| 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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| 2 | <!DOCTYPE topic
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| 3 | PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
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| 4 | <topic xml:lang="en-us" id="virtual-media-manager">
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| 5 | <title>The Virtual Media Manager</title>
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| 6 |
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| 7 | <body>
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| 8 | <p>
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| 9 | Oracle VM VirtualBox keeps track of all the hard disk, CD/DVD-ROM, and
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| 10 | floppy disk images which are in use by virtual machines. These are
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| 11 | often referred to as <i>known media</i> and come
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| 12 | from two sources:
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| 13 | </p>
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| 14 | <ul>
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| 15 | <li>
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| 16 | <p>
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| 17 | All media currently attached to virtual machines.
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| 18 | </p>
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| 19 | </li>
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| 20 | <li>
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| 21 | <p>
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| 22 | Registered media, for compatibility with legacy Oracle VM VirtualBox
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| 23 | versions.
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| 24 | </p>
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| 25 | </li>
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| 26 | </ul>
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| 27 | <p>
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| 28 | The known media can be viewed and changed using the
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| 29 | <b outputclass="bold">Virtual Media Manager</b> tool, which
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| 30 | you access by clicking <b outputclass="bold">Media</b> on
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| 31 | the global <b outputclass="bold">Tools</b> menu in
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| 32 | VirtualBox Manager.
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| 33 | </p>
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| 34 | <fig id="fig-virtual-media-manager">
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| 35 | <title>The Virtual Media Manager, Showing Hard Disk Images</title>
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| 36 | <image href="images/virtual-disk-manager.png" placement="break"/>
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| 37 | </fig>
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| 38 | <p>
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| 39 | The known media are conveniently grouped in separate tabs for the
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| 40 | supported formats. These formats are:
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| 41 | </p>
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| 42 | <ul>
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| 43 | <li>
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| 44 | <p>
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| 45 | Hard disk images, either in Oracle VM VirtualBox's own Virtual Disk
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| 46 | Image (VDI) format, or in the third-party formats listed in
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| 47 | <xref href="vdidetails.dita#vdidetails"/>.
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| 48 | </p>
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| 49 | </li>
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| 50 | <li>
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| 51 | <p>
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| 52 | CD/DVD images in standard ISO format.
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| 53 | </p>
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| 54 | </li>
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| 55 | <li>
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| 56 | <p>
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| 57 | Floppy images in standard RAW format.
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| 58 | </p>
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| 59 | </li>
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| 60 | </ul>
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| 61 | <p>
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| 62 | For each image, the Virtual Media Manager shows you the full path
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| 63 | of the image file and other information, such as the virtual
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| 64 | machine the image is currently attached to.
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| 65 | </p>
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| 66 | <p>
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| 67 | The Virtual Media Manager enables you to do the following:
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| 68 | </p>
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| 69 | <ul>
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| 70 | <li>
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| 71 | <p>
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| 72 | <b outputclass="bold">Add</b> an image to the known
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| 73 | media.
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| 74 | </p>
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| 75 | </li>
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| 76 | <li>
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| 77 | <p>
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| 78 | <b outputclass="bold">Create</b> a new disk image.
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| 79 | </p>
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| 80 | <ul>
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| 81 | <li>
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| 82 | <p>
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| 83 | For hard disks, the <b outputclass="bold">Create Virtual
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| 84 | Hard Disk</b> wizard is shown. See
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| 85 | <xref href="create-virtual-hard-disk-image.dita#create-virtual-hard-disk-image"/>.
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| 86 | </p>
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| 87 | </li>
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| 88 | <li>
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| 89 | <p>
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| 90 | For optical disks, the <b outputclass="bold">VISO
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| 91 | Creator</b> tool is shown. See
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| 92 | <xref href="create-optical-disk-image.dita#create-optical-disk-image"/>.
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| 93 | </p>
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| 94 | </li>
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| 95 | <li>
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| 96 | <p>
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| 97 | For floppy disks, the <b outputclass="bold">Floppy Disk
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| 98 | Creator</b> tool is shown. See
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| 99 | <xref href="create-floppy-disk-image.dita#create-floppy-disk-image"/>.
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| 100 | </p>
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| 101 | </li>
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| 102 | </ul>
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| 103 | </li>
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| 104 | <li>
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| 105 | <p>
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| 106 | <b outputclass="bold">Copy</b> an image to create
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| 107 | another one.
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| 108 | </p>
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| 109 | <p>
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| 110 | For virtual hard disks, you can specify one of the following
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| 111 | target types: VDI, VHD, or VMDK.
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| 112 | </p>
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| 113 | </li>
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| 114 | <li>
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| 115 | <p>
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| 116 | <b outputclass="bold">Move</b> an image to another
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| 117 | location.
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| 118 | </p>
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| 119 | <p>
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| 120 | A file dialog prompts you for the new image file location.
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| 121 | </p>
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| 122 | <p>
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| 123 | When you use the Virtual Media Manager to move a disk image,
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| 124 | Oracle VM VirtualBox updates all related configuration files
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| 125 | automatically.
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| 126 | </p>
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| 127 | <note>
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| 128 | <p>
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| 129 | Always use the Virtual Media Manager or the
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| 130 | <userinput>VBoxManage modifymedium</userinput> command to move a
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| 131 | disk image.
