Virtual box machine, Created in windows run on linux?

Question

Can a virtual box machine that was created in Virtual Box for windows run on Virtual box for linux?

And if so do I just need to transfer the hdd files?

Answer 1

Yes you can use Virtual Box images portability across different host OSs. It's a little bit complicated because you need more than the hard drive image, you also need the virtual machine configuration file.

• If this is a one time transfer you might consider the export / import options to help you get all this stuff transferred.
• If this is a transfer you hope to make many times, you might look into VirtualBox's teleport function that allows you to transfer running virtual machines back and forth between different hosts.

  Starting with version 3.1, VirtualBox supports "teleporting" -- that is, moving a virtual machine over a network from one VirtualBox host to another, while the virtual machine is running. This works regardless of the host operating system that is running on the hosts: you can teleport virtual machines between Solaris and Mac hosts, for example.
  
  Teleporting requires that a machine be currently running on one host, which is then called the "source". The host to which the virtual machine will be teleported will then be called the "target"; the machine on the target is then configured to wait for the source to contact the target. The machine's running state will then be transferred from the source to the target with minimal downtime.