VirtualBox - how to get VM to have a larger screen
 

I'm brand new to VirtualBox. I've just recently installed VirtualBox (downloaded from virtualbox.org) on my Ubuntu 14.04 workstation and I've created a VM running Ubuntu Server 16.04 LTS. Sadly, the one single terminal window available for me to interact with that machine is only 800x600 or so. I've looked through all the settings, especially those related to Display, and cannot seem to find any way to make the terminal window larger. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Use SSH to log into your headless virual server.

You need to install guest additions.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Vi...GuestAdditions

This doesn't really answer my question. In particular, it doesn't help if I want to interact with the GUI on the VM. Also, I'm still trying to sort out how to set up networking for this VM. I will likely post that elsewhere.

I didn't think you had a GUI for server, you certainly did not mention this. You said: terminal window.

Thanks for this. Should this always be done for a VM? Or just if you want extra features?

I found this documentation which looks helpful:
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04.html

For VMs without a GUI it does not matter but the add features like auto sizing the window and mouse integration are nice to have.

You are (mostly) correct that server doesn't have GUI...it does have a terminal window. I agree that ssh window from host to VM is probably going to be more convenient for talking to the VM as Ubuntu has pretty nice terminal program. I was rather hoping to address the smallness of the "native" terminal window as it gets displayed in the VirtualBox application window on my workstation. I will be installing VMs with GUIs at some point I think.

I have read this document. I would point out for any interested parties that I was unable to get anything by trying Devices->Insert Guest Additions CD Image... in the VirtualBox menu. I got an error dialog:
.
I was able to copy this error

I was able to find the right ISO for my installation here:http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.1.10/

No idea how to get it onto the VM though...

Use the device pull down menu, click on the optical drive and select the iso image. This will mount the file. As root cd to the cdrom drive which I assume is /media/cdrom0 and run the command

sh VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

I have tried this:
Devices->Optical Drives->Choose Disk Image...
(select ~/VBoxGuestAdditions_5.1.10.iso on my workstation)

And the resulting error is nearly identical to the previous error:
I've tried 'cancel' and 'Force Unmount' buttons on that dialog, neither of which does anything. I've tried listing the contents of /media/cdrom and it's empty.

I did try installing the virtualbox iso deb package by running this command on the VM:
The command ran successfully but I can detect no difference at all. No changes in the screen's size or mouse behavior, no change in the VirtualBox application's options to affect the display size.

You might have to restart the VM. Now try to insert the 5.0.10 iso file and see if it mounts.

I have restarted the VM twice now and the errors are still identical for both approaches. Starting to think that one must have a GUI running on the virtual machine to take advantage of the Guest Additions.

I got the same error on my CentOS 7 VM but it actually did show inserted. Not sure between forcing insert or just repeatedly trying did it work.

You also need to install the gcc, kernel-devel and bzip2. After that I could mount the CD and install guest additions.

Also make sure your VM is updated first.

Update:
After all that.. With just a GUI only the terminal window does not appear to be capable of resizing.