99 lines
4.2 KiB
XML
99 lines
4.2 KiB
XML
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
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<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
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<topic xml:lang="en-us" id="vboxconfigdata-machine-folder">
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<title>The Machine Folder</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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By default, each virtual machine has a directory on your host
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computer where all the files of that machine are stored: the XML
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settings file, with a <filepath>.vbox</filepath> file extension,
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and its disk images. This is called the <i>machine
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folder</i>.
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</p>
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<p>
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By default, this machine folder is located in a common folder
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called <filepath>VirtualBox VMs</filepath>, which <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/>
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creates in the current system user's home directory. The
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location of this home directory depends on the conventions of
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the host operating system, as follows:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>
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On Windows, this is the location returned by the
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<codeph>SHGetFolderPath</codeph> function of the Windows
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system library Shell32.dll, asking for the user profile. A
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typical location is
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<filepath>C:\Users\<varname>username</varname>
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</filepath>.
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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On Linux, macOS, and Oracle Solaris, this is generally
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taken from the environment variable
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<filepath>$HOME</filepath>, except for the user
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<codeph>root</codeph> where it is taken from the account
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database. This is a workaround for the frequent trouble
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caused by users using <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> in combination with the
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tool <userinput>sudo</userinput>, which by default does not
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reset the environment variable <filepath>$HOME</filepath>.
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</p>
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<p>
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A typical location on Linux and Oracle Solaris is
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<filepath>/home/<varname>username</varname>
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</filepath>
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and on macOS is
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<filepath>/Users/<varname>username</varname>
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</filepath>.
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</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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For simplicity, we abbreviate the location of the home directory
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as <filepath>$HOME</filepath>. Using that convention, the common
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folder for all virtual machines is <filepath>$HOME/VirtualBox
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VMs</filepath>.
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</p>
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<p> As an example, when you create a virtual machine called <i>Example VM</i>, <ph
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conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> creates the following: </p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>
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A machine folder: <filepath>$HOME/VirtualBox VMs/Example
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VM/</filepath>
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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In the machine folder, a settings file: <filepath>Example
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VM.vbox</filepath>
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</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>
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In the machine folder, a virtual disk image:
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<filepath>Example VM.vdi</filepath>.
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</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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This is the default layout if you use the
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<b outputclass="bold">Create New Virtual Machine</b>
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wizard described in <xref href="create-vm-wizard.dita">Creating Your First Virtual Machine</xref>. Once you
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start working with the VM, additional files are added. Log files
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are in a subfolder called <filepath>Logs</filepath>, and if you
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have taken snapshots, they are in a
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<filepath>Snapshots</filepath> subfolder. For each VM, you can
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change the location of its snapshots folder in the VM settings.
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</p>
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<p> You can change the default machine folder by selecting <b outputclass="bold">Preferences</b>
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from the <b outputclass="bold">File</b> menu in the <ph
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conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> main window. Then, in the displayed
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window, click the <b outputclass="bold">General</b> tab. Alternatively, use the
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<userinput>VBoxManage setproperty machinefolder</userinput> command. See <xref
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href="vboxmanage-setproperty.dita">VBoxManage setproperty</xref>. </p>
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</body>
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</topic>
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