I never do the export/import process for that exact reason.
If I need to move a VM for some reason, I copy the entire VM directory to the new location then open VirtualBox and use "Machine" -> "Add ..." and select the directory with the VM config and files.
I hope that helps, unless I missed something.
It would be nice to have the whole thing on an external SSD, which I could switch between my desktop and laptop.
Does this work or could the VMs get corrupted?
Re:VirtualBox 5.0 officially released
by alien_acorn on Saturday July 11, 2015 @04:04AM
(#9868988)
I have had no issues running a VM on an external drive.
Even if you ran it on one machine with a Linux host and on another with a Windows host?
Re:VirtualBox 5.0 officially released
by bradleyland on Sunday July 12, 2015 @11:27PM
(#9876204)
I've not moved VM's between Windows and Linux, but it works fine going back and forth between OS X and Windows. The only caveat being that you have to re-visit the VM's settings for things like host volume mapping and especially networking config.
Seems like the .vdi files are configured relative, so at least this should go automatically.
Host volume mapping is a folder shared between the host and the VM?
Re:VirtualBox 5.0 officially released
by bradleyland on Monday July 13, 2015 @06:28PM
(#9881593)
> Host volume mapping is a folder shared between the host and the VM?
Yes.
Bought a 128GB USB 3.0 stick. Works like a charm.
Hosts:
Notebook runs Linux Mint 17 with VirtualBox 5.0
Desktop runs Windows 7 with VirtualBox 4.3 (5.0 ha an issue on Win7 that Oracle won't fix, but prevent my VM from starting)
Guest:
Xubuntu 15.04 with the VirtualBox 5.0 Guest Additions
thanks (also to bane for providing the link which essentially states the same), will try that next time
It should be more or less a copy of the VM files.
Last time I tried that meant having to do a rather slow and disk hungry export followed by an import. Was I doing it wrong and is there no way to just copy the disk and machine definition, or are there other ways already?