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Can you track changes to a VirtualBox disk using a VCS like Git? If not what is a good way to use version control to track changes while configuring virtual servers.

**I understand that git doesn't track binary blobs very well.

I would like to mount the VirtualBox drive and track changes from the root. The only time I would have to worry about binary blobs would be the initial git commit and any git commit after I update a piece of software.

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  • VCSes usually intender for tracking source files, i.e. small text files, not huge binary data. VirtualBox on the other hand could create snapshots of disk images. Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 7:24

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You are much better off tracking changes inside the machine, as git etc. won't work very well with a large binary blob like a VM disk image.

To be able to roll back to another state, snapshots are an excellent solution, but they have a performance impact.

The best method (IMHO) is to use a configuration management tool (e.g. Puppet) and track the changes of it's config files.

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  • What if I was to mount the VM disk and track changes (Using Git) for the entire root directory? Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 0:27
  • I ended up using ansible, but this answer put me down the right rabbit hole. Lots of options, its best to DYOR and find one that works with your dev style. Commented May 21, 2020 at 18:21

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