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| 132 | </p>
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| 133 | <p>
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| 134 | If you use a file management feature of the host OS to move
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| 135 | a disk image to a new location, run the <userinput>VBoxManage
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| 136 | modifymedium --setlocation</userinput>
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| 137 | command to configure the new path of the disk image on the
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| 138 | host file system. This command updates the Oracle VM VirtualBox
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| 139 | configuration automatically.
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| 140 | </p>
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| 141 | </note>
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| 142 | </li>
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| 143 | <li>
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| 144 | <p>
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| 145 | <b outputclass="bold">Remove</b> an image from the
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| 146 | known media. You can optionally delete the image file when
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| 147 | removing the image.
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| 148 | </p>
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| 149 | </li>
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| 150 | <li>
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| 151 | <p>
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| 152 | <b outputclass="bold">Release</b> an image to detach it
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| 153 | from a VM. This action only applies if the image is currently
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| 154 | attached to a VM as a virtual hard disk.
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| 155 | </p>
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| 156 | </li>
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| 157 | <li>
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| 158 | <p>
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| 159 | <b outputclass="bold">Clear</b> all inaccessible disk
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| 160 | images from the list. The disk images are released from the
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| 161 | VMs they are attached to and removed from the known media.
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| 162 | </p>
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| 163 | <note>
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| 164 | <p>
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| 165 | This option is for optical disks and floppy disks only.
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| 166 | </p>
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| 167 | </note>
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| 168 | </li>
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| 169 | <li>
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| 170 | <p>
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| 171 | <b outputclass="bold">Search</b> for an image by name
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| 172 | or UUID.
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| 173 | </p>
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| 174 | </li>
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| 175 | <li>
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| 176 | <p>
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| 177 | View and edit the <b outputclass="bold">Properties</b>
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| 178 | of a disk image.
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| 179 | </p>
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| 180 | <p>
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| 181 | Available properties include the following:
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| 182 | </p>
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| 183 | <ul>
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| 184 | <li>
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| 185 | <p>
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| 186 | <b outputclass="bold">Type:</b> Specifies the
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| 187 | snapshot behavior of the disk. See
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| 188 | <xref href="hdimagewrites.dita#hdimagewrites"/>.
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| 189 | </p>
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| 190 | </li>
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| 191 | <li>
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| 192 | <p>
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| 193 | <b outputclass="bold">Location:</b> Specifies the
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| 194 | location of the disk image file on the host system. You
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| 195 | can use a file dialog to browse for the disk image
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| 196 | location.
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| 197 | </p>
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| 198 | </li>
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| 199 | <li>
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| 200 | <p>
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| 201 | <b outputclass="bold">Description:</b> Specifies a
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| 202 | short description of the disk image.
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| 203 | </p>
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| 204 | </li>
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| 205 | <li>
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| 206 | <p>
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| 207 | <b outputclass="bold">Size:</b> Specifies the size
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| 208 | of the disk image. You can use the slider to increase or
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| 209 | decrease the disk image size.
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| 210 | </p>
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| 211 | </li>
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| 212 | <li>
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| 213 | <p>
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| 214 | <b outputclass="bold">Information:</b> Specifies
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| 215 | detailed information about the disk image.
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| 216 | </p>
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| 217 | </li>
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| 218 | </ul>
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| 219 | </li>
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| 220 | <li>
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| 221 | <p>
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| 222 | <b outputclass="bold">Refresh</b> the property values
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| 223 | of the selected disk image.
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| 224 | </p>
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| 225 | </li>
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| 226 | </ul>
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| 227 | <p>
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| 228 | To perform these actions, highlight the medium in the Virtual
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| 229 | Media Manager and then do one of the following:
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| 230 | </p>
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| 231 | <ul>
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| 232 | <li>
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| 233 | <p>
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| 234 | Click an icon in the Virtual Media Manager toolbar.
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| 235 | </p>
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| 236 | </li>
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| 237 | <li>
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| 238 | <p>
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| 239 | Right-click the medium and select an option.
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| 240 | </p>
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| 241 | </li>
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| 242 | </ul>
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| 243 | <p>
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| 244 | Use the <b outputclass="bold">Storage</b> page in a VM's
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| 245 | <b outputclass="bold">Settings</b> window to create a new
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| 246 | disk image. By default, disk images are stored in the VM's folder.
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| 247 | </p>
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| 248 | <p>
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| 249 | You can copy hard disk image files to other host systems and then
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| 250 | import them in to VMs from the host system. However, some Windows
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| 251 | guest OSes may require that you configure the new VM in a similar
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| 252 | way to the old one.
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| 253 | </p>
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| 254 | <note>
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| 255 | <p>
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| 256 | Do not simply make copies of virtual disk images. If you import
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| 257 | such a second copy into a VM, Oracle VM VirtualBox issues an error
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| 258 | because Oracle VM VirtualBox assigns a universally unique identifier
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| 259 | (UUID) to each disk image to ensure that it is only used one
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| 260 | time. See <xref href="cloningvdis.dita#cloningvdis"/>. Also, if you want to
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| 261 | copy a VM to another system, use the Oracle VM VirtualBox import and
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| 262 | export features. See <xref href="ovf.dita#ovf"/>.
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| 263 | </p>
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| 264 | </note>
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| 265 | </body>
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| 266 |
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| 267 |
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| 268 |
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| 269 | </topic>
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