---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "VirtualBox Builder"
---

# VirtualBox Builder

The VirtualBox builder is able to create [VirtualBox](http://www.virtualbox.org)
virtual machines and export them in the OVA or OVF format.

Packer actually comes with multiple builders able to create VirtualBox
machines, depending on the strategy you want to use to build the image.
Packer supports the following VirtualBox builders:

* [virtualbox-iso](/docs/builders/virtualbox-iso.html) - Starts from
  an ISO file, creates a brand new VirtualBox VM, installs an OS,
  provisions software within the OS, then exports that machine to create
  an image. This is best for people who want to start from scratch.

* [virtualbox-ovf](/docs/builders/virtualbox-ovf.html) - This builder
  imports an existing OVF/OVA file, runs provisioners on top of that VM,
  and exports that machine to create an image. This is best if you have
  an existing VirtualBox VM export you want to use as the source. As an
  additional benefit, you can feed the artifact of this builder back into
  itself to iterate on a machine.
