David wrote:
> Hello!!
>
> I have spent some considerable time on figuring this out, but to no
> avail. I have VirtualBox 1.5.6 with Ubuntu 8.04 as host and Windows XP
> as guest.
> As I installed some stuff on the guest OS I took snapshots. Now I want
> to backup (or clone) a snapshot that is neither the youngest nor the
> oldest snapshot in the snapshot tree. The idea is that when I transfer
> that snapshot on another computer, I would have a Windows guest OS with
> some software ready installed.
> How am I to go about this? Could anyone help me with an idea or link?
> Explanations concerning "backup" I have found so far have not yielded
> any results.
>
> Cheers!
>
> David
Well David,
The only way to do that is to either (1) backup your entire
~/.VirtualBox
directory [which will be huge in size (.vdi + snapshots), or my preferred way
(2) discard all intervening snapshots and then backup the ~/.VirtualBox
directory (much smaller, only the merged .vdi size)
I am no expert, but vbox snapshots do not contain a complete clone of
the
install + changes since the last snapshot, they only contain 'changes since the
last snapshot.' (They can be nearly as large and the original install due to
all the updates that get applied).
To get all your current snapshots 'merged' into a single .vdi for
efficient
backup and moving you will need to 'discard' all snapshots up to but _not_
including the "Current State". I start at the most recent snapshot and work
backwards (I don't think it matters) 'merging' all changes into a single .vdi.
Like this (choosing the snapshot, right-click, choose discard):
snapshot 1 (discard last)
|
snapshot 2 (discard second)
|
snapshot 3 (discard first)
|
Current State (Do _NOT_ discard)
Merging will take some time, up to 20 minutes depending on the number
and type
of changes that need to be applied. When you are done, you will be left with a
single machine .vdi that contains the full guest OS + all changes and
additional software installed. Then the .vdi can be backed up, moved, etc. with
the least amount of space required. I always backup the entire .VirtualBox
directory.
I have discarded all snapshots on 3 vbox installs with XP guests where
the
installs ranged from 12Gig to 15Gig containing up to 6 snapshots and I have
never had any problems. This has reduced the backup size from 27Gig back to the
original disk size. (saves a lot of backup time even over 100baseT networks.
After you move a .vdi, you will have to deal with the guest OS
complaining
about not being installed on the original machine, but others will have to help
there. I've never done it.
Hope that helps.
--
David C. Rankin, J.D., P.E.
Rankin Law Firm, PLLC
510 Ochiltree Street
Nacogdoches, Texas 75961
Telephone: (936) 715-9333
Facsimile: (936) 715-9339
www.rankinlawfirm.com
_______________________________________________
vbox-users mailing list
[email protected]
http://vbox.innotek.de/mailman/listinfo/vbox-users
