#1 2015-12-18 17:55:09

nobody0

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Registered: 2015-09-29

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[SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

Does anyone know how to extract a .vdi file?

Last edited by earlybird (2016-01-04 08:54:21)

gako

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Registered: 2015-10-02

Posts: 241

Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

There was an old tool called "vditool" - which had a DUMP option.
You could get the offset of the .vdi disk data and mount -o loop it.

There is no vditool anymore and I think Virtualbox replaced functionality with VBoxManage (comes with virtualbox)
Not sure how to use the same way, and even if you could, the .vdi would probably have to be "fixed" size rather than "dynamic",

I attempted on one of my dynamic .vdi

/srv/vbox-vms  ■: sudo VBoxManage clonehd --format RAW name.vdi name.img 

0%...
Progress state: VBOX_E_FILE_ERROR
VBoxManage: error: Failed to clone hard disk
VBoxManage: error: Could not create the clone medium '/srv/vbox-vms/Bunsenlabs-Hydrogen-rc1-amd64/Bunsenlabs-Hydrogen-rc1-amd64.img'.
VBoxManage: error: Raw: disk would overflow creating image '/srv/vbox-vms/Bunsenlabs-Hydrogen-rc1-amd64/Bunsenlabs-Hydrogen-rc1-amd64.img' (VERR_DISK_FULL)
VBoxManage: error: Details: code VBOX_E_FILE_ERROR (0x80bb0004), component Medium, interface IMedium
VBoxManage: error: Context: "int handleCloneHardDisk(HandlerArg*)" at line 745 of file VBoxManageDisk.cpp

maybe my approach is misguided though

Ah but there is  virtualbox-fuse / vdfuse (dropped from jessie )

nobody0

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Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

I tried with qemu-nbd, but didn't work either. There is a how-to here, http://jsmylinux.no-ip.org/virtualbox/e … rom-a-vdi/ but didn't work for me. I don't want to install Windows on my hard disk, but I have it in Virtualbox. I don't know how to copy files from running VM to a partition. So, trying to find a way to extract the whole vdi file.

Head_on_a_Stick

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Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

I don't know how to copy files from running VM to a partition

Can you not just enable shared folders?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Vi … ed_folders

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nobody0

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Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

^ Thanks, HoaS, I'd try that. Now, I have another question; how do you link to an exact place in the web page, as you did in the above link to "Enable shared folders?"

Head_on_a_Stick

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Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

how do you link to an exact place in the web page, as you did in the above link to "Enable shared folders?"

The ArchWiki has URL subheaders on every page -- simply click on them in the "Contents" section then copy&paste the address bar

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nobody0

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Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

^ What I meant was how to link a place in the middle of the web page, any web page.

Head_on_a_Stick

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Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

That would depend on whether a subheader URL was available for that section of the page.

I don't know how to link to an arbitrary position in a web page, if that's what you mean.

Of course it may be possible, I'm fairly ignorant of such matters.

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nobody0

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Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

^ Thanks! I'd have a look.
EDIT: Tried it, but the vdi file is too large. It won't go more than 4.3GB, even if I had created the qume img for 10GB. Maybe, I'd have to reinstall Win10 in qemu, then try to open it in parts, or try to install Win10 on a large USB stick, and then copy the files from that. What I want to try is to install Win10 manually, without letting it take over the computer. Right now, this Windows10 is run in VM on Debian Sid as host--used as a secondary distro. If Windows has to be dual booted with a Linux distro, the Linux should be the first distro, not take the 2nd place.

Last edited by nobody0 (2015-12-19 18:07:00)

nobody0

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Posts: 664

Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

^ Thanks.
I was trying to do that in a fat32 partition, as it had lot of free space. Moved to a Linux partition and it worked. Now, I have to find at least 16gb usb stick to burn the raw file (12.8GB) into it. Hope, it'd boot later, or at least I could get at the directories there.

johnraff

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From: Nagoya, Japan

Registered: 2015-09-09

Posts: 12,552

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Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

<OffTopicButOfPossibleGeneralInterest>

^ What I meant was how to link a place in the middle of the web page, any web page.

You have to open the web page's source and look for a tag with an "id" attribute. For example, that section of the Arch Wiki looks like this

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Enable_shared_folders">Enable shared folders</span></h3>
<p>Shared folders are managed...

Now add that ID after a hashmark to the page's URL, like: ...archlinux.org/index.php/VirtualBox#Enable_shared_folders

If there's no tag with an id you're out of luck.

</OffTopicButOfPossibleGeneralInterest>

Last edited by johnraff (2015-12-25 06:53:29)

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Eon

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Registered: 2015-09-29

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Re: [SOLVED] How to extract a .vdi file?

@nobody
thank you for providing the solution. I was searching for this kind of solution from months iirc. It is greatly helpful.
+1 to nobody.

Last edited by Eon (2016-01-03 16:52:39)