Sun Microsystems VIRTUALBOX VERSION 3.1.0_BETA2 - Manual (Page 23)

1 First steps
there are three candidates as to who receives keyboard input: the host operating sys-
tem, VirtualBox, or the guest operating system. Who of these three receives keypresses
depends on a number of factors, including the key itself.
• Host operating systems reserve certain key combinations for themselves. For
example, it is impossible to enter the Ctrl+Alt+Delete combination if you want
to reboot the guest operating system in your virtual machine, because this key
combination is usually hard-wired into the host OS (both Windows and Linux
intercept this), and pressing this key combination will therefore reboot your host.
Also, on Linux and Solairs hosts, which use the X Window System, the key com-
bination Ctrl+Alt+Backspace normally resets the X server (to restart the entire
graphical user interface in case it got stuck). As the X server intercepts this com-
bination, pressing it will usually restart your host graphical user interface (and
kill all running programs, including VirtualBox, in the process).
Third, on Linux hosts supporting virtual terminals, the key combination
Ctrl+Alt+Fx (where Fx is one of the function keys from F1 to F12) normally
allows to switch between virtual terminals. As with Ctrl+Alt+Delete, these
combinations are intercepted by the host operating system and therefore always
switch terminals on the host.
If, instead, you want to send these key combinations to the guest operating sys-
tem in the virtual machine, you will need to use one of the following methods:
– Use the items in the “Machine” menu of the virtual machine window. There
you will find “Insert Ctrl+Alt+Delete” and “Ctrl+Alt+Backspace”; the lat-
ter will only have an effect with Linux or Solaris guests, however.
– Press special key combinations with the Host key (normally the right Con-
trol key), which VirtualBox will then translate for the virtual machine:
∗ Host key + Del to send Ctrl+Alt+Del (to reboot the guest);
∗ Host key + Backspace to send Ctrl+Alt+Backspace (to restart the
graphical user interface of a Linux or Solaris guest);
∗ Host key + F1 (or other function keys) to simulate Ctrl+Alt+F1 (or
other function keys, i.e. to switch between virtual terminals in a Linux
guest).
• For some other keyboard combinations such as Alt-Tab (to switch between open
windows), VirtualBox allows you to configure whether these combinations will
affect the host or the guest, if a virtual machine currently has the focus. This
is a global setting for all virtual machines and can be found under “File” ->
“Preferences” -> “Input” -> “Auto-capture keyboard”.
1.7.2 Changing removable media
While a virtual machine is running, you can change removable media in the “Devices”
menu of the VM’s window. Here you can select in detail what VirtualBox presents to
your VM as a CD, DVD, or floppy.
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