Notes and bug reports for the VirtualBox service on briccs-1

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== VirtualBox GUI over SSH

There is a know issue with the latest version of VirtualBox GUI when accessing it via a SHH connection.

   * [http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/8175 GUI is very slow when running it via an ssh tunnel]

This bug makes it almost impossible to use the full VirtualBox GUI via a remote connection.
It takes several minutes to display a simple pop-up dialogue box.

{{{
ssh -X root@briccs-1.rcs.le.ac.uk

    briccs-1:~ # VirtualBox
}}}

The bug only affects the main VirtualBox GUI, so the simpler per-vm GUI is still usable.
{{{
ssh -X root@briccs-1.rcs.le.ac.uk

    briccs-1:~ # VBoxManage startvm briccs-7
}}}
The per-vm GUI allows you to mount and unmount discs in the virtual DVD ROM drive,
which enables you to boot from an ISO image and re-install the OS on a VM.


To start a VM with no GUI and leave it running when you logout from the SSH connection, use the {{{headless}}} option.
{{{
ssh root@briccs-1.rcs.le.ac.uk

    briccs-1:~ # VBoxManage startvm briccs-7 --type headless
}}}