OVF Tool User Guide

VMware OVF Tool 2.0.1

This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

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You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com

Copyright 2009, 2010 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at http://www.vmware.com/go/patents. VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

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Contents

AboutThisBook

UsingVMwareOVFTool 7
AboutVMwareOVFTool 7 WhatIsNewinOVFTool2.0 7 FeaturesHighlights 8 OVFStandard 8 BenefitsofOVF 8 VMwarePlatformsUsingOVF 9 ExamplesofImportingandExportingOVFPackagesUsingvSphereClient 9 SpaceRequirementsofOVFPackages 9 VMwareOVFToolDeltaDiskFacilities 10 SupportedOperatingSystems 11 InstallingVMwareOVFTool 11 LinuxandMacOSXInstallationDetails 12 WindowsInstallationDetails 12 RunningOVFToolAfterInstallation 12 UsingVMwareOVFTool 13 CommandLineOptions 13 SpecifyingaLocator 16 FileLocators 17 HTTP,HTTPS,andFTPLocators 18 vSphereLocators 18 SpecifyingtheInventoryPathtoaVirtualMachineorvApp 19 SpecifyingtheInventoryPathforaCluster,Host,orResourcePool 19 PartialLocators 19 ConfigurationFiles 21 ExamplesofUsingVMwareOVFTool 21 ConvertaVMXtoanOVF 21 ConvertaVMXtoanOVA 21 ConvertanOVFtoaVMX 21 ConvertVMXtoavSphere 22 DeployanOVFPackageDirectlyonanESXHost 22 DeployanOVFPackageandPowerItOn 22 ExportaRunningVirtualMachineorvAppfromvSphere 22 DeployanOVFPackageintoavApprunWorkspace 22 ExportavApprunEntitytoanOVFPackage 22 RenametheOVFPackage 23 OmitDisksintheVMwareOVFToolOutput 23 CompressanOVFPackage 23 ChunkorSplitOVFPackageFiles 23 ValidateanOVF1.0orOVF1.1Descriptor 23 DownloadanOVFPackagefromaProtectedWebSite 24 UseaProxy 24 OverwriteaRunningVirtualMachineorvAppfromvSphere 24 SetOVFPropertiesWhenDeployingtovSphere 24 SetOVFNetworkMappingsWhenDeployingtovSphere 25 ObtainProgressFeedbackfromVMwareOVFTool 25

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OVF Tool User Guide

CancelVMwareOVFToolWhileitIsRunning 25 ProbeMode 25 LaunchOVFToolasaHelperProcess 26

Appendix:OVFPackageSigning

27

CreatinganRSAPublic/PrivateKeyPairandCertificate 27 SigninganOVFPackage 28 ValidatinganOVFPackage 29

Index 31

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About This Book

ThisOVFToolUserGuideprovidesinformationabouthowtouseVMwareOVFTooltopackagevirtual machinesandvAppsintoOpenVirtualizationFormat(OVF)standardpackages.

Revision History
Arevisionofthisbookoccurswitheachreleaseoftheproduct,orasneeded.Arevisedversioncancontain minorormajorchanges.Table 1liststherevisionhistoryofthisbook. Table 1. Revision History
Revision 06/2010 05/2009 Description OVFTool2.0.1Guide(2.0.0wasneverreleased.) OVFTool1.0Guide

Intended Audience
ThisbookisintendedforanyonewhoneedstoconvertanOVFpackagetoavirtualmachine,oravirtual machinetoanOVFpackage.Userstypicallyincludepeoplewhodosoftwaredevelopmentandtestingorwork withmultipleoperatingsystemsorcomputingenvironments:systemadministrators,softwaredevelopers, QAengineers,andanyonewhowantstopackageorunpackagevirtualmachinesusingopenindustry standards.

VMware Technical Publications Glossary

VMwareTechnicalPublicationsprovidesaglossaryoftermsthatmightbeunfamiliartoyou.Fordefinitions oftermsastheyareusedinVMwaretechnicaldocumentation,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Document Feedback
VMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentation.Ifyouhavecomments,sendyour feedbacktodocfeedback@vmware.com.

Technical Support and Education Resources

Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.Toaccessthecurrentversion ofthisbookandotherbooks,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Online and Telephone Support

Touseonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductandcontractinformation,and registeryourproducts,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support.

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OVF Tool User Guide

Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthefastestresponseon priority1issues.Gotohttp://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.

Support Offerings
TofindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds,goto http://www.vmware.com/support/services.

VMware Professional Services

VMwareEducationServicescoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcoursematerials designedtobeusedasonthejobreferencetools.Coursesareavailableonsite,intheclassroom,andlive online.Foronsitepilotprograms andimplementationbestpractices,VMwareConsultingServicesprovides offeringsto helpyouassess,plan,build,andmanageyourvirtualenvironment.Toaccessinformationabout educationclasses,certificationprograms,andconsultingservices,gotohttp://www.vmware.com/services.

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Using VMware OVF Tool

OpenVirtualizationFormat(OVF)isanindustrystandardthatdescribesmetadataaboutvirtualmachine imagesinXMLformat.VMwareOVFToolisacommandlineutilitythatenablesausertoimportandexport OVFpackagestoandfromawidevarietyofVMwareproducts.Thisguidecontainsthefollowingtopics:

AboutVMwareOVFToolonpage 7 InstallingVMwareOVFToolonpage 11 UsingVMwareOVFToolonpage 13 ExamplesofUsingVMwareOVFToolonpage 21

About VMware OVF Tool

YoucanuseOVFTooltodistributeandimportvirtualmachinesandvApps.Forexample,youcancreatea virtualmachinewithinVMwarevSphere,anduseOVFTooltoexportitintoanOVFpackagefor installation,eitherwithinyourorganizationorfordistributiontootherorganizations.OVFfacilitatestheuse ofvApps,whichconsistofpreconfiguredvirtualmachinesthatpackageapplicationswiththeoperating systemthattheyrequire. OVFTool2.0supportsOVFversion1.0and1.1,andisbackwardcompatiblewithOVF0.9thatwassupported byVirtualCenter2.5,andVMwareESX3.5.OVFTool2.0supportsVMwarevCenter4.0andlater, VirtualCenter2.5andlater,ESX3.5andlater,VMwareServer2.0andlater,VMwareWorkstation6.0andlater, VMwareFusion3.0andlater,andvApprun1.0.

What Is New in OVF Tool 2.0

ThefollowingchangeshavebeenmadetoOVFToolsinceOVFTool1.0:

SupportfortheOVF1.1specification. SupportforOVFpackagesthatincludeISOandfloppyimages. SupportforvApprunastargetandsource. Alaxmode(--laxoption)thatenablesabesteffortconversionofOVFpackagesthatdonotfully conformtotheOVFstandardorincludevirtualhardwarethatisnotsupportedbythedestination.For example,VirtualBoxproducedOVFpackagescanbeconvertedinlaxmode. Handlingofvmxnet3targets.

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Features Highlights
OVFTool2.0providesthefollowingkeyfeatures:

IncludesfullOVF1.0andOVF1.1supportandbackwardcompatiblemodeforimportingexistingOVF 0.9packages SupportsbothimportandgenerationofOVApackages(OVAistheportablevirtualmachineformatfrom XenSource.) DirectlyconvertsbetweenanyvSphere,VMX,orOVFsourceformattoanyvSphere,VMX,orOVFtarget format AccessesOVFsourcesusingHTTP,HTTPS,orFTP,orfromalocalfile DeploysandexportsvAppconfigurationsonvSphere4targets ProvidesoptionstopoweronaVMorvAppafterdeployment,andtopoweroffavirtualmachineor vAppbeforeexporting(cautionadvised) Showinformationaboutthecontentofanysourceinprobemode ProvidescontextsensitiveerrormessagesforvSpheresourcesandtargets,showingpossiblecompletions forcommonerrors,suchasanincompletevCenterinventorypathormissingdatastoreandnetwork mappings ProvidesanoptionaloutputformattosupportscriptingwhenanotherprogramcallsOVFTool UsesnewoptimizeduploadanddownloadAPI(optimizedforvSphere4) SignsOVFpackagesandvalidatesOVFpackagesignatures ValidatesXMLSchemaofOVF1.0andOVF1.1descriptors ImportandexportofOVFpackagesintoavApprun1.0workspace. FormoreinformationaboutvApprun,seehttp://labs.vmware.com/flings/vapprun.

