Cannot start restored VM: Incompatible configuration requested

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Linux hosts.
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Emma2
Posts: 51
Joined: 16. Feb 2021, 11:59

Cannot start restored VM: Incompatible configuration requested

Post by Emma2 »

Hi.
I made a mistake in my guest, and therefore I tried to reuse my VM's backup (backup is automatically created: VM stopped, snapshot created, rsync, snapshot deleted VM restarted).
I unregistered the VM, copied the backup to my host, registered the VM, but to no avail. If I try to start it in headless mode, but I keep getting:

Code: Select all

$ vboxmanage startvm a4u-web --type headless
Waiting for VM "a4u-web" to power on...
VBoxManage: error: Incompatible configuration requested. (VERR_INCOMPATIBLE_CONFIG)
VBoxManage: error: Details: code NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005), component ConsoleWrap, interface IConsole
The machine is NOT in saved state, so discarding it doesn't help either:

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$ vboxmanage discardstate a4u-web
VBoxManage: error: Cannot delete the machine state as the machine is not in the saved state (machine state: PoweredOff)
VBoxManage: error: Details: code VBOX_E_INVALID_VM_STATE (0x80bb0002), component SessionMachine, interface IMachine, callee nsISupports
VBoxManage: error: Context: "DiscardSavedState(true )" at line 789 of file VBoxManageMisc.cpp
What else can I do? Thank you in advance for any advice.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Cannot start restored VM: Incompatible configuration requested

Post by scottgus1 »

This error appears to have never come up on the forums, and the source code says:
#define VERR_INCOMPATIBLE_CONFIG (-22420)
/** Internal error - this should never happen.
I suspect that between the time the "backup" was taken and now, the host OS or Virtualbox was changed sufficiently to make the configuration no longer match. Further info from you might help check if this is true.

One thing you could do as a test:
Reboot the host so no Virtualbox processes are running.
Go to /home/username/.config/ and move the "VirtualBox" folder to the desktop.
Open Virtualbox. The VM list will be empty, though all your VMs will still be available.
Register the "restored" VM's .vbox file.
Try the VM again from the Virtualbox Manager.

If it shows errors, we will need a lot more info, like when the restored "backup" was taken, what the state of the host and Virtualbox was at the time, etc. A zipped copy of the VM's .vbox file, uploaded through the forum's Upload Attachment tab might help.

You other VMs can be put back by:
Reboot the host so no Virtualbox processes are running.
Delete the new "VirtualBox" folder that Virtualbox re-made in /home/username/.config/.
Move the old "VirtualBox" folder on the desktop back to /home/username/.config/.
Virtualbox will now have all your old VMs again.

***********************************
One other thing, you might notice I put "backup" in quotes. Regrettably, the backup routine you had is not reliable, because it relies on snapshots. If you would like to discuss the subject, please feel free to start a new topic about using snapshots in backups. There are other much more reliable methods to do backups of both running and shut-down VMs.
fth0
Volunteer
Posts: 5661
Joined: 14. Feb 2019, 03:06
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Linux, Windows 10, ...
Location: Germany

Re: Cannot start restored VM: Incompatible configuration requested

Post by fth0 »

Just a guess: Do you have the VirtualBox Extension Pack installed (and the same version as VirtualBox itself)?
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Cannot start restored VM: Incompatible configuration requested

Post by mpack »

Another option that springs to mind is mixing and matching VirtualBox executables. Some people have a habit of copying VirtualBox executables around in the belief that this affects where VMs will be created. When the low level stuff has been reinstalled you might get an error like this.

Also, what precisely is the host? All that I can see is that it's Linux, but what is the CPU ID? Was the backup and restore both done on the same physical host?
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