How to copy/clone a VM

[jjurban]

Windows 7 Prof Host. eComStation Guest.
Running Virtual Box.

I made a VM using a previous version of Virtual Box.
I "upgraded" to v 4.2.4 r8 1684.

I zipped the .vhd and used it on another Windows 7 computer to create a VM. All work fine. I love VB.

Now I want to make a second VM on the same machine (with a slightly different TCP/IP address).

I copied the .vhd to another file. When I try to make a "new" VM using this copy, I get the message about "same uuid."

I looked up instructions online and I see stuff about making a clone, or changing the uuid. All invoke the VBoxmanage.exe.

But all the examples refer to .vdi files, NOT .vhd.

I NEVER selected what kind of file I wanted, VB just gave me .vhd as the extension.

My question is this: How do I get my second VM? Detailed instructions please.

Thanks for your reply.

John

[noteirak]

My question is this: How do I get my second VM? Detailed instructions please.

The best approach is to clone the VM, by right clicking on the current VM and selecting "Clone...".
This will ensure a smooth working copy of your VM

[jjurban]

Thank you for your quick reply.,

But won't the clone have the same uuid as the original?

Also, there is a box [ ] "Reinitialize the MAC address of all network cards"

Do I want to check this box? Will it affect the original?

I am not sure what this means.

[noteirak]

But won't the clone have the same uuid as the original?

It won't - the cloning feature of Virtualbox will generate new UUIDs for the required parts.

Also, there is a box [ ] "Reinitialize the MAC address of all network cards"
Do I want to check this box? Will it affect the original?

You do want to check this box yes, and it won't affect your original - it's safe.

[jjurban]

Thanks so much for your reply.

[Rootman]

One other concern is the NIC's MAC address, when choosing the CLONE feature you should also select to REINITIALIZE MAC ADDRESS as well, if you don't your DHCP server will try and assign the SAME IP address to BOTH VM's, it's not an issue if you NEVER run the VMs at the same time, it IS if you run them both at the same time, this will cause an IP address conflict. Not sure about eComStation but Windows VM's OS might have to be reactivated as well with new UUID and a MAC address change.