I am trying to import OVF with custom propery set and getting folling error with vmware ovf tool. Any idea on how to resolve this issue?

Error:

- Line 107: Unsupported element 'Property'

We use ovftool as part of a custom import process that our customers use to bring OVFs into our environment.

After upgrading to ovftool 2.1 (which we needed to do to support HW V8), we started seeing messages like this: "Target does not support CPU validation."

Digging through the support forums, I found a few references to the issue being the CpuCompatibilitySection, and that commenting it out might fix the issue. In particular, this thread:

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/337173

Since we have very little control over what customers upload to us, I don't want to just blindly scan every VMX file prior to running ovftool and strip out the CpuCompatibility section without knowing *why* I'm doing it. I'm looking for something more definitive about exactly which circumstances it's not supported on. For instance:

- Is the issue only with some target hardware versions?

- Only some target hosts (e.g. vsphere 5.1)?

- Is this section only present when exported from certain host platforms (e.g. Fusion)?

- Does ovftool 3.01 handle this differently or provide some workaround?

Also, some background as to why it's not supported would help me know that I'm doing the right thing in the right circumstances.

Thanks much for any help you can provide,

Matt

Hello,

I been working on the setting properties in the ovf template and this is working fine so far.

Basically, I add property in the product section under property tag and read its value during deployment time using

/usr/sbin/vmtoolsd --cmd 'info-get guestinfo.ovfEnv'

<ProductSection ovf:class="com.palm.product" ovf:instance="1">

     <Info>info section</Info>
     <Product>LimeLite</Product>
     <Vendor>Palm</Vendor>

     <Property ovf:key="UserName" ovf:type="string" ovf:userConfigurable="true" ovf:value="Admin" ovf:qualifiers="MinLen(0),MaxLen(65535)">
          <Label>UserName</Label>
          <Description>Creates an user account with the Name provided</Description>
     </Property>

</ProductSection>

Now, I need get password for the user account which we create during deployment. I looked into property data types and I couldn't figure out

the password type that masks the password entered in the dailog during deployment time.

Is password functionality avaialbe in the ovf template already ? If yes, please point me to the location from where I can make use of this.

The property type which are avaialbe in the settings is:

String, StringChoice, Integer, Real, Boolean, External IP Address, vApp IP Address.

I coudn't find password type in here.

I'm trying to create an OVA file from an installed VM.  If I try creating it with ovftool 3.5, it downloads everything completely then gives me the following error:

SHA1 digest of file https://172.31.68.10:443/ha-nfc/52cca89a-6cde-c7a7-0810-25ff2197d3d6/disk-1.iso does not match manifest
and then deletes the file(s) it generated.

I am using compress=0 and --noImageFiles so i don't get the install iso.

If I manually go into Edit Settings and remove the cdrom, then 3.5 creates the ova correctly.

If I use ovftool 2.0, it succeeds even without manually removing the cdrom iso.

I've seen posts where users get the same error I do when they are going ova/f to vm and the answer is to delete the manifest.   Since all of the files are deleted after the error message, I don't have the option to delete the locally created manifest.

Is there a way to keep the files around even after a manifest error?

Does anyone know why ovftool 3.5 would fail in this case and 2.0 would word?  Has there been some deprecation between the two of them?

Thanks,
Mike

From virtualmachine i have exported .ovf file from the following website http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/how-do-i-convert-virtualbox-files-to-work-with-vmware-workstation/#.

and i recieved the following error in cmd prompt.

can anyone please help me to understand error line 84 and prove me solution .

........................................................................................

Error:

- Line 84: Could not parse the document: 'mismatched tag'

Warning:

- No manifest file found.

Completed with errors.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steps followed:

Step 1: Export your virtual machine

The first step is to export your virtual machine from VirtualBox.

Step 2: Editing your .ovf file

The file you need to edit will be the .ovf file that serves as the descriptor for your virtual machine. You MUST open this in a text editor. Do NOT open it in a word processor as this will add extra characters to the file, which will render it unreadable by either VirtualBox or VMWare. The first section you need to edit is the format section. Look for a line of code (near the top) that contains this phrase:

ovf:format=

What follows that section needs to be changed to:

"http://www.vmware.com/interfaces/specifications/vmdk.html#streamOptimized"

The next edit (in the same file) is the Virtual SystemType, and it must be one of the following:

<vssd:VirtualSystemType>vmx-07</vssd:VirtualSystemType> (for a esx 4.0)

<vssd:VirtualSystemType>vmx-04</vssd:VirtualSystemType> (for esx 3.5.x and 4.0 hosts)

