Recover virtual serve from vdi and xml file

[jonizen]

Hi!
Had some bad luck and got problems with my computer and decided to reinstall it, and chose to go on a windows 8 sytem when i was reinstalling. I got win 7 before. I did backup on my 2012 server i got. i copied the xml file and the .vdi file.

Now when im trying to get it back running on my windows 8, it just hangs. I see the virtualbox start then i just get a black screen whit the white " - " at the top left corner, not blinkin.

I have tried to clone and to change all settings but i cannot get it to work. The problem is that i have a school project hosted on the server and thought it would be possible to to the backup that i did. I still got my code on the project but my server and database is there and it would help to get it back.

Is it to late?

sending my logs.

Regards
Jonathan

[mpack]

VMs created in the last couple of years do not consist of a VDI and an xml. They consist of the entire contents of a folder, which in turn consists of - at minimum - a .vbox file and a .VDI. Without more precise knowledge of what you backed up and how you restored it, I can't offer useful advice.

The VirtualBox.xml file is not relevant to the VM - it's used to store preferences for the GUI front end. However it seems to be telling me weird things, like you were trying to mount the VDI file as a CD?

The correct way to re-register a VM is using Machine|Add and browsing to the .vbox file. If for some reason you can't do that (e.g. you didn't back it up) then you have to build a new VM, and when you get to the disk creation step you select "use existing" and browse to the VDI. Ideally the VDI should be located in the new VM folder (move it in before doing that browse step). A new VM is a significant hardware change as far as Win7 is concerned, so you'll need to reactivate.

If your server VM used snapshots and you didn't back them up too then all recent data is toast.

[jonizen]

VMs created in the last couple of years do not consist of a VDI and an xml. They consist of the entire contents of a folder, which in turn consists of - at minimum - a .vbox file and a .VDI. Without more precise knowledge of what you backed up and how you restored it, I can't offer useful advice.

The VirtualBox.xml file is not relevant to the VM - it's used to store preferences for the GUI front end. However it seems to be telling me weird things, like you were trying to mount the VDI file as a CD?

The correct way to re-register a VM is using Machine|Add and browsing to the .vbox file. If for some reason you can't do that (e.g. you didn't back it up) then you have to build a new VM, and when you get to the disk creation step you select "use existing" and browse to the VDI. Ideally the VDI should be located in the new VM folder (move it in before doing that browse step). A new VM is a significant hardware change as far as Win7 is concerned, so you'll need to reactivate.

If your server VM used snapshots and you didn't back them up too then all recent data is toast.

Hi!
Thank you for fast answer! I had all files, but i could no get it to work in any way. I installed a new enviroment and put the whole system upp and when i could not get a build in . net to work i wanted to access the vdi to get configs, by the install win 2012 iso, i tried to repair it but it did not help.

When i tried to start the vdi on my time capsule (NAS) it booted! And i cant understand how! After exported the vdi i could just run it without any problem!
So i have learned a valuble lesson when i do my backups in VB. And how fast i can set up a CI enviroment in . net

Edit:
I used synctoy to sync the vdi and the .virtualbox and vms folder regulrly to my TC.

But i did just what u said and it didnt work, i tried everything exept try to start it from my TC! (with some sarcasm) but i tried multiple solutions to this problem without any success.

Regards
Jonathan