My VM in VirtualBox erases my TAILS OS when I log off

This means I have had to remove the VM and install a new one, then reinstall TAILS OS from the ISO file on my desktop everytime I want to open the VM.

My host system is Win 7 pro 64-bit.

I may be shutting down the VM incorrectly.

I am aware that the purpose of TAILS is to leave no trace on the computer, but I am only running the VM to learn TAILS and access learning materials through Win 7.

Which option should I use, so that TAILS starts when I start the VM again:

save state
shut down immediately
...?

Should I shut down only the VM through the drop down menu: "exit"

Or should I shut down TAILS first?

I would appreciate any help here.

The ISO image is being disconnected from virtual CD drive when you shutdown. You can select a image without creating a new vm and there is a checkbox to run it as a live CD so this does not happen. Since tails is a live CD and runs in memory it really does not matter how it is shutdown.

Why not install tails to a USB drive instead of a vm?

Thank you for your response.

The live cd checkbox is checked. I guess you mean the one in VirtualBox Manager--> Storage.


I am trying to install the iso file direct from my desktop to the vm. VirtualBox says you can do that.

I want to have TAILS open at the same time as Win 7. If I installed tails from the USB instead of the vm, I could not have windows open at the same time. I want them both open because there is stuff I need to see on Win 7 at the same time.

What option should I use to shut down the VM so TAILS does not get wiped again? There are different ways to shut down TAILS, and there are different options to shut down VirtualBox.

tails runs in memory therefore when shutdown everything is erased. It does not matter how it is shutdown.

Thanks for your response.

I just tried another approach but it does not work.

I do not touch the TAILS buttons.

I just go to the VirtualBox Manager and click on the Machine drop down menue. Then I look for the options under "close" and select "save state."

Then I go to the "File" drop down menu also in VB manager and click on "exit" at the bottom.

The next time I start VirtualBox, I just click on "Start" and TAILS loads up again.

The problem with this is that TAILS is not loading normally, and the command line function does not work. I cannot type anything into it.

I just want TAILS to load up normally every time I start virtualbox, without having to remove the VM and create a whole new one each time I want to logon.

What I have to do is load the TAILS iso file into the VM before I start the VM every time.

Not sure why I did not find this before. You will have to provide more information as to what you mean by erase or wiped. I followed the instructions below and can shutdown and restart without creating a new VM.

https://tails.boum.org/doc/advanced_.../index.en.html
https://tails.boum.org/doc/advanced_.../index.en.html

What I mean is that when I shut down the vm, TAILS seems to erase itself from the VM. The next time I click "Start" in VirtualBox, I get a blank screen with message saying something like loading has been halted.

My previous fix using Machine, Save State and then File, Exit from the VB Manager dropdown menus did not work.

What I have to do now is reload TAILS iso file into the VM every time before I start the VM. I don't have to create a new VM. I go to the VM (not VB) settings, then to "Storage" and locate and select the ISO file. Then I start the VM and TAILS loads again.

thanks for these links, I will study them.

https://tails.boum.org/doc/advanced_.../index.en.html
https://tails.boum.org/doc/advanced_.../index.en.html[/QUOTE]

I don't see any discussion in the above pages on how to shut down and keep TAILS. I have had to reload it every time.

What version of virtualbox are you running?

Installed tails following these instructions exactly:
https://tails.boum.org/doc/advanced_.../index.en.html
Works as expected, with no hard drive obviously there can be no pesistnt data but no problems with shuting down and restarting.

VirtualBox version 4.3.26 r98988
Tails iso version 1.4

VirtualBox 4.3.28
TAILS 1.4

For some reason, TAILS is no longer erasing itself when I shut down. I went to the VM settings (not the VB Manager setting) then to storage and selected the little cd icon, then the iso file.

Regarding creating a hard disk, the TAILS website advises creating one, but a youtube video by an IT professor Mike Murphy in South Carolina, USA, advises not to create one, since that contradicts the purpose of TAILS. I don't know if it matters to my problem if a virtual hard disk is created.

Perhaps, fingers crossed, the problem has been solved.

I am still trying to install VirtualBox Guest Additions, but I may have to start a new thread for that.

I prefer to wait a couple of days before marking the thread solved, if that is possible, to see if any new problems come up.

From the tails website from the above linkBold is mine.

Ok, made a little mistake on that because I thought that may have been my problem.

How do I check if there is a virtual hard disk installed?

I am not running TAILS through VB for any sensitive material, just learning.

So is this a serious issue apart from that? Should I go back, remove, and reinstall?

Wouldn't of thought its serious but of course tails is supposed to cover your tail ( oooh bad pun! ) so having a hard drive attached is a temptaion to keep stuff on it. anyway to get rid of it just select your tails vm from the list, click 'Settings', select 'Storage', select you hard drive, and click the little remove icon ( a disk with a minus sign ), click 'Done', done!

When I go to Storage I see under "Controller IDE" my TAILS iso listed.

There is no "hard drive" listed.


If I go to the right of the window to the right of that there is a little cd image. If I click on that I get a drop down list. I get these choices.

"Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file"
Drive D
Drive U
TAIL iso 1.4


below that it says "remove disk from virtual drive" If I click this will it remove the iso? Then will I have to reload TAILS every time I start the VM again? How will virtualbox find TAILS?

yes leave the iso on this is the same as leaving the cd in the drive in a real meachine, if you dont see a hatd drive listed then you done have one one set.