How to change Vagrant 'default' machine name?

Question

Where does the name 'default' come from when launching a vagrant box?

$ vagrant up
Bringing machine 'default' up with 'virtualbox' provider...

Is there a way to set this?

Answer 1

I found the multiple options confusing, so I decided to test all of them to see exactly what they do.

I'm using VirtualBox 4.2.16-r86992 and Vagrant 1.3.3.

I created a directory called nametest and ran

vagrant init precise64 http://files.vagrantup.com/precise64.box

to generate a default Vagrantfile. Then I opened the VirtualBox GUI so I could see what names the boxes I create would show up as.

1. Default Vagrantfile

   Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|
       config.vm.box = "precise64"
       config.vm.box_url = "http://files.vagrantup.com/precise64.box"
   end
   

   VirtualBox GUI Name: "nametest_default_1386347922"

   Comments: The name defaults to the format DIRECTORY_default_TIMESTAMP.

2. Define VM

   Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|
       config.vm.box = "precise64"
       config.vm.box_url = "http://files.vagrantup.com/precise64.box"
       config.vm.define "foohost"
   end
   

   VirtualBox GUI Name: "nametest_foohost_1386347922"

   Comments: If you explicitly define a VM, the name used replaces the token 'default'. This is the name vagrant outputs on the console. Simplifying based on zook's (commenter) input

3. Set Provider Name

   Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|
       config.vm.box = "precise64"
       config.vm.box_url = "http://files.vagrantup.com/precise64.box"
       config.vm.provider :virtualbox do |vb|
           vb.name = "foohost"
       end
   end
   

   VirtualBox GUI Name: "foohost"

   Comments: If you set the name attribute in a provider configuration block, that name will become the entire name displayed in the VirtualBox GUI.

   Combined Example: Define VM -and- Set Provider Name

   Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|
       config.vm.box = "precise64"
       config.vm.box_url = "http://files.vagrantup.com/precise64.box"
       config.vm.define "foohost"
       config.vm.provider :virtualbox do |vb|
           vb.name = "barhost"
       end
   end
   

   VirtualBox GUI Name: "barhost"

   Comments: If you use both methods at the same time, the value assigned to name in the provider configuration block wins. Simplifying based on zook's (commenter) input

4. Set hostname (BONUS)

   Vagrant.configure(VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION) do |config|
     config.vm.hostname = "buzbar"
   end
   

   Comments: This sets the hostname inside the VM. This would be the output of hostname command in the VM and also this is what's visible in the prompt like vagrant@<hostname>, here it will look like vagrant@buzbar

Final Code

    Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|
        config.vm.box = "precise64"
        config.vm.box_url = "http://files.vagrantup.com/precise64.box"
        config.vm.hostname = "buzbar"
        config.vm.define "foohost"
        config.vm.provider :virtualbox do |vb|
            vb.name = "barhost"
        end
    end

---

So there it is. You now know 3 different options you can set and the effects they have. I guess it's a matter of preference at this point? (I'm new to Vagrant, so I can't speak to best practices yet.)

Answer 2

This is the way I've assigned names to individual VMs. Change YOURNAMEHERE to your desired name.

Contents of Vagrantfile:

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

  # Every Vagrant virtual environment requires a box to build off of.
  config.vm.box = "precise32"

  # The url from where the 'config.vm.box' box will be fetched if it
  # doesn't already exist on the user's system.
  config.vm.box_url = "http://files.vagrantup.com/precise32.box"

  config.vm.define :YOURNAMEHERE do |t|
  end

end

Terminal output:

$ vagrant status
Current machine states:

YOURNAMEHERE             not created (virtualbox)

Answer 3

I specify the name by defining inside the VagrantFile and also specify the hostname so i enjoy seeing the name of my project while executing Linux commands independently from my device's OS. ✌️

config.vm.define "abc"
config.vm.hostname = "abc"

Answer 4

If you want to change anything else instead of 'default', then just add these additional lines to your Vagrantfile:

Change the basebox name, when using "vagrant status"

 config.vm.define "tendo" do |tendo|
  end

Where "tendo" will be the name that will appear instead of default

Answer 5

You can change vagrant default machine name by changing value of config.vm.define.

Here is the simple Vagrantfile which uses getopts and allows you to change the name dynamically:

# -*- mode: ruby -*-
require 'getoptlong'

opts = GetoptLong.new(
  [ '--vm-name',        GetoptLong::OPTIONAL_ARGUMENT ],
)
vm_name        = ENV['VM_NAME'] || 'default'

begin
  opts.each do |opt, arg|
    case opt
      when '--vm-name'
        vm_name = arg
    end
  end
  rescue
end

Vagrant.configure(2) do |config|
  config.vm.define vm_name
  config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |vbox, override|
    override.vm.box = "ubuntu/wily64"
    # ...
  end
  # ...
end

So to use different name, you can run for example:

vagrant --vm-name=my_name up --no-provision

^{Note: The --vm-name parameter needs to be specified before up command.}

or:

VM_NAME=my_name vagrant up --no-provision

Answer 6

Yes, for Virtualbox provider do something like this:

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
    # ...other options...
    config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |p|
        p.name = "something-else"
    end
end

Answer 7

In case there are many people using your vagrant file - you might want to set name dynamically. Below is the example how to do it using username from your HOST machine as the name of the box and hostname:

require 'etc'
vagrant_name = "yourProjectName-" + Etc.getlogin
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
  config.vm.box = "ubuntu/xenial64"
  config.vm.hostname = vagrant_name
  config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |v|
    v.name = vagrant_name
  end
end