VirtualBox – How to Import an Existing .vbox Virtual Machine

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How can I import an existing .vbox virtual machine in VirtualBox? The instructions say I can only do this if I have an .ova or .ovf file, but I don't understand this as VirtualBox machines are .vbox files.

Is it really the case that once you've removed a VM from the VM Manager, there's no way to reimport it?

I also cannot import the hard disk image (.vdi) through Media Manager as there seems to be no "Add" button.

Best Answer

From the VirtualBox Manager window, Machine->Add..." will let you open an existing vbox file. You might get errors if the files referenced in the vbox file--notably the files for the virtual disk images--aren't actually located where they're supposed to be.

If you run into trouble, keep in mind that the vbox file is just an XML text file that defines the virtual machine. It's not difficult to read it, figure out what the VM settings are supposed to be, and then define a new VM from scratch with the same settings.

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