OVF Standard
TheOVFspecificationdescribesasecure,portable,efficient,andflexiblemethodtopackageanddistribute virtualmachinesandcomponents.ItoriginatedfromtheDistributedManagementTaskForce(DMTF)after vendorinitiative.CompaniesthatcontributedtothestandardincludeDell,HP,IBM,Microsoft,VMware,and Citrix.Version1.1waspublishedinJanuary2010,whichsupercedesthe1.0specificationpublishedApril2009, andisavailableontheDMTFWebsite,alongwithawhitepaper.

Specification:http://www.dmtf.org/standards/published_documents/DSP0243_1.1.0.pdf Whitepaper:http://www.dmtf.org/standards/published_documents/DSP2017_1.0.0.pdf

Benefits of OVF
UsingOVFtodistributevirtualmachineshasthefollowingbenefits:

Easeofuse.WhenusersreceiveapackageinOVFformat,theydonothavetounzipfiles,executebinaries, orconvertdiskformats.AddingavAppcanbeassimpleastypingaURLandclickingInstall. Virtualhardwarevalidation.OVFsupportsfastandrobusthardwarevalidation.Youdonothaveto installacompletevirtualmachinebeforedeterminingwhetheritiscompatiblewithanESXhost(for example,becauseitusesIDEvirtualdisks). Metadatainclusion.Additionalmetadata,suchasanenduserlicenseagreement,canbepackagedwith theOVFanddisplayedbeforeinstallation. OptimizeddownloadfromtheInternet.Largevirtualdisksarecompressedforfastdownloadandto reducediskspaceforlargetemplatelibraries.

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VMware Platforms Using OVF

VMwaresupportsOVFonthefollowingplatforms:

UseOVFTool2.0forvCenter2.5andlater,ESX3.5andlater,VMwareServer2,VMwareWorkstation6.0, andVMwareFusion3.0. OVF0.9issupportedforimportandexportbyVirtualCenter2.5andlater,andESX3.5andlater. VMwareStudio1.0andlatercangenerateOVFpackages. FormostofthecurrentVMwareproducts,youcanalsouseConvertertoimportandexportOVF.

OVFsupportisbuiltintothevSphereClientthatinstallsfrom,andiscompatiblewith,vCenter4.0andESX 4.0. ItisalsobuiltintothevSphereClientthatinstallsfromandiscompatiblewithVirtualCenter 2.5andlater,and ESX 3.5andlater.

Examples of Importing and Exporting OVF Packages Using vSphere Client

UsingthevSphereClient4,youcanimportanOVFpackageandexportavAppintoanOVFpackage.For example,toimportanOVFpackageusingvSphereClient4: ClickFile>DeployOVFTemplate. Forexample,toexportavAppintoanOVFpackageusingvSphereClient4: ClickFile>Export>ExportOVFTemplate. UsingthevSphereClient2.5,youcanimportanOVFvirtualmachineintoanESXhostandexportavirtual machinetoanOVFfile(notethatvSphereClient2.5islimitedtoOVF0.9).Forexample,toimportanOVF vAppintoanESXhostusingvSphereClient2.5: ClickFile>VirtualAppliance>Import. Forexample,toexportavirtualmachinetoanOVFfileusingvSphereClient2.5: ClickFile>VirtualAppliance>Export. OVFpackagesimportedorexportedbyOVFToolarecompletelycompatiblewithpackagesimportedor exportedbythevSphereClientorthevSphereClient.

Space Requirements of OVF Packages

Avirtualmachineisstoredasasetoffilesondisk.IntheVMwareruntimeformat,thesefileshaveextensions .vmx,.vmdk,.vmsd,.vmxf,and.nvram.TheVMwarehypervisorrequiresthesefileformats,whichare optimizedforefficientexecution.AnESXhostoftenusesfullyallocatedflatdisksinaVMFSfilesystemto optimizevirtualmachineperformance. OVFsupportsefficient,securedistributionofvAppsandvirtualmachinetemplates.OVFisoptimizedfor thesegoals,ratherthanforefficientruntimeexecution.OVFdoesnotincludespecificinformationonruntime diskformatbecausesuchinformationisnotrequireduntilthevirtualmachineisdeployed.Whenyoupackage applianceswithOVF,youcanoptimizeonevAppforhighperformanceinaproductionenvironment,and optimizeanotherforminimalstoragespaceduringevaluation. Table 2contrastsavirtualmachineinVMwarefileformatwithavirtualmachineinOVFformat.OVFemploys acompressedsparseformatforVMDKfiles.Virtualdisksinthatformatcannotbeuseddirectlyforexecution withoutconversion.

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Table 2. VMware-Format File Sizes Compared to OVF and OVA file Sizes
VMware Format Files LinuxBasedAppliance.nvram LinuxBasedAppliance.vmdk LinuxBasedAppliances001.vmdk LinuxBasedAppliances002.vmdk LinuxBasedAppliance.vmsd LinuxBasedAppliance.vmx LinuxBasedAppliance.vmxf Total size 251MBusingthinprovisioning 4000MBusingthickprovisioning 132MB 132MB OVF Format LinuxBasedAppliance.ovf LinuxBasedAppliance0.vmdk LinuxBasedAppliance1.vmdk LinuxBasedAppliance2.vmdk OVA Format LinuxBasedAppliance.ova

VMware OVF Tool Delta Disk Facilities

VMwareOVFToolautomaticallycompressesdiskfiles.InthestreamingVMDKfilesthatOVFToolgenerates, thetoolcompresseseach64KBdiskgrain.Itispossibletoachieveevenbettercompressionusingthe --compressoption.Inaddition,ifapackagecontainsmultiplevirtualmachines,itispossibletocompressan OVFpackageevenmoreusingatechniquecalleddeltadiskcompression.Thiscompressionalgorithmis invokedusingthe--makeDeltaDisksoption.
ovftool --makeDeltaDisks package.ovf output-dir/

Deltadiskcompressionidentifiesdisksegmentsthatareequalandcombinestheseequalpartsinaparentdisk. Thisprocesspreventsstoringthesamesegmenttwice. Asanexample,considerasoftwaresolutionthatconsistsofanApacheWebservervirtualmachineanda MySQLdatabasevirtualmachine,bothinstalledontopofasinglediskUbuntuserver.Thetwovirtual machineswerecreatedwiththefollowingprocess: 1 2 3 4 CreateaplainUbuntuinstallationononevirtualmachine. Clonethevirtualmachine. InstallApacheonthefirstvirtualmachine. InstallMySQLonthesecondvirtualmachine.

Usingdeltadiskcompressiononthetwovirtualmachinediskscreatesaparentdiskcontainingallofthe informationtheyshare,whichisessentiallytheentireoperationsystemandtwochilddiskscontainingthe MySQLandApacheparts. AplainUbuntuservercanuse400500MBofspace,andtwowoulduse8001000MBofspace.Bycontrast, usingdeltadiskcompression,anOVFpackagewiththesetwoserversusesonly400500MB(plusthesizeof theMySQLandApacheinstallations),whichsaves400500MBbynotduplicatingtheUbuntuserver. Anynumberofdiskscanbecombinedcreatingvariousdisktreesandsavingmorespace. vSphere4andlatersupportthedeploymentofOVFpackagesthatcontaindeltadiskhierarchies. Fordeltadiskcompression,keepinmindthefollowing:

Onlydiskswithequalcapacitycanbecombined.Ifyouexpecttousedeltadiskcompression,youmust keepdiskcapacitiesequal. Deltadiskcompressionnecessitatesthatsegmentsthatmightbeputinaparentdiskareatthesameoffset fromthebeginningoftheirrespectivefiles.IntheUbuntuexample,ifthesetupvariesbetweenthetwo installations,itcancompletelyoffseteachsegmentononeofthedisksfromthesegmentsontheother disk.Inthiscase,deltadiskcompressiondoesnotproduceanysignificantdiskspacesavings.Thisiswhy theexamplespecifiedcloningtheUbuntuserverbeforeinstallingtheMySQLandApacheparts, respectively. DeltadiskcompressiontakesOVFpackagesandvSphereandVMXfilesasinput,butnotOVApackages.

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Thedeltadiskcompressionalgorithmneedstoreadthecontentsofeachdiskuptotwotimes.Itmight makesensetoinvokeOVFToolonalocalcopyoftheOVFpackage. ThedeltadiskcompressionalgorithmalwaysgeneratesanOVFpackageinthegivenoutputdirectory.To convertthisOVFpackageintoanOVApackage,reinvokeOVFTool.

