OVF Tool User’s Guide

VMware Open Virtualization Format Tool 4.2.0

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.

EN-002360-01
OVF Tool User’s Guide

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:
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2 VMware, Inc.
Contents

About This Book 7

1 Overview of the OVF Tool 9

The Open Virtualization Format 9
The OVF Standard 9
Benefits of OVF 9
Using the VMware OVF Tool 10
VMware Platforms Using the OVF Standard 10
Setting Up the OVF Tool 10
OVF Tool Highlights 10
Examples of OVF Tool Use 11
Importing and Exporting OVF Using vSphere Client 11
VMware OVF Tool Delta Disk Facilities 11

2 Using the VMware OVF Tool 13

Definitions and Command Syntax 13
Special Consideration: Running OVF Tool from ESXi instead of vCenter 14
Special Consideration: Deploying a VM to static DVS port group 14
Command-Line Options 15
Creating and Using the VM ID 21
Specifying Disk ID to Set Size 22
Specifying the Storage Profile ID 22
More Help Topics 22
Using the Log Settings 22
Specifying a Locator 23
File Locators 24
Windows Path Syntax 24
Linux and Mac OS Path Syntax 24
Using URIs as Locators 24
Encoding Special Characters in URL Locators 24
HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP Locators 25
vSphere Locators 25
Specifying the Inventory Path to a Virtual Machine or vApp 26
Specifying the Inventory Path for a Cluster, Host, or Resource Pool 26
vCloud Director Locators 26
Examples of vCloud Locators 27
Partial Locators 27
Configuration Files 29
Handling Authentication 29
Launching the OVF Tool as a Helper Process 30

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

3 Examples of OVF Tool Syntax 31

Supported File Types and Package Formats 31
Changing File or Package Formats 32
Converting an OVF Package to an OVA Archive 33
Converting an OVA Archive to OVF Package 33
Converting VMX Format to an OVF Package 33
Converting VMX Format to an OVA Archive 33
Converting an OVA Archive to VMX Format 33
Converting an OVF Package to VMX Format 33
Installing an ESXi host from an OVF Package 33
Installing an ESXi host from an OVF Package on a Web Server 33
Installing an ESXi host or Adding Files from a VMX Format 34
Installing a vCenter Server or Adding Files from an OVF Package 34
Converting a VM on ESXi or vCenter Server to an OVF Package 34
Installing vCenter Server from an OVF Package Using an Inventory Path 34
Setting OVF Package Properties 34
Setting OVF Properties When Deploying to vSphere or vCloud Director 34
Setting OVF Network Maps When Deploying to vSphere 34
Setting a vService Dependency 35
Modifying an OVF Package 35
Renaming the OVF Package 35
Omitting Disks in the VMware OVF Tool Output 35
Compressing an OVF Package 35
Chunking or Splitting OVF Packages 35
Deploying OVF Packages 35
Deploying an OVF Package Directly on an ESXi Host 36
Deploying an OVF Package to vCenter Server 36
Deploying an OVF Package and Powering It On 36
Deploying an OVF Package into vCloud Director 36
Deploying an OVF Package into a vApprun Workspace 36
Importing an OVF Package 36
Importing an OVF File into a vCloud instance 36
Importing a Virtual Machine from vSphere to vCloud 37
Importing VMX Files into a vApprun Workspace 37
Exporting Virtual Machines to OVF Packages 37
Exporting a Virtual Machine from a vCloud instance to an OVF Package 37
Exporting a Running Virtual Machine or vApp from vSphere 37
Exporting a vApprun Entity to an OVF Package 37
Displaying Summary Information 37
Validating an OVF 1.0 or OVF 1.1 Descriptor 38
Downloading an OVF Package from a Protected Web Site 38
Using a Proxy 38
Overwriting a Running Virtual Machine or vApp from vSphere 38
Canceling the VMware OVF Tool While it Is Running 38

4 OVF Package Signing 39

Creating an RSA Public/Private Key Pair and Certificate 39
Signing an OVF Package 40
Validating an OVF Package 40

5 Using the VMware OVF Tool Probe Mode 41

About OVF Tool Probe Mode 41
Example of Probe Mode 41

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 Contents

6 Using the VMware OVF Tool Machine Mode 43

Running Machine Output 43
Running machineOutput in Probe Mode 43
Running machineOutput in Validate Host Mode 44
Running machineOutput in Import to vSphere Mode 44
Running the Machine Mode Export from vSphere Operation 44
Example Output 45
Output from Running machineOutput in Probe Mode 45
Output from Running machineOutput in Validate Host Mode 47
Output from Running machineOutput in Import Mode 48
Output from Running machineOutput in Export Mode 48

Index 49

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6 VMware, Inc.
About This Book

This OVF Tool User’s Guide provides information about how to use VMware® OVF Tool to package virtual
machines and vApps into Open Virtualization Format (OVF) standard packages.

Revision History
A revision occurs with each release of the product, or as needed. A revised version can contain minor or major
changes. Table 1 lists the versions of this manual.
08

Table 1. Revision History

Revision Description

07/2017 Note that --allowAllExtraConfig is a no-op on vSphere 6.5 U1 and later,

10/2016 OVF Tool 4.2.0 User’s Guide. New options for SSL version and cipher list, NVRAM support for EFI boot.

02/2016 Mention need for explicit extraConfig flags on ESXi hosts.

03/2015 OVF Tool 4.1.0 User’s Guide. Added DVS port group, viUseProxy option for vSphere, and vCloud locators.
12/2014 Increased Open SSL compatibility version to 1.0.1j. See http://www.openssl.org/news/vulnerabilities.html.

10/2014 OVF Tool 4.0.0 User’s Guide. Added --allowAllExtraConfig and --decodeBase64 options.

06/2014 OVF Tool 3.5.2 User’s Guide. Increased security for Open SSL.

04/2014 OVF Tool 3.5.1 User’s Guide.

08/2013 OVF Tool 3.5.0 User’s Guide. Includes new command line options.

08/2012 OVF Tool 3.0.1 User’s Guide.

08/2011 OVF Tool 2.1 User’s Guide.

06/2010 OVF Tool 2.0.1 Guide.

05/2009 OVF Tool 1.0 Guide.

Intended Audience
This book is intended for anyone who needs to convert an OVF package to a virtual machine, or a virtual
machine to an OVF package. Users typically include: system administrators, software developers, QA
engineers, and anyone who need to package or unpackage virtual machines using open industry standards.

Document Feedback
VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send your
feedback to [email protected].

VMware, Inc. 7
OVF Tool User’s Guide

Technical Support and Education Resources

The following sections describe the technical support resources available to you. To access the current version
of this book and other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

OVF Tool Users’ Forum

To obtain more information and to post questions about OVF Tool, go to the OVF Tool Forum at
http://www.vmware.com/go/ovftool.

Support Offerings
To find out how VMware support offerings can help meet your business needs, go to
http://www.vmware.com/support/services.

8 VMware, Inc.
 1

Overview of the OVF Tool 1

Open Virtualization Format (OVF) is an industry standard to describe metadata about virtual machine images
in XML format. VMware OVF Tool is a command-line utility that helps users import and export OVF packages
to and from a wide variety of VMware products.

This chapter contains the following topics:

 “The Open Virtualization Format” on page 9

 “Using the VMware OVF Tool” on page 10

 “Examples of OVF Tool Use” on page 11

The Open Virtualization Format

VMware implemented a tool for importing and exporting virtual machines in OVF standard format.

The OVF Standard

The OVF specification describes a secure, portable, efficient, and flexible method to package and distribute
virtual machines and components. It originated from the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) after
vendor initiative. Companies that contributed to the OVF standard include VMware, Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft,
XenSource, and Citrix.

Version 1.1 was published in January 2010, which supersedes the 1.0 specification published April 2009, and
is available on the DMTF Web site, along with a white paper.

 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
Using OVF to distribute virtual machines has the following benefits:

 Ease of use. When users receive a package in OVF format, they do not have to unzip files, execute binaries,
or convert disk formats. Adding a vApp can be as simple as typing a URL and clicking Install.

 Virtual hardware validation. OVF supports fast and robust hardware validation. You do not have to
install a complete virtual machine before determining whether it is compatible with an ESXi host (for
example, because it uses IDE virtual disks).

 Metadata inclusion. Additional metadata, such as an end-user license agreement, can be packaged with
the OVF and displayed before installation.

 Optimized download from the Internet. Large virtual disks are compressed for fast download and to
reduce disk space for large template libraries.

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

Using the VMware OVF Tool

The VMware OVF Tool is available on many platforms and can be downloaded if not built into a product.

VMware Platforms Using the OVF Standard

VMware supports the OVF standard on the following platforms:

 Use the OVF Tool 3.x for vSphere 4.0 and later, vCloud Director 1.5, 5.1, and 5.5, vCloud Director 1.0 (for
OVF and OVA types only), vCenter 2.5 and later, ESX 3.5 and later, VMware Server 2, VMware
Workstation 6.0 and later, and VMware Fusion 3.0 and later.

 OVF 0.9 is supported for import and export by VirtualCenter 2.5 and later, and ESX 3.5 and later.

 VMware Studio 1.0 and later can generate OVF packages.

OVF support is built into the vSphere Client that installs from, and is compatible with vCenter 5.0 and ESXi
5.0, vCenter 4.0 and ESX 4.0. It is also built into the vSphere Client that installs from and is compatible with
VirtualCenter 2.5 and later, and ESX 3.5 and later. The vSphere 5.1 Web Client includes the 3.x version of the
VMware OVF Tool as part of the Client Integration Plug-in.

Setting Up the OVF Tool

You can find the latest information about System Requirements, supported VMware software and platforms,
installation, and known issues by reading the latest release notes located at the following web page:
www.vmware.com/support/developer/ovf.

OVF Tool Highlights

The OVF Tool provides the following key features:

 Supports import and generation of OVA packages (OVA is part of the OVF standard, and contains all the
files of a virtual machine or vApp in a single file.)

 Directly converts between any vSphere, vCloud Director, VMX, or OVF source format to any vSphere,
vCloud Director, VMX, or OVF target format

 Accesses OVF sources using HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, or from a local file

 Deploys and exports vApp configurations on vSphere 4.0 (and all newer) targets and on vCloud Director
1.5 (and all newer) targets

 Provides options to power on a VM or vApp after deployment, and to power off a virtual machine or
vApp before exporting (caution advised)

 Show information about the content of any source in probe mode

 Provides context sensitive error messages for vSphere and vCloud Director sources and targets, showing
possible completions for common errors, such as an incomplete vCenter inventory path or missing
datastore and network mappings

 Provides an optional output format to support scripting when another program calls OVF Tool

 Uses new optimized upload and download API (optimized for vSphere 4.0 and newer)

 Signs OVF packages and validates OVF package signatures

 Validates XML Schema of OVF 1.0 and OVF 1.1 descriptors

 Import and export of OVF packages into a vApprun 1.0 workspace.

For more information about vApprun, see http://labs.vmware.com/flings/vapprun.

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 Chapter 1 Overview of the OVF Tool

Examples of OVF Tool Use

OVF import and export are built into the vSphere Client and the vSphere Web Client, and various other
enterprise oriented VMware products.

For VMware products without built-in OVF support, or when you need to accomplish specialized OVF
operations, you can download the OVF Tool over the Web.

