Before executing any commands, you need to navigate to the VirtualBox installation directory. The typical path is:

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe

There are two reliable ways to run VBoxManage commands:

Method 1: Using Full Path

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" list hdds

Method 2: Adding to System PATH

set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\
VBoxManage list hdds

Here's the complete workflow for converting VDI to VMDK:

# List available virtual disks
"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" list hdds

# Convert disk format (adjust paths as needed)
"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" clonehd "source.vdi" "output.vmdk" --format VMDK

# For fixed-size VMDK (better performance)
"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" clonehd "source.vdi" "output.vmdk" --format VMDK --variant Fixed

Permission Problems: Run Command Prompt as Administrator when working with virtual disks.

Path Contains Spaces: Always enclose paths in quotes when they contain spaces.

32-bit vs 64-bit: On 64-bit systems, VirtualBox may install in "Program Files (x86)" instead.

For batch processing multiple images:

@echo off
set VBOX_PATH="C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe"
for %%f in (*.vdi) do (
  %VBOX_PATH% clonehd "%%f" "%%~nf.vmdk" --format VMDK
)

Check conversion progress (works for most operations):

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" showhdinfo "output.vmdk"

VBoxManage.exe is the command-line interface (CLI) tool for managing Oracle VirtualBox virtual machines. Located in Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\, this powerful utility enables advanced operations like VM creation, modification, and disk format conversion.

To execute VBoxManage commands properly:

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator
2. Either:
   • Navigate to the VirtualBox directory first:
     cd "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\"
   • Or use the full path:
     "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" [command]

Here's the complete process to convert a VirtualBox VDI to VMware VMDK:

# First list all registered virtual disks
"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" list hdds

# Then convert your specific VDI file
"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" clonehd "source.vdi" "output.vmdk" --format VMDK

Permission errors: Always run as Administrator
Path not found: Use quotes around paths with spaces
Format options: Supported formats include VDI, VMDK, VHD, RAW

For batch operations, create a script:

@echo off
set VBOX_PATH="C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe"
%VBOX_PATH% clonehd "C:\VMs\ubuntu.vdi" "C:\VMs\ubuntu.vmdk" --format VMDK
pause

Remember to check VMware compatibility after conversion, as some VirtualBox features may not translate perfectly.