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moving a VM??

Posted: 2. Feb 2012, 13:30
by justinrpg
is it possible to move a vdi VM to another location or to another drive?? I want to move two VMs to my external hard drive... is that possible to do??

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 2. Feb 2012, 14:44
by Perryg
Yes.
What version of VirtualBox were the guests created with? Version => 4.0 is easy even if you have snapshots.
Do you have snapshots?

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 3. Feb 2012, 05:03
by justinrpg
I have no idea what are snapshots... and I am unsure of what version they were created in...

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 4. Feb 2012, 12:33
by mpack
Look in the VM folder (find out where that is). If there is a file there called <vmname>.vbox then it was created by v4.0.0 or later. If there's a file there called <vmname>.xml then it was created by v3.x or earlier.

Also in the VM folder there should be a "Snapshots" subfolder. Look inside. If there's anything there then you have been using snapshots, which can be a problem for moving v3.x VMs.

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 5. Feb 2012, 01:11
by justinrpg
there are .vbox files but there is NO snapshots folder nor is there any files associated with whatever these so called snapshots are... now, how do I move my VMs???!

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 5. Feb 2012, 04:38
by justinrpg
why is nobody really helping me???

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 5. Feb 2012, 08:18
by stefan.becker
You have not bought it, VBOX is OSS. So be patient, we dont earn monoey for helping, its our private time.

If you have no snapshots, then copy the vdi files to the place you want. And then in the guest settings from the vbox gui change the path to the image.

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 7. Feb 2012, 20:26
by justinrpg
I cannot figure out how to change the path of the vdi!!! How do I do that??? I have clicked on EVERYTHING there is to click on yet still cannot figure out how to change the path!!! there is no option anywhere to do so!!!

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 7. Feb 2012, 20:34
by Perryg
If you have moved the complete folder that has the guest/s to a different location, remove the guest from the main VirtualBox manager (do not delete) and then dbl click on the *.vbox file to register it again.

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 7. Feb 2012, 22:23
by justinrpg
no, I just moved the vdi... so, what do I do know???

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 7. Feb 2012, 22:29
by Perryg
Well put it back and do what I suggested above.

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 8. Feb 2012, 00:17
by justinrpg
ok now I did that, but still didn't work!!! when I double click the vbox file it tries to register the vm with the original location (not the new location)!!! and VitrualBox says they are still inaccessible!!!

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 8. Feb 2012, 00:24
by Perryg
Did you click on the one at the new location? Did you remove (without deleting) the original.
Also look at the preferences of VirtualBox and make sue that it is set to the new location as well.

Oh an I don't need all the !!! I know you are struggling already.

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 8. Feb 2012, 00:32
by justinrpg
yes I did all that! still ain't working!

Re: moving a VM??

Posted: 8. Feb 2012, 00:36
by justinrpg
ok I got it now... apparently I had to remove it from the VitrualBox Manager AND the Virtual Media Manager (which you did NOT tell me to do)...