Importing and Exporting OVF Using vSphere Client

Using the vSphere 5.0 or 4.0 Client, you can import an OVF package and export a vApp into an OVF package.
For example, to import an OVF package using vSphere Client 4:

Click File > Deploy OVF Template.

For example, to export a vApp into an OVF package using vSphere Client 4:

Click File > Export > Export OVF Template.

Using the vSphere Client 2.5, you can import an OVF virtual machine into an ESXi host and export a virtual
machine to an OVF file (note that vSphere Client 2.5 is limited to OVF 0.9). For example, to import an OVF
vApp into an ESXi host using vSphere Client 2.5:

Click File > Virtual Appliance > Import.

For example, to export a virtual machine to an OVF file using vSphere Client 2.5:

Click File > Virtual Appliance > Export.

OVF packages imported or exported by OVF Tool are completely compatible with packages imported or
exported by the vSphere Client or the vSphere Client.

VMware OVF Tool Delta Disk Facilities

VMware OVF Tool automatically compresses disk files. In the streaming VMDK files that OVF Tool generates,
the tool compresses each 64KB disk grain. It is possible to achieve even better compression using the
--compress option. In addition, if a package contains multiple virtual machines, it is possible to compress an
OVF package even more using a technique called delta disk compression. This compression algorithm is
invoked using the --makeDeltaDisks option.
ovftool --makeDeltaDisks package.ovf output-dir/

Delta disk compression identifies disk segments that are equal and combines these equal parts in a parent disk.
This process prevents storing the same segment twice.

As an example, consider a software solution that consists of an Apache Web server virtual machine and a
MySQL database virtual machine, both installed on top of a single-disk Ubuntu server. The two virtual
machines were created with the following process:

1 Create a plain Ubuntu installation on one virtual machine.

2 Clone the virtual machine.

3 Install Apache on the first virtual machine.

4 Install MySQL on the second virtual machine.

Using delta disk compression on the two virtual machine disks creates a parent disk containing all of the
information they share, which is essentially the entire operation system and two child disks containing the
MySQL and Apache parts.

A plain Ubuntu server can use 400–500MB of space, and two would use 800–1000MB of space. By contrast,
using delta disk compression, an OVF package with these two servers uses only 400–500MB (plus the size of
the MySQL and Apache installations), which saves 400–500MB by not duplicating the Ubuntu server.

Any number of disks can be combined creating various disk trees and saving more space.

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

vSphere 4 and later support the deployment of OVF packages that contain delta disk hierarchies.

For delta disk compression, keep in mind the following:

 Only disks with equal capacity can be combined. If you expect to use delta disk compression, you must
keep disk capacities equal.

 Delta disk compression necessitates that segments that might be put in a parent disk are at the same offset
from the beginning of their respective files. In the Ubuntu example, if the setup varies between the two
installations, it can completely offset each segment on one of the disks from the segments on the other
disk. In this case, delta disk compression does not produce any significant disk space savings. This is why
the example specified cloning the Ubuntu server before installing the MySQL and Apache parts,
respectively.

 Delta disk compression takes OVF packages and vSphere and VMX files as input, but not OVA packages.

 The delta disk compression algorithm needs to read the contents of each disk up to two times. It might
make sense to invoke OVF Tool on a local copy of the OVF package.

 The delta disk compression algorithm always generates an OVF package in the given output directory. To
convert this OVF package into an OVA package, reinvoke OVF Tool.

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 2

Using the VMware OVF Tool 2

This chapter covers the following topics:

 “Command-Line Options” on page 15

 “Specifying a Locator” on page 23

 “Configuration Files” on page 29

The VMware OVF Tool is a command-line utility that supports importing and exporting of OVF packages,
VMX files, or virtual machines from ESXi hosts and other VMware products.

Definitions and Command Syntax

A source location or source URL locator refers to an OVF package, VMX file, or virtual machine in a VMware
product, such as VMware Workstation, vSphere ESXi Host, vSphere vCenter Server, vCloud Director, or
vFabric Data Director.

A target location or destination URL locator specifies either a file location, or a location within a VMware
product, such as VMware Workstation, vSphere ESXi Host, vSphere vCenter Server, vCloud Director or
vFabric Data Director.

To run VMware OVF Tool from the command line

1 At the command-line prompt, run the OVF Tool as follows

ovftool <source locator> <target locator>

<source locator> and <target locator> are paths to the source and target for the virtual machine,
OVF package, OVA package, or vSphere location. See “Command-Line Options” on page 15 for options.
Table 2-1 describes the source and target locators. For details, see “Specifying a Locator” on page 23.

If you are using an operating system where spaces are not allowed in paths on the command line, and
need the full path to run OVF Tool, enclose the path in quotes as shown below:
"/Applications/VMware OVF Tool/ovftool" --help

2 If you want to specify additional options, type them before the source and target locators.
ovftool <options> <source locator> <target locator>

3 To display all options, type ovftool -h.

Probe mode allows you to investigate the contents of a source. To invoke probe mode, use the ovftool
command with only a source and no target. OVF Tool prints information about the source such as
hardware, EULA, and OVF properties.
ovftool <options> <source locator>

Use probe mode to examine an OVF package before deploying it. For example, you can examine the download
and deployment sizes, determine the set of networks to be mapped, determine the OVF properties to be
configured, read the EULA, and determine the virtual hardware requirements.

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

The probe operation is fast, as it only needs to access the OVF descriptor. It does not need to download the
entire OVA or VMDK files. Probe mode also validates the certificate if the source is signed. For details about
Probe Mode and sample output, see “Using the VMware OVF Tool Probe Mode” on page 41.

Special Consideration: Running OVF Tool from ESXi instead of vCenter

If you are deploying with the ovftool command from vCenter Server, you can use the command line options
in the table below to specify parameters when you deploy.

If you are deploying with the ovftool command from an ESXi host, you must “inject” the parameters into the
resulting VM when it is powered on. This is because the ESXi host lacks a cache to store the OVF parameters,
as in vCenter Server. Therefore, you must use the --X:injectOvfEnv debug option with the --poweron flag
in the command line if you are deploying a virtual machine from ESXi. Example below. (You can also do this
using the Create a VM from an OVA/OVF option in the ESXi host client, then browse to the .ova file.)
>./ovftool/ovftool\
--name="Cloudvm_2074586_with_inject"\
--X:injectOvfEnv\
--X:logFile=ovftool.log\
--X:logLevel=trivia\
--acceptAllEulas\
-ds=cl-storage-1\
-dm=thin\
--net:'Network 1=VM Network'\
--X:enableHiddenProperties\
--noSSLVerify\
--allowExtraConfig\
--machineOutput\
--prop:vami.netmask0.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=255.255.255.0\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.prefix=24\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.gateway=X.X.X.123\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.time.tools-sync=True\
--prop:vami.gateway.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=X.X.X.123\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.dns.servers=X.X.X.1,X.X.X.2\
--prop:vami.ip0.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=X.X.X.145\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.root.passwd=vmware\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.addr=X.X.X.145\
--prop:vami.DNS.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=X.X.X.1,X.X.X.2\
--prop:vami.vmname=vmc-srm-vc10\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.root.shell=/bin/bash\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.vmdir.first-instance=True\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.ssh.enabled=True\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.mode=static\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.addr.family=ipv4\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.vmdir.domain-name=vsphere.local\
--prop:guestinfo.cis.vmdir.password=vmware\
--powerOn\
--X:waitForIp\
http://<directory_w/cloudvm>/VMware-vCenter-Server-Appliance-6.0.0.XXXX-XXXXXXX_OVF10.ovf\
vi://root:pwd@vm_name

You will need to replace the variables (IP addresses, build numbers, root password, and VM names) in the
above example with values from your own system.

Special Consideration: Deploying a VM to static DVS port group

At this time, you can not use the OVF Tool to deploy a virtual machine to a static port group.

To work around this issue:

1 Use vCenter Server to create an ephemeral port on the desired network.

2 Deploy the appliance to that port group on an ESXi host.

3 Switch the appliance over to that static port group.

4 Use vCenter Server to delete the ephemeral port group.

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 Chapter 2 Using the VMware OVF Tool

Command-Line Options
For every command, you specify the source and target locators. Table 2-1 defines each locator type.

Table 2-1. OVF Tool Definitions of Source and Target Locators

Locator Definition

<source locator> Path to the source, which must be either a virtual machine, vApp, vApprun workspace
entity, or an OVF package.
The source locator can be one of the following:
 A path to an OVF or OVA file (a local file path, or an HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP URL).
 A virtual machine (a local file path to a .vmx file).
 A vSphere locator identifying a virtual machine or vApp on vCenter, ESXi, or VMware
Server.
 A vCloud Director locator identifying a virtual machine or a vApp in vCloud Director.
 A local file path to a vApprun workspace entity.

<target locator> The target locator can be one of the following:

 A local file path for VMX, OVF, OVA, or vApprun workspace.
 A vSphere locator identifying a cluster, host, or a vSphere location.
 A vCloud Director locator identifying a virtual machine or a vApp in vCloud Director.

Table 2-2 shows all the command-line options.

Options perform actions only between certain source and target types. Table 2-2 shows which source and
target types each option works with. If you specify an option using an irrelevant source or target type, the
command does nothing.

All options can be set using the form --option=value.

Binary options can be enabled or disabled explicitly. For example: --option=true, --option=false.

Table 2-2. OVF Tool Command-Line Options

Optional Relevant Relevant
Option Long Name Short Source Target Description
Name Types Types

--acceptAllEulas OVF, N/A Accepts all end-user licenses agreements

OVA (EULAs) without being prompted. Binary
option.
--allowExtraConfig Lets you specify the extra config options that
can be converted to .vmx format. These
options are a security risk as they control
low-level and potential unsafe options on the
VM. Each option must be specified using a
series of key value pairs (sometimes referred
to as a white list).

--allowAllExtraConfig Converts all extra configuration options to

.vmx format. For ESXi hosts, flags must be
explicitly specified. For vCenter Server.
--exportflags=extraconfig produces
vmw:ExtraConfig.
As of vSphere 6.5 U1, this option is a no-op.
Use --allowExtraConfig instead.

--annotation All Adds annotation to vi, vmx, vapprun,

vCloud, OVF, and OVA source locators.

--authdPortSource vSphere vSphere Overrides default VMware authd port (902)

when using a host as source.

--authdPortTarget vSphere vSphere Overrides the default VMware authd port

(902) when using a host as target.

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

Table 2-2. OVF Tool Command-Line Options (Continued)

Optional Relevant Relevant
Option Long Name Short Source Target Description
Name Types Types

--chunkSize N/A OVF, Specifies the chunk size to use for files in a
OVA generated OVF or OVA package. The default
is not to chunk.
If you don’t specify a unit for the chunk size,
the chunk size is assumed to be in megabytes
(mb). Accepted units are b, kb, mb, gb.
Example: 2gb or 100kb.
When using this option, all output files
(except the OVF descriptor, manifest and
certificate files) are sliced into the specified
chunk size. This is useful if you need to
transport an OVF package on a series of
800MB CD-ROMs, or are only able to create
files up to 2GB on FAT32 file systems.
When you use chunking with the OVA
package option, the result is similar to OVF
because all the files are chunked, but the OVA
package is still be a single file.

