virtualbox.org

Suppose I have a site where 100-120 users need to have the same software. The host could be XP, the client would be one of several dedicated-function XPs ( later possible Linux).
However, it is quite important that each VM has an unique ID, preferable the computername or something related to the computername of the host PC. Yet we want to have just a few VMs (on a server) which are loaded depending on the selected functionality.
Ideally, the VM's XP name is in some way related to the host's name, e.g. if the host name is machine_039 , the VM XP names should be machine_039_A, .._B etc. One can of course place the VM's name in a shared folder before starting a VM, but is there some way to change the client XP computer name after booting this way?
Or is there another way this can be achieved?

Thanks, Mat

You can easily just create a new virtual machine from an existing VHD (virtual hard disk image). I did this with Win XP and was able to simply rename the machine and set up the TCP/iP, rename the machine on the domain and wahlah. Two different machines with the same config and different names. So in essence you can create a virtual machine (fresh install) and just copy from that one image to configure the way you like for the others. Hope you get this reply and I hope it helps although you may have already figured this out

I see now my original post wasn't clear on one point. It is not about creating VMs, but loading them. If I create a couple of special-function Windows VMs, can it be used by multiple users on different machines, picking up something that will enable each Windows VM to be uniquely identifiable (related to the host it is running on), even though the same VM is used? For instance, user A on machine 1 uses a VM called "CK" for 2 hours, then goes to machine 2 to use VM "GT" . Both VMs are in use at many machines at the same time.

Mat