Oracle VM VirtualBox keeps track of all the hard disk, CD/DVD-ROM, and floppy disk images which are in use by virtual machines. These are often referred to as known media and come from two sources:
All media currently attached to virtual machines.
Registered media, for compatibility with legacy Oracle VM VirtualBox versions.
The known media can be viewed and changed using the Virtual Media Manager tool, which you access by clicking Media on the global Tools menu in VirtualBox Manager.
The known media are conveniently grouped in separate tabs for the supported formats. These formats are:
Hard disk images, either in Oracle VM VirtualBox's own Virtual Disk Image (VDI) format, or in the third-party formats listed in Section 5.2, “Disk Image Files (VDI, VMDK, VHD, HDD)”.
CD/DVD images in standard ISO format.
Floppy images in standard RAW format.
For each image, the Virtual Media Manager shows you the full path of the image file and other information, such as the virtual machine the image is currently attached to.
The Virtual Media Manager enables you to do the following:
Add an image to the known media.
Create a new disk image.
For hard disks, the Create Virtual Hard Disk wizard is shown. See Section 5.3.1, “Creating a Virtual Hard Disk Image”.
For optical disks, the VISO Creator tool is shown. See Section 5.3.2, “Creating a Virtual Optical Disk Image”.
For floppy disks, the Floppy Disk Creator tool is shown. See Section 5.3.3, “Creating a Virtual Floppy Disk Image”.
Copy an image to create another one.
For virtual hard disks, you can specify one of the following target types: VDI, VHD, or VMDK.
Move an image to another location.
A file dialog prompts you for the new image file location.
When you use the Virtual Media Manager to move a disk image, Oracle VM VirtualBox updates all related configuration files automatically.
Note
Always use the Virtual Media Manager or the VBoxManage modifymedium command to move a disk image.
If you use a file management feature of the host OS to move a disk image to a new location, run the VBoxManage modifymedium
--setlocationcommand to configure the new path of the disk image on the host file system. This command updates the Oracle VM VirtualBox configuration automatically.Remove an image from the known media. You can optionally delete the image file when removing the image.
Release an image to detach it from a VM. This action only applies if the image is currently attached to a VM as a virtual hard disk.
Clear all inaccessible disk images from the list. The disk images are released from the VMs they are attached to and removed from the known media.
Note
This option is for optical disks and floppy disks only.
Search for an image by name or UUID.
View and edit the Properties of a disk image.
Available properties include the following:
Type: Specifies the snapshot behavior of the disk. See Section 5.4, “Special Image Write Modes”.
Location: Specifies the location of the disk image file on the host system. You can use a file dialog to browse for the disk image location.
Description: Specifies a short description of the disk image.
Size: Specifies the size of the disk image. You can use the slider to increase or decrease the disk image size.
Information: Specifies detailed information about the disk image.
Refresh the property values of the selected disk image.
To perform these actions, highlight the medium in the Virtual Media Manager and then do one of the following:
Click an icon in the Virtual Media Manager toolbar.
Right-click the medium and select an option.
Use the Storage page in a VM's Settings window to create a new disk image. By default, disk images are stored in the VM's folder.
You can copy hard disk image files to other host systems and then import them in to VMs from the host system. However, some Windows guest OSes may require that you configure the new VM in a similar way to the old one.
Note
Do not simply make copies of virtual disk images. If you import such a second copy into a VM, Oracle VM VirtualBox issues an error because Oracle VM VirtualBox assigns a universally unique identifier (UUID) to each disk image to ensure that it is only used one time. See Section 5.6, “Cloning Disk Images”. Also, if you want to copy a VM to another system, use the Oracle VM VirtualBox import and export features. See Section 1.15, “Importing and Exporting Virtual Machines”.
Use the Create Virtual Hard Disk wizard to create a hard disk image.
Display the Hard Disks tab in Virtual Media Manager and click Create.
The Create Virtual Hard Disk wizard is shown.
On the Virtual Hard Disk File Type page, select a file type for the new virtual hard disk image.
Click Next.
On the Storage on Physical Hard Disk page, select whether the size of the virtual hard disk file is dynamically allocated or is of fixed size.
Click Next.
On the File Location and Size page, configure the location of the virtual hard disk file and use the slider to set the size limit for the virtual hard disk.
Click Finish to create the virtual hard disk file.
The virtual hard disk image is created in the specified location and added to the Hard Disks tab in Virtual Media Manager.
Use the VISO Creator tool to create a virtual optical disk image. This enables you to create a virtual ISO from selected files on the host.
Display the Optical Disks tab in Virtual Media Manager and click Create.
The VISO Creator tool is shown.
Create the virtual ISO file.
Configure the name of the ISO file.
Click Configuration and enter a name in the Viso Name field.
Add files to your virtual ISO.
In the Host File System pane, select files to copy from the host system to the virtual ISO.
Click Add Items To VISO. The files are displayed in the VISO Content pane.
The following file operations are also available:
To create folders on the virtual ISO, click Create New Directory.
To remove files from the virtual ISO, select files in the VISO Content pane and click Remove Items From VISO.
To remove all files from the virtual ISO, click Reset the VISO Content.
Create the virtual ISO image.
Click Create.
A virtual ISO file with the specified name and content is created.
Use the Floppy Disk Creator tool to create a floppy disk image.
Display the Floppy Disks tab in Virtual Media Manager and click Create.
The Floppy Disk Creator tool is shown.
Configure the following settings:
File Path: The name and location of the floppy disk image.
Size: Select from the list of supported floppy disk sizes.
Format Disk as FAT 12: This is the default format used for most floppy disks. For an unformatted disk, do not select this option.
Create the floppy disk image file.
Click Create.
The floppy disk image is created in the specified location and added to the Floppy Disks tab in Virtual Media Manager.