--compress N/A OVF, Compresses the disk when given an OVF or

OVA OVA target locator. The value must be
between 1 and 9. Use 9 for the slowest
processing time, but best compression. Use 1
for the fastest processing time, but least
compression.

--computerName Sets the computer name in the guest for a VM

using the syntax --computerName:<VM
ID>=<value>.
Only applies to vCloud targets of version 5.5
or newer.

--coresPerSocket Specifies the distribution of the total number

of CPUs over a number of virtual sockets
using the syntax --coresPerSocket:<VM
ID>=<value>. Only applies to vCloud
targets of version 5.5 or newer.

--datastore -ds N/A vSphere Target datastore name for a vSphere locator.

--decodeBase64 Enables Base64 decoding for values in the

OVFTool command line.

--defaultStorageProfile The storage profile for all VMs in the OVF

package. The value should be an SPBM profile
ID. Only applies to VI targets of version 5.5 or
newer.

--deploymentOption OVF, N/A Deployment options for a deployed OVF

OVA package (if the source OVF package supports
multiple options.) An OVF package can
contain several deployment configurations.
This option allows you to select which
configuration to use when deploying to the
vSphere target.

--disableVerification OVF, N/A Skips validation of signature and certificate.

OVA Binary option.

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 Chapter 2 Using the VMware OVF Tool

Table 2-2. OVF Tool Command-Line Options (Continued)

Optional Relevant Relevant
Option Long Name Short Source Target Description
Name Types Types

--diskMode -dm N/A VMX, Select target disk format. Supported formats
vApprun are: monolithicSparse, monolithicFlat,
,vSphere twoGbMaxExtentSparse,
twoGbMaxExtentFlat, seSparse (vSphere
target), eagerZeroedThick (vSphere target),
thin (vSphere target), thick (vSphere
target), sparse, and flat.

--diskSize Sets the size of a VM disk in megabytes using

the syntax --diskSize:<VM ID>,<disk
instance ID>=<value>. Only applies to
vCloud targets of version 5.5 or newer.
--eula N/A OVF, Inserts the EULA in the first virtual system or
OVA virtual system collection in the OVF. If the
EULA is in a file, use the format:
--eula@=filename

--exportFlags Specifies the source of an export. The

supported values for vSphere source are: mac,
uuid, and extraconfig.
The supported value for vCloud source is
preserveIdentity.
You can provide one or more options,
separated by commas.

--extraConfig N/A All Sets an ExtraConfig element for all

VirtualHardwareSections. The syntax is
--:extraConfig:<key>=<value>
This option applies to vi, vmx, vapprun,
vCloud, ovf, and ova source locators

--fencedMode vCloud If a parent network exists on a vCloud target,

this option specifies the connectivity to the
parent. Possible values are bridged,
isolated, allowIn, allowInOut, allowOut.

--help -h N/A N/A Prints the VMware OVF Tool help message
that lists the - help options.

--hideEula OVF, N/A Does not include the EULA in the OVF probe
OVA output. Binary option.
--I:morefArgs vSphere vSphere Integration option. Interpret arguments for
networks, datastores, and folders as VIM
Managed Object Reference identifiers
(type:id) for vSphere source and destination
locators.

--I:sourceSessionTicket vSphere vSphere Integration option. Specifies the session ticket

used for authenticating the vSphere source
locator.

--I:targetSessionTicket vSphere vSphere Integration option. Specifies the session ticket

used for authenticating the vSphere target
locator.

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

Table 2-2. OVF Tool Command-Line Options (Continued)

Optional Relevant Relevant
Option Long Name Short Source Target Description
Name Types Types

--ipAllocationPolicy OVF, N/A IP allocation policy for a deployed OVF

OVA package. Supported values are: dhcpPolicy,
transientPolicy, fixedPolicy, or
fixedAllocatedPolicy.
In OVF descriptors, you can specify a
VMware specific IP assignment policy that
guides the deployment process by expressing
which of the policies the OVF package
supports. Only values listed in the OVF
descriptor are supported when the OVF or
OVA package is deployed.

--ipProtocol OVF, N/A Specifies which IP protocol to use. For

OVA example, IPv4, IPv6. As with the
ipAllocationPolicy option, you can
specify which IP version this OVF package
uses when it is deployed. Use only the values
listed in the OVF descriptor.

--lax OVF, N/A Relax OVF specification conformance and

OVA virtual hardware compliance checks. (For
advanced users only.)

--locale OVF, N/A Selects the locale for the target.

OVA

--machineOutput N/A N/A Outputs OVF Tool messages in a machine

readable format. Binary option.

--makeDeltaDisks OVF, Must be Use delta disk compression to create an OVF

vSphere, directory package from a disk source. Binary option.
VMX,
vApprun

--maxVirtualHardwareVersion The maximal virtual hardware version to

generate.

--memorySize Sets the memory size in megabytes of a VM

using the syntax --memorySize:<VM
ID>=<value>. Example:
--memorySize:vm1=1024. Only applies to
vCloud targets of version 5.5 or newer.

--name -n N/A All Specifies the target name. Defaults to the

source name.

--net OVF, N/A Sets a network assignment in the deployed

OVA OVF package. For example, --net:<OVF
name>=<target name>. OVF packages
contain symbolic names for network names
which are assigned with this option.
For multiple network mappings, repeat the
option, separating them with a space for
example, --net:s1=t1 --net:s2=t2
--net:s3=t3.
If the target is vCloud 5.5 or newer, a fence
mode can also be specified using the syntax
--net:<OVF name>=<target
name>,<fence mode>. Possible fence mode
values are: bridged, isolated, and
natRouted.

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Table 2-2. OVF Tool Command-Line Options (Continued)

Optional Relevant Relevant
Option Long Name Short Source Target Description
Name Types Types

--network -nw OVF, N/A Target network for a vSphere deployment.

OVA Use this option in place of the --net option
when only one network exists in the OVF
package. This option maps the symbolic OVF
name to the specified network name.
--nic Specifies NIC configuration in a VM using the
syntax --nic:<VM ID>,<index>=<OVF net
name>,<isPrimary>,<ipAddressingMode>
,<ipAddress>.
Possible values for ipAddressingMode are:
DHCP, POOL, MANUAL, and NONE. ipAddress
is optional and should only be used when
ipAddressingMode is set to MANUAL.
Only applies to vCloud targets of version 5.5
or newer.

--noDisks N/A All Creates and uploads the virtual machine or

vApps but does not upload any disk files.
Disks are created empty. (Disables disk
conversion.)

--noImageFiles N/A All Creates and uploads the virtual machine or

vApps but does not upload ISO files to a
CD-ROM. (Does not include image files in
destination.

--noSSLVerify Skip SSL verification for vSphere connections.

--numberOfCpus Sets the number of CPUs for a VM using the

syntax --numberOfCpus:<VM ID>=<value>.
Only applies to vCloud targets of version 5.5
or newer.

--overwrite -o N/A All Forces an overwrite of existing files. Binary

option.
--powerOffSource vCloud, N/A Ensures that a virtual machine or vApp is
vSphere powered off before importing from a vSphere
source. Binary option.

--powerOffTarget N/A vCloud, Ensures that a virtual machine or vApp is

vSphere powered off before overwriting a vSphere
target. Binary option.
--powerOn N/A vCloud, Powers on a virtual machine or vApp
vSphere deployed on a vSphere target. Binary option.

--privateKey N/A OVF, Signs the OVF package with the given private
OVA key (.pem file). The file must contain a private
key and a certificate.

--privateKeyPassword N/A OVF, Password for the private key. Used in

OVA conjunction with --privateKey if the private
key requires password authentication. If
required but not specified, the tool prompts
for the password.

--prop OVF, N/A Sets a property in the deployed OVF package.

OVA For example, --prop:<key>=<value>. Use
probe mode to learn which properties an OVF
package can set. For multiple property
mappings, repeat the option, separating them
with a blank, for example --prop:p1=v1
--prop:p2=v2 --prop:p3=v3.

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Table 2-2. OVF Tool Command-Line Options (Continued)

Optional Relevant Relevant
Option Long Name Short Source Target Description
Name Types Types

--proxy OVF, OVF, Specifies the proxy used for HTTP, HTTPS,
OVA, OVA,
FTP, vSphere and vCloud access. The proxy is
vCloud, vCloud,
expressed as the URL to the proxy.
vSphere vSphere
For example, for proxy.example.com, the
option value is:
https://proxy.example.com:345
OVF Tool supports proxies that require
authentication. If you do not provide
credentials in the URL, the OVF Tool prompts
you for them.
You can also use the --X:viUseProxy option
for vsphere and the --X:vCloudUseProxy
option for vcloud but only if you use them
together.

--proxyNTLMAuth OVF, OVF, Enables support for the NTLM authentication

OVA, OVA, and security protocol. NT Lan Manager is the
vCloud, vCloud, authentication protocol used on networks that
vSphere vSphere include systems running the Windows
operating system and on stand-alone systems.

--quiet -q N/A N/A Prints only errors. No other output is sent to

the screen. Binary option.

--schemaValidate OVF, N/A Validates OVF descriptor against the OVF

OVA schema. Binary option.

--shaAlgorithm sha1, Use this option to condense with Secure Hash

sha256, Algorithm (SHA) for manifest validation,
sha512 digital signing, and OVF package creation.
Either sha1 (SHA-1), sha256 (SHA-256), or
sha512 (SHA-512).
The default value is sha256.

--skipManifestCheck OVF, N/A Skips validation of the OVF package manifest.

OVA Binary option.

--skipManifestGeneration N/A OVF, Skips generation of the OVF package

OVA manifest. Binary option.

--sourcePEM File path to a Privacy Enhanced Mail (.pem)

file used to verify vSphere connections.
Example: --sourcePEM:<filename>.pem

--sourceSSLThumbprint vSphere N/A SSL thumbprint of the source. OVF Tool

verifies the SSL thumbprint that it receives
from the source, if this value is set.

--sourceType -st OVF, N/A Explicitly expresses that the source is OVF,
OVA, OVA, VMX, VMX, vSphere, vCloud, ISO,
VMX, FLP, or vApprun.
VMX, VI,
vCloud,
ISO, FLP,
vApprun

--sslCipherList Allows override of the default cipher list.

Diffie-Hellman is disabled by default.

--sslVersion Either TLSv1_0, TLSv1_1, or TLSv1_2.

The TLSv1_0 protocol is disabled by default.

--storageProfile Sets the storage profile for a VM using the

syntax --storageProfile:<VM
ID>=<value>. Applies only to vCloud targets
of version 5.5 or newer.

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Table 2-2. OVF Tool Command-Line Options (Continued)

Optional Relevant Relevant
Option Long Name Short Source Target Description
Name Types Types

--targetPEM File path to a Privacy Enhanced Mail (.pem)

file used to verify vSphere connections.
Example: --targetPEM:<filename>.pem

--targetSSLThumbprint N/A vSphere SSL thumbprint of the target. OVF Tool

verifies the SSL thumbprint that it receives
from the target, if this value is set.

--targetType -tt N/A OVF, Explicitly express that the target is OVF, OVA,
OVA, VMX, VMX, vSphere, vCloud, ISO, FLP, or
VMX, VI, vApprun.
vCloud,
ISO, FLP,
vApprun
--vCloudTemplate Create only a vAppTemplate.

