New member requiring some pointers

[obeone@gmail.com]

I was a member of this forum in the past but my username and password are no longer recognised so needed to start a fresh account.

I have used Vbox in the past on my Mac but I have encountered a few issues this time around and would appreciate some pointers.
I have moved over to Vbox from Parallels (Windows Guest) as totally fed up with their licensing model.

I converted the Windows .pvm file using the Vmware converter then the CloneVDI tool to convert the VDMK file to VDI. All this went without a hitch and Windows 10 fired up and activated without any issues.

However, the VDI file is in a separate folder (VM folder > another folder within that called PC > then finally the VDI file) not the Vbox folder and I’m wondering if this is a mistake?

I have tried to move the VDI file into the Vbox folder but every time I try to move it I get the usual message about another file of that name already exists in this location exists etc etc. What’s even worse is when I move the VDI file back to where it was I then get a Windows activation error.

Finally, what is the best way to back up the VM i.e. copy both the VM file and Vbox file to my NAS or clone the VDI disk?

Thanks in advance for any help you are able to offer.

I'm sure I've done something stupid at the outset but hopefully one of you will put me straight.

[mpack]

However, the VDI file is in a separate folder (VM folder > another folder within that called PC > then finally the VDI file) not the Vbox folder and I’m wondering if this is a mistake?

How do you mean? VirtualBox will be using the VDI file you told it to use, in the location you told it to use it from. VirtualBox does not copy the VDI anywhere - but I do advise you to do it :-

1. Shut down VM
2. Use File|Virtual Media Manager to Release (unregister) and then Remove the VDI file. Tell it NOT to delete the physical file.
3. Shut down the VirtualBox manager and move the VDI into the VM folder.
4. Fire up the VM manager again and reattach the VDI to the appropriate controller in your vm settings Storage panel. "Appropriate" means SATA if a SATA controller is defined, else IDE.

[mpack]

Once you have all files in the VM folder, the best way to back up a VM is to make a copy of the VM folder.

[obeone@gmail.com]

Hi Mpack
I'm not sure if I am now dreaming given the part of my post you quoted or not. Let me explain a bit more. When I used the VM converter I thought (now not altogether sure) that I created a folder and named it VM and within that folder was the .PVM file. However, when I had finished with the VMware converter I had a folder still called VM but within that folder was now another folder called Jack-PC (that is the name of the Windows 10 computer) and within the folder called Jack-PC resides the VMDK/VDI file. I'm pretty sure that the problem arose because when I ran Vbox for the first time it created a folder called Virtualbox VM and instead of putting the VDI file within the Vbox folder I instead pointed the manager to the folder called VM. I hope I have explained that so you are able to follow what I have done.

Now no matter what I try to do i.e. detaching the disk from manager then moving the VDI file into the VirtualBox VM folder it won't play ball. I either get a message that I can't move the file to the Vbox folder because a file of that name already resides there or I get a long message about UUID conflicts - something like this example (not from my machine)

Failed to open a session for the virtual machine IE7.

UUID {5a5e730b-42e1-8b48-90c0-c1b9248e1722} of the medium '.../.ievms/vhd/IE7/Windows Vista.vhd' does not match the value {3097458d-2ebe-4560-8b8f-3e6d73780a6e} stored in the media registry ('.../Library/VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml').

Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: Medium
Interface: IMedium {53f9cc0c-e0fd-40a5-a404-a7a5272082cd}

[obeone@gmail.com]

Further update - thanks Mpack. Thanks to you the issues I was experiencing are now solved, your instructions have worked a treat. I was missing a step by not going to file and releasing the VDI file from within that window. I now have in my VBox VM folder another folder called Jack-PC which contains the VDI file and a further folder called Windows 10 (what I named the VM setup) which contains the log folder and two Vbox files. I'm assuming this is now how it should be? If so then I will copy the Vbox VM folder to my NAS later on.

Thanks once again.

[mpack]

I'm assuming this is now how it should be?

No, that is not how it should be. I suggest that you try creating a new VM then look at the folder structure to see how it should be. You don't actually need to install an OS so this should only take moments. Nor will it require much disk space.

The "VM folder" is the folder containing all the files belonging to one VM: this should include the VDI, .vbox files, Logs subfolders (and Snapshots folder if you make the poor decision to use snapshots). Usually the VM folders are all inside a parent container folder called <userdatapath>"\VirtualBox VMs". The latter is not referred to as the VM folder.