Believe it or not, the next item to edit is the rsad for the sound card. The section will look similar to:

<Item>

<rasd:Caption>sound</rasd:Caption>

<rasd:Description>Sound Card</rasd:Description>

<rasd:InstanceId>6</rasd:InstanceId>

<rasd:ResourceType>35</rasd:ResourceType>

<rasd:ResourceSubType>ensoniq1371</rasd:ResourceSubType>

<rasd:AutomaticAllocation>false</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>

<rasd:AddressOnParent>3</rasd:AddressOnParent>

</Item>

To the above section, add the following after the first <Item> tag:

<Item ovf:required="false">

Step 3: Using the OVF tool

This step requires you to download and install the VMWare OVF Tool (you will have to log in first). The OVF tool is command-line only, and it will convert your newly prepped .ovf file into a .vmx that VMWare can use. To do this, follow these steps:

• Click Start | Run.
• Type cmd.
• In the command window, change to the directory you installed the OVF Tool into and then issue the command:ovftool appliance.ovf new_appliance.vmx(Where appliance.ovf is the name of the appliance you exported from VirtualBox and new_appliance.vmx is the name you want to give the new virtual appliance. Depending on the size of your virtual appliance, this could take a while.)

I am facing an issue. I have an ova file of size 362 MB. I am using OVFTOOL to convert ova to vmx file. I get the below error during conversion,

Also tried with option --chunkSize=200mb, but with no luck. Same error as below.

Transfer Failed

Error: System error: (Unknown exception)

Completed with errors.

In Vmware workstation 8, i get the below error when i am trying to import the OVA file with the below steps,

a). From the File menu on the VMware Workstation 8 menu bar, select Open.

b).  Browse to the .ovf or .ova file and click Open and Import.

I get the below error.  Anyone who could help me with this?

Hi all,

I have a VirtualBox OVA file that I'd like to convert to vSphere with vmxnet3 driver.

I've ran my VBOX OVA file against ovftool with --lax option to avoid the "unknown hardware virtualbox-2.2" issue which produces VMX and VMDISK file.

Is there a way for OVFTOOL to change the network adapter to use vmxnet3 as opposed to "just open the VMX file and edit virtualDev section"?

Thanks,

Ed

Hello ,

I used the vcenter 4.1 console to Export OVF Template.  We need to be able to load this template in vmware player.  I downloaded ovftool and tried to convert the OVF template so that it could be run in Vmware player.

This is the command I am issuing to convert the template based off of the OVFTOOL PDF.  This, to my understanding should convert the OVF to a VMX and drop it in the D:\vms folder.  There are 4 disks in this VM server

Input

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware OVF Tool>ovftool -tt=vmx D:\server_name\server_name.ovf D:\vms\

Output:

Opening OVF source: D:\server\server.ovf
The manifest validates
Opening VMX target: D:\vms\
Warning:
- Target does not support CPU validation.
Error:
-
Completed with errors

Needless to say the VMS folder is getting created but nothing else is being converted. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

DS

Hi,

I would like to convert VirtualBox 3.2.4 virtual machine to VMWare ESX 4.0.

In VirtualBox I have exported appliance to 0.9 format and then follow the following tutorial: http://www.ctrip.ufl.edu/howto-convert-virtualbox-to-vmware

When executing command "ovftool my.ovf my.vmx" I got the following error:

Opening OVF source: e:\VMW\my.ovf

Warning: No manifest file

Opening VMX target: e:\VMW\my.vmx

Error:

• Line 39: Unsupported element 'Caption'

• Line 40: Unsupported element 'Description'

• Line 41: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

• Line 42: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

• Line 43: Unsupported element 'VirtualQuantity'

• Line 37: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

• Line 37: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

• Line 48: Unsupported element 'Caption'

• Line 49: Unsupported element 'Description'

• Line 50: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

• Line 51: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'

• Line 52: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

• Line 45: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

• Line 45: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

• Line 57: Unsupported element 'Caption'

• Line 58: Unsupported element 'Description'

• Line 59: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

• Line 60: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'

• Line 61: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

• Line 54: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

• Line 54: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

• Line 65: Unsupported element 'Caption'

• Line 66: Unsupported element 'Connection'

• Line 67: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

• Line 68: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'

• Line 69: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

• Line 63: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

• Line 63: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

• Line 74: Unsupported element 'Caption'

• Line 75: Unsupported element 'Description'

• Line 76: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

• Line 77: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

• Line 71: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

• Line 71: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

• Line 81: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'

• Line 82: Unsupported element 'Caption'

• Line 83: Unsupported element 'Description'

• Line 84: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

• Line 85: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'

• Line 86: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

• Line 79: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

• Line 79: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

• Line 90: Unsupported element 'Caption'

• Line 91: Unsupported element 'Description'

• Line 92: Unsupported element 'HostResource'

• Line 93: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

• Line 94: Unsupported element 'Parent'

• Line 95: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

• Line 88: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

• Line 88: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

• Line 99: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'

• Line 100: Unsupported element 'Caption'

• Line 101: Unsupported element 'Description'

• Line 102: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

• Line 103: Unsupported element 'Parent'

• Line 104: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

• Line 97: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

• Line 97: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

Please see attached ovf file.