--vService OVF, N/A Set a dependency on a vService provider in

OVA the OVF package, using the following syntax:
--vService:<dependencyId>=<providerI
d>

--verifyOnly All N/A Do not upload the source; just verify it. This
only applies to vSphere 4.

--version -v N/A N/A Shows version information for OVF Tool.

Binary option.

--viCpuResource N/A vSphere Specify the CPU resource settings for VI

locator targets. The syntax is
--viCpuResource=<shares>:<reservatio
n>:<limit>
--viMemoryResource N/A vSphere Specify the memory resource settings for
vSphere locator targets. The syntax is
--viMemoryResource=<shares>:<reservati
on>:<limit>

--vmFolder -vf N/A vSphere The target virtual machine folder in vSphere
inventory (for a datacenter).

Creating and Using the VM ID

When the parameters for one of the command line options includes the VM ID, this id refers to an attribute in
the OVF descriptor file. Specifically, it is the id attribute of the VirtualSystem element that will appear in the
OVF file that describes the VM you want to create or customize. If you are creating a VM, you need to specify
the id in the descriptor file.

For example, the id of the VM specified in the descriptor fragment below is vm1.
<ovf:VirtualSystem ovf:id="vm1">
<ovf:Info>A virtual machine</ovf:Info>
<ovf:Name>WinServer2012</ovf:Name>
<ovf:OperatingSystemSection ovf:id="74" vmw:osType="windows8Server64Guest">
<ovf:Info>Specifies the operating system installed</ovf:Info>
<ovf:Description>Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64-bit)</ovf:Description>
</ovf:OperatingSystemSection>
........

For example, you need to use the VM ID when specifying the size of the memory for a VM.
> --memorySize:vm1=1024

If you are customizing an existing VM, look at the descriptor file to get the VM ID.

You can also have the ovftool read an ovf file and extract the IDs before importing or deploying it.

VMware, Inc. 21
OVF Tool User’s Guide

>ovftool --verifyOnly --machineOutput <src ovf>

Specifying Disk ID to Set Size

When specifying disk sizes, you will need to specify the instance ID as well as the VM ID. The instance ID is
the value of RASD InstanceID element of the virtual hardware section element describing the disk that should
be resized.
<ovf:DiskSection>
<ovf:Info>Virtual disk information</ovf:Info>
<ovf:Disk ovf:capacity="4" ovf:capacityAllocationUnits="byte * 2^20"
ovf:diskId="disk1" ovf:fileRef="disk1-file"
ovf:format="http://www.vmware.com/interfaces/specifications/vmdk.html#streamOptimized"/>
</ovf:DiskSection>

<ovf:VirtualSystem ovf:id="vm1">
.......
<ovf:VirtualHardwareSection>
<ovf:Info>Virtual hardware requirements</ovf:Info>
<ovf:Item>
<rasd:AddressOnParent>0</rasd:AddressOnParent>
<rasd:Description>SCSI Hard disk</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>SCSI Hard disk 1</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:HostResource>ovf:/disk/disk1</rasd:HostResource>
<rasd:InstanceID>2000</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:Parent>2</rasd:Parent>
<rasd:ResourceType>17</rasd:ResourceType>
</ovf:Item>
.......

In the above example specifying instance ID “2000” (without quotes) would cause the disk with id “disk1”
(without quotes) to be resized: --diskSize:vm1,2000=256 (set the size to 256).

Note that if multiple disk devices are backed by the same disk (i.e. the OVF contains multiple disk RASD items
that refer to the same disk) you must specify the new size for all of these disk elements, not just one. Sharing
disks between VMs is not common, but allowed in the OVF spec.

Note that you cannot shrink disks.

Specifying the Storage Profile ID

When you specify a storage profile, the ID refers to the UID of the storage profile in the vCD cell. This can be
obtained using the vCD REST API.

More Help Topics

For more help, type: --help <topic>, where topics are:
locators : detailed source and destination locator syntax

debug : lists the debug settings

examples : examples of usage

config : syntax of configuration files

integration : list of options primarily used when you execute the ovftool from another tool or shell script

Using the Log Settings

Use the OVF Tool’s log options if you are not seeing the results you expect. The log options allow you to see
the operations of the OVF Tool, and send the results to the console or to a file.

Two of the most commonly used options are: --X:logFile and --X:logLevel.

 Use the --X:logFile=<filename> option to log the complete ovftool session to a file

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 Use the --X:logLevel=<level> option to control the verbosity of the logs

For example, you can use a command similar to this to write the log in a file called ovftool-log.txt:

>ovftool --X:logFile=ovftool-log.txt --X:logLevel=verbose LAMP.ovf

vi://localhost/Datacenter/host/Cluster

The following table lists all of the log options.

Log Option Use option to:

--X:logFile=<filename> Log internal events to a specified log file.

--X:logLevel=<level> Log level. Valid values are: none, quiet, panic, error, warning,
info, verbose, and trivia).

--X:logToConsole Log internal events to console

--X:logTransferHeaderData Add transfer header data to the log. Use with care. Default value
is false

The OVF Tool includes 22 other debug options, that you can set to retrieve specific data. You can see all of the
debug options and their definitions by running ovftool --help debug.

Specifying a Locator
A source or target locator points to a specific resource. Locators must specify a protocol, which defines how to
reach the resource. Supported protocols are file access, vSphere, HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP.

File locators can point to an OVF package (.ovf or .ova), a virtual machine (.vmx). HTTP, HTTPS, or a
vApprun workspace entity. FTP locators can point to OVF and OVA files. The resource type is determined
from the filename suffix, unless one or both of the options --sourceType and --targetType are used
explicitly.

vSphere locators can point to various resource types: virtual machines, vApps, hosts, clusters, or resource
pools. For a source locator, the resource type must be a virtual machine or vApp. For a target locator, the
resource type must be a host, cluster, or a resource pool. A vSphere locator is used for a vSphere server,
vCenter Server, VMware Server, or an ESXi host.

At the command line, type --help locators to display the online help for locators.

Table 2-3 and Table 2-4 list the default extensions of the different source and target types, as well as which
protocols are supported.

Table 2-3. Source Locator

Default
File
Source Type Extension Protocol Example

OVF .ovf File, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf

OVA .ova File, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP /ovfs/my_vapp.ova

VMX .vmx File /vms/my_vm.vmx

vApprun N/A File ~/my_vApprun_workspace/MyVM

vCloud Director N/A HTTPS vcloud://username:[email protected]/ \

org=MyOrg&vdc=MyVDC&catalog=MyCatalog \
&vapp=myVapp

vSphere N/A vSphere vi://username:pass@localhost/my_datacenter/vm/ \

my_vms_folder/my_vm_name

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Table 2-4. Target Locator

File
Target Type Extension Protocol Example

OVF .ovf File /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf

OVA .ova File /ovfs/my_vapp.ova

VMX .vmx File (Source must be a /vms/my_vm.vmx

single virtual machine)
vApprun N/A File ~/my_vApprun_workspace/MyVM

vCloud Director N/A HTTPS vcloud://username:[email protected]/ \

org=MyOrg&vdc=MyVDC&catalog=MyCatalog \
&vapp=myVapp

vSphere N/A vSphere (If the vSphere vi://username:pass@localhost/my_datacenter/vm/

target locator is on a VMware \ my_vms_folder/my_vm_name
Server system, or directly on
an ESXi host, the source must
be a single virtual machine)

File Locators
File locators are the same for source and target. They are specified using ordinary path syntax.

Windows Path Syntax

On Windows, paths are specified as either absolute or relative.

This is an example of an absolute path on Windows:

C:\folder1\folder2\package.ovf

These examples show relative paths on Windows:

..\folder1\package1.ovf
package1.ovf

Linux and Mac OS Path Syntax

On Linux, paths are specified, similarly, as either absolute or relative.

The following is an example of an absolute path on Linux:

/folder1/folder2/package.ovf

The following are examples of relative paths on Linux:

../folder1/package1.ovf
package1.ovf

Using URIs as Locators

It is possible to specify file locations as a URI by prefixing the path with file://, as shown in the following
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)

Encoding Special Characters in URL Locators

When you use URIs as locators, you must escape special characters using % followed by their ASCII hex value.
For instance, if you use a “@” in your password, it must be escaped with %40 as in vi://foo:b%40r@hostname,
and a slash in a Windows domain name (\) can be specified as %5c.

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HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP Locators

You can use HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP to refer to an OVF package (OVF or OVA file) on a Web server. You can
only use these protocols to specify a source locator. In the following syntax, protocol is HTTP, HTTPS or FTP:
protocol://username:password@host:port/<path to OVF package>

It is possible to omit the user name and password from the locator. If needed, OVF Tool prompts you for them.
If you use the standard port, it is not necessary to specify the port. Table 2-5 shows the standard ports.

Table 2-5. Standard Ports

Protocol Port

HTTP 80
HTTPS 443
FTP 21

vSphere Locators
vSphere source locators point to a virtual machine or vApp within the virtual infrastructure. The vSphere
target locator provides all required information for importing an OVF package or virtual machine into a
cluster, host or resource pool. Both source and target locator use the same syntax:
vi://<username>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<search-term>

The server name and port can designate either a vCenter server, VirtualCenter server, VMware Server, or an
ESXi host. If you omit credentials, in which case OVF Tool prompts you for them. Default installations of
vCenter Server, VirtualCenter, and ESXi use port 443. If you are using the default port, you do not need to
specify it. When using OVF Tool against a VMware Server, you must explicitly specify port 8333, which is the
default port for VMware Server.

The search term has the following format:

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

If a query is not given, a VC inventory path lookup is performed using the specified path. Otherwise, the object
matching the query is used. The meaning of the query depends on the object type. Table 2-6 shows the different
values that you can use in the query field.

Table 2-6. Source and Target Values for All Query Types
Name Query Source Target
BIOS bios BIOS ID of a virtual machine BIOS ID of a host

Datastore ds Datastore path to a virtual machine N/A

IP Address ip IP address of a virtual machine IP address of a host

DNS dns DNS name of a virtual machine DNS name of a host

Mo-Ref moref Managed object reference (vSphere Managed object reference (vSphere specific
specific identifier) of a virtual machine identifier) of a host, cluster, or resource
or vApp pool

Table 2-7 shows example values for each query type.

Table 2-7. Examples of Query Values

Name Query Example Value

BIOS bios vi://localhost?bios=234290984

Datastore ds vi://localhost/TestDatacenter?ds=[foo]/myvm/myvm.vmx

IP Address ip vi://localhost?ip=123.231.232.232

DNS dns vi://localhost?dns=production-vm3.example.com

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

Table 2-7. Examples of Query Values (Continued)

Name Query Example Value

Mo-Ref moref vi://localhost?moref=vim.VirtualMachine:vm-23423

Note: For the same VM, the Managed Object Reference (MoRef) will be different for vCenter Server than it is for the
ESXi host. For instance, the same VM can have a MoRef of ‘vm-92’ in vCenter Server and ‘118’ in the ESXi host. Also note
that the syntax contains ‘vm-’ for a vCenter Server MoRef. When the Motif is defined by vCenter Server, you can see it
in the browser address and use it directly. The OVF Tool script doesn't define and parse the format of a MoRef.

