CLONING A VIRTUAL MACHINE IN ORACLE VM …

1 CLONING A VIRTUAL MACHINE IN " ORACLE VM virtualbox " IN A " " HOST COMPUTER HIGH-LEVEL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In " ORACLE VM virtualbox ", you cannot copy a VIRTUAL MACHINE by using "My Computer", "Computer", "Windows Explorer", or a command prompt window. In " ORACLE VM virtualbox ", you cannot copy a VIRTUAL hard drive directly by using "My Computer", "Computer", "Windows Explorer", or a command prompt window. To clone a VIRTUAL hard drive or a VIRTUAL MACHINE , you have to use either the "Clone" function in " ORACLE VM virtualbox Manager" or a command line utility called "vboxmanage". TECHNICAL DETAILS If you use "My Computer", "Computer", "Windows Explorer", or a command prompt window to copy a VIRTUAL MACHINE or a VIRTUAL hard drive, the " ORACLE VM virtualbox " program will usually refuse to let you use the newly-created VIRTUAL MACHINE or newly-created VIRTUAL hard drive. TWO METHODS TO CLONE A VIRTUAL MACHINE There are two methods for CLONING a VIRTUAL MACHINE .

2 Let's call them "Method 1" and "Method 2". "Method 1" is a lot easier than "Method 2". We will show you the steps for these two methods soon. When you follow either "Method 1" or "Method 2" to clone a VIRTUAL MACHINE , the new VIRTUAL MACHINE that you create will have a new, unique " " (= " MACHINE entry UUID" = "computer UUID" = "motherboard UUID"). "Method 1" creates a cloned VIRTUAL MACHINE with a VIRTUAL hard drive that has the same "hard drive UUID" as the VIRTUAL hard drive of the original VIRTUAL MACHINE . "Method 2" creates a cloned VIRTUAL MACHINE with a VIRTUAL hard drive that has a "hard drive UUID" that is different from the VIRTUAL hard drive of the original VIRTUAL MACHINE . If you need to look at them, in " ORACLE VM virtualbox ", all " " (= " MACHINE entry UUID" = "computer UUID" = "motherboard UUID") (for all of the VIRTUAL machines) are listed in the file in the . virtualbox folder in your Windows profile folder.

3 METHOD 1: USING THE "CLONE" FUNCTION IN " ORACLE VM virtualbox MANAGER": To start the "Clone" function of the " ORACLE VM virtualbox Manager", you can either use the right mouse button to click on a VIRTUAL MACHINE or click on " MACHINE " from the top menu bar: When you use the right mouse button to click on any VIRTUAL MACHINE , the pop-up context menu has a " " selection it it: * When you click on a VIRTUAL MACHINE to highlight it and then click on " MACHINE " in the top menu bar, the pull-down menu has a " " selection in it: "Method 1" works on version of " ORACLE VM virtualbox ". "Method 1" does not work for any version of " ORACLE VM virtualbox " prior to version When you follow either "Method 1" to clone a VIRTUAL MACHINE , the new VIRTUAL MACHINE that you create will have a new, unique " " (= " MACHINE entry UUID" = "computer UUID").

4 However the new VIRTUAL hard drive of the newly-created VIRTUAL MACHINE will have the same "hard drive UUID" as the original VIRTUAL hard drive of the original, source VIRTUAL hard drive. Since both the original and the cloned VIRTUAL hard drives have the same "hard drive UUID", you will not be able to use these VIRTUAL drives in the same VIRTUAL MACHINE at a future date. When the original VIRTUAL MACHINE and the cloned VIRTUAL MACHINE have VIRTUAL hard drives that have the same "hard drive UUID", this may cause problems in situations when a duplicate "hard drive UUID" can cause trouble. See In " ORACLE VM virtualbox ", all " MACHINE entry UUID"s (="BIOS UUID" = "System UUID") (for all of the VIRTUAL machines) are listed in the file in the . virtualbox folder in your Windows profile folder. For a good, concise description of "Method 1", see "FULL CLONE" VERSUS "LINKED CLONE" When using "Method 1", you can create either a "full clone" or a "linked clone".

5 A "full clone" is totally independent of the original VIRTUAL MACHINE that you use to create the cloned VIRTUAL MACHINE . A "linked clone" will depend on the original VIRTUAL MACHINE that you used to create the cloned VIRTUAL MACHINE so that changes to configuration settings in the original VIRTUAL MACHINE "cascade" to the cloned VIRTUAL MACHINE . See METHOD 2: USING THE VBOXMANAGE COMMAND FROM A WINDOWS "COMMAND PROMPT" TO CLONE A VIRTUAL MACHINE IN " ORACLE VM virtualbox ": "Method 2" works in versions , , and of " ORACLE VM virtualbox ". When you follow this procedure to clone a VIRTUAL MACHINE , the new VIRTUAL MACHINE that you create will have a new, unique " " (= " MACHINE entry UUID" = "computer UUID" and the VIRTUAL hard drive of the new VIRTUAL MACHINE will have a new, unique "hard drive UUID". Therefore, "Method 2" creates a cleaner, more unique VIRTUAL MACHINE than the easier "Method 1": When you use "Method 2" to clone a VIRTUAL MACHINE , you can use the original MACHINE 's hard drive file and the cloned MACHINE 's new hard drive file in the same VIRTUAL MACHINE at a future point in time.)

