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Working with virtual machines using VMware OVF Tool
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Working with virtual machines using VMware OVF Tool

VMware Cloud Director® supports importing virtual machines only in the following formats .ovf/.ova. VMware OVF Tool allows you to convert virtual machines to templates .ovf (Open Virtualization Format) and vice versa. For more information on working with the utility, see OVF Tool User's Guide VMware documentation.

You can download the utility at VMware website.

Import a virtual machine into Cloud Director⁠

  1. Open the catalog with the OVF Tool.

  2. Import the virtual machine into Cloud Director:

    ovftool.exe "<path_ovf>"
    "vcloud://<login>:<password>@<vcd>?org=<organization>&vdc=<s-xxxx>&catalog=<datastore>&vapp=<my_vapp>"

    Specify:

    • <path_ovf> — template path .ovf;

    • <login> — login to access Cloud Director;

    • <password> — password to access Cloud Director;

    • <vcd> — address of the virtual data center:

      • St. Petersburg — vcd.selectel.ru
      • Moscow — vcd-msk.selectel.ru

    • <organization> — organization name, can be viewed in Cloud Director under Administration → tab General;

    • <s-xxxx> — organizations name, can be viewed in the Cloud Director address bar or in the control panel under VMware-based cloud on the list of organizations;

    • <datastore> — virtual catalog;

    • <my_vapp> — The name that the imported vApp will have.

Convert virtual machine to OVF template⁠

  1. Open the catalog with the OVF Tool.

    d <path_catalog>

    Specify <path_catalog> — directory path.

  2. Convert the virtual machine to an OVF template:

    ovftool.exe "<path_vm>" "<path_ovf>"

    Specify:

    • <path_vm> — path to the virtual machine configuration file;
    • <path_ovf> — directory path for the template .ovf.

Convert OVF template to virtual machine⁠

  1. Open the catalog with the OVF Tool.

  2. Convert the virtual machine to an OVF template:

    ovftool.exe "<path_ovf>" "<path_vm>"

    Specify:

    • <path_ovf> — template path .ovf;
    • <path_vm> — directory path for the virtual machine.