Start VirtualBox and VM in windows boot

Question

I am running VirtualBox in Windows Server 2016. I want to start both VirtualBox and a VM within that when Windows boots. I have seen some posts about starting VB on Windows boot, but I have not gotten that to work. And even if I did, that would not auto start the VM. I feel there must be a way to do this, but hours of googling has not found the way.

Answer 1

I have an example of how to autostart a VirtualBox VM during Windows startup. I'm running Windows 10, but it shouldn't be much different on Windows Server 2016.

The startup folder on my system is:

C:\Users\chriwill\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

In that folder I placed a batch file kubuntu.bat with following content:

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" startvm kubuntu --type headless

In my example the VM is named kubuntu. You'll have to change it for your instance.

ADDON:

If you need help finding the startup folder on your windows instance press keys WINDOWS+R and enter shell:startup.

reference: https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html#vboxmanage-startvm

Answer 2

What worked for me was.

1. Create a shortcut.
   • Open virtualbox
   • highlight the VM you want to startup
   • click "Machine" -> "Create Shortcut on Desktop"
2. Add to windows startup
   • Start -> Run
   • type in "shell:startup"
   • copy & paste shortcut in here.