6 In " ORACLE VM virtualbox ", all " MACHINE entry UUID"s (for all of the VIRTUAL machines) are listed in the file in the . virtualbox folder in your Windows profile folder. SOME GREAT ADVICE FROM OTHERS ABOUT USING "METHOD 2": See and and and and and and and and and METHOD 2--STEP-BY-STEP: It is usually not a good idea to use "Windows Explorer" or "My Computer" to copy an existing .vdi " VIRTUAL hard drive", since the resulting hard drive file will have the same "hard drive UUID" as the original source .vdi " VIRTUAL hard drive". Instead, you can copy the existing .vdi " VIRTUAL hard drive" using the "vboxmanage clonehd" command at the "command prompt": Syntax: vboxmanage clonehd <full path name of source .vdi VIRTUAL hard disk file> <at least one space> <full path name of new target .vdi VIRTUAL hard disk file> For example: Type cmd into the search or run box of the "Windows" start menu.

7 If you are running "Windows 7" in the host computer, use the right mouse button to click on "cmd" in the left-most side of the "Start menu"; then click on "Run as administrator" in the pop-up context menu. If you are running "Windows XP" or "Windows Vista" in the host computer, press once on the Enter key of the keyboard. A command prompt Window will be displayed: cd "Program Files" <Enter> cd ORACLE cd virtualbox You should now be at C:\Program Files\ ORACLE \ virtualbox \ Now run the "vboxmanage clonehd" command. * For example: vboxmanage clonehd "l:\Users\testuser\. virtualbox \HardDisks \Windows XP " "l:\Users\testuser\. virtualbox \HardDisks \Windows XP " vboxmanage clonehd "l:\Users\testuser\. virtualbox \HardDisks \Windows XP " "L:\Users\testuser\. virtualbox \HardDisks \Windows XP " 0%..10%..20%..30%..40%..50%..60%..70%..8 0%..90%..100% Clone hard disk created in format 'VDI'.

8 UUID: 210f5b3f-f04f-4d03-a84d-079a3e2d4 441 The newly created .vdi " VIRTUAL hard drive" will have a new, unique UUID. Microsoft Windows [Version ] Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\Users\testuser>dir Volume in drive C is HP-ST3750528AS Volume Serial Number is 669A-6BF4 Directory of C:\Users\testuser 03/26/2011 06:05 PM <DIR> . 03/26/2011 06:05 PM <DIR> .. 04/01/2011 10:46 AM <DIR> . virtualbox 01/28/2011 07:47 PM <DIR> AppData 03/03/2011 09:41 PM <DIR> Contacts 04/01/2011 01:40 AM <DIR> Desktop 03/25/2011 09:13 AM <DIR> Documents 04/01/2011 12:30 AM <DIR> Downloads 03/03/2011 09:41 PM <DIR> Favorites 02/15/2011 08:54 AM 72,080 03/03/2011 09:41 PM <DIR> Links 03/03/2011 09:41 PM <DIR> Music 03/29/2011 10:49 PM <DIR> Pictures 03/03/2011 09:41 PM <DIR> Saved Games 03/03/2011 09:41 PM <DIR> Searches 03/03/2011 09:41 PM <DIR> Videos 04/01/2011 12:10 AM <DIR> VIRTUAL Machines 1 File(s) 72,080 bytes 16 Dir(s) 197,250,412,544 bytes free C:\Users\testuser>l: L:\>cd users L.

9 \Users>dir Volume in drive L is L_WCAWZ0043341 Volume Serial Number is 20BE-DE9B Directory of L:\Users 03/29/2011 12:39 AM <DIR> . 03/29/2011 12:39 AM <DIR> .. 03/29/2011 04:41 AM <DIR> testuser 0 File(s) 0 bytes 3 Dir(s) 1,349,184,933,888 bytes free L:\Users>dir Volume in drive L is L_WCAWZ0043341 Volume Serial Number is 20BE-DE9B Directory of L:\Users 03/29/2011 12:39 AM <DIR> . 03/29/2011 12:39 AM <DIR> .. 03/29/2011 04:41 AM <DIR> testuser 0 File(s) 0 bytes 3 Dir(s) 1,349,184,933,888 bytes free L:\Users>cd testuser L:\Users\testuser>dir Volume in drive L is L_WCAWZ0043341 Volume Serial Number is 20BE-DE9B Directory of L:\Users\testuser 03/29/2011 04:41 AM <DIR> . 03/29/2011 04:41 AM <DIR>.

10 03/29/2011 02:35 AM <DIR> . virtualbox 03/29/2011 02:36 AM <DIR> Documents 03/29/2011 02:43 PM <DIR> virtualbox VMs 0 File(s) 0 bytes 5 Dir(s) 1,349,184,933,888 bytes free L:\Users\testuser>cd . virtualbox L:\Users\testuser\. virtualbox >dir Volume in drive L is L_WCAWZ0043341 Volume Serial Number is 20BE-DE9B Directory of L:\Users\testuser\. virtualbox 03/29/2011 02:35 AM <DIR> . 03/29/2011 02:35 AM <DIR> .. 03/29/2011 02:24 PM <DIR> HardDisks 03/29/2011 02:35 AM <DIR> Machines 09/06/2010 12:48 AM 8,308 09/06/2010 12:48 AM 8,308 2 File(s) 16,616 bytes 4 Dir(s) 1,349,184,933,888 bytes free L:\Users\testuser\. virtualbox >cd HardDisks L:\Users\testuser\. virtualbox \HardDisks> dir Volume in drive L is L_WCAWZ0043341 Volume Serial Number is 20BE-DE9B Directory of L:\Users\testuser\.