Snapshots retained OK when upgrading from 1.56 to 1.60
Posted: 6. Jun 2008, 19:44
I had a WinXP VM in VirtualBox 1.56 and I had taken 4 snapshots at various stages during installation of software packages.
Unfortunately, during an update of my Debian-Testing host, the libxerces and libxalan files were updated and VirtualBox 1.56 wouldn't run.
Since I hadn't merged my snapshots into the main WinXP.vdi (by discarding them in sequence from oldest to newest) I decided to see if VirtualBox 1.6 would recognise the snapshots anyway. If it didn't work, the worst case scenario was that I would have to re-install some software in my VM.
The steps I followed were:
1. I made a backup of my ~/.VirtualBox directory (just in case).
2. I uninstalled VirtualBox 1.56 using my package manager (Synaptic).
3. I downloaded the VirtualBox 1.60 deb package and installed it using KPackage.
4. I opened a terminal, logged in as root and ran "/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup", which created the new kernel module for VirtualBox 1.6.
5. I rebooted my PC to be sure (old habit from Windows days).
6. I started VirtualBox 1.6 and accepted the user agreement.
7. I selected the "Backup" option when it asked about changing the file formats from 1.2Linux to 1.3Linux.
8. The GUI showed my WinXP VM with the 4 snapshots. The VM ran fine and it was also possible for me to merge the previous snapshots by discarding them in sequence (oldest to most recent).
The conclusion is that for me on a Debian-Testing PC, I could upgrade from VB 1.56 to VB 1.60 and successfully keep my 4 snapshots and a functioning VM. I hope this is helpful to anyone else in a similar position.
P.S. I haven't yet installed the 1.60 version of the "Guest Additions" in my WinXP VM but I don't anticipate any problem with this.
Unfortunately, during an update of my Debian-Testing host, the libxerces and libxalan files were updated and VirtualBox 1.56 wouldn't run.
Since I hadn't merged my snapshots into the main WinXP.vdi (by discarding them in sequence from oldest to newest) I decided to see if VirtualBox 1.6 would recognise the snapshots anyway. If it didn't work, the worst case scenario was that I would have to re-install some software in my VM.
The steps I followed were:
1. I made a backup of my ~/.VirtualBox directory (just in case).
2. I uninstalled VirtualBox 1.56 using my package manager (Synaptic).
3. I downloaded the VirtualBox 1.60 deb package and installed it using KPackage.
4. I opened a terminal, logged in as root and ran "/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup", which created the new kernel module for VirtualBox 1.6.
5. I rebooted my PC to be sure (old habit from Windows days).
6. I started VirtualBox 1.6 and accepted the user agreement.
7. I selected the "Backup" option when it asked about changing the file formats from 1.2Linux to 1.3Linux.
8. The GUI showed my WinXP VM with the 4 snapshots. The VM ran fine and it was also possible for me to merge the previous snapshots by discarding them in sequence (oldest to most recent).
The conclusion is that for me on a Debian-Testing PC, I could upgrade from VB 1.56 to VB 1.60 and successfully keep my 4 snapshots and a functioning VM. I hope this is helpful to anyone else in a similar position.
P.S. I haven't yet installed the 1.60 version of the "Guest Additions" in my WinXP VM but I don't anticipate any problem with this.