VBManage

Python command-line wizard dedicated to VirtualBox, which automates the creation, cloning and management of virtual machines.

Thanks to a system of JSON templates, it lets you define a “typical” VM (OS, resources, snapshot, network) and duplicate it in one command, without ever reinstalling.

Once launched, each VM benefits from automatic SSH redirection and an interactive menu: view its information, connect via SSH, pause it, resume it, save its status, cleanly shut it down or delete it.

Getting started

1. Launch & configure the ISO you want to use

2. Shutdown the machine (IMPORTANT) and create a snapshot

    $ VBoxManage list vms
    $ VBoxManage snapshot "" take ""
    $ VBoxManage snapshot "" list
    

3. Use or edit templates into

   /templates

4. Configure NAT :

    $ VBoxManage.exe list vms
    $ VBoxManage.exe modifyvm "" --nic1 nat
    $ VBoxManage.exe modifyvm "" `--natpf1 "guestssh,tcp,127.0.0.1,2222,,22"
    $ VBoxManage.exe showvminfo "" --details | Select-String natpf1
    

Launch with configuration details

python .\__main__.py create --src-vm Ubuntu-Server-Original --snapshot template-snap  --memory 2048 --disk 4096 --cpus 1 --host-port 2222 --name MaVMPerso  --headless

Launch using a template

python -m vbox_manager.main create  --template vbox_manager/templates/example_config.json --name MaNouvelleVM  --host-port 2222  --headless

CLI Interface to manage your VMs

python .\__main__.py interactive