Getting Gnome Boxes to Recognize a Non-Default Qcow2 Virtual Disk Created with Virt-manager on Windows 10

Getting Gnome Boxes to Recognize Non-Default Qcow2 Virtual Disks Created with Virt-manager on Windows 10

If you're using Windows 10 and have created a Qcow2 virtual disk using Virt-manager, you might have stored it in a non-default location, such as a different partition. However, when you try to use this virtual disk with Gnome Boxes, you might encounter issues with recognition. This article will guide you through the process of getting Gnome Boxes to recognize non-default Qcow2 virtual disks created with Virt-manager on Windows 10.

Understanding the Issue

Gnome Boxes is designed to work seamlessly with virtual disks created within the application. However, when you create a virtual disk using Virt-manager and store it in a non-default location, Gnome Boxes might not be able to locate it. This issue arises because Gnome Boxes looks for virtual disks in its default storage location, which may not be the same as where you stored your virtual disk.

Locating the Virtual Disk

To get Gnome Boxes to recognize your non-default Qcow2 virtual disk, you need to locate the virtual disk file manually. Here's how to do it:

1. Open Gnome Boxes.
2. Click on the New button to create a new virtual machine.
3. Select the Create a virtual machine from an existing disk image option.
4. Instead of selecting a virtual disk from the list provided, click on the Other option.

+-----------------------+
| Create a new virtual machine |
+-----------------------+
|                         |
|     Cancel      New     |
|                         |
+-------------------------+
|                         |
|   CREATE A VIRTUAL MACHINE FROM AN EXISTING DISK IMAGE  |
|                         |
+-------------------------+
|                         |
|   Disk image:           |
|                         |
|   - Local standard disk  |
|   - Local sparse disk    |
|   - Local raw disk      |
|   - Local VMDK disk     |
|   - Local Qcow2 disk    |
|   - Local VDI disk      |
|   - Local VHD disk      |
|   - Local VHDX disk     |
|   - Local HDD disk      |
|   - Local ISO disk      |
|   - Other               |
|                         |
+-------------------------+

At this point, you should see a file browser window. Navigate to the location where you stored your Qcow2 virtual disk and select it.

Adding the Virtual Disk to Gnome Boxes

Once you've located the virtual disk, you can add it to Gnome Boxes. Here's how:

5. After selecting the Other option in the file browser window, you should see a new window with the following options:

+-----------------------+
| Disk image             |
+-----------------------+
|                         |
|     Cancel      Open    |
|                         |
+-------------------------+
|                         |
|   Disk image:           |
|                         |
|   /path/to/your/disk.qcow2  |
|                         |
+-------------------------+

Make sure the path to your virtual disk is correct, then click on the Open button.

You should now see your virtual disk listed in the Disk image section. From here, you can continue setting up your virtual machine as you normally would.

Getting Gnome Boxes to recognize non-default Qcow2 virtual disks created with Virt-manager on Windows 10 can be a bit tricky, but it's definitely possible. By locating the virtual disk manually and adding it to Gnome Boxes, you can use your virtual disk with Gnome Boxes, even if it's stored in a non-default location.

References

• Gnome Boxes User Guide: https://help.gnome.org/users/boxes/stable/
• Virt-manager User Guide: https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html
• Qcow2 Format Specification: https://wiki.qemu.org/Documentation/Format/Qcow2