For backup and testing purpose i keep a virtualized version of my webserver running under Parallels Desktop for Mac on my mac.
- Converting Virtualbox .vdi File To Parallels Workstation 9 For Macbook Pro
- Converting Virtualbox .vdi File To Parallels Workstation 9 For Mac Iso
For instance, recently, I helped a customer over the phone convert his virtual machine from VirtualBox to Parallels Desktop by simply going through the steps listed in the related KB article. Everything worked as expected. Converting Virtualbox.vdi File To Parallels Workstation 9 For Mac Download. Nov 19, 2020 vdi to vhd conversion represents an export of data from VirtualBox disk format (.vdi) to Virtual Disk format (.vhd), which should be possible in several virtualization programs like VirtualBox or Parallels desktop. Aug 07, 2020 This file will be mounted in your virtual machine later on in the article, so it’s very important that this step is completed successfully. Creating a mac Virtual Machine on Windows. You’ll want to create a virtual machine, and this is really easy. You’ll open up VirtualBox and click New. As user of a more recent version of Parallels Desktop, 12 at the time of writing, you might have heard about the famous “Parallels Image Tool”. This tool appears in various place on the web when it comes to the question on how to convert a Parallels virtual machine to something VirtualBox.
Recently Dell had some very convenient offers on their PowerEdge machines and i could barely resist to buy one, but finally, i managed to: cut the crap, i don’t want to have even more boxes standing around at home.
But i was thinking again: Whats better than one backup? Redundant backups ?
So i downloaded a copy of Parallels Workstation to install it on my PC at work. Equipt with a DVD and my image file from Parallels Desktop, i fired up the PC Version and after fiddling around with some pathes i can confirm that the Parallels Desktop 3.x vms are compatible with Parallels Workstation 2.x vms, at least a vm with a Debian OS inside.
But to me, performance was poor. My mac is a 2Ghz Core2Duo Mac Book with 3GB Ram, my Pc is a 2.66 Core2Duo Dell with 2GB Ram and Parallels Workstation was way slower on the PC than unter OS X. In addition: I didn’t want to spend another 50$ for Parallels (i already bought versions 2 and 3 for Mac, should be enough), so i thought about alternatives on my PC running Windows XP as host.
I already knew about QEMU which in contrast to Parallels and VMWare is a processor emulator and not a virtualization tool and therefore must be slower. I recommend the QEMU Manager for Windows Users, as this thingy already contains the kqemu virtualization extension.
Installation is dead simple and to my surprise, it was enough to convert my Parallels extending image with the Parallels Image Tool to a plain disk which i could use without further changes with QEMU.
Debian is very stable against the few “hardware” changes. The only problem i had that Debian wouldn’t find my eth0 device although the Realtek 8139too module was loaded. Solutions: The ethxxx devices are bound to the hardware (mac) address. I could look up the mac address in the Parallels configuration file, add this number in the QEMU config and voila, everything was up and running.
Somewhat complicated is bridged networking with QEMU. First you need the TAP-Win32 driver which is brought to you by the great OpenVPN project. The most simple way to install is through OpenVPN Gui for Windows.
After install add a new TAP device through the startmenu entry and then, the clou: There are some howtos which recommend enable bridged networking through the Internet Connection Sharing facilities of windows but it’s much simpler than that: Under network connections, select your default LAN Connection, the tap device, right click and choose bridge networks.
After that, change the network mode in your QEMU vm from user networking to tap networking and you’re ready to go.
Performance was quite good (at least at Parallels speed) but i guessed, there was room for more so i look for VMWare. Unfortunately, the QEMU image tool qemu-img.exe repeatedly crashed while converting my Parallels Image to the vmdk format so this was a dead end for me.
Although the Parallels image worked fine with QEMU and later on also in our Oracle VM Server as a hw virtualized XEN machine, i was not content and i looked out for VirtualBox which is available under a GPL license without USB support which i don’t need, but is able to use Intel VT-x and AMD-V technology.