You can enter a partial source locator if you do not know the entire inventory path. In this case, the tool fails
but suggests possible inventory path completions.

Specifying the Inventory Path to a Virtual Machine or vApp

To specify an inventory path for a virtual machine or vApp, use the following syntax:
<datacenter name>/vm/<folders>/<vm or vApp name>

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

The use of the vm tag after the datacenter name specifies that you are locating a virtual machine or vApp in the
VM and Template view. Use the host tag after the datacenter name if you are locating a virtual machine or
vApp in the Host and Clusters view.

The following example shows an inventory path without any folders:

MyDatacenter/vm/MyVM

The following example shows an inventory path with two nested folders:
MyDatacenter/vm/Folder 1/Sub Folder/MyVM

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

You can specify an inventory path for a host or a resource pool. You can nest resource pools similar to folders.
To specify an inventory path for a host or a resource pool as part of target locators, use the following syntax:
<datacenter name>/host/<host name>/Resources/<resource pool>

 host and Resources. Fixed parts of the path.

 Resources. Specify only when a resource pool is specified.

 <resource pool>. Can take the value of one or more nested resource pools. If no resource pools are
specified, the default resource pool for the host is used.
The following example is of an inventory path without a specified resource pool:
vi://username:pass@localhost/my_datacenter/host/esx01.example.com

The following example is of an inventory path with a specified resource pool:

vi://username:pass@localhost/my_datacenter/host/esx01.example.com/Resources/my_resourcepool

NOTE You must specify the /host/ section of an inventory path when using a vi destination locator. If you are
specifying the destination of a resource pool, you must include the /Resources/ section of the path.

vCloud Director Locators

The syntax for vCloud locators are the same as for other locators:
vcloud://username:password@host:port?org=name_of_org&vapp=name_of_deployed_vapp&
catalog=name_of_catalog&vappTemplate=name_of_vapp_template_in_catalog&vdc=name_of_vdc

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Some of the options are not needed if there is only one virtual datacenter to choose from. If there are more than
on datacenter, the catalog option is required. The org option is mandatory, because it is used to log in to
vCloud Director.

NOTE OVF Tool supports all source types for vCloud Director 1.5. For vCloud Director 1.0, OVF Tool only
supports OVF/OVA/vCloud sources. OVF Tool does not support vi, vmx, or vapprun sources for vCloud
Director 1.0.

Examples of vCloud Locators

The following example uploads and deploys an OVF named test into vCloud Director and names the vApp
my_test1.
ovftool /tmp/test.ovf vcloud://user1:[email protected]:7443?org=o&vapp=my_test1

This example exports a vCloud Director vApp to the OVF file /tmp/test1.ovf
ovftool vcloud://user1:[email protected]:7443?org=o&vapp=my_test1 /tmp/test1.ovf

If you use a network, you map the network in the usual way:
--net:sourceNET=targetNET

You also apply properties in the usual way.

Partial Locators
When using OVF Tool, it is often not necessary to specify source and target types as long as certain filename
conventions are used. It is possible to the ignore locator type and specify the source and target explicitly using
the arguments --sourceType=... and --targetType=.

OVF Tool assumes the locator type based on the following rules:

 If the name starts with vcloud://, OVF Tool assumes vCloud Director type.

 If the name starts with vi://, OVF Tool assumes vSphere type.

 If the name ends with .ovf, OVF Tool assumes OVF type.

 If the name ends with .vmx, OVF Tool assumes VMX type.

 If the name ends with .ova, the OVF tool assumes OVA type.

 If the locator is a file path to a directory that represents a vApprun workspace or an entity in a vApprun
workspace, then OVF Tool assumes vApprun type.

Similarly, source and target types can be inferred from folder locators. OVF Tool assumes the type using the
following rules:

 If the source locator is a folder, OVF Tool assumes that the source is an OVF package and that the OVF
descriptor is called the same as the folder, for example, my-ovf/my-ovf.ovf.

 If the source is an OVF package and the target locator is a directory, such as MyVirtualMachines/, OVF
Tool assumes that the target is a VMX locator. The created VMX/VMDK file is put in a directory with the
target name, for example, MyVirtualMachines/MyVM/MyVM.vmx.

 If the source is a VMX locator and the target locator is a directory, OVF Tool assumes that the target is an
OVF package.

 If the source is a vSphere locator, and the target locator is a directory, OVF Tool assumes that the target is
an OVF package.

OVF Tool supports partial vSphere locators when deploying or exporting. For an incomplete locator path, the
tool suggests completions at the command line. Example 1 shows the command-line dialog when partial
locators are used.

Example 1. Partial vSphere Locators at the Command Line

> ovftool LAMP.ovf vi://localhost/

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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

OVF Tool supports partial vSphere locators when deploying or exporting. For an incomplete locator path, the
tool suggests completions at the command line. Example 2 shows the command-line dialog when partial
locators are used. First, OVF Tool signals that there is more than one virtual datacenter present, then multiple
catalogs, then multiple networks. At each attempt, you must select one of the options that OVF Tool presents.

Example 2. Partial vCloud DirectorLocators at the Command Line

ovftool LAMP.ovf vcloud://jd:[email protected]:443/?org=myOrg&vapp=test1
Opening OVF source: LAMP.ovf
Warning: No manifest file
Opening vCloud target: vcloud://js:[email protected]:443/
Error: Multiple VDCs found. Possible VDC completions are:
orgVdc
orgVdc2
Completed with errors

ovftool LAMP.ovf "vcloud://jd:[email protected]:443/?org=myOrg&vapp=test1&vdc=orgVdc"

Opening OVF source: LAMP.ovf
Warning: No manifest file
Opening vCloud target: vcloud://js:[email protected]:443/
Error: Multiple catalogs found. Possible catalog completions are:
catalog
catalog2
Completed with errors

"vcloud://jd:[email protected]:443/?org=myOrg&vapp=test1&vdc=orgVdc&catalog=catalog"
Opening OVF source: LAMP.ovf
Warning: No manifest file
Opening vCloud target: vcloud://js:[email protected]:443/
Error: Multiple networks found on target. Possible completions are:
extNet2
extOrgNet
intNet2
intnet
Completed with errors

ovftool --net:"VM Network=intnet" LAMP.ovf "vcloud://jd:[email protected]:443/

?org=myOrg&vapp=test1&vdc=orgVdc&catalog=catalog"
Opening OVF source: LAMP.ovf
Warning: No manifest file
Opening vCloud target: vcloud://js:[email protected]:443/

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Deploying to vCloud: vcloud://js:[email protected]:443/

Disk Transfer Complete
Completed successfully

Configuration Files
OVF Tool has many options. Rather than repeatedly entering long commands on the command line, you can
create a configuration file. A configuration file uses the following syntax:
option1=value
...
#comment
optionN=value

The following is an example of a configuration file:

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

You can create local or global configuration files. A local configuration file has the .ovftool suffix and is read
in the folder from which you invoke OVF Tool. A global configuration file is per user.

On pre-Vista Windows, the global configuration file is read from the following location:
C:\Documents and Settings\$USERNAME\VMware\ovftool.cfg

On post-Vista Windows, the global configuration file is read from the following location:
C:\Users\$USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\VMware\ovftool.cfg

On Linux and Mac, the global configuration file is read from the following location:
$HOME/.ovftool (example: ~/.ovftool)

When using configuration files, globally defined options are overwritten by locally defined and command-line
options. Locally defined options are overwritten by command-line options. Note: there are some variables,
such as proxy, that do not allow you to specify the options in multiple places. If the ovftool stops running with
the error, “already exists“, it is very likely that you have specified options on the command line and in the
configuration file.

You can use the ovftool --help config command to get information about how to use a configuration file.
In addition, the current contents of the global configuration file as well as any local configuration file is shown.

Handling Authentication
OVF Tool generates AUTHENTICATION output messages if access to a resource requires a username or
password. For example, a proxy server, a vSphere or vCloud locator, or an authenticated URL require
usernames and passwords. OVF Tool only generates AUTHENTICATION messages for resources where
passwords are not explicitly provided as part of the locator or as command-line arguments.

OVF Tool can authenticate the following types of objects:

 source locators

 target locators

 proxyServer

For source and target locators, you must provide the username on the command-line. If you do not provide a
password, OVF Tool generates an AUTHENTICATION message and you must provide the password on STDIN.
If the proxy server requires authentication, you must provide both the username and password on STDIN

OVF Tool supports the following commands on STDIN:

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For the source password:

PASSWORDSOURCE
password

For the target password:

PASSWORDTARGET
password

For the proxy:

PASSWORDPROXY
username password
For an example of the output of running machineOutput in authentication mode, see “Output from Running
machineOutput in Import Mode” on page 48.

Launching the OVF Tool as a Helper Process

You can use the integration options to make it more convenient to launch OVF Tool as a helper process to a
client of the vSphere Web Services API, such as a script using Perl bindings.

If you use the --I:morefArgs argument, the values for --vmFolder, --network, --net, and --datastore
are interpreted as MoRefs instead of names, as shown in the following example:
> 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

Use the --I:sourceSessionTicket or --I:targetSessionTicket options to authenticate with a session

ticket retrieved from SessionManager.AcquireSessionTicket, when using the vSphere source or
destination.

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Examples of OVF Tool Syntax 3

This chapter provides many examples of OVF Tool usage, that are divided into the following categories:

“Supported File Types and Package Formats” on page 31

“Changing File or Package Formats” on page 32

“Setting OVF Package Properties” on page 34

“Modifying an OVF Package” on page 35

“Deploying OVF Packages” on page 35

“Importing an OVF Package” on page 36

“Exporting Virtual Machines to OVF Packages” on page 37

“Displaying Summary Information” on page 37

“Validating an OVF 1.0 or OVF 1.1 Descriptor” on page 38

“Downloading an OVF Package from a Protected Web Site” on page 38

“Using a Proxy” on page 38

“Overwriting a Running Virtual Machine or vApp from vSphere” on page 38

“Canceling the VMware OVF Tool While it Is Running” on page 38

You can see similar examples within the OVF Tool, by typing --help examples on the command line while
you are in the directory where the ovftool script is running.

Supported File Types and Package Formats

As discussed in Chapter 1, you can use the OVF Tool to package virtual machines as vApps (ready-to-use
virtual machines with operating systems and/or applications). The package formats supported by the OVF
Tool can be read and/or imported by other VMware and third-party software.

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The table below describes each of the supported formats:

Table 3-8. Supported File and Package Types for OVF Tool Input and Output
Package Type Full Name Usage

OVF (.ovf) Open Virtualization Format National ANSI standard for packaging software for virtual
machines, originally created by an industry task force
known as the Distributed Management Task Force (DTMF).
An OVF package includes: a descriptor file, optional
manifest and certificate files, optional disk images, and
optional resource files (such as ISOs). The disk image files
can be files in VMware’s .vmdk disk image format or in any
other supported disk image format.
OVF packages can be used by the software of any
hypervisor or processor architecture that supports this
format.

OVA (.ova) Open Virtual Appliance A TAR archive that contains an OVF package.

VMX (.vmx) Virtual Machine When you create a new virtual machine, this file is created
Configuration File to store information about the operating system, disk sizes,
networking, and virtual hardware.
Files in this format and the .vmdk format are sometimes
referred to together as, ‘VMware runtime format’.

