Run Program with Command Line Arguments in Windows CMD

command linecommand-line-argumentswindowswindows 7

I need to start a program (virtual machine) in the background with a start command on Windows' 7 command line. Normally you would do this like that:

start /b cmd yourprogram

But I need to pass some arguments and when I so it like this (without /b flag to see the debug information): 

start C:\Users\USER>start "c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxHeadless.exe" -startvm "debian604 64"

I get this error message:

Windows cannot find '-startvm'. Make sure you typed the name
correctly, and then try again.

On the other hand when I do it in the current command line window without the start in the beginning the virtual machine runs normally – but in the foreground.

Any solutions?

Best Answer

start /b "" "c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxHeadless.exe" -startvm "debian604 64"

If you read the parameter list with start /?:

START ["title"] [/D path] [/I] [/MIN] [/MAX] [/SEPARATE | /SHARED]
      [/LOW | /NORMAL | /HIGH | /REALTIME | /ABOVENORMAL | /BELOWNORMAL]
      [/NODE <NUMA node>] [/AFFINITY <hex affinity mask>] [/WAIT] [/B]
      [command/program] [parameters]

    "title"     Title to display in window title bar.
    command/program
                If it is an internal cmd command or a batch file then
                the command processor is run with the /K switch to cmd.exe.
                This means that the window will remain after the command
                has been run.

                If it is not an internal cmd command or batch file then
                it is a program and will run as either a windowed application
                or a console application.

    parameters  These are the parameters passed to the command/program.

It expects a title enclosed in quotes ("). Since your program path included quotes, it got interpreted as the title. Adding an explicit title (in this case, empty, "") works.

An alternative method is using the /d switch to specify the path. Specifically:

start /b /d "c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\" VBoxHeadless.exe -startvm "debian604 64"

It appears to take the first argument after the /d switch as the path, even if it is quoted, and if the next argument is not quoted then this works. Everything after what is recognised as the command/program is passed as a parameter to that command/program. Note this will not work if the command/program has spaces in the name, e.g. VBox Headless.exe, since that would require quotes and be recognised as a title.

Overall, the first (explicit title) method is probably better. It was a bad design choice on the part of Microsoft, they really should have added a switch for title rather than "is the first argument enclosed in quotes?".

Related Question