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convert .vhd (virtualpc) file to .vdi (virtualbox) format

From .vhd to .vdi

When I tried to run xp vhd, provided from microsoft, to test websites on multiple versions of IE (cf. How to test your website on IE6 & IE7 thanks to virtualization), it occurs that each .vhd file has been generated with the same UUID, preventing them from being loaded at the same time in VirtualBox (v2.2).

Although VirtualBox can now transparently handle .vhd natively, I chose to convert these .vhd files into .vdi format so that they have each a unique uuid and can be loaded at the same time in VirtualBox.

Below are the steps:

To do this, I proceeded as follow:

  1. install qemu package (sudo apt-get install qemu)
  2. convert .vhd file: qemu-img convert -O raw myfile.vhd myfile.bin
  3. once the file has been converted, we convert it to .vdi format using VBoxManage: VBoxManage convertfromraw myfile.bin myfile.vdi –variant standard
    note1: “variant” is specified to ensure we have an expandable vdi file (.bin file is 17Gb, .vdi file will be only 1.5Gb)
    note2: in previous version, “convertfromraw” command was called “convertdd”

That’s it.

Simply load your vdi file within VirtualBox, do it for all three xp .vhd files and you can now use all these VM more easily.

sources

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 9:18 am and is filed under virtualization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “convert .vhd (virtualpc) file to .vdi (virtualbox) format”

  1. How to test your website on IE6 & IE7 thanks to virtualization « Willing wheels says:
    June 16, 2009 at 9:22 am

    [...] To do this, please read this post: convert .vhd (virtualpc) file to .vdi (virtualbox) format [...]

  2. convert multiple .vmdk file into a single .vdi file « Willing wheels says:
    June 17, 2009 at 12:36 pm

    [...] steps are explained in this post: convert .vhd (virtualpc) file to .vdi (virtualbox) format It assumes a .vhd format as source, but process is almost identical when source file is in .vmdk [...]

  3. June 16th, 2009 - Technology says:
    June 19, 2009 at 12:08 am

    [...] convert .vhd (virtualpc) file to .vdi (virtualbox) format …By remy How to test your website on IE6 & IE7 thanks to virtualization), it occurs that each .vhd file has been generated with the same UUID, preventing them from being loaded at the same time in VirtualBox(v2.2). Although VirtualBox can now …Willing wheels – http://www.qc4blog.com/ [...]

  4. shahryar ghazi says:
    June 19, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    good job … thanks for sharing

    more virtualbox stories http://www.geeksww.com/news/virtualization/virtualbox/

  5. Phil Brown says:
    July 1, 2009 at 4:10 am

    As of VirtualBox 2.2.4, you can use the VBoxManage internalcommand “sethduuid” to modify the UUID of VHD files, eg

    VBoxManage internalcommands sethduuid XPSP3withIE62008Dec.vhd

    The VHD files don’t even need to registered with the Virtual Media Manager.

    See http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/3443

  6. remy says:
    July 1, 2009 at 9:13 am

    great news! no need to convert any vhd file then => makes the entire process easier. Thx

  7. convert .vhd (VirtualPc) files into .vdi (VirtualBox) files « Willing wheels says:
    August 16, 2009 at 10:11 pm

    [...] [UPDATE]: now virtualbox natively support .vhd files => you might be interested in reading this post: convert .vhd (virtualpc) file to .vdi (virtualbox) format [...]

  8. Ie8-in-ubuntu-intrepid-with-virtual-box « Puttes träningsblogg => says:
    October 28, 2009 at 8:33 am

    [...] Källor/inspirationslänkar: http://primeval-soup.blogspot.com/2009/02/ie8-in-ubuntu-intrepid-with-virtual-box.html http://www.qc4blog.com/?p=721 [...]

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