I needed to convert the Parallels image from a raw disk format to innoteks vdi format, following the steps explained here.
All the tools mentioned there are also available under a Windows installation of QEMU and Virtualbox. Commands as follow:
For bridged networking unter VirtualBox the same applies as to QEMU without the need for OpenVPN, you can add a TAP device right from within VirtualBox . If you already have the bridged described above, you can add the VirtualBox interface with a right click to that bridge. Also, to have Debian not change the eth number, add the same mac address in the network tap of VirtualBox.
All this said and done, booting the system was blazing fast and also the backup of my Daily Fratze project which is pulled via rsync from my server, runs extremly smooth and i have absolutely no hassle setting up Ruby on Rails, RMagick and MySQL under the Windows “Operating System” but can use Debian or any other distro with a sane environment.
After fiddling around with both VMWare and VirtualBox, i’d prefer VirtualBox over VMWare Server (which is also available for free {i.e. for giving VMWare your personal data}). VirtualBox has less overhead then VMWare Server, is simple to configure and as i said, amazingly fast.
When the OS X version leaves beta, i’ll switch from Parallels on my Mac to VirtualBox, at least for my server live backup, so i can make it redundant with the one some kilometres away (call me paranoid if you like) at my workplaces PC.
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If you are a VMware user and trying to switch to the Open-Source side of the Force by using VirtualBox, you may be stuck into difficulties if you try to import an existing VDI file into VirtualBox. So, here in this blog, I will be telling you how you can open VDI file in Virtualbox. Before moving to the solution directly you should first know about VDI file and Virtualbox. Let’s start.
Converting Virtualbox .vdi File To Parallels Workstation 9 For Macbook Pro
![Converting Converting](/uploads/1/1/9/3/119352374/696379480.png)
What is Virtualbox?
VirtualBox is a well-built x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product which is widely used by enterprises. It is a greatly feature-rich, high-performance product for business customers. In addition, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software.
What is a VDI file?
VirtualBox software creates Virtual Dik Image(.VDI) file and it stores all contents for a virtual disk. The core difference between VMware and VirtualBox is that VMware captures a whole virtual machine in an image. On the other hand, VirtualBox only supports images of a hard disk. So, in VirtualBox’s world, to first create a new virtual machine, before using an existing VirtualBox image.
Open VDI File in Virtualbox Manually
Converting Virtualbox .vdi File To Parallels Workstation 9 For Mac Iso
Import a VDI in Virtualbox by just following the given below steps.
- First of all, copy your VDI file into VirtualBox’s virtual hard disks repository.
- After that, start VirtualBox and create a new virtual machine. Select the Operating System.
- Here, you will be asked for a hard disk image, select Use existing hard disk and click on the small icon on the right.
- This will bring you to the Virtual Media Manager. Click on the Add button and select the VDI file from step 1.
- Once you leave the Virtual Media Manager, you’ll be back in your virtual machine wizard. Next, you can select your new VDI as an existing hard disk and finalize the creation process.
- Then, back in the main window, you will now be able to start your new virtual machine.
What if your virtual disk image(VDI) gets corrupted while importing?
Well, do not worry at all as I’ve got the solution to this situation as well. In such a case, the only option left is to try the professional tool. One such tool is VDI Recovery Software. This is one of the best tools available which provides an effective solution for Virtual disk image recovery. This software can swiftly recover the maximum possible data and it also helps in restoring the files in their original forms. The tool has multiple features that perform the hassle-free recovery. Thus, I would recommend you to try the demo version of this tool which is absolutely free of cost.
Bottom Lines
The blog is describing the best possible solutions to open VDI File in Virtualbox. The method includes the manual approach as well as the automated tool. Now, it’s up to you to make your decision. I hope it helps to resolve your query.
You can also read: How to convert VDI to VMDK VMware