virtualbox.org

I just installed VirtualBox 4.3.20 on my Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 and now realize that to allow other users on the Mac access to the same VM I should have installed the VM in a shared location. Can I move the VM to a share location now after installation or do I need to remove the VM and start over? I would like to move if possible because I have already installed and set up Office 365 on the VM and I don't want to start over with that installation.

I am new to VirtualBox so I will likely have a lot of questions to any suggested solution.

Sure thing. Take a look at the post: Moving a VM.

After that, there are a couple of things that you have to keep in mind:

1. After you move the VM, each user will have to add the machine to their "repository", either by dbl-clicking the .vbox file, or by going to the VirtualBox menu, Machine, Add... and point it to the .vbox file.
2. If a user uses a machine, the permissions on that machine will change. If you're thinking of moving it in the Shared folder, you have to think on how to resolve this non-trivial problem...

Thanks socratis, I am looking at that post now. On your second point, "if a user uses a machine, the permissions on that machine will change." What does that mean? Am I going to have problems with multiple users from my host os using the guest os?

Yes, most probably you will. You see, what OSX calls "Shared" isn't exactly ... shared. The user that writes a file in the shared region has Read-Write access; the rest Read-Only. You need to reset the permissions before and after each run to be truly Read-Write by all the users.

Ok so let me ask this question, I have five separate users on the Mac that I need to set up with access to the VM so they can access MS Office on the guest OS. Would I be better off to clone the VM to the other four users and have them stored in a directory specific to each user account?

Honestly... that sounds like you'd have to maintain 5 computers (updates, security, etc.). If you can, get an external HD, format it with HFS+, but choose to ignore permissions (from the Finder, Info). Take a look at http://www.larryjordan.biz/mac-os-set-h ... rmissions/ for the details. Then, follow the Moving the VM post and store it in your external HD. Bonus if it's a USB3.

However, if the internal hard drive size is 1 Terabytes, shaving off 5 100-GB partitions (via Disk Utility) would get the project going until an external hard drive can be acqured, if needed.

socratis wrote:\Take a look at http://www.larryjordan.biz/mac-os-set-h ... rmissions/ for the details.

Figured that out in second month I had a Mac.

ChipMcK wrote:However, if the internal hard drive size is 1 Terabytes, shaving off 5 100-GB partitions (via Disk Utility) would get the project going until an external hard drive can be acqured, if needed.

Excellent idea!!!

But why 5 partitions and not just 1, enough to hold your VM? If the permissions issue is not on the table, there is no need to create 1 VM per user. Since it is a single-user computer, there will be no concurrent use of the VM.

Is privacy an issue between the 5 users? Because if it is, ignoring the permissions for a volume will allow anyone to access whatever is written to it.

socratis wrote: Since it is a single-user computer, there will be no concurrent use of the VM.

It is not a single user computer. There are five plus the administrator Also, each partition may be assigned to an individual user.

If you make 5 partitions, one for each VM, you don't even need to go that route; you can simply have each user have its own VM in each user's documents folder. The idea was to have a single VM with multiple non-concurrent users accessing it. If you want security and/or privacy on top of that inside the VM, then 5 users in the Windows VM (plus an admin) takes care of that as well...

sspivey wrote:I have five separate users on the Mac that I need to set up with access to the VM so they can access MS Office on the guest OS. Would I be better off to clone the VM to the other four users and have them stored in a directory specific to each user account?

I gather that OP wants a separate VM per user. I may be mistaken.

sspivey wrote:Ok so let me ask this question, I have five separate users on the Mac that I need to set up with access to the VM so they can access MS Office on the guest OS. Would I be better off to clone the VM to the other four users and have them stored in a directory specific to each user account?

It looks to me like the OP has one Mac with 5 users, wants all 5 to be able to access one VM that has Windows with Office 365 already installed.

What I'm not quite sure about is why he didn't get the Mac version of Office 365 which allows 5 users/Macs.

loukingjr wrote: It looks to me like the OP has one Mac with 5 users, wants all 5 to be able to access one VM that has Windows with Office 365 already installed.

What I'm not quite sure about is why he didn't get the Mac version of Office 365 which allows 5 users/Macs.

Students would need Windows version - courses could be feature-specific.

You could be correct. The Mac version doesn't include OneNote, Publisher, and Access.