Supported Operating Systems

OVFToolsupportsthefollowingWindows32bit(x86)and64bit(x86_64)operatingsystems:

WindowsXP Windows2003 WindowsVista Windows2008 Windows7

OVFToolsupportsthefollowingLinuxoperatingsystems:

CentOS5.x FedoraCore12.x RedHatEnterpriseLinux(RHEL)5.x SUSEEnterpriseserver10.x UbuntuDesktop9.x

OVFToolsupportsthefollowingMacOSX64bitoperatingsystems:

MacOSX10.5 MacOSX10.6

Installing VMware OVF Tool

TheVMwareOVFToolisavailableasaninstallerorZIPfile,dependingontheoperatingsystem. To install VMware OVF Tool 1 DownloadVMwareOVFTool:
Operating System Linux32bit Linux64bit MacOSX64bit Windows32bit Windows64bit VMware-OVF-Tool.exe VMware-OVF-Tool.x86_64.exe Download Filename VMware-OVF-Tool.sh VMware-OVF-Tool.x86_64.sh

Installusingthemethodforyouroperatingsystem:
Operating System Linux32bit Linux64bit Mac64bit Windows32bit Windows64bit Doubleclickontheinstaller,VMware-OVF-Tool.exe Doubleclickontheinstaller,VMware-OVF-Tool.x86_64.exe Installation Method Runtheshellscriptas./VMware-OVF-Tool.sh Runtheshellscriptas./VMware-OVF-Tool.x86_64.sh

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Linux and Mac OS X Installation Details

To install VMware OVF Tool on a Mac OS X or a Linux machine 1 Downloadtheinstallerscript(VMware-OVF-Tool.shfor32bitorVMware-OVF-Tool.x86_64.shfor 64 bit). Youmustdownloadthescriptasabinaryfile;otherwisetheinstallscriptfails. 2 Makethescriptexecutable.
chmod +x VMware-OVF-Tool.sh

Runtheinstallerscript.
./VMware-OVF-Tool.sh

ThescriptisinteractiveandpromptsfortheEULAandinstallationdirectory.

Windows Installation Details

ThefollowingarescreenbyscreeninstructionsforaWindows32bitor64bitinstallation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 AttheWelcomescreen,clickNext. Atthelicenseagreement,readthelicenseagreements,selectIagree...andclickNext. AcceptthepathsuggestedorchangetoapathofyourchoiceandclickNext. Whenyouhavefinishedchoosingyourinstallationoptions,clickInstall. Whentheinstallationiscomplete,clickNext. DeselectShowthereadmefileifyoudonotwanttoviewthereadmefile,andclickFinishtoexit.

Running OVF Tool After Installation

AfterinstallingOVFToolsonWindows,youcanrunOVFToolfromaDOSprompt. To run OVF Tool from a DOS Prompt 1 FromtheStartmenu,clickRun.
Start > Run

IntheRundialog,writecmd,whichopensaDOSprompt.
cmd

IfyouhavetheOVFToolfolderinyourPathenvironmentvariable,youcanrunOVFToolatthecommand line.Forinstructionsonrunningtheutility,seeUsingVMwareOVFToolonpage 13. To add VMware OVF Tool to your Path environment variable ThefollowinginstructionsareforWindowsXP,butitisdonesimilarlyonotherWindowssystems. 1 2 3 4 5 RightclickMyComputer. Selectproperties. SelectAdvanced. SelectEnvironmentVariables. FindthesystemvariablecalledPathandaddtheOVFToolinstalldirectorybyselectingthevariable,click Editandaddingthetext. Forexample,thepathmightbethefollowing:
;C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware OVF Tool\

TheleadingsemicolonisnecessarytoappendtheOVFToolpathtotheexistingpathvariable.

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Using VMware OVF Tool

Using VMware OVF Tool

VMwareOVFToolisacommandlineutilitythatsupportsimportingandexportingofOVFpackagesfrom ESXhostsandotherVMwareproducts.AvSpherelocationreferstoanylocationonaVMwareproduct,such asvSphere,VMwareServerorESX.ThissectiondescribeshowtorunandselectOVFTooloptions. To run VMware OVF Tool from the command line 1 Atthecommandlineprompt,runtheOVFTool.
ovftool <source locator> <target locator>

where<source locator>and<target locator>arethepathstothesourceandtargetforthevirtual machine,OVFpackage,OVApackageorvSpherelocation.SeeCommandLineOptionsonpage 13for thevariousoptions. 2 Ifyouwanttospecifyadditionaloptions,typethembeforethesourceandtargetlocators.

ovftool <options> <source locator> <target locator>

3 4

Todisplayalloptions,typeovftool -h. Probemodeallowsyoutoinvestigatethecontentsofasource.Toinvokeprobemode,usetheovftool commandwithonlyasourceandnotarget.

ovftool <options> <source locator>

OVFToolprintsinformationaboutthesourcesuchashardware,EULAsandOVFproperties. UseprobemodetoexamineanOVFpackagebeforedeployingit.Forexample,youcanexaminethe downloadanddeploymentsizes,determinethesetofnetworkstobemapped,determinetheOVF propertiestobeconfigured,readtheEULA,anddeterminethevirtualhardwarerequirements.OVFTool mustaccessonlytheOVFdescriptortodisplaythisinformation,sotheoperationdoesnotrequirethe entireOVAorVMDKfilestobedownloaded.Probemodealsovalidatesthecertificateifthesourceis signed. FormoreinformationaboutProbeModeandanexampleoftheoutput,seeProbeModeonpage 25. Table 3describesthesourceandtargetlocators.Formoreinformation,seeSpecifyingaLocatoron page 16.

Command-Line Options
Foreverycommand,youspecifythesourceandtargetlocators.Table 3defineseachlocatortype. Table 3. OVF Tool Definitions of Source and Target Locators
Locator <source locator> Definition Pathtothesource,whichmustbeeitheravirtualmachine,vApp,vApprunworkspace entity,oranOVFpackage. Thesourcelocatorcanbeoneofthefollowing:

ApathtoanOVForOVAfile(alocalfilepath,oranHTTP,HTTPS,orFTPURL). Avirtualmachine(alocalfilepathtoa.vmx file). AvSpherelocatoridentifyingavirtualmachineorvApponvCenter,ESX,orVMware Server. AlocalfilepathtoavApprunworkspaceentity. AlocalfilepathforVMX,OVF,OVA,orvApprunworkspace. AvSpherelocatoridentifyingacluster,host,oravSpherelocation.

<target locator>

Thetargetlocatorcanbeoneofthefollowing:

Table 4showsallthecommandlineoptions. Optionsperformactionsonlybetweencertainsourceandtargettypes.Table 4showswhichsourceandtarget typeseachoptionworkswith.Ifyouspecifyanoptionusinganirrelevantsourceortargettype,thecommand doesnothing.

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Alloptionscanbesetusingtheform--option=value. Binaryoptionscanbeenabledordisabledexplicitly.Forexample:--option=true,--option=false. Table 4. OVF Tool Command-Line Options

Option Short Name Relevant Source Types OVF, OVA Relevant Target Types N/A

Option Long Name --acceptAllEulas --authdPortSouce --authdPortTarget --chunkSize

Description AcceptallEULAswithoutbeingprompted. Binaryoption. OverridesdefaultVMwareauthdport(902) whenusingahostassource. OverridesthedefaultVMwareauthdport(902) whenusingahostastarget.

