This command starts a virtual machine that is currently in the "Powered off" or "Saved" states.
The optional --type specifier
determines whether the machine will be started in a window or whether the
output should go through VBoxHeadless,
with VRDE enabled or not; see Section 7.1.2, “VBoxHeadless, the remote desktop server” for more
information. The list of types is subject to change, and it's not
guaranteed that all types are accepted by any product variant.
The global or per-VM default value for the VM frontend type will be taken if the type is not explicitly specified. If none of these are set, the GUI variant will be started.
The following values are allowed:
-
gui -
Starts a VM showing a GUI window. This is the default.
-
headless -
Starts a VM without a window for remote display only.
-
sdl -
Starts a VM with a minimal GUI and limited features.
-
separate -
Starts a VM with detachable UI (technically it is a headless VM with user interface in a separate process). This is an experimental feature as it lacks certain functionality at the moment (e.g. 3D acceleration will not work).
Note
If you experience problems with starting virtual machines with particular frontends and there is no conclusive error information, consider starting virtual machines directly by running the respective front-end, as this can give additional error information.