VMDK (.vmdk) Virtual Machine Disk Files with this extension may contain disk characteristics
(,vmdk), contents (-flat.vmdk), or snapshot files
(-delta.vmdk). These files are called out on the OVF Tool
command line, but may exist within the package.

VI (vi://) VMware Infrastructure This is an older term that originated with ESX 3, but is still
seen in the command line syntax for the OVF Tool. As an
OVF command line option, ‘vi//’ is used before the
credentials and path to a server.

vCloud vCloud Director format The vCloud Director REST API makes basic transfer
between clouds possible using OVF packages, which
preserve application properties, networking configuration
and other settings.
ISO (.iso) Optical Image File An ISO archive is a CD/DVD image. Creating a package as
an ISO image allows you to install a virtual appliance using
a CD ROM drive.
This type of archive is called an ISO because it was created
by the International Standards Organization’s 9660
standard.

FLP (.flp) Floppy Disk Image File Use this format if you need to transfer data from a floppy
drive or to the virtual machine floppy drive. Instructions are
available in Knowledge Base article 1739.

vApprun vApprun This format allows you to run a virtual appliance on

VMware Workstation or Fusion. You can use the OVF Tool
to convert vApps to the vApprun format, and you can use
VMware Workstation to convert vApps to an OVF format.

Use the OVF Tool with the Target Type option to specify the target out as OVF, OVA, VMX, VI, vCloud, ISO,
FLP, vApprun.

In this following example, the target type is set to the ‘vmx’ or VMware runtime format (.vmx and .vmdk files)
> ovftool -tt=vmx /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf /vms/

The resulting files are: /vms/my_vapp/my_vapp.vmx and /vms/my_vapp/my_vapp.vmdk files (like the
contents of a typical virtual machine directory).

Changing File or Package Formats

The examples below show you how to convert from an existing format to a different format.

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Converting an OVF Package to an OVA Archive

To convert an OVF package, to a single OVA archive, use the following syntax:
> ovftool /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf /ovfs/my_vapp.ova

Converting an OVA Archive to OVF Package

To extract an OVA archive to an OVF package, use the following syntax:
> ovftool /ovfs/my_vapp.ova /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf

Converting VMX Format to an OVF Package

To convert a virtual machine in VMware runtime format (.vmx and .vmdk files) to an OVF package, use the
following syntax:
> ovftool /vms/my_vm.vmx /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf

The result is located in /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf

Converting VMX Format to an OVA Archive

To convert VMX files to an OVA archive, use the following syntax:
> ovftool vmxs/Nostalgia.vmx ovfs/Nostalgia.ova

Converting an OVA Archive to VMX Format

To convert an OVA archive to VMware runtime format (.vmx and .vmdk files), use the following syntax:
> ovftool https://my_ovf_server/ovfs/my_vapp.ova /vm/my_vm.vmx

Converting an OVF Package to VMX Format

To convert an OVF package to VMware runtime format (.vmx and .vmdk files), use the following syntax:
> ovftool http://www.mycompany.com/ovflib/BigDemo.ovf x:/myvms/BigDemo.vmx

Because the source is an OVF package, you can specify it as a URL or a local file path.

If you convert an OVF package to a VMX format without specifying the target directory, OVF Tool creates a
directory using the OVF package name and writes the .vmx and .vmdk files in it.
> ovftool "Windows 7.ovf" .

The VMX file is written at Windows 7/Windows 7.vmx.

You can also convert from an ovf format to a vmx format using a URL, as shown:
> ovftool https://my_ovf_server/ovfs/my_vapp.ova /vm/my_vm.vmx

Installing an ESXi host from an OVF Package

To install an OVF package as an ESXi host, use the following syntax:
> ovftool /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf vi://username:pass@my_esx_host

(Uses default mappings.)

Installing an ESXi host from an OVF Package on a Web Server

To install an OVF package on a web server as an ESXi host, use the following syntax:
> ovftool http://my_ovf_server/ovfs/my_vapp.ovf vi://username:pass@my_esx_host

(Uses default mappings.)

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Installing an ESXi host or Adding Files from a VMX Format

To install an ESXi host from a VMware runtime format (.vmx and .vmdk files), or to add .vmx files to an ESXi
host, use the following syntax (uses default mappings):
> ovftool /ovfs/my_vm.vmx vi://username:pass@my_esx_host
> ovftool Nostaliga.vmx vi://user:pwd@host/Datacenter/host/host1.foo.com

Installing a vCenter Server or Adding Files from an OVF Package

To install or add files to a vCenter Server from an OVF package, use the following syntax (uses a managed ESXi
host’s IP address):
> ovftool /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf vi://username:pass@my_vc_server/?ip=10.20.30.40

Converting a VM on ESXi or vCenter Server to an OVF Package

This example uses a datastore location query to convert a VM (located on a vCenter Server) to OVF format.
> ovftool vi://username:pass@my_vc_server/my_datacenter?ds=[Storage1] foo/foo.vmx c:\ovfs\

or
> ovftool vi://username:pass@my_host/my_datacenter/vm/my_vm_folder/my_vm_name /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf

Installing vCenter Server from an OVF Package Using an Inventory Path

This example uses a vSphere inventory path to install or add files to a vCenter Server from an OVF package.
> ovftool /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf vi://username:pass@my_vc_server/my_datacenter/host/my_host

Setting OVF Package Properties

The following sections show you how to set properties for OVF packages.

Setting OVF Properties When Deploying to vSphere or vCloud Director

OVF descriptors can contain configuration properties for the deployed OVF package. You can set only one
property at a time, but you can have multiple instances of the option per command. The property option has
the following syntax:
--prop:<option>=<value>

This example sets two properties: the administrator’s email address and the number of concurrent sessions.
> ovftool --prop:[email protected] --prop:concurrentSessions=200 package.ovf
vi://localhost/?dns=fast-esx=host1.example.com

Setting OVF Network Maps When Deploying to vSphere

OVF descriptors can use symbolic identifiers for network names. These identifiers must be mapped to a
network that is available on the chosen vSphere platform. If only one network is available on the target and
only one network is described in the OVF descriptor, OVF Tool selects that network automatically. In this case,
you do not need to specify a network map. The --net option has the following syntax:
--net:<OVF network name>=<target network name>

In the following example, a network is selected.

> ovftool --net:”Example net 1”=”VM Network” <source> <vSphere locator>

If the OVF descriptor only specifies one network name, you can specify the target network name of the
network mapping, as in the following example:
> ovftool --network=”VM Network” <source> <vSphere locator>

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Setting a vService Dependency

You can dependency so that your application deploys as a service using the following option:
ovftool --vService:vDep1=provider_1 /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf
vi://username:pass@localhost/my_datacenter/host/esx01.example.com

Modifying an OVF Package

The following sections show you how to modify OVF packages.

Renaming the OVF Package

You can rename an OVF package by converting the OVF to an OVF. This action also renames all the disk names
and changes the references in the OVF descriptor.
> ovftool “Windows 7.ovf” win7.ovf

Omitting Disks in the VMware OVF Tool Output

If you want only information about the OVF descriptor and not about the disks that it refers to, you can
suppress output. The following example command omits disk output and simply copies the OVF descriptor
and any message bundle files that might be associated with it:
> ovftool --noDisks http://example.com/ovf/InterestingVirtualAppliance package.ovf

Compressing an OVF Package

For maximum compression of an OVF package with multiple virtual machines, set both the --compress=9
and --makeDeltaDisks options. The following are examples of using maximum compression:
> ovftool --compress=9 --makeDeltaDisks package.ovf output-dir
> ovftool --compress=9 --makeDeltaDisks vi://localhost/dc/vm/VirtualAppDemo output-dir/

If the source contains only a single virtual machine, the --makeDeltaDisks option does not yield any
compression boost. In this case, the --compress=9 option gives maximum compression.

Chunking or Splitting OVF Packages

Some file systems have a restriction on maximum file size. For example, FAT32 allows files only up to 2GB.You
can split the OVF files from a generated package into pieces of a specified maximum size. The default
measurement is megabytes (keyword mb). You can specify other units using one of the following keywords:

Unit Keyword

Bytes b

Kilobytes kb

Gigabytes gb

For example, to create an OVF package optimized for a FAT32 file system, use the following command:
> ovftool --chunkSize=2gb <source> package.ovf

Each file chunk has a sequentially numbered suffix. For example, for a 6GB disk, the chunks have these names:
disk1.vmdk.000000000, disk1.vmdk.000000001, disk1.vmdk.000000002

Deploying OVF Packages

The following sections show you how to deploy OVF packages.

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Deploying an OVF Package Directly on an ESXi Host

The following command deploys an OVF package on an ESXi host.
> ovftool package.ovf vi://my.esx-machine.example.com/

If your host has multiple data stores, use the -ds option:
> ovftool package.ovf -ds=storage1 vi://my.esx-machine.example.com/

See also “Special Consideration: Running OVF Tool from ESXi instead of vCenter” on page 14.

Deploying an OVF Package to vCenter Server

The following command deploys testVM.ovf from a local Windows disk to a data store named storage1 in host
(12.98.76.54) from vCenter (12.34.56.789). the VM will be named myVM on the host. (To test this on your system,
replace the incorrect IP addresses in this example with your actual data store and host IP addresses.)
> ovftool -ds=storage1 -n=myVM C:\testVM.ovf vi://user1:[email protected]/?ip=12.98.76.54.

Deploying an OVF Package and Powering It On

OVF Tool can power on a virtual machine or vApp after deployment. This action can be done on all supported
platforms. The following example powers on the VM or vApp on a particular host through vCenter Server:
> ovftool --powerOn package.ovf vi://MyvCenterServer/?dns=fast-esx-host1.example.com.

Deploying an OVF Package into vCloud Director

You can deploy an OVF package from OVF Tool into vCloud Director. The following example connects to
vCloud Director and deploys the OVF package LAMP.ovf.
> ovftool --net:"VM Network=intnet" LAMP.ovf "vcloud://jd:[email protected]:443/?
org=myOrg&vapp=test1&vdc=orgVdc&catalog=catalog"

Deploying an OVF Package into a vApprun Workspace

A vApprun workspace allows Workstation and Fusion users to run vApps. It provides a complete vApprun
execution environment, that includes nested vApps, OVF properties, and an OVF environment. The
environment is fully compatible with vSphere 4 and all later releases.

Read more about vApprun at: http://labs.vmware.com/flings/vApprun.

To deploy an OVF package into a vApprun workspace, simply use a target locator that points to your vApprun
workspace, as shown in the following example:
> ovftool myOvfPackage c:\My_vApprun_workspace\

A common scenario is that the current directory is the vApprun workspace (since all vApprun commands are
relative to this), so you can just use a “.” as the target locator, as shown in the following example:
> ovftool http://www.mycompany.com/ovflib/BigDemo.ovf.

Importing an OVF Package

The following sections show you how to import OVF packages.

