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→Hard Disk Settings
== Hard Disk Settings ==
Selecting the ''Hard Disks'' category in the list displays the following settings page:
[[Image:virtualbox_hard_disk_settings.jpg|VirtualBox Virtual Machine Hard Disk settings]]
The first setting on this screen provides the option to enable a SATA controller. The page also lists the currently configured virtual disk drives and the virtual controllers to which they are attached. VirtualBox presents two virtual IDE controllers to each virtual machine. Each controller has a primary and a slave slot. The primary connection of the second controller is reserved for the CD/DVD drive leaving three slots available for attaching virtual disk drives to the virtual machine. If additional disk drives are required, enabling the SATA controller will allow more disks to be added but will require a guest operating system with SATA support.
To add new hard disks, either click on the top button on the right hand side of the page (displaying an icon consisting of disk drives and a plus sign), right click on any of the empty space in the list pane and select ''Add Attachment'' from the menu or press the ''Ins'' key on the keyboard. A new disk drive may then be added, either by attaching an existing disk to creating a new disk image using the ''Create New Virtual Disk'' wizard.
Existing attachments may be removed my selecting the disk drive from the list and clicking on the ''Remove Attachment'' button, right clicking on any of the empty space in the list pane and select ''Remove Attachment'' from the menu, or pressing the ''Del'' key on the keyboard.
Detaching a virtual disk from a controller does not delete the virtual disk. To delete virtual disks, click on the third button to the right of the list (the folder with the green up arrow) to launch the ''Virtual Media Manager'' where virtual disks may be deleted if required.
Refer to [[Understanding and Configuring VirtualBox Virtual Hard Disks]] for more detailed information on this topic.
== CD/DVD-ROM Settings ==
When selected, the CD/DVD-ROM category displays the following screen:
[[Image:virtualbox_cd_dvd_rom_settings.jpg|The VirtualBox CD/DVD-ROM settings page]]
If a CD or DVD device is to be made available to the guest operating system the ''Mount CD/DVD Drive'' option must first be selected. Once selected, the remaining options on the screen are enabled. The CD/DVD device presented to the virtual machine may be in the form of a physical device connected to the host, or an ISO image file visible to the host operating system. In the case of an ISO image, the file must be added to the media library using the ''Virtual Media Manager'' before it can be attached to a virtual machine. To access the Virtual Media Manager, click on the button located to the right of the ISO image file menu.
When using a physical device connected to the host, the option is also available to ''Enable Passthrough''. This option allows the guest operating system to send ATAPI commands directly to the physical device so that CD/DVD writers can be used from within the virtual machine.
== Floppy Settings ==
When selected, the Floppy category displays the following screen:
[[Image:virtualbox_floppy_settings.jpg|The VirtualBox Floppy settings page]]
If a floppy device is to be made available to the guest operating system the ''Mount Floppy Drive'' option must first be selected. Once selected, the remaining options on the screen are enabled. The floppy device presented to the virtual machine may be in the form of a physical device connected to the host, or an ISO image file visible to the host operating system. In the case of an ISO image, the file must be added to the media library using the ''Virtual Media Manager'' before it can be attached to a virtual machine. To access the Virtual Media Manager, click on the button located to the right of the ISO image file menu.
== Audio Settings ==
The Audio settings screen (shown below) configures whether a sound card is presented to the guest operating system at run time.
[[Image:virtualbox_audio_settings.jpg|The VirtualBox Audio settings page]]
When audio is enabled, VirtualBox provides the option for a virtual Intel ICH AC90 or a Creative Labs Sounds Blaster 16 sound card to be configured in the virtual machine. For Linux guests, PulseAudio, OSS and ALSO options are also available.
The ''Host Audio Driver'' setting controls whether the sound is directed to the audio system of the host computer (so that it is heard) or sent to a Null driver so that it is not heard on the host.
== Network Settings ==
The Network settings screen allows up to four network adapters to be configured on the virtual machine. Additional adapters (up to a total of eight) can be configured using the ''VBoxManage'' command-line tool. By default, a single network adapter is enabled new virtual machines using NAT to access the network (whereby the virtual machine accesses the network using a network adapter installed in the host, but appears to other computers on the network using the same IP address as the host).
VirtualBox networking is covered in detail in the chapter entitled [[Configuring VirtualBox Networking]].
== Serial Port Settings ==
VirtualBox allows up to two serial ports to be added to virtual machines using the ''Serial Port'' settings screen:
[[Image:virtualbox_serial_port_settings.jpg|The VirtualBox Serial Port settings page]]
A virtual serial port may be either disconnected, connected to the physical port of the host computer or connected to a software pipe on the host operating system.
== USB Settings ==
VirtualBox provides virtual machines with an optional virtual USB controller which in turn gives the guest operating system access to select USB devices connected to the host computer. This USB controller is enabled by selecting the ''Enable USB Controller'' option at the top of the USB settings screen:
[[Image:virtualbox_usb_settings.jpg|The VirtualBox USB Settings]]
The settings screen also provides the option to enable USB 2.0 (ECHI) support. Once USB support is enabled, the physical USB devices which are to made available to the guest operating system are controlled by creating filters. These filters are added and removed using the button in the vertical toolbar located on the right hand side of the list area.
The top button creates a filter which makes all USB devices available to the guest operating system. The second button displays a list of USB devices currently attached to the host computer and creates a filter for the device selected from the list. The third button alolows properties of the currently selected filter to be edited (such as the filter name, device vendor ID, product ID and manufacturer).
The fourth button removes the selected filter from the list and the bottom two button move position of the selected filter up and down in the list.
To deactivate a USB filter without deleting it, simply deselect the checkbox next to the filter name in the list.
== Shared Folder Settings ==
VirtualBox shared folders allows folders to be shared between guest and host operating systems. Shared folders require that VirtualBox Guest Additions be installed on the guest and are covered in more detail in the [[VirtualBox Shared Folders]] chapter of this book.
== Remote Display Settings ==
The ''Remote Display'' settings screen allows VRDP remote access to the guest virtual machine to be configured and enabled. This allows remote access to the desktop of a guest virtual machine using any Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client.
For more details on this topic refer to [[Remote Access to VirtualBox Guests]].
