[Solved] Exporting .ova of 2x .vdi's on HDD & SSD

[NginUS]

Today I made my first guest whose filesystem consists of 2x .vdi disks- one of which is on an SSD & the other on a HDD. I used to periodically export my guests when they were only 1-disk VMs, & now I'm unsure how to manage backups while configured this way.

I'm assuming the .ova won't remember which host drive the guest's 2 different .vdi's belong on.

How do people manage backing up this sort of guest?

[socratis]

How do people manage backing up this sort of guest?

I don't have something like that, but if I did, I would back it up exactly the same way as I would any other VM; copy the VM folder plus the external VDI somewhere else...

On restore, you might want to replicate the location of the 2nd VDI, otherwise, before starting the VM, re-select the VDI from its new location. Done.

[NginUS]

How do people manage backing up this sort of guest?

...copy the VM folder plus the external VDI... replicate the location of the 2nd VDI, ..., re-select the VDI from its new location. Done.

So no .ova at all. I've never just moved disks around like that, but come to think of it, just making a guest with those .vdi's at whatever path would work- providing the guest OS has what it needs. I wonder though, would stuff like UUID's be an issue? Are there any hidden things that could be problematic? Would I need to make a .txt file of notes so I can replicate MAC addresses on network interfaces or handle some-such sneaky issue that could pop up?

[socratis]

I should have linked the FAQ "Moving a VM" from the beginning, but it's not too late...

would stuff like UUID's be an issue? ... so I can replicate MAC addresses on network interfaces or...

That's why I said the "whole VM folder". Because the VDI may be just your virtual hard drive, but the .VBOX file is the VM "recipe", including all those things that you mentioned, like UUIDs, MACs, networks, etc. Open it up with a text editor and check it out. But, read-only, for your VM's sake...

One thing to remember is that you can't have the original and the backup "registered" in VirtualBox at the same time, because they contain the same UUIDs. They're identical after all.

[NginUS]

the FAQ "Moving a VM"

would stuff like UUID's be an issue? ... so I can replicate MAC addresses on network interfaces or...

the "whole VM folder". Because the VDI may be just your virtual hard drive, but the .VBOX file is the VM "recipe", including all those things that you mentioned, like UUIDs, MACs, networks, etc.

remember you can't have the original and the backup "registered" in VirtualBox at the same time, because they contain the same UUIDs.

Awesome, thanks lots. I think this one can be tagged 'Solved'. Much appreciated.