Set Linux Console Resolution in VirtualBox without X

VirtualBox is a nice software to test/learn Linux. However, if you only want to use the console user interface without installing Xorg server, you probably want to change console resolution to make it look prettier.

You could use framebuffer to do this.

First close all instances of VirtualBox.

Open a console window, go to where you installed VirtualBox (maybe “C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox”), execute (change resolution to what you like):

VBoxManage setextradata “wheezy” “CustomVideoMode1” “1920x1080x24″

Now boot into your Linux, edit /etc/default/grub, if you find something like:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=”vga=791”

Delete it or comment it.

Add following lines in it:

GRUB_GFXMODE=1920×1080
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep

Now use: “sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg” to generate new configuration file.