Enabling remote desktop on a VirtualBox Machine

To enable remote desktop on a VirtualBox machine, you have to follow these steps:

VBoxManage modifyvm MachineName -vrdp

This command enables rdp on the virtual machine

VBoxManage startvm MachineName -type vrdp

It starts virtual machine, listening for rdp request on port 3389 (default port)

rdesktop-vrdp localhost

Connects virtual machine with rdp (You can use rdesktop too).If you want to change rdp port, use this command:

VBoxManage modifyvm MachineName -vrdpport <port>

Also, enabling authentication for rdp is possible:

VBoxManage modifyvm MachineName -vrdpauthtype null | external | guest

VBoxManage is the command line interface of the VirtualBox.

You can make these settings with GUI: Settings -> Remote Display -> Enable VRDP Server

If you want to use your virtual machine with vrdp only, you can use this command simply:

VBoxHeadless -startvm MachineName

Note: RDP server is not included in Open Source Edition of the VirtualBox. If you want to use this feature, you have to use closed-source edition.