N/A

OVF, OVA

Specifiesthechunksizetouseforfilesina generatedOVFpackage.Defaultisnottochunk. Whenusingthisoption,alloutputfiles(except theOVFdescriptor,manifestandcertificatefiles) areslicedintothespecifiedchunksize.Thisis usefulifyouneedtotransportanOVFpackage onaseriesof800MBCDROMs,orareonlyable tocreatefilesupto2GBonFAT32filesystems. ChunkingcombinedwithanOVApackageas outputmakesanOVAinwhichallthefilesare chunked,likefortheOVFpackage,buttheOVA packageitselfisstillbeasinglefile. CompressesthediskwhengivenanOVForOVA targetlocator.Thevaluemustbebetween1and 9.Thefastestis1,butgivestheworst compression.Theslowestis9,butgivesthebest compression. TargetdatastorenameforavSpheredeployment. DeploymentoptionsforadeployedOVF package.AnOVFpackagecancontainseveral deploymentconfigurations.Thisoptionallows youtoselectwhichconfigurationtousewhen deployingtothevSpheretarget. Skipsvalidationofsignatureandcertificate. Binaryoption. Selectstargetdiskformat.Commonformatsare monolithicSparse,monolithicFlat, twoGbMaxExtentSparse, twoGbMaxExtentFlat,streamOptimized,thin (vSpheretarget),thick(vSpheretarget) InsertstheEULAinthefirstvirtualsystemor virtualsystemcollectionintheOVF.IftheEULA isinafile,usethefollowingoptionformat: --eula@=filename PrintstheVMwareOVFToolhelpmessagewith usageinformation. DoesnotincludetheEULAintheprobeoutput. Binaryoption. Integrationoption.Interpretargumentsfor networks,datastores,andfoldersasVIM ManagedObjectReferenceidentifiers(type:id) forvSpheresourceanddestinationlocators. Integrationoption.Specifiesthesessionticket usedforauthenticatingthevSpheresource locator.

--compress

N/A

OVF, OVA

--datastore --deploymentOption

-ds

N/A OVF, OVA

vSphere N/A

--disableVerification --diskMode -dm

OVF, OVA N/A

N/A VMX, vApprun, vSphere

--eula

N/A

OVF, OVA

--help --hideEula --I:morefArgs

-h

N/A OVF, OVA

N/A N/A

--I:sourceSessionTicket

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Table 4. OVF Tool Command-Line Options (Continued)

Option Short Name Relevant Source Types Relevant Target Types

Option Long Name --I:targetSessionTicket

Description Integrationoption.Specifiesthesessionticket usedforauthenticatingthevSpheretarget locator.

--ipAllocationPolicy

OVF, OVA

N/A

IPallocationpolicyforadeployedOVFpackage. Supportedvaluesare:fixed,transient,and dhcp.InOVFdescriptors,youcanspecifya VMwarespecificIPassignmentpolicythat guidesthedeploymentprocessbyexpressing whichofthepoliciestheOVFpackagesupports. OnlyvalueslistedintheOVFdescriptorare supportedwhentheOVForOVApackageis deployed. SelectstheIPprotocoltouse.Forexample,IPv4, IPv6.AswiththeipAllocationPolicyoption, youcanspecifywhichIPversionthisOVF packageuseswhenitisdeployed.Useonlythe valueslistedintheOVFdescriptor. RelaxOVFspecificationconformanceandvirtual hardwarecompliancechecks.(Foradvanced usersonly.)

--ipProtocol

OVF, OVA

N/A

--lax

--locale --machineOutput --makeDeltaDisks

OVF, OVA N/A OVF, vSphere, VMX, vApprun -n N/A OVF, OVA

N/A N/A Mustbe directory

Selectsthelocaleforthetarget. OutputsOVFToolmessagesinamachine readableformat.Binaryoption. UsedeltadiskcompressiontocreateanOVF packagefromadisksource.Binaryoption.

--name --net

All N/A

Specifiesthetargetname.Defaultstothesource name. SetsanetworkassignmentinthedeployedOVF package.Forexample,--net:<OVF name>=<target name>.OVFpackagescontain symbolicnamesfornetworknameswhichare assignedwiththisoption.Formultiplenetwork mappings,repeattheoption,separatingthem withablank,forexample, --net:s1=t1 --net:s2=t2 --net:s3=t3. TargetnetworkforavSpheredeployment.Use thisoptioninplaceofthe--netoptionwhen onlyonenetworkexistsintheOVFpackage.This optionmapsthesymbolicOVFnametothe specifiednetworkname. Disablediskconversion. Donotincludeimagefilesindestination.

--network

-nw

OVF, OVA

N/A

--noDisks --noImageFiles --overwrite --powerOffSource -o N/A vSphere All N/A

Forcesoverwriteofexistingfiles.Binaryoption. EnsuresthatavirtualmachineorvAppis poweredoffbeforeimportingfromavSphere source.Binaryoption. EnsuresthatavirtualmachineorvAppis poweredoffbeforeoverwritingavSpheretarget. Binaryoption. PowersonavirtualmachineorvAppdeployed onavSpheretarget.Binaryoption.

--powerOffTarget

N/A

vSphere

--powerOn

N/A

vSphere

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Table 4. OVF Tool Command-Line Options (Continued)

Option Short Name Relevant Source Types N/A Relevant Target Types OVF, OVA OVF, OVA

Option Long Name --privateKey

Description SignstheOVFpackagewiththegivenprivate key(.pemfile).Thefilemustcontainaprivate keyandacertificate. Passwordfortheprivatekey.Usedinconjunction with--privateKeyiftheprivatekeyrequires passwordauthentication.Ifrequiredbutnot specified,thetoolpromptsforthepassword. SetsapropertyinthedeployedOVFpackage.For example,--prop:<key>=<value>.Useprobe modetolearnwhichpropertiesanOVFpackage canset.Formultiplepropertymappings,repeat theoption,separatingthemwithablank,for example--prop:p1=v1 --prop:p2=v2 --prop:p3=v3. ProxyusedforHTTP,HTTPS,FTP,andvSphere access.TheproxyisexpressedastheURLtothe proxy.Forexample,forproxy.example.com, theoptionvalueis: https://proxy.example.com:345 OVFToolsupportsproxiesthatrequire authentication.Ifyoudonotprovidecredentials intheURL,OVFToolpromptsforthem.

--privateKeyPassword

N/A

--prop

OVF, OVA

N/A

--proxy

OVF, OVA, vSphere

OVF, OVA, vSphere

--quiet --schemaValidate --skipManifestCheck --skipManifestGeneration --sourceType --targetType --verifyOnly --version --vmFolder

-q

N/A OVF, OVA OVF, OVA N/A

N/A N/A N/A OVF, OVA All All

Printsnooutputtothescreenexceptforerrors. Binaryoption. ValidatesOVFdescriptoragainsttheOVF schema.Binaryoption. SkipsvalidationoftheOVFpackagemanifest. Binaryoption. SkipsgenerationoftheOVFpackagemanifest. Binaryoption. ExplicitlyexpressesthatthesourceisOVF,OVA, VMX,vApprun,orvSphere. ExplicitlyexpressthatthetargetisOVF,OVA, VMX,vApprun,orvSphere. Donotuploadthesource;onlyverifyit.

-st -tt

All All

-v -vf

N/A N/A

N/A vSphere

ShowsversioninformationforOVFTool.Binary option. ThetargetvirtualmachinefolderinvSphere inventory(foradatacenter).

Specifying a Locator
Asourceortargetlocatorpointstosomeresource.Locatorsmustspecifyaprotocol,whichdefineshowto reachtheresource.Supportedprotocolsarefileaccess,vSphere,HTTP,HTTPS,andFTP. FilelocatorscanpointtoanOVFpackage(.ovfor.ova),avirtualmachine(.vmx).HTTP,HTTPS,ora vApprunworkspaceentity.FTPlocatorscanpointtoOVFandOVAfiles.Theresourcetypeisdetermined fromthefilenamesuffix,unlessoneorbothoftheoptions--sourceTypeand--targetTypeareused explicitly.