What should I do? 

Thanks

I'm trying to convert an VirtualBox OVF that we had prepared to use in a ESX environment, but am recieving errors.  First off, I just want to make sure we are able to do this and secondly if anyone is able to help me resolve the errors.

Initiall I received the following errors.  This is trying to do a conversion directly on the ovf I was given.

E:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop&gt;ovftool debian-server-32bit.ovf debian-s
erver-32bit.vmx
Opening OVF source: debian-server-32bit.ovf
Warning: No manifest file
Opening VMX target: debian-server-32bit.vmx
Error:
- Line 8: Unsupported value 'http://www.vmware.com/specifications/vmdk.html#spa
rse' for attribute 'format' on element 'Disk'.
- Line 37: Unsupported element 'Description'
- Line 45: Unsupported element 'Description'
- Line 48: Unsupported element 'AllocationUnits'
- Line 54: Unsupported element 'Description'
- Line 57: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'
- Line 58: Unsupported element 'Address'
- Line 63: Unsupported element 'Description'
- Line 66: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'
- Line 67: Unsupported element 'AddressOnParent'
- Line 74: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'
- Line 75: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'
- Line 76: Unsupported element 'Connection'
- Line 81: Unsupported element 'Description'
- Line 84: Unsupported element 'Address'
- Line 89: Unsupported element 'Description'
- Line 92: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'
- Line 93: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'
- Line 94: Unsupported element 'AddressOnParent'
- Line 99: Unsupported element 'Description'
- Line 102: Unsupported element 'HostResource'
- Line 103: Unsupported element 'Parent'
- Line 104: Unsupported element 'AddressOnParent'
- Line 109: Unsupported element 'Description'
- Line 112: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'
- Line 113: Unsupported element 'Parent'
- Line 114: Unsupported element 'AddressOnParent'

After this I tried importing into VirtualBox and then exporting will checking the use Legacy OVF setting.  Which resulted in the following error:

E:\Documents and Settings\user\My Documents&gt;ovftool "Debian Server (32bit).ovf"
ian-server-32bit.vmx
Opening OVF source: Debian Server (32bit).ovf
Opening VMX target: ian-server-32bit.vmx
Error:
- Line 82: OVF hardware element 'ResourceType' with instance ID '7': No support
for the virtual hardware device type '35'.

Hey, folks

    I am trying to deploy ovf, but the VMDKs in my ovf are in vmfs format. My VMDKs are created from  VMware ESX Server, so its formate is VMFS. I found some OVF samples to deploy VMDKs in streamOptimized format. Anyone knows how to deploy VMFS format. Here is the disk section of my OVF, 

I got the error message "unsupported value ="http://www.vmware.com/interfaces/specifications/vmdk.html#vmfs" for attribute format on element disk".

Anyone has a cue about it?

Yifei

Hi All,

    I have just exported an vApp using ovf from my vCenter v4u2. When I try to import into Vmware Workstation 7.1(running on Window 7 Ent 64bit) I get the following error message "The OVF descriptor file could not be parsed."  I have attached the log.

Cheers!

I am trying to create an OVF from a vm in vsphere - I'm running ovftool on a linux machine, and using the following syntax (I got this from the ovftool users guide):

ovftool username@myvcenter.aaa.com/"datacenter name"/vm/vmname /local/path/tostoreit/vnname.ovf

It prompts for a password, I enter the password, and it comes back with:

Opening VI source: vi://username@myvcenter.aaa.com/datacenter name/vmname
Error: Locator does not refer to an object:vi://username@myvcenter.aaa.com/datacenter name/vmname

Incidentally, I get the exact same error when I try using the mac version of ovftool, and the windows version.

Please help - I know this should work. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, but I have to get this working pretty fast.

Thank you!!

Hello,

I am new to OVFTool  and am having difficulty using it in Terminal on my MacBook Pro to convert an OVA (created by exporting my WinXp virtual machine from within VirtualBox), to a VMX file for use in VMWare Fusion on my MacBook Pro.

