Moving a VM which has SetExtraData in.vbox file

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pt58
Posts: 52
Joined: 7. May 2015, 11:00

Moving a VM which has SetExtraData in.vbox file

Post by pt58 »

I have a slight issue which I have observed for several years whenever I have wanted to move a particular Win XP SP3 VM to another host.
I use the recommended method of copying the whole VM folder containing the VDI and vbox file to a new host and then use "Add machine" to register it on the new host.
This all works fine except that it seems to lose the 4 lines of SetExtraData which is contained in the vbox file.
Fortunately I have the 4 lines set up in a batch file which I can easily run to re-instate the missing lines into the vbox file and then everything works fine.

I'm just curious why this happens.
As I say, it's not a major problem, just a slight inconvenience.

For info, I have always moved the XP VM from a Windows Host to a different WIndows Host - currently Win10x64 Pro 1809, but I have observed this problem on Win7 and Win8.1 hosts.

I'm not sure a log file will help, but the SetExtraData lines in the vbox file are:

VboxManage setextradata %McName% "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSVendor" "Hewlett-Packard"
VboxManage setextradata %McName% "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSVersion" "A69"
VboxManage setextradata %McName% "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct" "Pavilion Elite D5100T0"
VboxManage setextradata %McName% "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiSystemVendor" "Hewlett-Packard"
socratis
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Re: Moving a VM which has SetExtraData in.vbox file

Post by socratis »

pt58 wrote:whenever I have wanted to move a particular Win XP SP3 VM to another host.
Emphasis mine. Just this VM, no others? If so, can you ZIP and post the original (with the ExtraData) .vbox file? I have a feeling that there might be an illegal character in there...
pt58 wrote:I have always moved the XP VM from a Windows Host to a different WIndows Host - currently Win10x64 Pro 1809, but I have observed this problem on Win7 and Win8.1 hosts.
Same VirtualBox versions? I'm just throwing it out there, I've been going from 4.x to 6.x (and everything in between) back and forth, and I never had to restore anything from my backup, knock on wood... ;)
pt58 wrote:VboxManage setextradata %McName%
I take it that these four lines are straight from the batch file, right?
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pt58
Posts: 52
Joined: 7. May 2015, 11:00

Re: Moving a VM which has SetExtraData in.vbox file

Post by pt58 »

socratis wrote:
pt58 wrote:whenever I have wanted to move a particular Win XP SP3 VM to another host.
Emphasis mine. Just this VM, no others? If so, can you ZIP and post the original (with the ExtraData) .vbox file? I have a feeling that there might be an illegal character in there...
Yes. It's just that particular XP VM with the SetExtraData that has this problem. It's a VM belonging to a friend that was originally virtualized from a HP desktop PC - hence the need for the ExtraData lines to preserve activation. I'll zip the vbox file next time I see him so I can attach it here - may be a few days though!
socratis wrote:
pt58 wrote:I have always moved the XP VM from a Windows Host to a different WIndows Host - currently Win10x64 Pro 1809, but I have observed this problem on Win7 and Win8.1 hosts.
Same VirtualBox versions? I'm just throwing it out there, I've been going from 4.x to 6.x (and everything in between) back and forth, and I never had to restore anything from my backup, knock on wood... ;)
He's been using this VM for at least 5 years, so it's been running on versions 4.x and 5.x, maybe even 3.x
I've only needed to move it to a new host when he's upgraded his host PC which started on Win7 , then 8.1 and most recently Win10.
He's currently running VB5.2.22.
I should add that it's never lost the ExtraData items doing a VB version upgrade on the same host. It's only when I've moved the whole VM folder to a new host and used the Add machine function to register it.
socratis wrote:
pt58 wrote:VboxManage setextradata %McName%
I take it that these four lines are straight from the batch file, right?
Yes, those lines are part of the batch file I use to reinstate the ExtraData lines.

Now that you've set my mind thinking that there may be an invalid character in the vbox file, I may try creating a new VM from scratch, inserting the ExtraData lines and then try moving/copying the VM to see if the same problem occurs.
I'll keep you posted.
Thanks.
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