Importing an OVF File into a vCloud instance

This section provides two examples of importing using a URL to create a vCloud instance from an OVF file.
The first example names the resulting vApp as ‘vApp’.
> ovftool http://my_ovflib/vm/my_vapp.ovf \
vcloud://username:pass@my_cloud?org=MyOrg&vdc=MyVDC&catalog=MyCatalog&vapp=myVapp

(Imports an OVF from http into a vCloud instance and names the vApp myVapp)

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The second example also creates a vApp template:

> ovftool http://my_ovflib/vm/my_vapp.ovf \
vcloud://username:pass@my_cloud?org=MyOrg&vdc=MyVDC&catalog=MyCatalog&vappTemplate=myTemplate

(This imports an OVF from http into a vCloud instance and creates a vApp template)

Importing a Virtual Machine from vSphere to vCloud

The following command imports a virtual machine from vSphere into a vCloud instance and names the
resulting vApp ‘myVapp’.
> ovftool vi://username:pass@my_host/my_datacenter/vm/my_vm_folder/my_vm_name \
vcloud://username:pass@my_cloud?org=MyOrg&vdc=MyVDC&catalog=MyCatalog&vapp=myVapp

Importing VMX Files into a vApprun Workspace

To import a VMX format into a vApprun workspace, use the following syntax:
> ovftool /virtualmachines/MyVM.vmx ~my_vApprun_workspace/

Exporting Virtual Machines to OVF Packages

The following sections show you how to export virtual machines within OVF packages.

Exporting a Virtual Machine from a vCloud instance to an OVF Package

The following command exports a Virtual Machine from a vCloud instance into an OVF package.
> ovftool vcloud://username:pass@my_cloud?org=MyOrg&vdc=MyVDC&catalog=MyCatalog&vapp=myVapp \
/ovfs/myVapp.ovf

Exporting a Running Virtual Machine or vApp from vSphere

You must power off a virtual machine or vApp before exporting it. The following example locates the virtual
machine or vApp based on its DNS name through the vCenter Server and powers it off:
> ovftool --powerOffSource vi://MyvCenterServer/?dns=test-vm test-vm.ova

NOTE This option does not perform a shutdown of the operating system. This is only a power off operation.

Exporting a vApprun Entity to an OVF Package

Both virtual machine and vApp entities in your vApprun workspace can be exported as OVF packages, as
shown in the following example:
> ovftool c:\My_vApprun_workspace\BigDemo c:\ovflib\

Prepend the name of the entity to export to the path. If the current directory is the vApprun workspace, you
only specify the name, as shown in the following example. This example takes advantage of the fact that any
source locator can be used with any destination locator. Thus, the vApp transfers directly from the vApprun
workspace to the vCenter installation.
> ovftool BigDemo vi://MyvCenterServer/...

NOTE vApprun does not keep the same level of meta-data around as vSphere. Thus, the vApprun-created
OVF packages will not contain any EULAs, description of properties, and such.

Displaying Summary Information

To display a summary of information about the OVF package [in probe mode], use the following syntax:
> ovftool https://my_ovflib/vm/my_vapp.ovf

(shows summary information about the OVF package [probe mode])

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Validating an OVF 1.0 or OVF 1.1 Descriptor

If you are generating OVF 1.0 or OVF 1.1 descriptors manually, you can check whether the descriptors comply
with OVF 1.0 or OVF 1.1. The following examples show how to validate descriptors:
> ovftool --schemaValidate package.ovf
> ovftool --schemaValidate package.ova
> ovftool --schemaValidate http://example.com/folder1/package.ovf
> ovftool --schemaValidate http://example.com/folder1/package.ova

If everything is correct, OVF Tool shows the result of probing OVF. Otherwise, it shows warnings and errors.

IMPORTANT Being compliant with OVF 1.0 or 1.1 is only part of the requirements for a valid OVF package.
Schema validation does not check for all the requirements specified in the OVF 1.0 and OVF 1.1 specifications.

Downloading an OVF Package from a Protected Web Site

The OVF Tool can read sources given by a URL using both HTTP and HTTPS. You access it with the user name
and password. The following example downloads the LAMP OVF package and puts it in an OVA package. If
you omit the user name and password, the OVF Tool will prompt you for them.
> ovftool https://user:[email protected]/repository/ovf/LAMP.ovf LAMP.ova

Using a Proxy
You can specify a proxy for the OVF Tool. The following examples show the use of the --proxy option:
> 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

The OVF Tool allows proxies that require authentication. Credentials are supplied in the proxy path as shown
in the following example:
> ovftool --proxy=user:[email protected] http://external-site.com/ovf/package.ovf

You can omit the username and password for a proxy server that requires authentication. OVF Tool prompts
for them. If you are using vSphere or vCloud as the locator for a source or target, you have to add the UseProxy
option: --X:viUseProxy for vSphere or --X:vCloudUseProxy for vCloud.
> ovftool --X:viUseProxy --proxy=proxy.example.com package.ovf vi://my.esx-machine.example.com/
> ovftool --X:vCloudUseProxy --proxy=proxy.example.com package.ovf
"vcloud://USERNAME:[email protected]:443/?org=myOrg&vapp=test&vdc=orgVdc&catalog=catalog"

Overwriting a Running Virtual Machine or vApp from vSphere

The OVF Tool supports overwriting existing targets. If a target virtual machine or vApp has the same name as
the source, OVF Tool overwrites the target when the --overwrite option is specified. If the target virtual
machine or vApp is running, OVF Tool cannot overwrite it. OVF Tool does not automatically power off the
target. To power off the target before overwriting it, use the --powerOffTarget option.
> ovftool --overwrite --powerOffTarget package.ovf
vi://localhost/?dns=production-host.example.com

You can also power on the newly written virtual machine or vApp at the same time. In the following example,
the target machine is powered off and deleted, the package.ovf is imported, and the imported virtual machine
or vApp is powered on.
> ovftool --overwrite --powerOffTarget --powerOn package.ovf
vi://localhost/?dns=production-host.example.com

Canceling the VMware OVF Tool While it Is Running

To cancel OVF Tool while it is running, type Ctrl-C. This halts OVF Tool and cleans up any generated files.

38 VMware, Inc.
 4

OVF Package Signing 4

A valid OVF signature requires two special files, a manifest (.mf) file that contains the SHA hash codes of all
the files in the package (except the .mf and .cert files), and a certificate file (.cert) that contains the signed
SHA of the manifest file and the X.509 encoded certificate. This appendix specifies how to use OpenSSL and
VMware OVF Tools commands to sign and validate OVF packages.

This appendix contains the following topics:

 “Creating an RSA Public/Private Key Pair and Certificate” on page 39

 “Signing an OVF Package” on page 40

 “Validating an OVF Package” on page 40

Creating an RSA Public/Private Key Pair and Certificate

To sign a package, a public/private key pair and certificate that wraps the public key is required. The private
key and the certificate, which includes the public key, is stored in a .pem file.

The following OpenSSL command creates a .pem file:

> openssl req -x509 -nodes -sha256 -days 365 -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout myself.pem -out myself.pem

NOTE No password is necessary. To include a password, remove the --nodes option.

Table 4-1 shows the contents of the myself.pem file.

Example 4-1. Myself.pem File Contents

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

To display the contents of a .pem file at the command line, type the following:

>openssl x509 -text -noout -in <filename>.pem

The contents of the file display as follows:

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

VMware, Inc. 39
OVF Tool User’s Guide

....

To create a trusted certificate, use the OpenSSL command, omitting the --x509 option. This creates a certificate
request in a .pem file that you can send to any public authority, such as Verisign.

Signing an OVF Package

Signing an OVF package enables the person deploying it to validate the authenticity of the OVF package. Once
the package is signed, OVF package files cannot be changed, without invalidating the signature. When a
package comes from a trusted source and has a valid OVF signature, you can deploy the package knowing it
has not been tampered with.

Signing an OVF package requires a .pem file that contains a private key and a certificate, as shown in section
“Creating an RSA Public/Private Key Pair and Certificate” on page 39.

To sign a generated OVF package, include the --privateKey option. The option syntax is shown in the following
example:
> ovftool --privateKey=<path to .pem file> <source> <output OVF or OVA file>

When this option is used, OVF Tool uses the private key and certificate to generate a signature based on the
SHA digest of each file that is included in the OVF package, including the OVF descriptor itself.

OVF Tool generates an additional .cert file with a signed SHA signature and the certificate used to sign it.
Example 4-2 shows an example of the .cert file generated by OVF Tool.

Example 4-2. Certificate File Created by OVF Tool

SHA256(signed-package.mf)=5d9a307f0acdc1a424079eb38ff8954c153f978e599ed374dd784c853bab1856415fa16
ef378bde3487cd5dfa4d11a3017eda91886f98e3bba3adc2f4e28ce6d0ba3a19eef80ac07295113116
03dcb221f9ba7a6008f1a87fe15ebf3699c8a8744bd05c43b1387dd53d73723e7f0a3720d489e147e3
1c4570d15fb7a3beae770
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----

Validating an OVF Package

If an OVF certificate file is present, OVF Tool always verifies if the signature fits the SHA digest of the files in
the package and tests the authenticity of the certificate.

To quickly validate the authenticity of an OVF package, use the probe mode as shown in the following
example:
> ovftool signed-package.ovf

40 VMware, Inc.
 5

Using the VMware OVF Tool Probe Mode 5

This chapter includes the following topics:

 “About OVF Tool Probe Mode” on page 41

 “Example of Probe Mode” on page 41

About OVF Tool Probe Mode

Probe mode reveals information about the content of a source. You can probe OVA and OVF packages, VMX,
and vSphere source types. You can use the information gathered to find out how it can be configured when
you deploy it.

To use the probe feature, omit the target locator when invoking OVF Tool. For example, at the command line,
type: ovftool LAMP.ovf. The tool displays all available information about the LAMP.ovf.

When probe mode is used on an OVF or OVA package, OVF Tool also validates the certificate file, if present.

As part of the information displayed in probe mode, the EULA is displayed by default. To prevent the EULA
from displaying, use the --hideEula option.
> ovftool --hideEula LAMP.ovf

Example of Probe Mode

The following example shows the result of probing the LAMP.ovf package.
OVF version: 1.0
VirtualApp: true
Name: LAMP running PHP-Fusion
Version: 0.1
Vendor: VMware Aarhus
Product URL: http://example.com/ovf/1.0/LAMP/readme.txt

Annotation: This vApp offers the programming environment stack: Linux, Apache,
MySQL and PHP programming environment -- LAMP. More specifically
the vApp contains a Database server running MySQL and Web server
VM running Apache2 and PHP.

End-user License Agreements:

EULA for LAMP.

Download Size: 604.07 MB

Deployment Sizes:
Flat disks: 16.00 GB
Sparse disks: Unknown
Networks:
Name: VM Network
Description: The VM Network network

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

Virtual Hardware:
Family: vmx-04
Disk Types: SCSI-lsilogic

Properties:
Key: db_ip
Label: IP address
Type: ip:VM Network
Description: The IP address of the database server.

Key: ws_ip
Label: IP address
Type: ip:VM Network
Description: The IP address of the Web server.

IP Allocation Policy:
Schemes: ovfenv dhcp
Protocols: IPv4

42 VMware, Inc.
 6

Using the VMware OVF Tool Machine Mode 6

You can use the --machineOutput option to run OVF Tool from another program or script. With the
--machineOutput option, OVF Tool provides output in the following format:

STATUS-CODE details <blank line>.

OVF Tool inserts a blank line to signal the end of an operation. Each response line is prefixed with a plus (+)
to avoid confusion with the terminating blank line. The last status it sends is always RESULT. OVF Tool sends
all output, including errors and warnings, to standard output (stdout) so clients can listen on only one stream.
Table 6-9. Machine Mode Status
Status Details Description
PROBE XML Probe result with information about the
source.

