Oracle VirtualBox @Windows10Pro

Cloning the machines and post-install for Oracle Linux v9

At the moment of writing, on 2025-07-18, my VirtualBox is v7.1.6.

Open VirtualBox, find the source machine, click once to select

It is possible to either use menu: Snapshot> Clone

Or click on [Clone] icon with a sheep:

Or right-click on virtual machine itself:

of press C-S-c (CTRL+SHIFT+c) or, from the list: C-o (CTRL+o)

Give machine a new name, check location and remember to choose "Generate new MAC for adapters". Your network infra will be happy to see healthy traffic and route it properly.

When machne is cloned, let's start it:

Post-cloning precedures

All commands executed in the elevated shell

sudo su

Change hostname

hostnamectl hostname lt58dox1

During cloning the machines, change physical ID and MAC address in the hypervisor (sometimes, it will not do it automatically in VirtualBox, proxmox and others).

When machines are cloned, 'machine ID':

cat /etc/machine-id
rm -f /etc/machine-id
systemd-machine-id-setup
systemd-machine-id-setup --commit --print

SSH server's keys need to be re-generated to be seen as different machines

rm -rf /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*
ssh-keygen -A
ls -la /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*

And finally perform reboot

shutdown -r now

As there will be new MAC assigned, check for new IP addresses:

ip -br a

Adding more space to virtual machine by adding new disk and expanding using LVM

Daily task, which comes as daily routing, to extend the disk space:

Switch off the machine

Open VM properties in Oracle VirtualBox Manager, Storage,

Click [Create]

Name the disk accordingly to be consistent with other drives. Ensure that disk is saved nearby the VM itself. In my case, I am extending root partition for 50 GB.

After new disk is created, choose it double-clicking it.

Should end by seeing new disk in the virtual machine properties under 'Storage' list, attached to proper controller, 'SATA' - in my case.

Confirm with [OK]

Power on the machine

List disks with. New disk should be visible.

lsblk

Follow LVM Disk Extension guide to finalize extension.