Migrating from Ubuntu 8.10 Host (XP Guest) to Windows 7 Host

[lake54]

Hi there,

Firstly - I love VirtualBox - one of my favourite pieces of software.

Now, on to the issue!

Ubuntu 8.10 Host running XP Pro Guest. I want to install Windows 7 over Ubuntu, and get the XP machine running on the new Windows 7 installation.

Can I follow the steps in this post, and that's it?

If so, can anybody elaborate on steps 3 and 4?

Thanks for your time!

James

[stefan.becker]

Not this way when Host are different OS.

In this case its better to save the vdi on old host, install new host&vbox, create a new disk, copy old vdi to new host and set this vdi as disk for the new guest.

[lake54]

So basically copy the current VDI to the new host once installed, and set it as a second hard disk?

Or is this the CloneVDI tool I've been seeing on the forums?

I'm afraid my knowledge is limited with VBox.

It's purely for getting the data off, so it might be worth just leaving it and getting all the settings prior to the wipe.

James

[abcuser]

So basically copy the current VDI to the new host once installed, and set it as a second hard disk?

No! I think stefan.becker thinks the following way (I did it this way and it works - I have moved Ubuntu guest VDI file from Windows XP host to Ubuntu host).
1. On new host (Windows 7) install VirtualBox software.
2. On existing Windows XP (under Ubuntu guest) uninstall VirtualBox Guest Addins. (I had to do this when moving from Windows to Ubuntu host few years ago).
3. Copy VDI file from Ubuntu host to Windows 7 host
4. In VirtualBox GUI click on New button to create new virtual machine
5. When asked if you would like to "Boot Hard Disk" select "Use existing hard disk" and point to the copied VDI.
6. Start guest on new host and install VirtualBox Guest Addins again.

Or is this the CloneVDI tool I've been seeing on the forums?

No, CloneVDI is a GUI tool to copy VDI files inside the single computer, because by default VDI files when copied with operating system copy tool it creates identical files. But VirtualBox does not support two identical VDI files on single computer, because every VDI file include unique ID. The same VDI files with the same IDs can't be used on one PC - VirtualBox does not allow this. CloneVDI tool makes copy of VDI file and generates new ID for copied file. The same think can be done using vboxmanage command (read documentation for full syntax if needed).

I'm afraid my knowledge is limited with VBox.

Don't worry, it is getting bigger and bigger every day.

[lake54]

Ah right this looks really simple (for me at least!)

So, just to make sure:

Uninstall Guest Additions
Install Windows 7
New Machine using Existing hard disk
Install Guest Additions
Done

Thanks a lot for your help

James

[abcuser]

lake54, yes correct. Just don't forget to copy VDI file from old host to new host.

Uninstall Guest Additions
Install Windows 7
Copy VDI from Ubuntu host to Windows 7 host
New Machine using Existing hard disk
Install Guest Additions
Done

[lake54]

Of course

By the way, is it purely the one VDI file, or is it the whole Machines directory?

I have snapshots of the guest machine, and preferably would like to ensure that the current machine state (not VBox 'saved' state, but the general setup, settings etc) are maintained.

Thanks once again - hopefully I'll be typing from a shiny new Windows 7 desktop soon!

James

[abcuser]

lake54, snapshots are not supported when migrating from one host to anoter! You have to make all the changes to one VDI file. And then copy only VDI file not whole machine folder/subfolders.

I have snapshots of the guest machine, and preferably would like to ensure that the current machine state (not VBox 'saved' state, but the general setup, settings etc) are maintained.

If you would like to have current machine state, then you have to get rid (delete) snapshots first - this can take some minutes (like 10 minutes or more).

If so, do the following:
1. One VirtualBox GUI
2. Click on virtual computer you would like to manage (left window)
3. Click on Snapshot tab in right window
4. Click on snapshot (DON'T CLICK ON CURRENT STATE!) and click on Discard Snapshot button. This will delete snapshot and establish VDI file with the "Current State" state of saved image.

After above is done Snapshot folder of you machine should be emptied (no files in the folder). If not something is wrong, maybe you have more then one snapshot, if so delete them all.

