[Resolved] Snapshot settings don't appear to change

[Iaintx]

Greetings. I'm running VirtualBox 5.1.36 on Debian 9.

I have tried to change the location that snapshots are saved to after running out of space on my home partition. (Filled it up with media, not snapshots, but realized it was a risk.) I've changed the default machine folder in File -> General, removed my old snapshots and created new ones, but they still are being created in ~/VirtualBox VMs/<machine>

Is this not configurable once the VM is created, or is there a way to change this location?

If I've missed a previous answer to this question in searching I apologize.

[socratis]

The VirtualBox » Preferences » General » Default Machine Folder, governs the location for the creation of new VMs.

The VM Settings » General » Advanced » Snapshot Folder, governs the Snapshot location, per VM.

I don't know how or what you did to move the Snapshots, I hope you didn't break them. Usually you don't separate one from the other, you keep the whole VM folder organized. And if you want to copy/move/backup, you should take a look at the "Moving a VM" FAQ.

[Iaintx]

Great. I see that now. The snapshot folder is disabled; I assume I need to shut the VM down and remove and/or move the snapshots before I try to change it.

As for moving, I cloned the base snapshot "just in case", then removed the others, so that I had no snapshots to care about. This is a Windows VM running as a game server and all of the game data is backed up externally, so being able to go back to the clone and update would cover my risk. I was concerned that checking the SSD box would trigger the Windows new hardware re-authorization mechanism, but that hasn't happened.

Thanks for the info!

[socratis]

The snapshot folder is disabled; I assume I need to shut the VM down and remove and/or move the snapshots before I try to change it.

Yes. You can't simply change (several of) the VM settings while the VM is running, paused or in saved state; the VM needs to be completely shutdown from within the VM, a normal shutdown.

That would be similar to hibernating your physical computer, and then moving the HD on a completely different hardware. It would definitely freak out!

Marking as [Resolved].