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vSpherelocatorscanpointtovariousresourcetypes:virtualmachines,vApps,hosts,clusters,orresource pools.Forasourcelocator,theresourcetypemustbeavirtualmachineorvApp.Foratargetlocator,the resourcetypemustbeahost,cluster,oraresourcepool.AvSpherelocatorisusedforavSphereserver, vCenterServer,VMwareServer,oranESXhost. Atthecommandline,type--help locatorstodisplaytheonlinehelpforlocators. Table 5andTable 6listthedefaultextensionsofthedifferentsourceandtargettypes,aswellaswhich protocolsaresupported. Table 5. Source Locator
Source Type OVF OVA VMX vApprun vSphere Default File Extension .ovf .ova .vmx N/A N/A Protocol File,HTTP,HTTPS,FTP File,HTTP,HTTPS,FTP File File vSphere

Table 6. Target Locator

Target Type OVF OVA VMX vApprun vSphere File Extension .ovf .ova .vmx N/A N/A Protocol File File File(Sourcemustbeasinglevirtualmachine) File vSphere(IfthevSpheretargetlocatorisonaVMwareServersystem, ordirectlyonanESXhost,thesourcemustbeasinglevirtualmachine)

File Locators
Filelocatorsarethesameforsourceandtarget.Theyarespecifiedusingordinarypathsyntax. Windows Path Syntax OnWindows,pathsarespecifiedaseitherabsoluteorrelative. ThisisanexampleofanabsolutepathonWindows:
C:\folder1\folder2\package.ovf

TheseexamplesshowrelativepathsonWindows:
..\folder1\package1.ovf package1.ovf

Linux and Mac OS Path Syntax OnLinux,pathsarespecified,similarly,aseitherabsoluteorrelative. ThefollowingisanexampleofanabsolutepathonLinux:

/folder1/folder2/package.ovf

ThefollowingareexamplesofrelativepathsonLinux:
../folder1/package1.ovf package1.ovf

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Using URIs as Locators ItispossibletospecifyfilelocationsasaURIbyprefixingthepathwithfile://,asshowninthefollowing examples:

file://c:\folder1\folder2\package.ovf (Absolute, Windows) file:///folder1/folder2/package.ovf (Absolute, Linux) file://package.ovf (Relative for both Windows and Linux)

HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP Locators

YoucanuseHTTP,HTTPS,andFTPtorefertoanOVFpackage(OVForOVAfile)onaWebserver.Youcan onlyusetheseprotocolstospecifyasourcelocator.Inthefollowingsyntax,protocolisHTTP,HTTPSorFTP:
protocol://username:password@host:port/<path to OVF package>

Itispossibletoomittheusernameandpasswordfromthelocator.Ifneeded,OVFToolpromptsyouforthem. Ifyouusethestandardport,itisnotnecessarytospecifytheport.Table 7showsthestandardports. Table 7. Standard Ports

Protocol Port

HTTP HTTPS FTP

80 443 21

vSphere Locators
vSpheresourcelocatorspointtoavirtualmachineorvAppwithinthevirtualinfrastructure.ThevSphere targetlocatorprovidesallrequiredinformationforimportinganOVFpackageorvirtualmachineintoa cluster,hostorresourcepool.Bothsourceandtargetlocatorusethesamesyntax:
vi://<username>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<search-term>

TheservernameandportcandesignateeitheravCenterserver,VirtualCenterserver,VMwareServer,oran ESXhost.Ifyouomitcredentials,inwhichcaseOVFToolpromptsyouforthem.Defaultinstallationsof vCenterServer,VirtualCenter,andESXuseport443.Ifyouareusingthedefaultport,youdonotneedto specifyit.WhenusingOVFToolagainstaVMwareServer,youmustexplicitlyspecifyport8333,whichisthe defaultportforVMwareServer. Thesearchtermhasthefollowingformat:

<path>[?<query>=<value>]

Ifaqueryisnotgiven,aVCinventorypathlookupisperformedusingthespecifiedpath.Otherwise,theobject matchingthequeryisused.Themeaningofthequerydependsontheobjecttype.Table 8showsthedifferent valuesthatyoucanuseinthequeryfield. Table 8. Source and Target Values for All Query Types
Name BIOS Datastore IPAddress DNS MoRef Query bios ds ip dns moref Source BIOSIDofavirtualmachine Datastorepathtoavirtualmachine IPaddressofavirtualmachine DNSnameofavirtualmachine Managedobjectreference(vSphere specificidentifier)ofavirtualmachine orvApp Target BIOSIDofahost N/A IPaddressofahost DNSnameofahost Managedobjectreference(vSpherespecific identifier)ofahost,cluster,orresource pool

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Table 9showsexamplevaluesforeachquerytype. Table 9. Examples of Query Values

Name BIOS Datastore IPAddress DNS MoRef Query bios ds ip dns moref Example Value vi://localhost?bios=234290984 vi://localhost/TestDatacenter?ds=[foo]/myvm/myvm.vmx vi://localhost?ip=123.231.232.232 vi://localhost?dns=production-vm3.example.com vi://localhost?moref=vim.vm.VirtualMachine:vm-23423

Youcanenterapartialsourcelocatorifyoudonotknowtheentireinventorypath.Inthiscase,thetoolfails butsuggestspossibleinventorypathcompletions.

Specifying the Inventory Path to a Virtual Machine or vApp

TospecifyaninventorypathforavirtualmachineorvApp,usethefollowingsyntax:
<datacenter name>/vm/<folders>/<vm or vApp name>

or
<datacenter name>/host/<resource pool path>/<vm or vApp name>

TheuseofthevmtagafterthedatacenternamespecifiesthatyouarelocatingavirtualmachineorvAppinthe VMandTemplateview.Usethehosttagafterthedatacenternameifyouarelocatingavirtualmachineor vAppintheHostandClustersview. Thefollowingexampleshowsaninventorypathwithoutanyfolders:

MyDatacenter/vm/MyVM

Thefollowingexampleshowsaninventorypathwithtwonestedfolders:
MyDatacenter/vm/Folder 1/Sub Folder/MyVM

Specifying the Inventory Path for a Cluster, Host, or Resource Pool

Youcanspecifyaninventorypathforahostoraresourcepool.Youcannestresourcepoolssimilartofolders. Tospecifyaninventorypathforahostoraresourcepoolaspartoftargetlocators,usethefollowingsyntax:
<datacenter name>/host/<host name>/Resources/<resource pool>

hostandResources. Fixedpartsofthepath. Resources. Specifyonlywhenaresourcepoolisspecified. <resource pool>. Cantakethevalueofoneormorenestedresourcepools.Ifnoresourcepoolsare specified,thedefaultresourcepoolforthehostisused.

Thefollowingexampleisofaninventorypathwithoutaspecifiedresourcepool:
TestDatacenter/host/esx-host3.example.com

Thefollowingexampleisofaninventorypathwithaspecifiedresourcepool:
TestDatacenter/host/esx-host3.example.com/Resources/SmallResourcePool

Partial Locators
WhenusingOVFTool,itisoftennotnecessarytospecifysourceandtargettypesaslongascertainfilename conventionsareused.Itispossibletotheignorelocatortypeandspecifythesourceandtargetexplicitlyusing thearguments--sourceType=...and--targetType=.

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OVFToolassumesthelocatortypebasedonthefollowingrules:

Ifthenamestartswithvi://,OVFToolassumesvSpheretype. Ifthenameendswith.ovf,OVFToolassumesOVFtype. Ifthenameendswith.vmx,OVFToolassumesVMXtype. Ifthenameendswith.ova,theOVFtoolassumesOVAtype. IfthelocatorisafilepathtoadirectorythatrepresentsavApprunworkspaceoranentityinavApprun workspace,thenOVFToolassumsvAppruntype.

Similarly,sourceandtargettypescanbeinferredfromfolderlocators.OVFToolassumesthetypeaccording thefollowingrules:

Ifthesourcelocatorisafolder,OVFToolassumesthatthesourceisanOVFpackageandthattheOVF descriptoriscalledthesameasthefolder,forexample,my-ovf/my-ovf.ovf. IfthesourceisanOVFpackageandthetargetlocatorisadirectory,suchasMyVirtualMachines/,OVF ToolassumesthatthetargetisaVMXlocator.ThecreatedVMX/VMDKfileisputinadirectorywiththe targetname,forexample,MyVirtualMachines/MyVM/MyVM.vmx. IfthesourceisaVMXlocatorandthetargetlocatorisadirectory,OVFToolassumesthatthetargetisan OVFpackage. IfthesourceisavSpherelocator,andthetargetlocatorisadirectory,OVFToolassumesthatthetargetis anOVFpackage.

