| 1 | <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
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| 2 | <!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
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| 3 | <topic xml:lang="en-us" id="create-vm-wizard-virtual-hard-disk">
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| 4 | <title>Create Virtual Machine Wizard: Virtual Hard Disk</title>
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| 5 |
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| 6 | <body>
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| 7 | <p>
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| 8 | Use this page to specify a virtual hard disk for the virtual
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| 9 | machine.
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| 10 | </p>
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| 11 | <p>
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| 12 | There are many ways in which Oracle VM VirtualBox can provide hard
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| 13 | disk space to a VM, see <xref href="storage.dita#storage"/>. The most
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| 14 | common way is to use a large image file on your physical hard
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| 15 | disk, whose contents Oracle VM VirtualBox presents to your VM as if it
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| 16 | were a complete hard disk. This file then represents an entire
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| 17 | hard disk, so you can even copy it to another host and use it
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| 18 | with another Oracle VM VirtualBox installation.
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| 19 | </p>
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| 20 | <fig id="fig-create-vm-hard-disk">
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| 21 | <title>Creating a New Virtual Machine: Virtual Hard Disk</title>
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| 22 | <image href="images/create-vm-4.png" placement="break"/>
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| 23 | </fig>
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| 24 | <p>
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| 25 | The following fields are available on this wizard page:
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| 26 | </p>
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| 27 | <ul>
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| 28 | <li>
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| 29 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Create a Virtual Hard Disk
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| 30 | Now</b>. Creates a new empty virtual hard disk image,
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| 31 | located in the VM's machine folder.
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| 32 | </p>
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| 33 | <p>
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| 34 | Enter the following settings:
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| 35 | </p>
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| 36 | <ul>
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| 37 | <li>
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| 38 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Disk Size</b>. Use the
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| 39 | slider to select a maximum size for the hard disk in the
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| 40 | new VM.
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| 41 | </p>
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| 42 | </li>
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| 43 | <li>
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| 44 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Pre-Allocate Full Size.</b>
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| 45 | This setting determines the type of image file used for
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| 46 | the disk image. Select this setting to use a
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| 47 | <i>fixed-size file</i> for the disk image.
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| 48 | Deselect this setting to use a <i>dynamically
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| 49 | allocated file</i> for the disk image.
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| 50 | </p>
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| 51 | <p>
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| 52 | The different types of image file behave as follows:
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| 53 | </p>
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| 54 | <ul>
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| 55 | <li>
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| 56 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Dynamically allocated
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| 57 | file.</b> This type of image file only grows
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| 58 | in size when the guest actually stores data on its
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| 59 | virtual hard disk. Therefore, this file is small
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| 60 | initially. As the drive is filled with data, the
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| 61 | file grows to the specified size.
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| 62 | </p>
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| 63 | </li>
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| 64 | <li>
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| 65 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Fixed-size file.</b>
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| 66 | This type of image file immediately occupies the
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| 67 | file specified, even if only a fraction of that
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| 68 | virtual hard disk space is actually in use. While
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| 69 | occupying much more space, a fixed-size file incurs
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| 70 | less overhead and is therefore slightly faster than
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| 71 | a dynamically allocated file.
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| 72 | </p>
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| 73 | </li>
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| 74 | </ul>
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| 75 | <p>
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| 76 | For more details about the differences, see
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| 77 | <xref href="vdidetails.dita#vdidetails"/>.
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| 78 | </p>
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| 79 | </li>
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| 80 | </ul>
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| 81 | </li>
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| 82 | <li>
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| 83 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Use an Existing Hard Disk
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| 84 | File.</b> Enables you to select an
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| 85 | <i>existing</i> disk image file to use with
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| 86 | the new VM.
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| 87 | </p>
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| 88 | <p>
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| 89 | The drop-down list presented in the window lists all disk
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| 90 | images which are known by Oracle VM VirtualBox. These disk images
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| 91 | are currently attached to a virtual machine, or have been
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| 92 | attached to a virtual machine.
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| 93 | </p>
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| 94 | <p>
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| 95 | Alternatively, click on the small folder icon next to the
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| 96 | drop-down list. In the <b outputclass="bold">Hard Disk
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| 97 | Selector</b> window that is displayed, click
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| 98 | <b outputclass="bold">Add</b> to select a disk image
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| 99 | file on your host disk.
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| 100 | </p>
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| 101 | </li>
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| 102 | <li>
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| 103 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Do Not Add a Virtual Hard
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| 104 | Disk.</b> The new VM is created without a hard disk.
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| 105 | </p>
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| 106 | </li>
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| 107 | </ul>
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| 108 | <p>
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| 109 | To prevent your physical hard disk on the host OS from filling
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| 110 | up, Oracle VM VirtualBox limits the size of the image file. But the
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| 111 | image file must be large enough to hold the contents of the
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| 112 | guest OS and the applications you want to install. For a Windows
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| 113 | or Linux guest, you will probably need several gigabytes for any
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| 114 | serious use. The limit of the image file size can be changed
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| 115 | later, see <xref href="man_VBoxManage-modifymedium.dita#vboxmanage-modifymedium"/>.
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| 116 | </p>
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| 117 | <note>
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| 118 | <p>
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| 119 | You can skip attaching a virtual hard disk file to the new
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| 120 | virtual machine you are creating. But you will then need to
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| 121 | attach an hard disk later on, in order to install a guest
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| 122 | operating system.
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| 123 | </p>
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| 124 | </note>
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| 125 | <p>
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| 126 | After having selected or created your image file, click
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| 127 | <b outputclass="bold">Next</b> to go to the next wizard
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| 128 | page.
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| 129 | </p>
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| 130 | </body>
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| 131 |
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| 132 | </topic>
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