[Resolved] upgrade to Mojave from El Capitan

[baskin@bio.umass.edu]

Hi, I am running Virtual Box 5.2.26 on Mac OS 10.11.6 (El Capitan) with a windows 7 guest. I need to upgrade my Mac OS to Mojave. Apparently 5.2.26 does not run under Mojave and virtual box version 6 does not run under El Cap. If I upgrade to Mojave and then install virtual box 6, will it open my windows 7 guest ok (and the installed programs and saved data be ok)? Many thanks for your help (if you wouldn't mind copying your reply to baskin at umass dot edu, I'd be grateful -- I am not sure I can repeat the log in process, it was pretty opaque. Thanks again. Tobias

[socratis]

Apparently 5.2.26 does not run under Mojave and virtual box version 6 does not run under El Cap

Not true. I have every single VirtualBox version running under 10.9.5. What you meant to say is "not supported", not "not running"...

If I upgrade to Mojave and then install virtual box 6, will it open my windows 7 guest ok (and the installed programs and saved data be ok)?

Yes. This is similar to asking "If I update my iTunes, will my MP3s open?", or "If I update Firefox, will my bookmarks open?"...

if you wouldn't mind copying your reply to baskin at umass dot edu

If I don't hear back from you in this thread, I will, just because I spent 6 years of my life in Goessmann...

[baskin@bio.umass.edu]

Socratis, Thank you! I am very glad to hear that the guest PC is stored in a way that is as stable as a .mp3 file extension. That is great to hear. And also great to know that I can move to Mojave and still open virtualbox and my guest pc. Phew! This is a relief. Happily I was able to log in here. I am a few buildings over from Goessmann in Morrill madness. Thanks again. Tobias

[socratis]

I am a few buildings over from Goessmann in Morrill madness

Hey! That's where my ex was working! Be careful of the fumes, I'm talking from experience!

Marking as [Resolved].

[baskin@bio.umass.edu]

Oh yes. I am in a newly rennovated bit, which helps on the fumes, but when it rains hard, my windows leak! By the way, maybe you know, my office computer also a mac runs parallels. Is there a straightfoward way to export the guest pc from parallels to virtual box??? I'd like that. Sorry to shift the question here but perhaps the answer is as simple as to one I asked originally?? Thanks.

[mpack]

Is there a straightfoward way to export the guest pc from parallels to virtual box?

Assuming that Parallel's still doesn't support OVA/OVF export then no - there is no simple way to convert a VM.

Parallels is very proprietary. They think they're protecting their ecosystem. In fact I believe they're deterring people from entering it, because once in - you're locked in.

The best you can do is trying using VBoxManage to clone the .hdd file, into VDI format. If you works you can build a VM around the VDI (make sure VDI ends up inside VM folder). If it doesn't work then that's because it's not a v2 format .hdd file (hdd v2 was reverse engineered years ago), so next you'd need to use a Parallels tool to make it v2 format.

Another thing you can try is running a disk imaging tool such as Disk2VHD from inside the guest: writing the image to a NAS or similar. VHD itself is not recommended, but it can definitely be converted to VDI.

[baskin@bio.umass.edu]

Thanks mpack. I started using parallels because vbox would not drive an external camera. This was some years ago. I think new vbox versions would do that and anyway I don't need to do that on my office computer. It would be nice to change. I will see if I can make a discimage. That sounds like a good idea.

[socratis]

I started using parallels

Which Parallels would that be? I'm willing to try "Parallels Lite", mainly because 1) it's free, 2) it does not affect the system overall since it relies on the native Apple Hypervisor Framework^[1].

I could try and see what format a VHD is stored as and see what can be done with it, if anything...

---

^[1]: Something tells me that this is going to be the next appearance of the green tortoise... between that and KVM, which will be the first one?

[baskin@bio.umass.edu]

Ah actually PAID parallels. I think they call it 'desktop'. Right now it is version 11.2.2. Thanks. Tobias