Option to bundle installation media into exported VM

[mcandre]

Some operating systems like SmartOS and TAILS rely on installation media continuing to be attached even after installation. Could VirtualBox include an option to bundle any attached floppies and ISO discs into the exported virtual machine, so that the virtual machine can successfully boot up?

Maybe VBoxManage export could get flags like --bundle-floppies, --bundle-iso (default false), that ensure these virtual devices are populated in the .OVF, and their virtual disk files (.IMG, .ISO) are copied to the exported output directory.

I see some (undocumented) iso-related flags for VBoxManage export, but I'm not sure if they're related.

[mcandre]

Update: I found the --iso option to VBoxManage export, and I think the nature of this bug report is no longer to add the feature, but to clearly document it. Neither the -h Usage output, nor the online VirtualBox documentation, explain what this flag actually does. It's like an easter egg.

I have not tested floppy bundling during VirtualBox export. I assume that any attached floppy drives are included in the export, but I have not tested this.

[Valery Ushakov]

--iso is provided for backward compatibility. The preferred method is --options iso. The manual for export says:

To specify options controlling the exact content of the appliance file, you can use --options to request ... additional export of DVD images, ...