OVFToolsupportspartialvSpherelocatorswhendeployingorexporting.Foranincompletelocatorpath,the toolsuggestscompletionsatthecommandline.Example 1showsthecommandlinedialogwhenpartial locatorsareused. Example 1. Partial Locators at the Command Line
> ovftool LAMP.ovf vi://localhost/ Opening source: LAMP.ovf Opening target: vi://user@localhost/ Error: Found wrong kind of object (Folder) Possible completions are: Datacenter/ Remote Datacenter/ Secondary Datacenter/ > ovftool LAMP.ovf vi://localhost/Datacenter Opening source: LAMP.ovf Opening target: vi://user@localhost/Datacenter Error: Found wrong kind of object (Datacenter) Possible completions are: vm/ host/ > ovftool LAMP.ovf vi://localhost/Datacenter/host Opening source: LAMP.ovf Opening target: vi://user@localhost/Datacenter/host Error: Found wrong kind of object (Folder) Possible completions are: host1.foo.com/ host2.foo.com/ > ovftool LAMP.ovf vi://localhost/Datacenter/vm/host1.foo.com

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Configuration Files
OVFToolhasmanyoptions.Ratherthanrepeatedlyenteringlongcommandsonthecommandline,youcan createaconfigurationfile.Aconfigurationfileusesthefollowingsyntax:
option1=value ... #comment optionN=value

Thefollowingisanexampleofaconfigurationfile:
proxy=http://proxy.example.com datastore=storage-test42 # Comment on something locale=dk

Youcancreatelocalorglobalconfigurationfiles.Alocalconfigurationfilehasthe.ovftoolsuffixandisread inthefolderfromwhichyouinvokeOVFTool.Aglobalconfigurationfileisperuser. OnWindows,theglobalconfigurationfileisreadfromthefollowinglocation:

C:\Documents and Settings\$USERNAME\VMware\ovftool.cfg

OnLinux,theglobalconfigurationfileisreadfromthefollowinglocation:
$HOME/.ovftool

Whenusingconfigurationfiles,globallydefinedoptionsareoverwrittenbylocallydefinedandcommandline options.Locallydefinedoptionsareoverwrittenbycommandlineoptions. Youcanusetheovftool --help configcommandtogetinformationabouthowtouseaconfigurationfile. Inaddition,thecurrentcontentsoftheglobalconfigurationfileaswellasanylocalconfigurationfileisshown.

Examples of Using VMware OVF Tool

Atthecommandline,type--help examplestodisplayexamplesofovftoolcommands.

Convert a VMX to an OVF

ToconvertavirtualmachineinVMwareruntimeformat(.vmx)toanOVFpackage,typeacommandlikethe following:
> ovftool f:/myvms/BigDemo.vmx x:/ovf/BigDemo.ovf

Convert a VMX to an OVA

ToconvertaVMXtoanOVAfile,typeacommandlikethefollowing:
> ovftool vmxs/Nostalgia.vmx ovfs/Nostalgia.ova

Convert an OVF to a VMX

ToconvertanOVFpackagetoafileinVMwareformat,typeacommandlikethefollowing:
> ovftool http://www.mycompany.com/ovflib/BigDemo.ovf x:/myvms/BigDemo.vmx

BecausethesourceisanOVFpackage,youcanspecifyitasaURLoralocalfilepath. IfyouconvertanOVFpackagetoaVMXfilewithoutspecifyingthetargetdirectory,OVFToolcreatesa directoryusingtheOVFpackagenameandwritestheVMXfileinit.

> ovftool "Windows 7.ovf" .

TheVMXfileiswrittenatWindows 7/Windows 7.vmx.

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Convert VMX to a vSphere

YoucanconvertanyvSphere,orVMXsourcetoanyvSphere,orVMXtargetformatwithoutanintermediate OVFconversion.ThefollowingexampleusesOVFTooltodirectlyconvertaVMXfiletoavSpherefile, withoutfirstdoingaVMXtoOVFconversionandthenanOVFtovSphereconversion.
> ovftool Nostaliga.vmx vi://user:pwd@host/Datacenter/host/host1.foo.com

Deploy an OVF Package Directly on an ESX Host

ThefollowingcommanddeploysanOVFpackageonanESXhost.
> ovftool package.ovf vi://my.esx-machine.example.com/

Deploy an OVF Package and Power It On

OVFToolcanpoweronavirtualmachineorvAppafterdeployment.Thisactioncanbedoneonallsupported platforms.ThefollowingexamplepowersonthevirtualmachineorvApptoaparticularhostthroughvCenter Server:
> ovftool --powerOn package.ovf vi://MyvCenterServer/?dns=fast-esx-host1.example.com.

Export a Running Virtual Machine or vApp from vSphere

YoumustpoweroffavirtualmachineorvAppbeforeexportingit.Thefollowingexamplelocatesthevirtual machineorvAppbasedonitsDNSnamethroughthevCenterServerandpowersitoff:
> ovftool --powerOffSource vi://MyvCenterServer/?dns=test-vm test-vm.ova

NOTEThisoptiondoesnotperformashutdown,wheretheoperatingsystemshutsdownbyitself.Thisis onlyapoweroffoperation.

Deploy an OVF Package into a vApprun Workspace

AvApprunworkspaceprovidesvAppsupportsforWorkstationandFusionusers.Itprovidesacomplete vApprunexecutionenvironment,thatincludesnestedvApps,OVFproperties,andanOVFenvironment.The environmentisfullycompatiblewithvSphere4. ReadmoreaboutvApprunat:http://labs.vmware.com/flings/vApprun. TodeployanOVFpackageintoavApprunworkspace,simplyuseatargetlocatorthatpointstoyourvApprun workspace,asshowninthefollowingexample:
> ovftool myOvfPackage c:\My_vApprun_workspace\

AcommonscenarioisthatthecurrentdirectoryisthevApprunworkspace(sinceallvAppruncommandsare relativetothis),soyoucanjustusea.asthetargetlocator,asshowninthefollowingexample:
> ovftool http://www.mycompany.com/ovflib/BigDemo.ovf .

Export a vApprun Entity to an OVF Package

BothvirtualmachineandvAppentitiesinyourvApprunworkspacecanbeexportedasOVFpackages,as showninthefollowingexample:
> ovftool c:\My_vApprun_workspace\BigDemo c:\ovflib\

Prependthenameoftheentitytoexporttothepath.IfthecurrentdirectoryisthevApprunworkspace,you onlyspecifythename,asshowninthefollowingexample:
> ovftool BigDemo vi://MyvCenterServer/...

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Thepreviousexampletakesadvantageofthefactthatanysourcelocatorcanbeusedwithanydestination locator.Thus,thevApptransfersdirectlyfromthevApprunworkspacetothevCenterinstallation. NOTEvApprundoesnotkeepthesamelevelofmetadataaroundasvSphere.Thus,thevAppruncreated OVFpackageswillnotcontainanyEULAs,descriptionofproperties,andsuch.

Rename the OVF Package

YoucanrenameanOVFpackagebyconvertingtheOVFtoanOVF.Thisactionalsorenamesallthedisknames andchangesthereferencesintheOVFdescriptor.
> ovftool Windows 7.ovf win7.ovf

Omit Disks in the VMware OVF Tool Output

IfyouwantonlyinformationabouttheOVFdescriptorandnotaboutthedisksthatitrefersto,youcan suppresstheoutput. ThefollowingexamplecommandomitsdiskoutputandsimplycopiestheOVFdescriptorandanymessage bundlefilesthatmightbeassociatedwithit:
> ovftool --noDisks http://example.com/ovf/InterestingVirtualAppliance package.ovf

Compress an OVF Package

FormaximumcompressionofanOVFpackagewithmultiplevirtualmachines,setboththe--compress=9 and--makeDeltaDisksoptions.Thefollowingareexamplesofusingmaximumcompression:
> ovftool --compress=9 --makeDeltaDisks package.ovf output-dir > ovftool --compress=9 --makeDeltaDisks vi://localhost/dc/vm/VirtualAppDemo output-dir/

Ifthesourcecontainsonlyasinglevirtualmachine,the--makeDeltaDisksoptiondoesnotyieldany compressionboost.Inthiscase,the--compress=9optiongivesmaximumcompression.

Chunk or Split OVF Package Files

Somefilesystemshavearestrictiononmaximumfilesize.Forexample,FAT32allowsfilesonlyupto2GB.You cansplittheOVFfilesfromageneratedpackageintopiecesofaspecifiedmaximumsize.Thedefault measurementismegabytes(keywordmb).Youcanspecifyotherunitsusingoneofthefollowingkeywords: Unit Bytes Kilobytes Gigabytes Keyword
b kb gb

Forexample,tocreateanOVFpackageoptimizedforaFAT32filesystem,usethefollowingcommand:
> ovftool --chunkSize=2gb <source> package.ovf

Eachfilechunkhasasequentiallynumberedsuffix.Forexample,fora6GBdisk,thechunkshavethesenames:
disk1.vmdk.000000000, disk1.vmdk.000000001, disk1.vmdk.000000002

Validate an OVF 1.0 or OVF 1.1 Descriptor

IfyouaregeneratingOVF1.0orOVF1.1descriptorsmanually,youcancheckwhetherthedescriptorscomply withtheOVF1.0orOVF1.1.Thefollowingexamplesshowhowtovalidatedescriptors:
> > > > ovftool ovftool ovftool ovftool --schemaValidate --schemaValidate --schemaValidate --schemaValidate package.ovf package.ova http://example.com/folder1/package.ovf http://example.com/folder1/package.ova

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Ifeverythingiscorrect,OVFTooloutputstheresultofprobingtheOVF.Otherwise,alistofwarningsand errorsisshown. IMPORTANTBeingcompliantwithOVF1.0or1.1schemaisonlypartoftherequirementsforbeingavalid OVFpackage.TheschemavalidationdoesnotcheckforalltherequirementsspecifiedintheOVF1.0and OVF 1.1specifications.

