MacOS VirtualBox boot guest system from USB

VirtualBox boot guest system from USB ? Yes, of course you can 😁 These instructions are for MacOS, but can also be adapted for WINDOWS. Step by step.

The related command line for WINDOWS and instructions can be found below.

The trick to starting a virtual machine from a USB drive is to link a “Virtual disk” shortcut in the “Virtual machine” to the “USB device” on the “Local PC or NB” 😳 Sounds stupid, but it’s true 😂

☝️… stay relaxed, it will get even better 👍😁

About VirtualBox

VirtualBox enables you to create and use a virtual computer under WINDOWS, for example. For example, you can run a Linux in a window as your own PC under WINDOWS. VirtualBox simulates the PC for you under WINDOWS.

You can get VirtualBox free of charge directly from the manufacturer Oracle

https://www.virtualbox.org

Determining the drive ID

First you need the disk ID / drive ID or whatever you like to call it. You will receive the drive number (e.g. Disk 1 or Disk3):

diskutil list

to display it.

Now, details in the video, search for the drive and note the disk number. Also note the partitions (e.g. Disk3s1, Disk3s2 etc.)

Take ownership of the drive

In the next step, you take ownership of the data carrier, including the partitions. In the example shown, this is a USB stick. You can also use a hard disk, for example.

sudo chown [username] /dev/disk[3]*
# Example sudo chown mike /dev/disk3*

Replace “username” with your user name

Replace the “3” in “Disk3” with your disk number

The asterisk “*” at the end must remain so that the authorizations are transferred to the subdirectories.

Remove the brackets “[” and “]” of course, these are just placeholders

Unmounten

Next you unmount the partitions, not the drive e.g. disk3 !

If you unmount the drive, it is no longer usable for you. Therefore, you only unmount the partitions so that the drive remains available for you.

diskutil unmount /dev/disk3s1

if further partitions are available:
diskutil unmount /dev/disk3s2

Replace the disk number, here “disk3” with the disk number you are using.

Creating the VMDK hard disk file

MacOS

sudo VBoxManage createmedium disk --filename bootcamp.vmdk --format=VMDK --variant=rawdisk --property RawDrive=/dev/disk3

WINDOWS

vboxmanage createmedium disk --filename usb.vmdk --format=VMDK --variant RawDisk --property RawDrive=\\.\PhysicalDriveX

Start VirtualBox correctly with “sudo”

For this to work properly under MacOS, you must start VirtualBox in administrative mode with all rights.

sudo virtualbox

Please do not be alarmed if you do not see your VMs, when you start VirtualBox again normally all VMs are there.

VM Setup

Follow the video on how to set up a VM that starts with the VMDK file.

IMPORTANT: Fix the annoying unmount and possible errors

If the VDMK file cannot be loaded into the VirtualBox, try the following:

1. Check if the USB device is online, unmount the partitions if necessary.
2. Run “sudo chown mike /dev/disk3*” (replace disk3 with your drive ID, and the user name with yours) to reset the permissions again
3. Reset the permissions for the VMDK file. sudo chown mike *.vmdk”. Replace “mike” with your user name.

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