cloneTo() loses groups?

[Jermey]

Hi All,

I am new to programming the VBox API, so apologies if this is a newbie question. I am writing in Python and using VBox 5.0. I am attempting to create a new machine cloned from another. The new machine needs to be created in a new machine group. When I execute the createMachine() API, I can save the settings and see that the group is there. However, after I cloneTo() the group setting is gone. I'm not sure if I'm calling things wrong, but here is the code:

Code: Select all

    def create(self, groups=None, progress=None):
        if self.exists:
            return False

        filename = self._VBOX.composeMachineFilename(
            self.name, groups[0], None, None)

        # create the new vm vbox vm
        self.vbox_vmi = self._VBOX.createMachine(
            filename, self.name,
            groups, 'Other', '')

        # clone the 'cvx-base' VM
        cvx_base = self._CATALOG['clone-this-vm']     # _CATALOG is just a dictionary of existing VMs
        cloning = cvx_base.cloneTo(
            self.vbox_vmi,
            self._ENUMS.CloneMode_MachineState, None)

        if not progress:
            cloning.waitForCompletion(-1)
        else:
            # TODO: should put in a failsafe for exceeding timeout
            while not cloning.completed:
                progress(self.name, cloning.percent, cloning.completed)
                cloning.waitForCompletion(1000)
            # one more for done
            progress(self.name, cloning.percent, cloning.completed)

        self.__class__._catalog_register(self)
        return True

I also trying using the "vboxmanage clonevm" command with the --groups --register option and I actually see the same results; i.e. the groups are lost.

Really appreciate anyone's guidance.

Thank you!
-- Jeremy

[noteirak]

There is no mention of groups management in IMachine::cloneTo() so not possible to answer directly.
I've asked the questions on the dev mailing list, we'll see what comes up.

[Jermey]

Hi noteirak,

Really appreciate the prompt response on this. I look forward to seeing what the devs report.

Thank you!
-- Jeremy

[Jermey]

Hi noteirak,

Are there any other approaches to solving this issue, i.e. a way to write the "groups" back after the cloneTo() operation? I tried to access the IMachine.groups attribute, but I am seeing that this attribute is not found on the IMachine instance.

Thanks again,
-- Jeremy

[noteirak]

That's odd, that's exactly what I would do: read the list of groups from the original VM and add them to the cloned VM.
Maybe check for possible getGroups() and setGroups() methods?

[Jermey]

Awesome, this worked!

Code: Select all

self.vbox_vmi.setGroups(['/pod_1.demo'])

So this "setGroups" method is not defined in the SDK documentation. How does one learn about these undocumented methods?

Thanks again!!

[noteirak]

That depends on the language actually. For (almost) all properties, you'll find a matching getXXX and setXXX method in Python and Java per example. Possibly in PHP too.
Actual properties are used in C/C++ because it's possible to make them readonly per exemple, which is not the case (at least not like intended in C/C++) in Java or Python.
That's just a trick to know

[Jermey]

Hi noteirak,

Good trick to know, thank you!

I did run into one "problem" assigning the Group after the cloneTo(). Let's say I createMachine() with groups = ["/my_group"]. What happens *before* the register() is that the VM, let's call it "my_host" is actually located in my "Virtual Box/my_group/my_host" directory. But *after* the call to register(), and after I make the explicit called to setGroup(), it's relocated to "Virtual Box/my_group/my_group/my_host". <<-- note the "doubling" of the group path.

The issue here is that in the my_host.vbox settings file, it points the harddrive to "Virtual Box/my_group/my_host/my_host.vdi". So when the register() process happens, VBoxManager (GUI) shows that the hard-drive is not accessible; and the VM fails to launch. I had to "hot fix" this by creating a symlink in the "Virtual Box/my_group" directory ... but that's really a hack.

Any ideas what this is happening?

Thank you!
-- Jeremy

[noteirak]

No idea but that sounds like a bug indeed. Will double check if I can reproduce. Workaround would be to give a group only after the VM is registered.

[Jermey]

I finally figured this out. Turns out there is a very specific order that I needed to do in making the calls. First, do *NOT* include the groups in the createMachine() call. Only after the call to cloneTo() has finished do I then call setGroups() and then registerMachine(). Then everything works as expected.

Fun learning experience, indeed

Thank you again for your help. It's the setGroups, and the better understanding on getXXX and setXXX that you shared that really helped out. Really appreciate it.

Cheers,
-- Jeremy

[noteirak]

Glad you made it work. My hunch was good in the end then. I still need to reproduce locally but almost 100% sure it's a bug and I'll fill up a bug report later on so the devs can have a look at it.

[noteirak]

Bug confirmed