Make a Copy of VirtualBox .vdi

June 13, 2009 | By Fabio Milano In VirtualBox |

Scenario / Question:

How do I make a copy of an existing VirtualBox .vdi disk file

Solution / Answer:

Use VBoxManage clonevdi

Copy VirtualBox .vdi

There are a few steps involved in order to make a copy of a VirtualBox .vdi disk file.

#1. Shutdown the Virtual Machine or make sure it is not start/on

#2. Release the .vdi file – File > Virtual Media Manager > Select the virtual machine disk to be copied > Click “Release”

#3. In a terminal or shell prompt (use the full location paths for .vdi locations)

VBoxManage clonevdi /root/.VirtualBox/Original.vdi /root/.VirtualBox/NewCopy.vdi

#4. Add the new virtual disk image – File > Virtual Media Manager > Add

#5. Re-attach original virtual disk image to its VM

Other Related Posts:

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  • VirtualBox Headless VM
  • VirtualBox Controlling Headless VM
  • VirtualBox Modify VM Settings

    • 1 Comment so far

    1. David Ramirez on November 3rd, 2009

      To release the .vdi file using the command line you can do:

      # remove disk from VM “moody”:
      sh0x@vbox:~# VBoxManage modifyvm moody -hda none

      # restore copied VDI and open medium in virtualbox
      sh0x@vbox:~# VBoxManage openmedium disk /opt/VBox/HardDisks/moody.vdi

      # add disk to VM
      sh0x@vbox:~# VBoxManage modifyvm moody -hda /opt/VBox/HardDisks/moody.vdi

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