A virtual appliance is a pre-configured virtual machine image, ready to run on a hypervisor. Installation of a software appliance on a virtual machine and packaging that into an image creates a virtual appliance. Virtual appliances are most commonly used is the Open Virtualization Format (OVF). In this article, We will talk about what is OVA and OVF along with the difference between them and also we will learn how to Convert OVA to OVF using the VMware OVF tool

OVF is a file format that allows for exchange of virtual appliances across products and platforms. The OVF format offers the following advantages: OVF files are compressed, allowing for faster downloads. The vSphere Client/Web Client validates an OVF file before importing it, and ensures that it is compatible with the intended destination server. Using the vSphere Web Client, deploy the.OVA file or the.OVF and VMDK files as an OVF template. Go to File Deploy OVF Template. Browse to the location of the vCenter Server Appliance downloaded.ova or the.ovf file and click Open. In the OVF Template Details page, click Next. Opening OVF source: D: bin vSphereReplicationOVF10.ovf Once OVF has been deployed successfully go ahead and power on the VM from vCenter. Once VR appliance is powered on and reachable via network, Log out and re-login to the web client. VCenter Server: Simplified and Efficient Server Management. Gain centralized visibility, simplified and efficient management at scale, and extensibility across the hybrid cloud—all from a single console. VMware vCenter Server is advanced server management software that provides a centralized platform for controlling your VMware vSphere environments, allowing you to automate and deliver a. Note: The steps in this section apply to VMware only; choose either the general steps or the special steps for installing on VMWare ESXi server version 6.5. Note also that after deploying an OVF template, the vSphere client might display the VMware Tools status as “Not Installed.' However, if the OVF template is correctly deployed, VMware Tools are installed on the virtual machine.

Virtual appliances are quite famous now. Almost all the software is packaged as a pre-configured virtual machine image as a virtual appliance. I am sure most of us would have deployed a lot of virtual appliances into our VMware infrastructure. virtual appliances mostly available in OVA format. I noticed the deployment of virtual appliances using the OVA format failed many times. For that, we need to extract the OVA files as OVF or need to convert as VMX format to deploy the appliances using vSphere client. Before starting into the process of how to convert OVA to OVF using the VMware OVF tool, Let’s understand what is OVA and OVF?

What is OVF?

An OVF refers to the Open Virtualization Format, which is a “packaging standard designed to address the portability and deployment of virtualization appliances”. An OVF package structure consists of a number of files: a descriptor file, optional manifest and certificate files, optional disk images, and optional resource files (such as ISO’s). The optional disk image files can be VMware vmdk’s, or any other supported disk image file.

Vmware Vcenter Server 5.5 Download

What is OVA?

An OVA (open virtual appliance or application) is merely a single-file distribution of the same file package, stored in the TAR format.

Deploying an OVF or OVA template allows you to add pre-configured virtual machines or vApps to your vCenter Server or ESXi inventory. Deploying an OVF or OVA template is similar to deploying a virtual machine from a template. However, you can deploy an OVF or OVA template from any local file system accessible from the vSphere Web Client, or from a remote Web server. I hope we understand a bit about OVA and OVF. Let’s understand how to convert OVA to OVF using VMware OVF Tool.

VMware OVF Tool is a command-line utility that can import and export Open Virtualization Format (OVF) packages to and from many VMware products. we will discuss how to convert OVA to OVF using VMware OVF Tool.

Check out my article: How to Export VM to OVA or OVF using OVF Tool

How to Convert OVA to OVF using the VMware OVF Tool?

In this article, we are going to use the VMware OVF Tool to convert OVA to the OVF file. Before we jump into the conversion process, Let’s understand where to download and how to install the VMware OVF Tool. OVF Tool installer is available for Windows, Linux and MAC OSX.

You can download the VMware OVF tool from VMware Website.

In this demo, I have downloaded and installed the VMware OVF tool for my windows based machine. Installation is quite simple as similar to all other windows installers.

Once you finish the installation of the VMware OVF Tool, Browse towards the directory where you installed the OVF tool using the CD command. By default, below is the installation directory.

cd “C:Program FilesVMwareVMware OVF Tool”

To convert the OVA to OVF file using VMware OVF tool, we have to call ovftool.exe along with the path and name of the OVA file and path & name for the converted OVF file

ovftool.exe “Path of the OVA source file” “Path for the destination OVF to be created”

In the below example, I am converting the ova file called “demo-vm.ova” to the OVF file “demo-vm.ovf”. We have to specify the full path of the source OVA file and the full path for the destination OVF file.