Download an OVF Package from a Protected Web Site

OVFToolcanreadsourcesgivenbyaURLusingbothHTTPandHTTPS.Youaccessitwiththeusernameand password.ThefollowingexampledownloadstheLAMPOVFpackageandputsitinanOVApackage.
> ovftool https://user:pass@example.com/repository/ovf/LAMP.ovf LAMP.ova

Ifyouomittheusernameandpassword,inwhichcaseOVFToolpromptsyouforthem.

Use a Proxy
YoucanspecifyaproxyforOVFTool.Thefollowingexamplesshowtheuseofthe--proxyoption:
> ovftool --proxy=proxy.example.com http://external-site.com/ovf/package.ovf > ovftool --proxy=http://proxy.example.com http://external-site.com/ovf/package.ovf

OVFToolallowsproxiesthatrequireauthentication.Credentialsaresuppliedintheproxypathasshownin thefollowingexample:
> ovftool --proxy=user:pass@proxy.example.com http://external-site.com/ovf/package.ovf

Youcanomittheusernameandpasswordforaproxyserverthatrequiresauthentication.OVFToolprompts forthem.

Overwrite a Running Virtual Machine or vApp from vSphere

VMwareOVFToolsupportsoverwritingexistingtargets.IfatargetvirtualmachineorvApphasthesame nameasthesource,OVFTooloverwritesthetargetwhenthe--overwriteoptionisspecified.Ifthetarget virtualmachineorvAppisrunning,OVFToolcannotoverwriteit.OVFTooldoesnotautomaticallypoweroff thetarget.Topoweroffthetargetbeforeoverwritingit,usethe--powerOffTargetoption.
> ovftool --overwrite --powerOffTarget package.ovf vi://localhost/?dns=production-host.example.com

YoucanalsopoweronthenewlywrittenvirtualmachineorvAppatthesametime.Inthefollowingexample, thetargetmachineispoweredoffanddeleted,thepackage.ovfisimported,andtheimportedvirtualmachine orvAppispoweredon.

> ovftool --overwrite --powerOffTarget --powerOn package.ovf vi://localhost/?dns=production-host.example.com

Set OVF Properties When Deploying to vSphere

OVFdescriptorscancontainconfigurationpropertiesforthedeployedOVFpackage.Youcansetonlyone propertyatatime,butyoucanhavemultipleinstancesoftheoptionpercommand. Thepropertyoptionhasthefollowingsyntax:
--prop:<option>=<value>

Thefollowingexamplesetstwoproperties:theadministratorsemailaddressandthenumberofconcurrent sessions.
> ovftool --prop:adminEmail=john@example.com --prop:concurrentSessions=200 package.ovf vi://localhost/?dns=fast-esx=host1.example.com

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Set OVF Network Mappings When Deploying to vSphere

OVFdescriptorscanusesymbolicidentifiersfornetworknames.Theseidentifiersmustbemappedtoa networkthatisavailableonthechosenvSphereplatform.Ifonlyonenetworkisavailableonthetargetand onlyonenetworkisdescribedintheOVFdescriptor,OVFToolselectsthatnetworkautomatically.Inthiscase, youdonotneedtospecifyanetworkmapping.The--netoptionhasthefollowingsyntax:
--net:<OVF network name>=<target network name>

Inthefollowingexample,anetworkisselected.
> ovftool --net:Example net 1=VM Network <source> <vSphere locator>

IftheOVFdescriptoronlyspecifiesonenetworkname,youcanspecifythetargetnetworknameofthe networkmapping,asinthefollowingexample:
> ovftool --network=VM Network <source> <vSphere locator>

Obtain Progress Feedback from VMware OVF Tool

Youcanhavemachinereadableprogressfeedbackdisplayedonthecommandline.Theprogressissimply writtenasthepercentagefinished.
> ovftool --machineOutput source target 0 1 3 10 ... 99 100

Cancel VMware OVF Tool While it Is Running

TocancelOVFToolwhileitisrunning,enterCtrl-C.ThishaltsOVFToolandcleansupanygeneratedfiles.

Probe Mode
Probemoderevealsinformationaboutthecontentofasource.YoucanprobeOVAandOVFpackages,VMX, andvSpheresourcetypes.Youcanusetheinformationgatheredtofindouthowitcanbeconfiguredwhen youdeployit. Tousetheprobefeature,omitthetargetlocatorwheninvokingOVFTool.Forexample,atthecommandline, type:ovftool LAMP.ovf.ThetooldisplaysallavailableinformationabouttheLAMP.ovf. WhenprobemodeisusedonanOVForOVApackage,OVFToolalsovalidatesthecertificatefile,ifpresent. Aspartoftheinformationdisplayedinprobemode,theEULAisdisplayedbydefault.TopreventtheEULA fromdisplaying,usethe --hideEulaoption.
> ovftool --hideEula LAMP.ovf

ThefollowingexampleshowstheresultofprobingtheLAMP.ovf.
OVF version: Name: Version: Vendor: Product URL: 1.0 LAMP running PHP-Fusion 0.1 VMware Aarhus http://example.com/ovf/1.0/LAMP/readme.txt

Annotation: This vApp offers the programming environment stack: Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP prgramming environmnent, LAMP. More specifically the vApp contains a database server running MySQL and a Web server VM running Apache2 and PHP. End-user License Agreements: Present: Yes (1) Download Size: 604.07 MB

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Deployment Sizes: Flat disks: 16.00 GB Sparse disks: Unknown Networks: Name: VM Network Description: The VM Network network Virtual Hardware: Family: vmx-04 Disk Types: SCSI-lsilogic Properties: Key: Label: Type: Description: Key: Label: Type: Description:

db-ip IP address ip:VM Network The IP address of the database server. ws-ip IP address ip:VM Network The IP address of the Web server.

IP Allocation Policy: Schemes: ovfenv dhcp Protocols: IPv4

Launch OVF Tool as a Helper Process

YoucanusetheintegrationoptionstomakeitmoreconvenienttolauchOVFToolasahelperprocesstoaclient ofthevSphereWebServicesAPI,suchasascriptusingPerlbindings. Ifyouusethe--I:morefArgsargument,thevaluesfor--vmFolder,--network,--net,and--datastore areinterpretedasmoRefsinsteadofnames,asshowninthefollowingexample:
> ovftool --name=vm5 \ --I:morefArgs \ --net:VM Network=vim.Network:network-12 \ --datastore=vim.Datastore:datastore-17 \ c:\temp\vm1\ \ vi://root:@localhost?moref=vim.ResourcePool:resgroup-42

Usethe--I:sourceSessionTicketor--I:targetSessionTicketoptionstoauthenticatewithasession ticketretrievedfromSessionManager.AcquireSessionTicket,whenusingthevSpheresourceor destination.

