VirtualBox: Migrating VM Default Folder

  • This process is actually fairly straightforward and the pain involved is proportionate to the number of VMs one has in VirtualBox

Remove ALL VMs

  • This will remove vbox file associations and links so things are closed & insulated from the move

Clean out Virtual Media associations (hdd & cdrom isos)

  • This might cause some headache, but just record the values & any snapshots

Move VM Folder

  • With the associations within vbox removed, it is safe to move the VM Folder
  • MOVING is orders of magnitude FASTER than COPYING or EXPORTING/IMPORTING appliances & clones
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Update Preferences > Default VM Folder

  • Now update the vbox Preferences to reflect the new Default Virtual Machine folder
  • VMs make relative references to dependencies, so long as the artifacts INSIDE the VM folder remain the same, no issues should arise

Shared Folders might need updating

  • If shared folders link to the VM folder, they will need updating as well

ADD VMs from new location

  • With everything now ported to the new location, simply....
  • Add > Virtual Machine & select the *.vbox file from this new location
  • SHARED VDI/VDMKs will need their URI specs changed also

VMs will keep their 'Groups' if they aren't moved within the VM folder

  • Any VMs that are in subfolders will automatically be grouped

Restart VBox

  • To ensure the configuration update is saved, good idea to restart VBox to ensure an app crash won't lose all these new changes..
    • Things can get complicated & ugly if this occurs and VMs have been used & snapshots get out of sync

 

 

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