port the same.
  By default the values are 8000 and 9000, respectively.

* `iso_interface` (string) - The type of controller that the ISO is attached
  to, defaults to "ide".  When set to "sata", the drive is attached to an
  AHCI SATA controller.

* `iso_urls` (array of strings) - Multiple URLs for the ISO to download.
  Packer will try these in order. If anything goes wrong attempting to download
  or while downloading a single URL, it will move on to the next. All URLs
  must point to the same file (same checksum). By default this is empty
  and `iso_url` is used. Only one of `iso_url` or `iso_urls` can be specified.

* `output_directory` (string) - This is the path to the directory where the
  resulting virtual machine will be created. This may be relative or absolute.
  If relative, the path is relative to the working directory when `packer`
  is executed. This directory must not exist or be empty prior to running the builder.
  By default this is "output-BUILDNAME" where "BUILDNAME" is the name
  of the build.

* `shutdown_command` (string) - The command to use to gracefully shut down the machine once all
  the provisioning is done. By default this is an empty string, which tells Packer to just
  forcefully shut down the machine unless a shutdown command takes place inside script so this may
  safely be omitted. If one or more scripts require a reboot it is suggested to leave this blank
  since reboots may fail and specify the final shutdown command in your last script.

* `shutdown_timeout` (string) - The amount of time to wait after executing
  the `shutdown_command` for the virtual machine to actually shut down.
  If it doesn't shut down in this time, it is an error. By default, the timeout
  is "5m", or five minutes.

* `ssh_host_port_min` and `ssh_host_port_max` (integer) - The minimum and
  maximum port to use for the SSH port on the host machine which is forwarded
  to the SSH port on the guest machine. Because Packer often runs in parallel,
  Packer will choose a randomly available port in this range to use as the
  host port.

* `ssh_skip_nat_mapping` (bool) - Defaults to false. When enabled, Packer does
  not setup forwarded port mapping for SSH requests and uses `ssh_port` on the
  host to communicate to the virtual machine

* `vboxmanage` (array of array of strings) - Custom `VBoxManage` commands to
  execute in order to further customize the virtual machine being created.
  The value of this is an array of commands to execute. The commands are executed
  in the order defined in the template. For each command, the command is
  defined itself as an array of strings, where each string represents a single
  argument on the command-line to `VBoxManage` (but excluding `VBoxManage`
  itself). Each arg is treated as a [configuration template](/docs/templates/configuration-templates.html),
  where the `Name` variable is replaced with the VM name. More details on how
  to use `VBoxManage` are below.

* `vboxmanage_post` (array of array of strings) - Identical to `vboxmanage`,
  except that it is run after the virtual machine is shutdown, and before the
  virtual machine is exported.

* `virtualbox_version_file` (string) - The path within the virtual machine
  to upload a file that contains the VirtualBox version that was used to
  create the machine. This information can be useful for provisioning.
  By default this is ".vbox_version", which will generally be upload it into
  the home directory.

* `vm_name` (string) - This is the name of the OVF file for the new virtual
  machine, without the file extension. By default this is "packer-BUILDNAME",
  where "BUILDNAME" is the name of the build.

## Boot Command

The `boot_command` configuration is very important: it specifies the keys
to type when the virtual machine is first booted in order to start the
OS installer. This command is typed after `boot_wait`, which gives the
virtual machine some time to actually load the ISO.

As documented above, the `boot_command` is an array of strings. The
strings are all typed in sequence. It is an array only to improve readability
within the template.

The boot command is "typed" character for character over a VNC connection
to the machine, simulating a human actually typing the keyboard. There are
a set of special keys available. If these are in your boot command, they
will be replaced by the proper key:

* `<bs>` - Backspace

* `<del>` - Delete

* `<enter>` and `<return>` - Simulates an actual "enter" or "return" keypress.

* `<esc>` - Simulates pressing the escape key.

* `<tab>` - Simulates pressing the tab key.

* `<f1>` - `<f12>` - Simulates pressing a function key.

* `<up>` `<down>` `<left>` `<right>` - Simulates pressing an arrow key.

* `<spacebar>` - Simulates pressing the spacebar.

* `<insert>` - Simulates pressing the insert key.

* `<home>` `<end>` - Simulates pressing the home and end keys.

* `<pageUp>` `<pageDown>` - Simulates pressing the page up and page down keys.

* `<wait>` `<wait5>` `<wait10>` - Adds a 1, 5 or 10 second pause before sending any additional keys. This
  is useful if you have to generally wait for the UI to update before typing more.

In addition to the special keys, each command to type is treated as a
[configuration template](/docs/templates/configuration-templates.html).
The available variables are:

* `HTTPIP` and `HTTPPort` - The IP and port, respectively of an HTTP server
  that is started serving the directory specified by the `http_directory`
  configuration parameter. If `http_directory` isn't specified, these will
  be blank!

Example boot command. This is actually a working boot command used to start
an Ubuntu 12.04 installer:

```text
[
  "<esc><esc><enter><wait>",
  "/install/vmlinuz noapic ",
  "preseed/url=http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/preseed.cfg ",
  "debian-installer=en_US auto locale=en_US kbd-chooser/method=us ",
  "hostname={{ .Name }} ",
  "fb=false debconf/frontend=noninteractive ",
  "keyboard-configuration/modelcode=SKIP keyboard-configuration/layout=USA ",
  "keyboard-configuration/variant=USA console-setup/ask_detect=false ",
  "initrd=/install/initrd.gz -- <enter>"
]
```

## Guest Additions

Packer will automatically download the proper guest additions for the
version of VirtualBox that is running and upload those guest additions into
the virtual machine so that provisioners can easily install them.

Packer downloads the guest additions from the official VirtualBox website,
and verifies the file with the official checksums released by VirtualBox.

After the virtual machine is up and the operating system is installed,
Packer uploads the guest additions into the virtual machine. The path where
they are uploaded is controllable by `guest_additions_path`, and defaults
to "VBoxGuestAdditions.iso". Without an absolute path, it is uploaded to the
home directory of the SSH user.

## VBoxManage Commands

In order to perform extra customization of the virtual machine, a template
can define extra calls to `VBoxManage` to perform. [VBoxManage](http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html)
is the command-line interface to VirtualBox where you can completely control
VirtualBox. It can be used to do things such as set RAM, CPUs, etc.

Extra VBoxManage commands are defined in the template in the `vboxmanage` section.
An example is shown below that sets the memory and number of CPUs within the
virtual machine:

```javascript
{
  "vboxmanage": [
    ["modifyvm", "{{.Name}}", "--memory", "1024"],
    ["modifyvm", "{{.Name}}", "--cpus", "2"]
  ]
}
```

The value of `vboxmanage` is an array of commands to execute. These commands
are executed in the order defined. So in the above example, the memory will be
set followed by the CPUs.

Each command itself is an array of strings, where each string is an argument
to `VBoxManage`. Each argument is treated as a
[configuration template](/docs/templates/configuration-templates.html).
The only available variable is `Name` which is replaced with the unique
name of the VM, which is required for many VBoxManage calls.