Just be careful, when snapshot is deleted you can't go back to old snapshot saved image. The only state you will have is current state (the last state in which is virtual machine) all old stored snapshot will be lost.

P.S. Before deleting snapshots make sure you have enough disk space - data that are in current_state will be written to VDI file in HardDisks folder, so VDI file will become larger. I got in trouble when disk was full during deleting of snapshot few days ago. I had to manually delete some files which is always dangerous. Probably some bug in the latest version, that does not check the disk space before executing delete of snapshot task.
Regards

[lake54]

OK I'm removing the older snapshots now. Will post back if I have any problems.

A lot simpler that I thought it would be I must say!

James

[mpack]

Unless they are very old and out of date (or not from VBox!), you will probably find that uninstalling then reinstalling the guest additions is not necessary. The GAs are tailored for a particular guest, not for the host.

[lake54]

Hi guys,

Haven't carried on with the installation of Windows 7 yet - took all night to free enough space to back up the VDIs! (Ubuntu 'deleted' the files, but the space was still being taken up. Had to format that drive in the end - nightmare )

Anyway, just remembered - I'm running VB .8 on Ubuntu - if I then install .10 on Windows 7, will there be any incompatibilities with the VDI I use? I need to make sure that this doesn't go wrong at all - it's my parent's data that is on the VM.

I appreciate your help

James

[abcuser]

Unless they are very old and out of date (or not from VBox!), you will probably find that uninstalling then reinstalling the guest additions is not necessary. The GAs are tailored for a particular guest, not for the host.

You are probably right. I had to do this few years ago, so one simple extra step to make it sure will probably not hurt.

[abcuser]

Haven't carried on with the installation of Windows 7 yet - took all night to free enough space to back up the VDIs! (Ubuntu 'deleted' the files, but the space was still being taken up. Had to format that drive in the end - nightmare )

Don't quite understand, but if you would like to shrink disk that is intended to Ubuntu just deleting files will not help, you need a partition tool like Gparted and shrink partition (can be risky if you don't know what are you doing), I think it is also included on Ubuntu CD (not sure, I always use separate CD with Gparted).

Anyway, just remembered - I'm running VB .8 on Ubuntu - if I then install .10 on Windows 7, will there be any incompatibilities with the VDI I use?

What is VB .8 and .10? Do you think VB 3.0.8 and 3.0.10?

I need to make sure that this doesn't go wrong at all - it's my parent's data that is on the VM.

Regardless what we write to this forum, there is always some little possibilities that something can go wrong, so I would keep VDI files in two places - first on Ubuntu host and second on Windows 7 host, just to make sure everything is working without a problem. Maybe you can copy VDI file to some external USB drive or external hard disk. Just don't lose data and then come back to forum angry.

[mpack]

Yep, steps to making sure it works on the new host :-

1. First make sure it still works on the old host after any changes you made, like discarding snapshots.
2. Make a backup copy of the VDI and machine.xml files onto an external drive.
3. Go to new host, make sure VBox is installed correctly there.
4. Copy (not move) the VDI from the external drive onto new host local drive.
5. Add (File|Virtual Media Manager) the VDI copy to the registered media list in VirtualBox.
6. Create a new VM, when you get to hard disk creation step select "use existing" and select the VDI copy you registered.
7. BEFORE running the VM, check that all of the VM hardware settings are the same as they were on your backup XML.

Then it should work fine. If anything goes wrong you still have an untouched copy of the VDI (on the external drive) to revert to. You really can't lose data as long as you have that.

[lake54]

Cheers for your help guys.

Now, because it's me and I have really bad luck, I backed up the VDI to my external hard disk. I then installed Windows onto the original hard disk, that all went fine (sound card has gone bust though).

When I plug in my hard drive back in to copy the files 'back', it says that the partition I have the VDIs on is corrupted/not formatted. Sigh

Using a data recovery program to get the stuff back, and it seems to be going fine at the mo, as the partition isn't used anyway.

So, fingers crossed.

Me + computers = bad luck

Thanks for your help guys.