migrate vbox machines from win to linux host

[drManhattan]

Hi

I need to migrate my entire virtual environment between multiple operating systems. Between Windows XP and Linux Ubuntu.
The thing is that I have now multiple machines as guests under control of Windows XP host.
I will be changin operating system from Windows XP to Linux Ubuntu and I want those virtual machines to only copy from win to linux.

Is it possible to move those machines between systems, or I have to recreate them from the beginning ?

thx for help.

[mpack]

Moving a VM is easy, provided you don't use snapshots. If you do use snapshots then make a clone of the current state, which creates a "flat" disk image with no dependencies. The VM must be properly shut down (not suspended). It helps if you prepare Windows guests for migration first, by running MergeIDE and also by disabling the processor service (rename or delete "intelppm.sys" in the windows\system32\drivers folder). It may also be best to unmount any shared folders as these may be host specific.

Now, copy the VDI file(s) to a convenient folder on the target host.

Next, create new VMs on the target host, but when you get to the disk creation step choose "Use existing" and highlight your VDI file. You must make sure that the new VM has the exact same hardware settings it had on the old host, particularly for the IDE controller type, netword adapter type, MAC address and "IO APIC" setting.

Be warned: although it is easy to move a guest from one host to another, even if the hosts use different operating systems, you may find that Windows guests (XP and later) need to be reactivated, due to a change in VM UUID, or hardware differences that you missed, or due to a change in host processor type, which is visible to the guest and which you can do little about. Activation shouldn't be a problem provided you don't do this a lot.

[Thijs]

Hi,

I've successfully migrated my VirtualBox machines from one Windows host to another by copying ALL files, including the VirtualBox central configuration located (on XP) in "C:\Documents and Settings\[user folder]\.VirtualBox". Maybe you can do this when copying to Linux as well, and thus not being forced to re-create the VM's and/or re-activating the guests. You may need to edit the files (which are readable XML files) to reflect the new location(s).

Kind regards,
Matthijs

[mpack]

I've successfully migrated my VirtualBox machines from one Windows host to another by copying ALL files, including the VirtualBox central configuration located (on XP) in "C:\Documents and Settings\[user folder]\.VirtualBox". Maybe you can do this when copying to Linux as well

That way might be difficult, because the paths will be all wrong. The method I described is slightly slower and infinitely more reliable.