See User Manual s10.1: Where VirtualBox Stores Its Files.

[obeone@gmail.com]

Hello again Mpack.

I have followed your instructions to the letter but again I cannot do this for the following message -
Cannot register the hard disk '/Users/Jack/VirtualBox VMs/Window 10/Clone of Jack-PC.vdi' {7dff68ed-9e0f-416b-8a0f-c09ff3397066} because a hard disk '/Users/Jack/VirtualBox VMs/Jack-PC/Clone of Jack-PC.vdi' with UUID {7dff68ed-9e0f-416b-8a0f-c09ff3397066} already exists.


Result Code:
NS_ERROR_INVALID_ARG (0x80070057)
Component:
VirtualBoxWrap
Interface:
IVirtualBox {0169423f-46b4-cde9-91af-1e9d5b6cd945}
Callee RC:
VBOX_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND (0x80BB0001)

I can put the Jack-PC VDI file into the Vbox folder but not as in the structure indicates when I set up a brand new VM as per your instructions. It will only accept the Jack VDI file if I keep it in the Jack-PC folder in the Vbox VM folder but as a separate item. I cannot put it into the VM I created at the start called Windows 10.

I think I'm going to have to live with it as it is.

[mpack]

I thought that, given your earlier post about the File menu, you had learned the lesson that media needs to be unregistered before you can move it.

[obeone@gmail.com]

I thought that, given your earlier post about the File menu, you had learned the lesson that media needs to be unregistered before you can move it.

Isn't that what I am doing when I click file > media manager then release? If I am missing a step then please tell me. I'm not sure by simply saying 'I thought I had learned my lesson' actually takes things on further or helps me resolve the issue. I have followed you instructions to the letter?

What I am not seeing in this process is this - when I unregister the VDI it immediatley disappears from the media manager storage window i.e. there is nothing for me to remove as unregistering it first then removes it from storage???

[mpack]

Release simply disconnects the media from the controller in any VM which is using it. You must then use Remove to unregister it. Without the latter step you get the errors you saw because of duplicate registrations.

I actually gave the full instructions in an earlier post - the procedure does not change, every step is required regardless of how far the file is being moved.

[obeone@gmail.com]

I realize what you are saying mpack but as said in previous post I cannot remove the VDI file because when I unregistered the file it then disappears from storage i.e. CD empty (which it should be) but SATA is also empty, the VDI is no longer there for me to remove? I'm wondering if that is because I moved the Jack-PC folder which contains the VDI into the VBox folder? If not then I am stumped.

[obeone@gmail.com]

Mpack - update. I have solved this at last. Whether something has changed in the new vbox release 5.1.20 I'm not sure. However, as said when I released the VDI it wasn't present in the Storage controller in Vbox manager. Just on the off chance I went back into file media manager and sure enough the VDI was there. Release was now greyed out but the option to remove the VDI was live. I removed it, opting for keeping the VDI then closed down VBox. I then simply moved the VDI into the Vbox folder on the Mac HDD, added it again in Vbox manager and it's started up without any issue and Windows has remained registered.

Thanks for all your help but also worth noting about the changes to procedure.

[mpack]

I'm sorry, but there has been no change to procedure. The procedure you eventually followed is equivalent to the one I described in my first post (except that I suspect you are removing the VDI using the Storage panel instead of using File|Media Manager for both Release and Remove as instructed).

This procedure has not changed since v4.0.0 in December 2010 (6 years ago).

[obeone@gmail.com]

Sorry, it looks as though I misread your instructions. I 'had thought' you said unregister in media manager then go to Vbox manager and remove the VDI from that location. Obviously this is what had me confused as I couldn't remove the VDI as it was not present, but as you say remains present for removing in media manager. Oh well! I got there in the end. Apologies if I have given you a headache, I have certainly given myself one.

[mpack]

It is best practice to "Release" the media using File|Virtual Media Manager, rather than simply deattach it from the VM, because it is possible to mount media in more than one VM and the former ensures it is released by everyone. This means that unregistering the media will work (you can't unregister media which is still in use by a VM). Of course when you add media back that's a per-VM operation hence it's done in the Settings panel for the VM concerned.