Two questions regarding vdi file

[mahmood]

1- Is it possible to change a dynamic sized vdi file to fix size?
2- Is it possible to mount a vdi file just like an iso file in linux?

thanks for any suggestion.

[vbox4me2]

1- Is it possible to change a dynamic sized vdi file to fix size?
2- Is it possible to mount a vdi file just like an iso file in linux?

thanks for any suggestion.

1.: via clonezilla yes.
2.: See Recovering / accessing a broken VDI / VMDK

[mahmood]

thanks

[mahmood]

I have converted vdi to iso with this command:

Code: Select all

VBoxManage clonehd file.vdi newfile.iso --format RAW

But I am not able to mount the iso image with "mount -o loop newfile.iso /mnt".
What should I do?

[vbox4me2]

I'm not sure if you can make an iso this way, I'd run a XP Guest/VM with this VDI as second disk, then added another black VDI to write the ISO as a file to and use clonezilla to convert this second vdi to iso.

[mahmood]

Sorry but I got confused....
My host is a ubuntu i386 10.04 and I installed a ubuntu amd64 10.10 as guest. Can you please explain exactly what should i do?

[vbox4me2]

Lets take a step back, what are you trying to do and why? (1 thing at a time)

[mahmood]

I am using m5 simulator and at http://www.m5sim.org/wiki/index.php/Fre ... k_image.3F it is stated that one way is to install a virtual machine with virtualbox. However the vdi file should be converted to iso. The reason is that with an iso file I can mount it and add remove files directly. This is what I am looking for.

[vbox4me2]

With tools listed under Recovering / accessing a broken VDI / VMDK you do the same but on a VDI file, no need to convert it. If you can run m5 as a VM you could attach a second VDI as second disk and do the same.

[mahmood]

I read that as you stated in the first reply. However my questions are:
1- I don't understand what is the similarity between recovering or repairing a broken and my question. I have a working vdi file. it is not damaged.
2- Another thing that I forgot to mention is that if I can convert vdi file to iso, then I can burn it on a cd and install it from cdrom on any amd64 system.

>no need to convert it
based on my understanding (the link I posted), I must convert.

UPDATE:
m5 is a program that I can run on my i386 machine. However for simulation, it needs a a full system. I mean a disk is attached to the simulator that represent a whole working os in a way that if you burn that disk to a cd, you can boot in to that os. then the benchmark on the attached disk is run and the simulator collect some information.

[vbox4me2]

That link also lets you access a VDI without using vbox, it doesn't matter if its broken or not.

Converting a VDI to an ISO, http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?p=7304
Booting from an ISO, http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm and http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

[mahmood]

Thanks. http://www.turnkeylinux.org/blog/convert-vm-iso is good guide.