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Appendix: OVF Package Signing

AvalidOVFsignaturerequirestwospecialfiles,amanifest(.mf)filethatcontainstheSHA1hashcodesofall thefilesinthepackage(exceptthe.mfand.certfiles),andacertificatefile(.cert)thatcontainsthesigned SHA1ofthemanifestfileandtheX.509encodedcertificate.ThisappendixspecifieshowtouseOpenSSLand VMwareOVFToolscommandstosignandvalidateOVFpackages. Thisappendixcontainsthefollowingtopics:

CreatinganRSAPublic/PrivateKeyPairandCertificateonpage 27 SigninganOVFPackageonpage 28 ValidatinganOVFPackageonpage 29

Creating an RSA Public/Private Key Pair and Certificate

Tosignapackage,apublic/privatekeypairandcertificatethatwrapsthepublickeyisrequired.Theprivate keyandthecertificate,whichincludesthepublickey,isstoredina.pemfile. ThefollowingOpenSSLcommandcreatesa.pemfile:
> openssl req -x509 -nodes -sha1 -days 365 -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout myself.pem -out myself.pem

NOTENopasswordisnecessary.Toincludeapassword,removethe--nodesoption. Table A1showsthecontentsofthemyself.pemfile. Example A-1. Myself.pem File Contents

-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----MIICXAIBAAKBgQDe0dCCKNfQ45+D0ezGGAuVSbhE8buqFCQnQnfi27Wt6bu4DhcE bQtjgfzuEpcl4e31txJcu18XTv4icRL74DP7i2pMN2UVj6DZW/B7jIw4UPG2g96f ... -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY---------BEGIN CERTIFICATE----MIIC5DCCAk2gAwIBAgIJAKgUiZPOajC0MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBAUAMFYxCzAJBgNV BAYTAkRLMRMwEQYDVQQIEwpTb21lLVN0YXRlMQ8wDQYDVQQHEwZBYXJodXMxITAf ... -----END CERTIFICATE-----

Todisplaythecontentsofa.pemfileatthecommandline,typethefollowing: >openssl x509 -text -noout -in <filename>.pem

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Thecontentsofthefiledisplayasfollows:
Certificate: Data: Version: 3 (0x2) Serial Number: ....

Tocreateatrustedcertificate,usetheOpenSSLcommand,omittingthe--x509option.Thiscreatesacertificate requestina.pemfilethatyoucansendtoanypublicauthority,suchasVerisign.

Signing an OVF Package

SigninganOVFpackageenablesthepersondeployingittovalidatetheauthenticityoftheOVFpackage.Once thepackageissigned,OVFpackagefilescannotbechanged,withoutinvalidatingthesignature.Whena packagecomesfromatrustedsourceandhasavalidOVFsignature,youcandeploythepackageknowingit hasnotbeentamperedwith. SigninganOVFpackagerequiresa.pemfilethatcontainsaprivatekeyandacertificate,asshowninsection CreatinganRSAPublic/PrivateKeyPairandCertificateonpage 27. TosignageneratedOVFpackage,includetheprivateKeyoption.Theoptionsyntaxisshowninthefollowing example:
> ovftool --privateKey=<path to .pem file> <source> <output OVF or OVA file>

Whenthisoptionisused,OVFToolusestheprivatekeyandcertificatetogenerateasignaturebasedonthe SHA1digestofeachfilethatisincludedintheOVFpackage,includingtheOVFdescriptoritself. OVFToolgeneratesanadditional.certfilewithasignedSHA1signatureandthecertificateusedtosignit. Example A2showsanexampleofthe.certfilegeneratedbyOVFTool. Example A-2. Certificate File Created by OVF Tool
SHA1(signed-package.mf)=5d9a307f0acdc1a424079eb38ff8954c153f978e599ed374dd784c853bab1856415fa16ef 378bde3487cd5dfa4d11a3017eda91886f98e3bba3adc2f4e28ce6d0ba3a19eef80ac0729511311603 dcb221f9ba7a6008f1a87fe15ebf3699c8a8744bd05c43b1387dd53d73723e7f0a3720d489e147e31c 4570d15fb7a3beae770 -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----MIIDTzCCArigAwIBAgIJAKDgFLg9WvBwMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAMHkxCzAJBgNV BAYTAkRLMQ8wDQYDVQQHEwZBYXJodXMxFTATBgNVBAoTDFZNd2FyZSwgSW5jLjEM MAoGA1UECxMDVklNMREwDwYDVQQDEwhLcmlzdGlhbjEhMB8GCSqGSIb3DQEJARYS a2xhc3NlbkB2bXdhcmUuY29tMB4XDTA5MDMwNjEzMDUwNFoXDTEwMDMwNjEzMDUw NFoweTELMAkGA1UEBhMCREsxDzANBgNVBAcTBkFhcmh1czEVMBMGA1UEChMMVk13 YXJlLCBJbmMuMQwwCgYDVQQLEwNWSU0xETAPBgNVBAMTCEtyaXN0aWFuMSEwHwYJ KoZIhvcNAQkBFhJrbGFzc2VuQHZtd2FyZS5jb20wgZ8wDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQAD gY0AMIGJAoGBAM2xxX9a1YITiiRrxpXGg9xbEP4Oepcs71ZcNp8Z3mQIb95mpEc6 SZemmjOsqwpkvV/82RALOBgmJ/hot1noSkiAZi0liPmX1M0BU3OS/pSim7VNKBmV SUJfOC4T6/MygVpyfkSUhB5EWx0JCUvowRex6Ytl220MOGcXnLpvdfO9AgMBAAGj gd4wgdswHQYDVR0OBBYEFM2KkX7pWTQmMg+iD6HWMOZRLrfJMIGrBgNVHSMEgaMw gaCAFM2KkX7pWTQmMg+iD6HWMOZRLrfJoX2kezB5MQswCQYDVQQGEwJESzEPMA0G A1UEBxMGQWFyaHVzMRUwEwYDVQQKEwxWTXdhcmUsIEluYy4xDDAKBgNVBAsTA1ZJ TTERMA8GA1UEAxMIS3Jpc3RpYW4xITAfBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWEmtsYXNzZW5Adm13 YXJlLmNvbYIJAKDgFLg9WvBwMAwGA1UdEwQFMAMBAf8wDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEFBQAD gYEANaNxv4QrN7iI0rDCordYDh1G7Z3jl28ntSoxehGmz6ghYAfBNhTVhWUZuX9X UXKn8QltOF/Ynijuo6JTJwO/5V1o6TAaCmFahDW/Om02AXPdSbw4UQdidGmmgrAs DYVQz2CNPk2YbkXITNeGBNHomTqsVU7MGDjReu96+V6O2zY= -----END CERTIFICATE-----

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Appendix: OVF Package Signing

Validating an OVF Package

IfanOVFcertificatefileispresent,OVFToolalwaysverifiesifthesignaturefitstheSHA1digestofthefilesin thepackageandteststheauthenticityofthecertificate. ToquicklyvalidatetheauthenticityofanOVFpackage,usetheprobemodeasshowninthefollowing example:
> ovftool signed-package.ovf

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Index

B
benefits of OVF 8

C
command line, running OVF Tool from 13 command-line options 13 --compress 10 compression 10 configuration files 21

Windows details 12 installing OVF Tool 11 integration options 26 introduction to OVF Tool 7 inventory path host or resource pool 19 virtual machine or vApp 19

L
Linux path syntax for file locators 17 Linux installation of OVF 12 Linux operating systems supported 11

D
delta disk compression introduction 10 limitations 10 download file names 11

M
Mac OS 11 Mac OS installation of OVF 12 --makeDeltaDisks 10

E
examples cancelling OVF Tool while running 25 chunking 23 convert .ovf to .vmx 21 convert .vmx to .ova 21 convert .vmx to .ovf 21 convert source to target 22 deploying and powering on 22 deploying OVF package 22 downloading from a protected site 24 exporting a running virtual machine or vApp 22 maximum compression 23 obtaining progress feedback 25 omitting disks in output 23 overwriting a running virtual machine or vApp 24 probe mode 25 renaming the OVF package 23 setting OVF network mappings 25 setting OVF properties 24 using a proxy 24 validating 23

N
new since 1.0 7

O
opeating systems supported Linux 11 operating systems supported Mac 11 Windows 11 OVF package space requirements 9 OVF standard 8 OVF support in vSphere 9 OVF Tool adding to PATH variable 12 command-line options 13 examples 21 installation 11 installing 11 partial locators 19 running 12 running from command line 13 source and target locator definitions 13 OVT Tool as a helper process, integration options 26

F
feature highlights 8 file locators 17

I
installing OVF 11 Linux and Mac OS details 12
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P
partial locators command-line dialog 20
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OVF Tool assumptions 19 PATH variable, adding OVF Tool 12 platforms supported 9 protocol locators, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP 18

R
running OVF Tool after install 12

S
source locator definition 13 vSpherer 18 space requirements 9 supported platforms 9

T
target locator definition 13 technical support resources 5

U
URI, using for file locators 18 URI, using for locators 17

V
vApprun deploying an OVF package to 22 exporting a vApprun entity to an OVF package 22 virtual machine file extensions 9 vSphere source locators query values 19 source and target values 18 vSphere support for OVF 9 vSphereI source locators definition 18

W
whats new 7 Windows path syntax for file locators 17 Windows installation details 12 Windows operating systems supported 11

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