Ubuntu VirtualBox Clone VDI / Hard Disk

Jul 20, 2010 · 2 minute read
Category: ubuntu

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If you are using VirtualBox in Ubuntu for your virtual machine requirements, some times you might decide that you want to clone a machine so that you can have different versions of the OS (perhaps running different browser versions for example).

To clone the VDI you need to first of all completely shutdown the virtual machine.

Then you need to go to File->Virtual Media Manager and Release the VDI that you want to clone.

Next you need to open a terminal and type:


cd ~/.VirtualBox/HardDisks/

You need to figure out which VDI you want to clone (lets assume xp.vdi).

Next you need to run this command:


VBoxManage clonehd xp.vdi cloned_xp.vdi

Now back into the VirtualBox GUI, you need to go back to the Virtual Media Manager and click the Add icon and add your newly created cloned VDI.

Then you create a new VM as normal, but when you get to the Hard Disk part of the wizard, select the use existing hard disk option and select your new VDI.