VM Manager visibility lost

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Bernard12
Posts: 47
Joined: 10. Dec 2020, 17:45

VM Manager visibility lost

Post by Bernard12 »

I have VirtualBox Manager 6.1 running on Ubuntu 20.04 . I have multiple VB clients running in VirtualBox Manager, and I also made some desktop links to access the VB Client directly.
I keep some clients build with previous versions of VB separately in VM Manager. I have grouped them with the names "VirtualBox 4.3" and "VirtualBox 6.1". So I know which client was generated in which version of Virtualbox. This worked fine.

Now I lost one the visibility of one client named "VBoxMain20" in the group "VirtualBox 6.1". Luckly I have the desktop link, so I can access the VM. This also means the VM "VBoxMain20" still does exist..
What might happened because I lost the visibility? And more important how can I restore the visibility of this VM in VM manager.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: VM Manager visibility lost

Post by mpack »

The usual reason for this is that you logged in as a different user: the list of registered VMs is stored per user, and different users can have different lists.

Others possibilities for losing VMs exist, but it would not happen quietly: e.g. if corruptiond of the xml file occurred then VirtualBox would complain loudly about it.
Bernard12
Posts: 47
Joined: 10. Dec 2020, 17:45

Re: VM Manager visibility lost

Post by Bernard12 »

No, I did not login as a different user.

I remember I have had this before, and with some small adjustment (I do not recall what), it could be restored.

I do no mind to add, manually this VM again to VM manager, if needed.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: VM Manager visibility lost

Post by mpack »

If the missing VM was one that was most recently added, then it would imply write permission issues with VirtualBox.xml.

Otherwise, the only scenario I can think of involves user intervention, i.e. the login problem or copying over an old VirtualBox.xml.
Bernard12
Posts: 47
Joined: 10. Dec 2020, 17:45

Re: VM Manager visibility lost

Post by Bernard12 »

The VM existed in VM Manager for now almost two years.

I select the desktop VM-client as the same user, as VM Manager. So there is no difference.

Is it not possible in VM Manager to select the VM-client, and add it as existing VM in VM Manager?
Whiskeyjack
Oracle Corporation
Posts: 122
Joined: 28. Aug 2017, 13:14

Re: VM Manager visibility lost

Post by Whiskeyjack »

You can add an existing VM. Just see the Machine menu of the manager window.
Bernard12
Posts: 47
Joined: 10. Dec 2020, 17:45

Re: VM Manager visibility lost

Post by Bernard12 »

@Whiskeyjack thanks.

I tried to do so, and now I think I know what has happened.
In my "VirtualBox 6.1" a new group is created named: "New group" I can see at the left side there is a small grey bar. So it seemed to move to a subgroup. I played arround a bit to correct this, an now in the group "New group" again a new group is generated named: "New group 2".

So it seems very easily, and without wanting to do so, an new group is generated. Which can hide an existing VM. I would like to move them all to the main group: "VirtualBox 6.1".

But with every attempt more is mixed up. I looked in https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch01. ... boxmanager but I could not find documentation how the GUI of the VM Manager works.
multiOS
Volunteer
Posts: 797
Joined: 14. Sep 2019, 16:51
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: WIN11,10, 7, Linux (various)
Location: United Kingdom

Re: VM Manager visibility lost

Post by multiOS »

Try right-clicking on any of the Groups you created and select the Ungroup option.
Bernard12
Posts: 47
Joined: 10. Dec 2020, 17:45

Re: VM Manager visibility lost

Post by Bernard12 »

@multios This helps a lot to understand what is happening. I could ungroup some items, and the missing VM became visible. How? I do not know. After I just could move a VM to the main group named "Virtualb 6.1" as desired. On the right I see some icons, and when hovering over it I get the message " 1 group 3 machines". Which is correct, but not what I want. In this "1 group" there is one VM which I want to move to the parent. But this one VM I could not ungroup, the menu-item is disabled.

I am getting close to a solution. Thanks
Bernard12
Posts: 47
Joined: 10. Dec 2020, 17:45

Re: VM Manager visibility lost

Post by Bernard12 »

I moved around some bit, and now it is solved. It worries me, I can not reproduce what I did. So to me it is still a bit an unknown process. But it is solved.

Thanks to all.
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