32 lines
1.0 KiB
Markdown
32 lines
1.0 KiB
Markdown
---
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sidebar_current: "boxes-format"
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---
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# Box File Format
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In the past, boxes were just [tar files](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_\(computing\))
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of VirtualBox exports. With Vagrant supporting multiple providers, box files
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are now tar files where the contents differ for each provider. They are
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still tar files, but they may now optionally be [gzipped](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gzip)
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as well.
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Box files made for Vagrant 1.0.x and VirtualBox continue to work with
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Vagrant 1.1+ and the VirtualBox provider.
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The only file required within a box is a "metadata.json" file. This is
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a [JSON](http://www.json.org/) file that has a top-level object that
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can contain any metadata about the box. Vagrant requires that a "provider"
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key exists in this metadata with the name of the provider the box is made
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for.
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The "metadata.json" file for a VirtualBox box:
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```json
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{
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"provider": "virtualbox"
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}
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```
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If there is no metadata.json file or the file does not contain valid JSON
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with at least a "provider" key, then Vagrant will error when adding the box.
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