Why convert VDI to VHD?
VDI is VirtualBox's native virtual hard-disk format, while .vhd is Microsoft's format used by Hyper-V and Windows Disk Management. Hyper-V cannot read .vdi files, so migrating a VM from VirtualBox to a Windows Server or Hyper-V environment requires this conversion.
How to convert VDI to VHD
VirtualBox (VBoxManage) OPEN-SOURCE
Shut down the VM, then run VBoxManage clonemedium disk input.vdi output.vhd --format VHD in a terminal. VBoxManage is bundled with every VirtualBox install - no extra download needed.
qemu-img OPEN-SOURCE
Run qemu-img convert -O vpc input.vdi output.vhd for a plain VHD, or qemu-img convert -O vhdx input.vdi output.vhdx for the newer VHDX format. Part of the QEMU package, available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Programs that convert VDI
About these formats
.VDI
Virtual Disk Image (Oracle VirtualBox)
A VDI file is the native virtual hard disk format of Oracle VirtualBox. It holds a complete guest operating system, not a document or optical disc image. To use it, attach it to a VM in…
Open .VDI details →
.VHD
Virtual Hard Disk
A VHD file is a complete hard disk stored as a single file - partition table, filesystem, and often a full operating system. On Windows you can mount it in Disk Management to read files, or…
Open .VHD details →Quality & what to watch
- VHD has a 2 TB size limit; if the virtual disk is larger, VBoxManage will fail - use qemu-img with VHDX instead.
- VHDX is more resilient to corruption and supports disks up to 64 TB; prefer VHDX when targeting modern Hyper-V.
- If the source
.vdiis dynamically allocated, the output.vhdwill also be dynamic; Hyper-V handles both types.
