Can't open VM. Has same UUID as existing machine

[wrkbear]

Upgraded to Oracle VB 7.2.6 and now I can't open existing VMs. Error message reads: "Trying to open a VM config '/home/VirtualBox VMs/Windows XP/Windows XP.vbox' which has the same UUID as an existing virtual machine."

Strangely enough I can open the VM by closing VB, right clicking on the .vbox file in the file manager and choosing "Open with VB". But then, none of the VB controls are available.

[wrkbear]

This problem has happened before (more than once if the truth be known), but the solution never seems to be the same. After going down several rabbit holes, I decided to do a thorough cleaning of all VB pieces. Did a global search of everything related to VB on my hard drive, re-booted, updated all my software and rebooted again,, downloaded and installed fresh, latest version VB package and VOILA, problem went away.

[ArrivalRate]

Note: Not trying to "hijack" this post.

Similar situation but unable to fix it.

Removed old version VB 7.0.10 via:
apt purge virtualbox-7.0

Rebooted host system.

Upgraded to VB 7.2.8

Attempted to open VM name Win10.

Error:
Failed to open virtual machine located in '/home/greg/VirtualBox VMs/Win10/Win10.vbox' which has the same UUID as an
existing virtual machine.

Have observed that Win10.vbox Machine uuid is the same as the Hardware UUID from vboxmanage showvminfo and same as the UUID shown in braces from vboxmanage list vms. Is this the expected situation?


NOTE: Solution (by user TGR) is here, involving generating UUIDs by running VBoxManage internalcommands setuuid TWICE; editing the .vbox file; etc. This avoids using clonevm.
https://superuser.com/questions/468187/ ... ual-machin

Still don't know what I missed in the VB remove & cleanup, reboot, install latest VB, reboot.

Any insights appreciated.

[granada29]

apt purge removes the software but does not touch the user owned files.

There are 2 directories of user files:
1 - $HOME/VirtualBox VMs/ which contains your VM configurations. Thats the default, you may be using a different name.
2 - $HOME/.config/VirtualBox which holds your configuration files for VirtualBox Manager including your disk UUIDs.

If you remove the second directory, it will be recreated when next you run VirtualBox Manager. You will then need to add your VMs to these new settings using VirtualBox Manager.

Of course, make sure you have a good backup before removing anything.

[Asailer]

I am having the same or a similar issue. I was running version 7.1.12 and everything was fine. I upgraded to version 7.2.8 and none of my VM's appeared in the left window. Trying to open one I get the message about duplicated uuid's. I uninstalled 7.2.8 and reinstalled 7.1.12 and everything if fine again. What is the problem if 7.1.12 works fine and 7.2.8 does not?

[Asailer]

I will answer my own question since the exact solution has not been posted. On Windows 11 in a command window run the command
%USERPROFILE%\.VirtualBox
This will take you to where your config files are. Now rename both files VirtualBox.xml-prev and VirtualBox.xml (say to VirtualBox.xml-prev.old and VirtualBox.xml.old). That way you can always recover your original setup.

Now start VirtualBox 7.2 and no vm's will be listed. Click "Open", open the directory of your vm and then open your vm's .vbox file. Your vm will start and after that when you start VirtualBox 7.2 your vm will be listed.

[klaus]

I will answer my own question since the exact solution has not been posted. On Windows 11 in a command window run the command
%USERPROFILE%\.VirtualBox
This will take you to where your config files are. Now rename both files VirtualBox.xml-prev and VirtualBox.xml (say to VirtualBox.xml-prev.old and VirtualBox.xml.old). That way you can always recover your original setup.

Now start VirtualBox 7.2 and no vm's will be listed. Click "Open", open the directory of your vm and then open your vm's .vbox file. Your vm will start and after that when you start VirtualBox 7.2 your vm will be listed.

What you describe is a way to "clear out" the known VMs. It's totally unclear why you bump into the issue you originally reported: that VirtualBox 7.2 doesn't list your clearly existing VMs. Of course you're wiping any evidence, so it'll be impossible to resolve this mystery.