VirtualBox is open-source hypervisor, creating a VM (virtual machine) in which the user can run another OS (operating system). This article will serve as an informative guide and give you a clear understanding of how to perform a silent installation of VirtualBox 6.1 from the command line using both EXE & MSI installers.
How to Install VirtualBox Silently
VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Install (EXE)
- Navigate to: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
- Select the Windows Hosts under VirtualBox Platform Packages
- Download the file to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
- Enter the following command:
VirtualBox-6.1.x-y-Win.exe --silent --ignore-reboot - Press Enter
After a minute or so you should see the Oracle VM VirtualBox Desktop Shortcut appear. You will also find entries in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.
| Software Title: | Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 |
| Vendor: | Oracle Corporation |
| Version: | 6.1 |
| Architecture: | x86_x64 |
| Installer Type: | EXE |
| Silent Install Switch: | VirtualBox-6.1.x-y-Win.exe --silent --ignore-reboot |
| Silent Uninstall Switch: | See Uninstall Strings Below |
| Download Link: | https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads |
| PowerShell Script: | https://silentinstallhq.com/oracle-vm-virtualbox-install-and-uninstall-powershell/ |
VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Install (MSI)
- Navigate to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
- Select the Windows Hosts under VirtualBox Platform Packages
- Download the file to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
- Enter the following command:
VirtualBox-6.1.x-y-Win.exe --extract -path C:\VBox - Press Enter
- Navigate to the C:\VBox folder
- Enter the following command:
MsiExec.exe /i VirtualBox-6.1.x-y.msi /qn - Press Enter
After a minute or so you should see the Oracle VM VirtualBox Desktop Shortcut appear. You will also find entries in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.
| Software Title: | Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 |
| Vendor: | Oracle Corporation |
| Version: | 6.1 |
| Architecture: | x86_x64 |
| Installer Type: | MSI |
| Silent Install Switch: | MsiExec.exe /i VirtualBox-6.1.x-y.msi /qn |
| Silent Uninstall Switch: | MsiExec.exe /x VirtualBox-6.1.x-y.msi /qn |
| Repair Command: | MsiExec.exe /fa VirtualBox-6.1.x-y.msi /qn |
| Download Link: | https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads |
| PowerShell Script: | https://silentinstallhq.com/oracle-vm-virtualbox-install-and-uninstall-powershell/ |
The information above provides a quick overview of the software title, vendor, silent install, and silent uninstall switches. The download links provided take you directly to the vendors website. Continue reading if you are interested in additional details and configurations.
Additional Configurations
Disable VirtualBox Update Checks
You can disable VirtualBox update checks by running the following command:
Note: These settings are per User and NOT per System so they will need to be run once for every user who logs on.
"%ProgramFiles%\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" setextradata global GUI/UpdateDate "never" |
Install VirtualBox Extension Pack Silently
You can install the VirtualBox Extension Pack silently after installing the main VirtualBox installer by following these steps:
- Navigate to: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
- Select All supported platforms under VirtualBox Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack
- Copy the Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-x.y.z.vbox-extpack to “C:\Downloads\”
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
- Enter the following command:
echo y | "%ProgramFiles%\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" extpack install --replace "C:\Downloads\Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-x.y.z.vbox-extpack" |
Change Default Installation Directory
You can change the default installation directory by using the following command line parameters. In this example, I’m installing VirtualBox to “C:\VirtualBox”
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 (EXE)
VirtualBox-6.1.x-y-Win.exe --msiparams INSTALLDIR=C:\VirtualBox --silent --ignore-reboot |
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 (MSI)
MsiExec.exe /i VirtualBox-6.1.x-y.msi INSTALLDIR=C:\VirtualBox /qn |
Create an Installation Log File
The VirtualBox installer offers the option to generate a log file during installation to assist with troubleshooting should any problems arise. You can use the following commands to create a log file with details about the installation.
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Install (EXE) with Logging
VirtualBox-6.1.x-y-Win.exe --silent --ignore-reboot --logging |
The log file will be located in the following Temp directory of the user account from which the installer was run:
C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Local\Temp\VirtualBox
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Install (MSI) with Logging
MsiExec.exe /i VirtualBox-6.1.x-y.msi /qn /L*v "%WINDIR%\Temp\VirtualBox-Install.log" |
VirtualBox Install With No Desktop Shortcut
You can specify whether or not an Oracle VM VirtualBox desktop icon will be created on the desktop. The default installation behavior is to include a desktop shortcut, however in the example below a desktop shortcut will not be created during the install.
