[Solved] Assistance needed--cannot resize vdi

[JMac3]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and am glad that is available for folks like me. I'm using VirtualBox on my MacBook MacOS X Yosemite (10.10.5) and running Windows 10. I need to make the vdi larger, but I run into a problem when I try to run the commands in terminal. Here's what I see when I try it--please advise on how to fix it. Hopefully, it is something simple...

Code: Select all

JeffMcGillsAir:~ jeffmcgill$ VBoxManage modifyhd --resize 50000 ~/Users/jeffmcgill/VirtualBox VMs/W10/W10.vdi
Oracle VM VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 5.2.6
(C) 2005-2018 Oracle Corporation
All rights reserved.

Usage:

VBoxManage modifymedium     [disk|dvd|floppy] <uuid|filename>
                            [--type normal|writethrough|immutable|shareable|
                                    readonly|multiattach]
                            [--autoreset on|off]
                            [--property <name=[value]>]
                            [--compact]
                            [--resize <megabytes>|--resizebyte <bytes>]
                            [--move <path]
                            [--description <description string>]

Syntax error: Invalid parameter 'VMs/W10/W10.vdi'

Thanks in advance for your assistance.
JMac3

[socratis]

Your path contains a space (" "). You can't have a space in a command line for a path, because it separates arguments and/or modifiers. There are two ways you can do this. Either enclose the whole path in quotes:

• VBoxManage modifyhd --resize 50000 "~/Users/jeffmcgill/VirtualBox VMs/W10/W10.vdi"

or "escape" the space, by using the escape character "\":

• VBoxManage modifyhd --resize 50000 ~/Users/jeffmcgill/VirtualBox\ VMs/W10/W10.vdi

Do not use both the quotes and the escape character at the same time. An even easier way? After the "50000", drag and drop the VDI from the Finder to the Terminal. It will escape the path for you.

[JMac3]

Thanks for the reply. I have tried to do what you instructed, but have not been successful in my attempt. My results are below:

Code: Select all

JeffMcGillsAir:~ jeffmcgill$ VBoxManage modifyhd --resize 50000 ~/Users/jeffmcgill/VirtualBox\ VMs/W10/W10.vdi 
VBoxManage: error: Could not find file for the medium '/Users/jeffmcgill/Users/jeffmcgill/VirtualBox VMs/W10/W10.vdi' (VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND)
VBoxManage: error: Details: code VBOX_E_FILE_ERROR (0x80bb0004), component MediumWrap, interface IMedium, callee nsISupports
VBoxManage: error: Context: "OpenMedium(Bstr(pszFilenameOrUuid).raw(), enmDevType, enmAccessMode, fForceNewUuidOnOpen, pMedium.asOutParam())" at line 179 of file VBoxManageDisk.cpp

Again, thanks in advance for your assistance.

JMac3

[socratis]

I should have noticed and warned you about it the first time...
The tilde character in Unix based systems translates to your home directory. In your case:

"~" translates to "/Users/jeffmcgill"

By using "~/Users/jeffmcgill", that translates to "/Users/jeffmcgill/Users/jeffmcgill", a path that doesn't exist. Remove the "~" from the beginning of the path.

Also, start reading the error messages when you make a mistake. They usually tell you what's wrong.

[JMac3]

Socratis,

Thanks for the tips! Success!

Code: Select all

JeffMcGillsAir:~ jeffmcgill$ VBoxManage modifyhd --resize 50000 /Users/jeffmcgill/VirtualBox\ VMs/W10/W10.vdi 
0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
JeffMcGillsAir:~ jeffmcgill$ 

Then used GParted Live CD to enlarge the partition. Thanks so much for your help. Now I have more room to work and the knowledge to expand it later if I need to.

JMac3

[socratis]

Glad you got it going. Marking as [Solved].