VALIDATEHOST XML Shows whether the VI target is

compatible with the input arguments.

AUTHENTICATION source/target/proxy server locator or fileName Shows that authentication is required.

CERTIFICATE Validate, Self-signed, or Failed validate Signals that a certificate is present and
shows the result of the validation.

MANIFEST Validate or Failed validate Signals that a manifest is present and

shows the result of validation.

PROGRESS Number (0-100) Shows the percentage progress during

upload and download.

TARGET_ID Text, for example SugarCRM.ovf or Shows the target ID after upload and
vim.VirtualMachine:vm-415. download finishes.

RESULT ERROR or SUCCESS Always use as the last command sent.

Running Machine Output

You can run the --machineOutput option in different modes: Probe, Validate host, Import, and Export.

Running machineOutput in Probe Mode

When you run the machineOutput option in probe mode, OVF Tool reports the following status sequence:

1 AUTHENTICATION (zero or more)

2 PROBE (exactly one)

3 RESULT (exactly one)

To run the machineOutput option in probe mode, you run the following command.

ovftool.exe --machineOutput source_locator

For an example, see “Output from Running machineOutput in Probe Mode” on page 45.

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

Running machineOutput in Validate Host Mode

When you run machineOutput in validate host mode, OVF Tool reports the following status sequence:

1 AUTHENTICATION (zero or more)

2 VALIDATEHOST (exactly one)

3 PROGRESS (exactly one)

4 TARGET_ID (exactly one)

5 RESULT (exactly one)

To run the machineOutput option in validate host mode, you run the following command.
ovftool.exe --machineOutput --verifyOnly source_locator destination_locator

For an example, see “Output from Running machineOutput in Validate Host Mode” on page 47.

Running machineOutput in Import to vSphere Mode

When you run the machineOutput option in import mode, OVF Tool reports the following status sequence:

1 AUTHENTICATION (zero or more)

2 MANIFEST (zero or one)

3 CERTIFICATE (zero or one)

4 PROGRESS (one or more)

5 TARGET_ID (exactly one)

6 RESULT (exactly one)

To use machine mode to upload an OVF to vSphere, you run the following command.
ovftool.exe --machineOutput \
--acceptAllEulas \
--I:morefArgs \
--I:targetSessionTicket=<session ticket> \
--net:<ovf netname>=vim.Network:<moref-id> \
--datastore=vim.Datastore:<moref-id> \
--vmFolder=vim.Folder:<moref-id> \
--deploymentOption=<value> \
--diskMode=<value> \
--ipAllocationPolicy=<value> \
--ipProtocol=<value> \
--name=<value> (optional) \
--overwrite (optional) \
--powerOffTarget (optional) \
--powerOn (optional) \
--prop:<key>=<value> \
<src URL or PATH> \
vi://<servername>?moref=vim.ResourcePool:<moref-id>

For an example, see “Output from Running machineOutput in Import Mode” on page 48.

Running the Machine Mode Export from vSphere Operation

When you run the machineOutput option in export mode, OVF Tool reports the following status sequence:

1 AUTHENTICATION (zero or more)

2 MANIFEST (zero or one)

3 CERTIFICATE (zero or one)

4 PROGRESS (one or more)

5 TARGET_ID (exactly one)

44 VMware, Inc.
 Chapter 6 Using the VMware OVF Tool Machine Mode

6 RESULT (exactly one)

To use machine mode to download an OVF from vSphere, you run the following command.
ovftool.exe --machineOutput \
--I:sourceSessionTicket=<session ticket> \
-tt <OVA or OVF> \
-n=<name> \
--overwrite (optional) \
--powerOffSource (optional) \
--chunkSize=<value> (optional) \
--compress=<value> (optional) \
vi://<servername>?moref=<type>:<moref-id> \
<directory>

The type value is either vim.VirtualMachine or vim.VirtualVApp.

When you specify --machineOutput, OVF Tool monitors STDIN, and cancels the operation if it reads the
ABORT\n line in stdin.

For an example, see “Output from Running machineOutput in Export Mode” on page 48.

Example Output
You can run the OVF Tool machine mode --machineOutput option in probe mode, validate host mode, or
import mode. In import and validate Host modes, --machineOutput is meant for third party program to use
silently without any interactive prompt appearing in the standalone OVF tool command console. If your OVF
file contains EULA information, you should add this option --acceptAllEulas so that the program doesn’t
pause to wait for acceptance of the license agreement. This section contains the following topics:

 “Output from Running machineOutput in Probe Mode” on page 45

 “Output from Running machineOutput in Validate Host Mode” on page 47

 “Output from Running machineOutput in Import Mode” on page 48

 “Output from Running machineOutput in Export Mode” on page 48

Output from Running machineOutput in Probe Mode

The following example shows the output of a --machineOutput PROBE operation on a file named LAMP.ovf.

Example 6-3. Output from Running machineOutput in Probe Mode

ovftool --machineOutput LAMP.ovf
PROBE
+ <probeResult>
+ <virtualApp>
+ true
+ </virtualApp>
+ <productInfo>
+ <name>
+ LAMP running PHP-Fusion
+ </name>
+ <productUrl>
+ http://example.com/ovf/1.0/LAMP/readme.txt
+ </productUrl>
+ <version>
+ 0.1
+ </version>
+ <fullVersion>
+
+ </fullVersion>
+ <vendor>
+ VMware
+ </vendor>
+ <vendorUrl>
+

VMware, Inc. 45
OVF Tool User’s Guide

+ </vendorUrl>
+ </productInfo>
+ <annotation>
+ This vApp offers the programming environment stack: Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP programming
environment -- LAMP. More specifically the vApp contains a Database server running MySQL and Web
server VM running Apache2 and PHP.
+ </annotation>
+ <eulas>
+ <eula>
+
+ Eula for OVF
+
+ </eula>
+ </eulas>
+ <sizes>
+ <download>
+ 633412608
+ </download>
+ <flat>
+ 17179869184
+ </flat>
+ <sparse>
+ Unknown
+ </sparse>
+ </sizes>
+ <networks>
+ <network>
+ <name>
+ VM Network
+ </name>
+ <description>
+ The VM Network network
+ </description>
+ </network>
+ </networks>
+ <properties>
+ <property>
+ <classId>
+
+ </classId>
+ <key>
+ db_ip
+ </key>
+ <instanceId>
+
+ </instanceId>
+ <category>
+
+ </category>
+ <label>
+ IP address
+ </label>
+ <type>
+ ip:VM Network
+ </type>
+ <description>
+ The IP address of the database server.
+ </description>
+ <value>
+
+ </value>
+ </property>
+ <property>
+ <classId>
+
+ </classId>
+ <key>
+ ws_ip

46 VMware, Inc.
 Chapter 6 Using the VMware OVF Tool Machine Mode

+ </key>
+ <instanceId>
+
+ </instanceId>
+ <category>
+
+ </category>
+ <label>
+ IP address
+ </label>
+ <type>
+ ip:VM Network
+ </type>
+ <description>
+ The IP address of the Web server.
+ </description>
+ <value>
+
+ </value>
+ </property>
+ </properties>
+ <deploymentOptions>
+ </deploymentOptions>
+ <ipAllocationSchemes>
+ ovfenv,dhcp
+ </ipAllocationSchemes>
+ <ipProtocols>
+ IPv4
+ </ipProtocols>
+ </probeResult>

RESULT
+ SUCCESS

Output from Running machineOutput in Validate Host Mode

The following example shows the output of a --machineOutput VALIDATEHOST operation on file LAMP.ovf.

Example 6-4. Output from Running machineOutput in Validate Host Mode

ovftool --machineOutput --acceptAllEulas --verifyOnly LAMP.ovf
vi://myuser:[email protected]/dc/host/myhost.example.com
VALIDATEHOST
+ <supportedDiskProvisioning>
+ <type>
+ monolithicFlat
+ </type>
+ <type>
+ thin
+ </type>
+ <type>
+ thick
+ </type>
+ <type>
+ flat
+ </type>
+ <type>
+ eagerZeroedThick
+ </type>
+ </supportedDiskProvisioning>

PROGRESS
+ 0

TARGET_ID

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OVF Tool User’s Guide

RESULT
+ SUCCESS

Output from Running machineOutput in Import Mode

The following example shows the output of a --machineOutput import operation on a file named LAMP.ovf.

Example 6-5. Output from Running machineOutput in Import Mode

ovftool --machineOutput --acceptAllEulas LAMP.ovf
vi://myuser:[email protected]/dc/host/myhost.example.com
PROGRESS
+ 0
+ 1
+ 2
+ 3
....
+ 98
+ 99
+ 100

TARGET_ID
+ vim.VirtualApp:resgroup-v61

RESULT
+ SUCCESS

Output from Running machineOutput in Export Mode

The following example shows the output of a --machineOutput export operation on a file named LAMP.ovf.

Example 6-6. Output from Running machineOutput in Export Mode

ovftool -o --machineOutput --acceptAllEulas vi://myuser:[email protected]/dc/vm/LAMP
/tmp/LAMP.ovf
PROGRESS
+ 0
+ 1
+ 2
+ 3
...
+ 98
+ 99
+ 100

TARGET_ID
+ /tmp/LAMP.ovf

RESULT
+ SUCCESS

48 VMware, Inc.
Index

B L
benefits of OVF 9 Linux
path syntax for file locators 24
C
command-line options 15 M
--compress 11 Machine Mode Operations 43
compression 11 --makeDeltaDisks 11
configuration files 29
O
D Output from Running machineOutput in Probe
delta disk compression Mode 45
introduction 11 Output from Running machineOutput in Validate
limitations 12 Host Mode 47
OVF standard 9
E OVF support in vSphere 10
examples OVF Tool
cancelling OVF Tool while running 38 command-line options 15
chunking 35 partial locators 27
convert .ova to .vmx 33 source and target locator definitions 15
convert .ovf to .vmx 33, 34 OVT Tool as a helper process, integration options 30
convert .vmx to .ova 33
convert .vmx to .ovf 33
P
deploying and powering on 36 partial locators
deploying OVF package 36 command-line dialog 27
downloading from a protected site 38 OVF Tool assumptions 27
exporting a running virtual machine or vApp 37 Partial vCloud DirectorLocators at the Command
Line 28
maximum compression 35
platforms supported 10
omitting disks in output 35
protocol locators, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP 25
overwriting a running virtual machine or
vApp 38
S
renaming the OVF package 35
source locator
setting OVF network mappings 34
definition 15
setting OVF properties 34
vSpherer 25
using a proxy 38
supported platforms 10
validating 38
T
F
target locator
feature highlights 10
definition 15
file locators 24
technical support resources 7
Forum 8
U
I
URI, using for file locators 24
integration options 30
URI, using for locators 24
inventory path
host or resource pool 26 V
virtual machine or vApp 26
vApprun

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deploying an OVF package to 36

exporting a vApprun entity to an OVF
package 37
vCloud Director locators 26
vSphere source locators
query values 25
source and target values 25
vSphere support for OVF 10
vSphereI source locators
definition 25

W
Windows
path syntax for file locators 24

50 VMware, Inc.