vboxconfigdata-machine-folder.dita@ 99009

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1	<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
2	<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
3	<topic xml:lang="en-us" id="vboxconfigdata-machine-folder">
4	<title>The Machine Folder</title>
5
6	<body>
7	<p>
8	By default, each virtual machine has a directory on your host
9	computer where all the files of that machine are stored: the XML
10	settings file, with a <filepath>.vbox</filepath> file extension,
11	and its disk images. This is called the <i>machine
12	folder</i>.
13	</p>
14	<p>
15	By default, this machine folder is located in a common folder
16	called <filepath>VirtualBox VMs</filepath>, which Oracle VM VirtualBox
17	creates in the current system user's home directory. The
18	location of this home directory depends on the conventions of
19	the host operating system, as follows:
20	</p>
21	<ul>
22	<li>
23	<p>
24	On Windows, this is the location returned by the
25	<codeph>SHGetFolderPath</codeph> function of the Windows
26	system library Shell32.dll, asking for the user profile. A
27	typical location is
28	<filepath>C:\Users\<varname>username</varname>
29	</filepath>.
30	</p>
31	</li>
32	<li>
33	<p>
34	On Linux, macOS, and Oracle Solaris, this is generally
35	taken from the environment variable
36	<filepath>$HOME</filepath>, except for the user
37	<codeph>root</codeph> where it is taken from the account
38	database. This is a workaround for the frequent trouble
39	caused by users using Oracle VM VirtualBox in combination with the
40	tool <userinput>sudo</userinput>, which by default does not
41	reset the environment variable <filepath>$HOME</filepath>.
42	</p>
43	<p>
44	A typical location on Linux and Oracle Solaris is
45	<filepath>/home/<varname>username</varname>
46	</filepath>
47	and on macOS is
48	<filepath>/Users/<varname>username</varname>
49	</filepath>.
50	</p>
51	</li>
52	</ul>
53	<p>
54	For simplicity, we abbreviate the location of the home directory
55	as <filepath>$HOME</filepath>. Using that convention, the common
56	folder for all virtual machines is <filepath>$HOME/VirtualBox
57	VMs</filepath>.
58	</p>
59	<p>
60	As an example, when you create a virtual machine called "Example
61	VM", Oracle VM VirtualBox creates the following:
62	</p>
63	<ul>
64	<li>
65	<p>
66	A machine folder: <filepath>$HOME/VirtualBox VMs/Example
67	VM/</filepath>
68	</p>
69	</li>
70	<li>
71	<p>
72	In the machine folder, a settings file: <filepath>Example
73	VM.vbox</filepath>
74	</p>
75	</li>
76	<li>
77	<p>
78	In the machine folder, a virtual disk image:
79	<filepath>Example VM.vdi</filepath>.
80	</p>
81	</li>
82	</ul>
83	<p>
84	This is the default layout if you use the
85	<b outputclass="bold">Create New Virtual Machine</b>
86	wizard described in <xref href="create-vm-wizard.dita">Creating Your First Virtual Machine</xref>. Once you
87	start working with the VM, additional files are added. Log files
88	are in a subfolder called <filepath>Logs</filepath>, and if you
89	have taken snapshots, they are in a
90	<filepath>Snapshots</filepath> subfolder. For each VM, you can
91	change the location of its snapshots folder in the VM settings.
92	</p>
93	<p>
94	You can change the default machine folder by selecting
95	<b outputclass="bold">Preferences</b> from the
96	<b outputclass="bold">File</b> menu in the Oracle VM VirtualBox
97	main window. Then, in the displayed window, click on the
98	<b outputclass="bold">General</b> tab. Alternatively, use
99	the <userinput>VBoxManage setproperty machinefolder</userinput>
100	command. See <xref href="man_VBoxManage-setproperty.dita">VBoxManage setproperty</xref>.
101	</p>
102	</body>
103
104	</topic>

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