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Install (EXE) with NO Desktop Shortcut
VirtualBox-6.1.x-y-Win.exe --msiparams VBOX_INSTALLDESKTOPSHORTCUT=0 --silent --ignore-reboot |
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Install (MSI) with NO Desktop Shortcut
MsiExec.exe /i VirtualBox-6.1.x-y.msi VBOX_INSTALLDESKTOPSHORTCUT=0 /qn |
Exclude VirtualBox QuickLaunch Shortcut
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Install (EXE) NO QuickLaunch Shortcut
VirtualBox-6.1.x-y-Win.exe --msiparams VBOX_INSTALLQUICKLAUNCHSHORTCUT=0 --silent --ignore-reboot |
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Install (MSI) NO QuickLaunch Shortcut
MsiExec.exe /i VirtualBox-6.1.x-y.msi VBOX_INSTALLQUICKLAUNCHSHORTCUT=0 /qn |
Do Not Register File Extensions
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 (EXE)
VirtualBox-6.1.x-y-Win.exe --msiparams VBOX_REGISTERFILEEXTENSIONS=0 --silent --ignore-reboot |
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 (MSI)
MsiExec.exe /i VirtualBox-6.1.x-y.msi VBOX_REGISTERFILEEXTENSIONS=0 /qn |
Do Not Install VirtualBox Certificate Automatically
You can specify not to install the VirtualBox certificate automatically when silently installing the application. The default behavior is to install the certificate automatically, however the command line below will exclude it.
Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Install (EXE) Excluding Certificate
VirtualBox-6.1.x-y-Win.exe --no-silent-cert --silent --ignore-reboot |
How to Uninstall VirtualBox Silently
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Enter one the following commands:
| Version | VirtualBox 6.1 Silent Uninstall Strings |
6.1.36 | MsiExec.exe /x {8B78A2AB-34B5-4546-8CCF-B78C916BBD98} /qn |
6.1.34 | MsiExec.exe /x {25617419-CAFD-48B3-8FDF-016EDAD8B925} /qn |
6.1.32 | MsiExec.exe /x {4A51F890-19E4-4E7C-A118-4B8ACEB5AEC5} /qn |
6.1.30 | MsiExec.exe /x {9F1FFDC2-9B49-41F3-B6F1-18DC368D6CA2} /qn |
6.1.28 | MsiExec.exe /x {73A88925-78D8-43C3-9F9F-24D4E5DFCD75} /qn |
6.1.26 | MsiExec.exe /x {71822DCA-AF02-40D5-9BB8-2C1F75356115} /qn |
6.1.24 | MsiExec.exe /x {14BF4E6B-457E-4687-BE54-A71AC488233B} /qn |
6.1.22 | MsiExec.exe /x {573CC601-ED8D-450F-BE6F-A313DD77A4A0} /qn |
6.1.20 | MsiExec.exe /x {B4A28DF2-D2C0-4956-A34A-4D77BA2932CC} /qn |
6.1.18 | MsiExec.exe /x {A8F42E56-8D1F-4080-BD79-8375D3AD18BE} /qn |
6.1.16 | MsiExec.exe /x {8979282D-1F43-4810-B819-AA1B06F2C085} /qn |
6.1.14 | MsiExec.exe /x {1B1CFE9F-D421-4193-ACB8-FDE4D565C715} /qn |
6.1.12 | MsiExec.exe /x {BD4C2875-9059-4C94-A7B5-493A538AC180} /qn |
6.1.10 | MsiExec.exe /x {0359AF05-E674-4ED4-B9FB-B77918617667} /qn |
6.1.8 | MsiExec.exe /x {8EC316C6-82C4-431F-A4DE-4082717C96D5} /qn |
6.1.6 | MsiExec.exe /x {AD08C64C-9815-4E90-9C78-8B7DC20E5001} /qn |
6.1.4 | MsiExec.exe /x {E07820B4-EDC1-44FC-B1AE-D1D0F347F16B} /qn |
6.1.2 | MsiExec.exe /x {216BFD11-B076-4E88-8526-65CC9F94483C} /qn |
6.1.0 | MsiExec.exe /x {B9B53CFE-C4E3-47FB-9BC0-8022F0AB6814} /qn |
Always make sure to test everything in a development environment prior to implementing anything into production. The information in this article is provided “As Is” without warranty of any kind.