$Date: 2025-08-11 19:18:47 +0200 (Mon, 11 Aug 2025) $

VBoxManage hostonlyif

VBoxManage-hostonlyif 1
VBoxManage-hostonlyif manage host-only network interfaces &product-name;
`VBoxManage hostonlyif ipconfig` ifname --dhcp --ip=IPv4-address --netmask=IPv4-netmask --ipv6=IPv6-address --netmasklengthv6=length `VBoxManage hostonlyif create` `VBoxManage hostonlyif remove` ifname

## Description

The `VBoxManage hostonlyif` command enables you to change the IP configuration of a host-only network interface. For a description of host-only networking, see . Each host-only network interface is identified by a name and can either use the internal DHCP server or a manual IP configuration, both IPv4 and IPv6.

### Configure a Host-Only Interface

The `VBoxManage hostonlyif ipconfig` command configures a host-only interface.

ifname

  Specifies the name of the network interface. The name is of the form `vboxnet` N where N is the interface instance.

`--dhcp`

  Uses DHCP for the network interface.

  You cannot use this option with the `--ip`, `--ipv6`, `--netmask`, or `--netmasklengthv6` options.

`--ip=IPv4-address`

  Specifies the IPv4 IP address for the network interface.

  You cannot use this option with the `--dhcp`, `--ipv6`, or `--netmasklengthv6` options.

`--netmask=IPv4-netmask`

  Specifies the IPv4 netmask of the network interface. The default value is `255.255.255.0`.

  You can only use this option with the `--ip` option.

`--ipv6=IPv6-address`

  Specifies the IPv6 IP address for the network interface.

  You cannot use this option with the `--dhcp`, `--ip`, or `--netmask` options.

`--netmasklengthv6=length`

  Specifies the length of the IPv6 network interface. The default value is `64`.

  You can only use this option with the `--ipv6` option.

### Create a Network Interface on the Host System

The `VBoxManage hostonlyif create` command creates a new host-only network interface on the host operating system (OS). The network interface name is of the form `vboxnet` N where N is the interface instance. You must run this command before you can attach virtual machines (VMs) to the host-only network.

This command is currently unavailable on Solaris hosts but the equivalent functionality is to run `ifconfig vboxnet0 plumb` as root or with sufficient privileges.

### Remove a Network Interface From the Host System

The `VBoxManage hostonlyif remove` command removes the specified host-only network interface from the host OS.

This command is currently unavailable on Solaris hosts but the equivalent functionality is to run `ifconfig vboxnet0 unplumb` as root or with sufficient privileges.

ifname

  Specifies the name of the network interface. The name is of the form `vboxnet` N where N is the interface instance.

## Examples

The following command creates a new host-only network interface.

    $ VBoxManage hostonlyif create
    0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
    Interface 'vboxnet2' was successfully created

The following command configures the IPv4 address for the `vboxnet2` host-only network interface.

    $ VBoxManage hostonlyif ipconfig vboxnet2 --ip 10.0.2.18