![]() Install/Re-install VirtualBox (ensure you’re using the same version as the VirtualBox on which VMs were created on old host/machine (in my case ver.REBOOT to confirm no program files or registry entries remaining (if uninstalling old VirtualBox). ![]() virtualbox folder and all contents (if existing) Copy/Paste (don’t drag) all VMs and related folder contents from the old folder to this folder (uses new permissions).Create new folder called X:\NewVMs\VirtualBox VMs (from New Win7 machine to ensure permissions OK).Drive letters will vary/may not be necessary depending on your setup.I can still boot from the old hard drive which I've retained for redundancy/issue resolution until I'm happy with my new setup so I can access the old VMs in their former state if necessary. New copies of VMs were created in a new folder/shared drive to retain existing/old VMs intact.VB version was fairly current: 4.3.12r93773. There was no requirement to clone VMs or alter the xml file.I realise that drivers on a completely new machine would probably vary and potentially have a negative effect on the move but I've documented the process below in the hope that it may help someone. In case anyone else is looking for an answer to this I successfully moved 5 Virtual Box VMs to another Win7 install on a new hard drive on the same machine (essentially a move from one guest OS to another on the same PC). In summary, I would definitely recommend option 2, just make sure you get all the needed files when you move it over. This is less desirable because then you have 2 copies of a VM, and it can cause licensing issues, network issues, etc, depending on how you clone the VDI file. (Clone the VDI using “Virtual Media Manager” and then recreate a VM on the target machine but using the cloned VDI as the hard disk). If you copy all the files (and permissions) you should not have any problems whatsoever. The issues I ran into were when certain snapshots and secondary VDI files were in the wrong directory and weren't copied properly. Make sure that when you copy the VM, you get ALL the files associated with it. This is my preferred option and although I have had to edit the XML file a few times it's been my own fault for messing something up. (Copy the entire virtual machine folder, containing the. When you re-import the VM you should be able to select what type of HDD file you want created, VDI or VMDK. However, in my experience when creating the OVA or OVF file for export it throws away all snapshots and if done incorrectly can result in a VMDK file. This is the easiest because it combines the whole VM into a single file and transfers it over without issue pretty much every time. What’s the best method of safely transferring my VM’s to another computer with VirtualBox? I don't want any XML editing getting in my way! It’s clear from the above explanation that my desired method is the 2nd one, but I need expert advice on this if it works or not. When searching about this method, I found some people had problems in which they had to edit the VirtualBox.xml file to solve it!Īt last, there’s the 3rd method, but it requires the extra work of creating a VM similar to the original VM configuration, which is not desirable. The 2nd method is probably the easiest but I’m not sure that simply copying the files will work or not on the target machine. ![]() The problem is that after exporting and importing, the disk image is transformed into VMDK and not VDI anymore! I have successfully used the 1st method several times and it has always worked.
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