[Solved] Change Ubuntu version, VDI will work?

[luquino]

Hi to all.
I' m planning to move from my actual Ubuntu 9.04 to the new Ubuntu 9.10 (still Alpha 6). I have a virtual machine installed on 9.04 and I would like to use it, as it is, on the new 9.10: is it possible? how can I do this?

Thanks a lot for your help.

[Sasquatch]

This is possible. Now, depending on the Guest OS*, you might want to copy the whole .VirtualBox folder (it's hidden in your home folder) to an off-site location and after you upgraded to 9.10, restore the backup and you're done. Install VB (might not work properly due to the fact 9.10 is still in development and thus unsupported as Host) and it should see the VM.

(*) Windows is very picky about it's settings. Having I/O APIC enabled when installed and run it when you disable it, can cause crashes. Other settings could cause an activation request. Linux is not so much a problem, only that the new MAC address of the NIC will create a new NIC name which you can easily change. Copying the whole folder is advised anyway, due to possible snapshost trees and these will be kept that way.

[luquino]

ok sasquatch, after reading your post I made a try.
On my HDD I have 2 partitions: 1 for the stable Ubuntu, 1 for the unstable Ubuntu. So, what I did was to create a symbolic link replacing .VirtualBox folder in the home of the unstable, pointing to the same folder in the home of the stable.
I booted the virtual machine from the unstable installation without problems: I updated the AVG antivir and now AVG is scanning the system.
It looks to work smootly. So I suppose that when I decide to switch to the new version it will be enough to move the .VirtualBox folder.

One more question: is it possible to place the VDI file into another disk or partition and to say to VBox to read it, without using sym links?

Thank you so much.

[Sasquatch]

Yes, that's possible. You have to unregister the VDI, move it and then register it from the new location. Snapshots and saved states require a bit more work. Please search the forums, its been done before and discussed several times.

[luquino]

thanks a lot for your patience, I'll search the forum.