Hi, ALL,
I am trying to create a Virtual Machine with the VirtualBox.
My first attempt was to use a VB under Linux (I am using Gentoo).
I installed VB started it and created a VM. Since I have an external hard drive I chosed a place on this drive and continued. Everything worked fine and I ended up with the VM.
Next I tried to open this machine on Windows. I installed VB on my Windows box, powered off the VM from the Linux, disconnected the drive and connected it to the Windows machine. Started VB aznd tried to open the machine. This step failed.
Looking further I found that my external drive contained only the VM disk (VDI file), but in order to open the machine I have to have a vbox file.
Looking on my Linux box I found such a file inside "~/.VirtualBox" directory. Copied this file and some other one over to the external drive to the same directory (where the VDI file is) and tried to open it. This also failed.
My next attempt was to do the following:
On windows I started VB and tried to create a VM with the default location. Everything worked fine and VM was created. Next I copied all 3 files over to the external disk and tried to open the VM from it. I was able to do so without any issues. Next I powered off the machine and removed all the files from the default place (where they were created) and tried to open the VM. This time the operation failed.
So now my question is - how do I create a VM on the external drive and keep all its files in one place? Is there a VB settings or VM settings I choose in order to do so?
Thank you.
Keep all files of VB in one place.
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socratis
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Re: Keep all files of VB in one place.
You tried to outsmart the defaults, that's why this happened. The default behavior actually is to keep all the VirtualBox files in one directory, named <VM_name> (that's your VM_name) in the default location as set by the VirtualBox Preferences » General » Default Machine Folder. That's where *new* VMs are created.
If you want to move an existing VM, see the FAQ: Moving a VM.
If you want to move an existing VM, see the FAQ: Moving a VM.
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ONEEYEMAN
- Posts: 14
- Joined: 21. Sep 2011, 23:30
- Primary OS: Linux other
- VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
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Re: Keep all files of VB in one place.
Hi,
So I can change the defaults and then all my VM files can be stored in one place on the external hard drive, right?
Thank you for the info.
So I can change the defaults and then all my VM files can be stored in one place on the external hard drive, right?
Thank you for the info.
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BillG
- Volunteer
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- Joined: 19. Sep 2009, 04:44
- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Windows 10,7 and earlier
- Location: Sydney, Australia
Re: Keep all files of VB in one place.
No. By default they are kept in your home directory, but they are all kept together in the same directory. If you want to keep them somewhere else, go to File>Preferences and change the default machine folder to be on your external hard drive. Then all of the files you need will be in the same folder on your external drive.
Bill