Backup an entire VirtualBox VM

I want to back up my entire system, with all programs and files that are currently installed on the VM. How can I do this?

If I lose my computer or something goes wrong with my operating system, I would like to have this security backup.

2 Answers

Export the VM...

vboxmanage export vmname -o vmname.ova

...and import...

vboxmanage import vmname

To backup a full VM in VirtualBox we only need to save your virtual hard drive that has the .vdi extension.

On Linux, the HD is usually in:

user_name/.VirtualBox/HardDisks/harddisk_name.vdi

Just copy this file and save it in some safe place.

To restore the backup, just select the .vdi file as the image's HD when creating a VM in VirtualBox.