I have installed the OVFTool on my boot drive (partition) which is named "LFP OS", in the folder:  /Library/VMWare/OVFTool/.

I have the OVA file on my data drive (partition) which is named "LFP Data" in the folder: /Virtual Machines/WinXP.ova.

I want to create a virtual machine file (VMX) in the same location as the soure that I can then import into VMWare Fusion.  I have gone through the OVFTool User Guide, forums, Google etc. and cannot get it to work properly.  It may be as simple as my Terminal syntax being off.  Anyway, please help.

Here is what I used in Terminal:

LFP-MacBook-Pro:virtual machines nils$
LFP-MacBook-Pro:virtual machines nils$ pwd
/volumes/lfp data/virtual machines
LFP-MacBook-Pro:virtual machines nils$ ./Volumes/LFP\ OS/Library/VMWare/OVFTool/ovftool /Volumes/LFP\ Data/Virtual\ Machines/WinXP.ova /Volumes/LFP\ Data/Virtual\ Machines/WinXP.vmx
-bash: ./Volumes/LFP OS/Library/VMWare/OVFTool/ovftool: No such file or directory
LFP-MacBook-Pro:virtual machines nils$

Thanks for your time!

Regards,

SBNL

Running into an issue with ovftool while moving VMs from Linux Workstation to ESXi 4.1 - When running the following command line with the attached vmx:

build@machine:/opt/vm/lab/qa/w7ultrtm-001_ruby18$ ovftool -ds=datastore1 -dm=thin -nw="VM Network" *.vmx 'vi://user:passwor@10.10.10.10'
Opening VMX source: QA7_w7ultrtm-001.vmx
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::logic_error'
  what():  basic_string::_S_construct NULL not valid

Terminate process signal received - aborting operation/usr/bin/ovftool: line 23:  7217 Aborted                 "$OVFTOOL_BIN" "$@"

VMX is attached. I've ensured that the vmx file is valid, and that it's been cleanly shut down in workstation.

Any suggestions?

Hello,

I am seeking guidance on automation\customization of an OVA deployment.

Looking to use an OVA due to it's compression ability which is favorable when needing to transfer a VMWare virtual machine from Host to Host for deployment at different location across a WAN.  In the past, we have created a VM template and provided customization file for deployment but the size of the template was too large for transfer across the WAN....so we would have to ship on seperate media.

I am looking to achieve the same end result of deployment of a vm template but through the deployment of the OVA template.

Here is where I am at so far:
1. Create the VM (in this case Windows XP SP3)
2. Export the VM to OVA Template.
3. Deploy OVA Template

All of the above works without any problem.  However, during deployment of the OVA, I would like to prompt the end user to input computer name, Fixed IP information or DHCP, domain to join, etc.  Additionally, I would like sysprep to run.

I have read the guide and numerous articles on the OVF descriptors, but not quite sure where or how to input these prompts so they appear during the OVA deployment.  Additionally, if I sysprep the vm before exporting to OVA, how can I get sysprep and the input from the end user deployment to work hand in hand.

Thanks in advance for any guidance or tutorial reference you can supply to help me understand OVA deployment of a single vm and how to configure custom settings during deployment with sysprep running.

Hi,

Ive read through the pdf and have tried a few different ways but couldnt figure it out. I was curious if anyone could give me an example syntax of deploying an ovf into a resource pool on the target.

Thanks for the help.

Ray

Hi,

I am trying to convert <http://download.oracle.com/otn/other/servers-storage/storage/open-storage/sunstorage7000/SunStorageVBox.zip> into a format that VMware could use. I tried the latest version of the VMware OVF Tool but it fails. Neither using the settings "--lax" helps nor does converting the virtual machine to OVF version 0.9 (via VirtualBox' im- and export functions).

Does anyone know how I could run this simulator within VMware?

Best regards!

There is unfortunately a bug in OVF Tool 3.0.1 on Mac that causes OVF Tool not to work if the current directory is not the same as the installation directory! For example, if you have made a symbolic link to OVF Tool or have OVF Tool in the path, you will see the following error:

Running OVF Tool 3.0.1 on 32 bit CentOS 6 Linux 2.6.32-279.11.1.el6.i686 (download from VMWare site md5sum was checked ok)

Tool starts up fine and is in the process of exporting a VM from one ESXi 4.1 host to another ESXi 4.1 host . 

Tool then crashes with /usr/bin/ovftool: line 23:  7629 Segmentation fault      (core dumped) "$OVFTOOL_BIN" "$@"