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<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic xml:lang="en-us" id="vboxconfigdata-machine-folder">
<title>The Machine Folder</title>
<body>
<p>
By default, each virtual machine has a directory on your host
computer where all the files of that machine are stored: the XML
settings file, with a <filepath>.vbox</filepath> file extension,
and its disk images. This is called the <i>machine
folder</i>.
</p>
<p>
By default, this machine folder is located in a common folder
called <filepath>VirtualBox VMs</filepath>, which <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/>
creates in the current system user's home directory. The
location of this home directory depends on the conventions of
the host operating system, as follows:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
On Windows, this is the location returned by the
<codeph>SHGetFolderPath</codeph> function of the Windows
system library Shell32.dll, asking for the user profile. A
typical location is
<filepath>C:\Users\<varname>username</varname>
</filepath>.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
On Linux, macOS, and Oracle Solaris, this is generally
taken from the environment variable
<filepath>$HOME</filepath>, except for the user
<codeph>root</codeph> where it is taken from the account
database. This is a workaround for the frequent trouble
caused by users using <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> in combination with the
tool <userinput>sudo</userinput>, which by default does not
reset the environment variable <filepath>$HOME</filepath>.
</p>
<p>
A typical location on Linux and Oracle Solaris is
<filepath>/home/<varname>username</varname>
</filepath>
and on macOS is
<filepath>/Users/<varname>username</varname>
</filepath>.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
For simplicity, we abbreviate the location of the home directory
as <filepath>$HOME</filepath>. Using that convention, the common
folder for all virtual machines is <filepath>$HOME/VirtualBox
VMs</filepath>.
</p>
<p> As an example, when you create a virtual machine called <i>Example VM</i>, <ph
conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> creates the following: </p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
A machine folder: <filepath>$HOME/VirtualBox VMs/Example
VM/</filepath>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
In the machine folder, a settings file: <filepath>Example
VM.vbox</filepath>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
In the machine folder, a virtual disk image:
<filepath>Example VM.vdi</filepath>.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
This is the default layout if you use the
<b outputclass="bold">Create New Virtual Machine</b>
wizard described in <xref href="create-vm-wizard.dita">Creating Your First Virtual Machine</xref>. Once you
start working with the VM, additional files are added. Log files
are in a subfolder called <filepath>Logs</filepath>, and if you
have taken snapshots, they are in a
<filepath>Snapshots</filepath> subfolder. For each VM, you can
change the location of its snapshots folder in the VM settings.
</p>
<p> You can change the default machine folder by selecting <b outputclass="bold">Preferences</b>
from the <b outputclass="bold">File</b> menu in the <ph
conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> main window. Then, in the displayed
window, click the <b outputclass="bold">General</b> tab. Alternatively, use the
<userinput>VBoxManage setproperty machinefolder</userinput> command. See <xref
href="vboxmanage-setproperty.dita">VBoxManage setproperty</xref>. </p>
</body>
</topic>
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