As you see in the above example, OVA to OVF file conversion using the OVFTool is completed successfully. My “demo-vm.ova” file is converted to “demo-vm.ovf” using the OVF tool. Let’s browse the destination directory to see the list of files.

After the OVA to OVF conversion, There are multiple files extracted such as .ovf, .mf(manifesto file) and .VMDK files in the directory which we have specified during the conversion.

Now we can use that .ovf file to deploy the virtual machines into your vCenter server inventory using vSphere client and vSphere Web client. That’s it. I hope this article helps you to understand the process of OVA to OVF conversion using the VMware OVF Tool. Thanks for Reading !!!. Be social and share it in social media, if you feel worth sharing it.

Detailed Video on How to Export VM to OVA or OVF is here:

Before proceeding with installing VR via OVF Tool, Lets proceed installing the OVF tool in first place.

6.5 version is currently compatible with OVF 4.2.0. You can go ahead and download the OVF Tool via below link

This tool can be installed on any machine which has required access to the vCenter and ESXI host in terms of port connectivity.

Click Run.

Click Next.

Accept the license agreement and click Next.

Click Next to leave the installation under default path.

Click on Install.

Click on Finish.

Once OVF is installed, GoTo Start-Run-cmd(Command Prompt)

Type cd “C:Program FilesVMwareVMware OVF Tool”

Find the below format in order to deploy the VM from the OVF Tool.

ovftool –acceptAllEulas -ds=”DATASTORE_NAME” -n=”SPECIFY VRMS NAME” –net:”Management Network”=”PORT GROUP NAME” –prop:”password”=”VRMS ROOT PASSWORD TO BE SET” –prop:”ntpserver”=”NTP SERVER IP OR FQDN” –prop:”vami.ip0.vSphere_Replication_Appliance”=”SPECIFY VRMS SERVER IP” –vService:installation=com.vmware.vim.vsm:extension_vservice <ABSOLUTE PATH>vSphere_Replication_OVF10.ovf vi://administrator@vsphere.local:SSO_Admnistrator_Password@VCENTER IP/?ip=ESXI HOST IP

Live Example

C:Program FilesVMwareVMware OVF Tool>ovftool –acceptAllEulas -ds=”Storage1″ -n=”vSphere Replication Appliance” –net:”Management Network”=”VM Network” –prop:”password”=”VMware1!” –prop:”ntpserver”=”192.168.2.100″ –prop:”vami.ip0.vSphere_Replication_Appliance”=”192.168.2.126″ –vService:installation=com.vmware.vim.vsm:extension_vservice C:VRbinvSphere_Replication_OVF10.ovf vi://administrator@vsphere.local:VMware1!@192.168.2.120/?ip=192.168.2.103

Opening OVF source: D:binvSphere_Replication_OVF10.ovf

Vcenter 6.7 Ovf Download

Once OVF has been deployed successfully go ahead and power on the VM from vCenter.

Once VR appliance is powered on and reachable via network, Log out and re-login to the web client. GoTo — Home

You should be able to see vsphere replication tab enabled.

Go ahead and click on it you would be routed to the below mentioned screen. Vsphere Replication status would stated Enabled (Configuration Issue)

If you place the cursor on the status it would provide you the exact issue to determine the cause of the configuration issue. In your current scenario since this appliance is newly deployed we need to go to VAMI page in order to complete the registration process.

There are two ways of reaching the VAMI page.

• Click on configure as mentioned in the above screenshot
• GoTo Browser and type https://VRMS_IP:5480

Enter the credentials set during deployment. User name would be root by default

GoTo-VR-Configuration Tab.

Provide the SSO credentials. Ensure at the lookup service address FQDN or IP address of Platform services controller is provided.

Click on Save and Restart service.

/higher-engineering-mathematics-pdf-download.html. Accept the certificate in order to authenticate to the registered PSC

You would get a below pop up message. “Successfully saved the Configuration”

Go back to the web client and refresh. You would be able to see required status Enabled (OK).

You can proceed with configuring replication for virtual machines.

Hope this article was helpful. Watch out for more.