Auto-Shut Down VirtualBox Guest when Windows Host Shuts Down

By / Software Development

I’ve always found it annoying that when I shutdown windows it takes down my VirtualBox guests in an ungraceful manner. Most times this ends up causing the guest to load very slowly the next time I use it, although on one occasion a guest image was actually corrupted.

To resolve this problem, just open up a command prompt, run the following command, and restart your VM. From that point forward the VM will shut down gracefully when you execute a Windows shutdown.

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" setextradata "VM NAME" GUI/DefaultCloseAction Shutdown

Full credit for this solution goes to Kevin Nelson.

About The Author

I founded and operated the WordPress plugin business "Snap Creek Software", which created popular plugins Duplicator and Duplicator Pro. These products were recently sold to Awesome Motive. Prior to that endeavor, I worked as a corporate software developer, implementing solutions using C#, ASP.NET, embedded systems, SQL, and a variety of other technologies. I have a real passion for technology solutions so since selling Snap Creek, I've been developing software for and offering consulting services to businesses to assist them with challenges they are experiencing. If you would like to contact my about my services, or anything else, click on the "Contact Robert" link at the top of the page.