cp won't copy more than 32Gb of a large file on the same SSD

michaelk · 05-16-2022, 01:48 PM

Quote:

I noticed the problem when I was trying to migrate a VirtualBox .vdi file using VBoxManage. The source disk file is 70Gb and the migration failed repeatedly about half way through the migration process.

Please define what you mean by migrate. Did it ever complete successfully?

I have created both VirtualBox clones and appliances ~30 GB, and copied several times to different PC's with no errors.

boughtonp · 05-16-2022, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by computersavvy

You should be able to make a copy of the virtual device using dd, but I have no clue how that would work on an encrypted device, especially one that is a sparse file.

There's a sparse option for dd too, but I don't know if that helps.

Also there is a --verbose option for cp and rsync (but not dd) - maybe those would give more information on the error.

Otherwise, a search for "fsck luks" returns examples using cryptsetup with "luksOpen" in order to fsck it.

Harju · 05-16-2022, 11:03 PM

Have you tried splitting the file and copy it chunk by chunk? Would help to rule out if it's a problem with file or if it's more related to the OS.

princess-rubble · 05-17-2022, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

Please define what you mean by migrate. Did it ever complete successfully?

I have created both VirtualBox clones and appliances ~30 GB, and copied several times to different PC's with no errors.

By migrate, I mean clone the .vdi file to a different format for use with Gnome Boxes. (I've never liked VirtualBox and want to try using Boxes, based on its good reviews.) It's this process that failed part way through, and I started down this rabbit hole of wondering why my 70Gb .vdi file could never be fully copied.

princess-rubble · 05-17-2022, 02:54 AM

Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions. Nothing has worked so far and I've decided to chalk this one up to experience and be defeated.

The original intention was to migrate the .vdi to a different format for use with Gnome Boxes as a replacement for VirtualBox. This did not work, so I have created a new VM in Boxes with a clean OS. I will reinstall whatever software I need in the new VM. It would have been more convenient to reuse the VM from VirtualBox but that would not work. C'est la vie.

Thanks again.