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Having an RDP access enabled for a production VM seems like a huge security hole, so I'd like to disable it as soon as an OS is installed and SSH access is configured.

I've tried

VBoxManage modifyvm "myvm" --vrdp off

and

VBoxManage modifyvm "myvm" --vrdp=off

but anyway when I then

VBoxHeadless --startvm "myvm"

The VM starts up with VRDP active. The only working way to disable VRDP I've found is starting the VM with "--vrdp=off" as a starting command parameter like

VBoxHeadless --startvm "myvm" --vrdp=off

But can I save this choice? For a simple

VBoxHeadless --startvm "myvm"

to start without an RDP server?

PS: By the way, what does the letter 'V' in VRDP mean?

UPDATE: A silly thing I've asked about V :-] obvious that it stands for "virtual". The actual idea I meant asking this is how does it differ from the standard RDP, or is it exactly the same protocol and only a marketing trick to add the V.

3 Answers 3

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vrdp will always remain "on"/"enabled" for a "headless" configuration according to:

http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch07.html#vboxheadless

The "v" stands for "virtual" for the "virtual session"/"virtual machine."

2
  • A silly thing I've asked about V :-] obvious that it stands for "virtual". The actual idea I meant asking this is how does it differ from the standard RDP, or is it exactly the same protocol and only a marketing trick to add the V.
    – Ivan
    Nov 16, 2010 at 20:45
  • Probably "v" as it is RDP for the VM, so it is OS independent as long as it runs within VirtualBox.
    – user48838
    Nov 17, 2010 at 8:08
2
VBoxManage modifyvm <uuid|name> --vrde off
0

Use

# VBoxManage controlvm vmName vrde off
# VBoxManage controlvm vmName vrde on

instead of

# VBoxManage modifyvm vmName --vrde off
# VBoxManage modifyvm vmName --vrde on

"controlvm" works regardless the status of the VM or whether it is headless or not.

More info on How to enable / disable VRDP access to VirtualBox VM regardless of state


Side Note I: I couldn't reproduce your problem.

$ VBoxManage modifyvm emptyVM --vrde off

$ vboxmanage showvminfo emptyVM | grep VRDE
VRDE:                        disabled

$ vboxheadless --startvm emptyVM &
Oracle VM VirtualBox Headless Interface 7.0.8
Copyright (C) 2008-2023 Oracle and/or its affiliates

Starting virtual machine: 10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%

$ vboxmanage showvminfo emptyVM | grep VRDE
VRDE:                        disabled
VRDE Connection:             not active

Note II:

You can also use this to start "headless"

$ vboxmanage startvm emptyVM  --type headless

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