export a VM gotcha !?

[launeric]

Hi I tried to export a VM from a window host to another host and that time I screwed up and the original VM got discarded the save state so I lost most of my changes but luckily I had most stuff in git so I just re-apply the code change
I would like you guys give me some advice on what does this mean on this screen shot clip and whats the safest and easiest way to move a VM from one host to another.

So I hit continue like so in the screen shot ?
Will I lost any changes in the VM ?
What does it really mean ?


Thanks so much

[Perryg]

You need to shut the guest down before you export it. As for continue or cancel I would cancel and shut the guest down properly before you export.

[scottgus1]

A guest in a "saved state" is like a Windows OS that has been hibernated. When the saved-state guest restarts it will not have to go through the usual boot process, but will almost immediately go back to the spot you left off when you saved the state. You "save state" by the way, when you click the X at the top of the Virtualbox guest window and choose "Save the Machine State" from the pop-up shown here:

close guest.png (21.52 KiB) Viewed 648 times

You can also Save State with a Vboxmanage command.

Regarding the easiest way to move a guest to another Virtualbox host, see: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=55003

If you're moving to a VMware or other type of host, the "export appliance" system is necessary.