VM DISKFULL - use Snapshots as backup

[alexisleroy]

Hello everyone,

I tried to make an update on my VM and I got an error which now makes it impossible access to my vm.

Configuration.
* Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit on Windows 10 Pro Host
* Oracle VirtualBox 6.1

I made a lot of different snapshots as backup.

How can I reuse my vm and my configurations whitout reinstall all of it from scratch?

[scottgus1]

I made a lot of different snapshots as backup.

Snapshots are most definitely not backups. They are similar to Windows' System Restore points: they are point-in-past-time markers.

However, your error does not seem to be a problem in the VM OS itself. The VM's .vbox file did not write properly.

Go to "D:\VirtualBox VMs III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III".
Rename "Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vbox" to "Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vbox-bad".
Rename "Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vbox-prev" to "Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vbox".

Now try the VM again.

[mpack]

As Scott said, a snapshot is absolutely not a backup.

The purpose of a backup is to give you a way to recover if your files are damaged.

If your snapshot chain is damaged then all your data beyond a certain moment in time is gone. There is no way to recover it. That is not a very effective backup strategy.

The only effective backup strategy is, actual backups.


p.s. Yes, "DISK FULL" is a common outcome of too many snapshots, because you can't move snapshots to offline storage like you can with a real backup.

[alexisleroy]

Thanks for you fast reply!

I tried, but I got this error.

VirtualBox Error

ScreenShot_2021.03.08_18.04.30.PNG (22.99 KiB) Viewed 1661 times

[scottgus1]

Bummer, that means the .vbox-prev got screwed up too. Please zip and post both .vbox files the same way as you are doing the screenshots.

[alexisleroy]

.

[scottgus1]

Yup, that .vbox file is hosed. It may be fixable, but it will take some time to do it.

If you are willing to give up the snapshot structure, you can use Mpack's CloneVDI to clone the final snapshot disk file and make a new VM around it.

[alexisleroy]

Ok, I am ready to do it.

It it easy to do?
Do you have a step-by-step procedure to follow?

[scottgus1]

Mpack does, in the instructions with the program...

[alexisleroy]

Maybe I do not understand the procedure, but I executed the .exe from clondeVDI-exe-4.01. It makes a copy of the .vdi.

I put the .vdi copy inside a brand new vm and it does not work.

[scottgus1]

Maybe I do not understand the procedure

What was the procedure you used?

it does not work.

What is happening?

Please be descriptive with both.

[alexisleroy]

In the folder "D:\VirtualBox VMs III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III" I have
* Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.nvram
* Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vbox => the file that was named Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vbox-prev after the problem
* Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vbox-bad => the file was named Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vbox after the problem
* Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vdi => the original file

D:\VirtualBox VMs III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III

ScreenShot_2021.03.09_09.20.24.PNG (19.67 KiB) Viewed 1637 times

In the folder "D:\VirtualBox VMs III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III\Snapshots", my last Snapshot is
* {9819948a-d697-4f0d-bc11-4dfa5250ae4d}.vdi

D:\VirtualBox VMs III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III\Snapshots

ScreenShot_2021.03.09_09.22.36.PNG (62.74 KiB) Viewed 1637 times

What I made?
1. I opened "CloneVDI.exe"
2. In Source, I put "D:\VirtualBox VMs III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vdi" => the original .vdi
3. In Destination, I put "D:\VirtualBox VMs VI\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit VI" => another folder name
4. After clicking on "Proceed", I got a copy .vdi file in my destination folder
5. Then I replaced this new created .vdi file with the broken one in the folder "D:\VirtualBox VMs III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III"
6. I tried to run the virtualbox by double clicking on "D:\VirtualBox VMs III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III\Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Mate 64-bit III.vbox" but it does not work

[alexisleroy]

Here is the message I have after trying to run virtualbox after step 6.

Error message: "Failed to open virtual machine". result Code: E_FAIL

ScreenShot_2021.03.09_09.30.50.PNG (25.6 KiB) Viewed 1636 times

[mpack]

The CloneVDI instructions has a section on cloning snapshots, and it should have told you that you do not put the name of the base VDI in the "source filename" field in CloneVDI.

[alexisleroy]

I don't understand. If I put my snapshot .vdi ({9819948a-d697-4f0d-bc11-4dfa5250ae4d}.vdi), it gives me this error.

snapshot source error

ScreenShot_2021.03.09_11.25.14.PNG (6.1 KiB) Viewed 1628 times

So maybe the snapshot is corrupted?