A virtual machine contains both a disk holding its operating system and a definition describing how that disk is used. A successful copy of a large image file does not establish that Boxes can reconstruct the same working machine on another host.

This plan applies when your installation matches GNOME's documented Boxes image layout. Packaged builds or custom storage locations can differ. Confirm the actual configuration before copying files into a guessed directory.

Capture a matched pair

Finish guest work, shut the guest down normally and record its name. GNOME documents virsh -c qemu:///session list --all to identify the domains used by Boxes. Ensure you inspect that same connection when exporting the chosen domain's XML with virsh dumpxml; a different libvirt connection can show a different machine list.

Preserve the resulting XML together with the corresponding .qcow2 image. GNOME's documented image directory is ~/.local/share/gnome-boxes/images/. Confirm the disk path in the actual configuration rather than assuming the visible box name proves which image belongs to it.

Give the pair a dated inventory note. Include the source host, guest shutdown state, file sizes and the application task you expect to recover. Check destination capacity before copying, including the image's sparse-file behaviour.

Reconstruct without replacing unrelated machines

GNOME's restore sequence exits Boxes, places the image at the required destination and defines the saved XML through virsh before reopening Boxes. Before that step, inspect referenced paths and existing destination domains. Resolve name, identity or path conflicts with the administrator rather than overwriting an unrelated definition.

Keep the original guest stopped during an isolated restore test so two copies do not perform the same scheduled work or present the same network identity. Launch the restored guest and inspect a representative saved document and its required application.

Confirm that the chosen recovery point contains the expected work, then test a normal shutdown and restart. Retain the source pair until the destination is accepted. Booting to a login screen establishes only part of a usable migration.

Sources: GNOME documentation.