Hi. I'm trying to  deploy an OVF template using Vsphere 4.1 client but it keeps failing with syntax errors. The OVF is supplied with an IBM product I've trying to install but there's something it doesn't like relating to the ValueMap section which is a single line in the OVF file. Any ideas what's wrong with it? Thx

<ovf:Property ibmExt:invisible="true" ovf:key="language" ovf:password="false" ovf:qualifiers="[ValueMap {&quot;en&quot;,&quot;de&quot;,&quot;ja&quot;,&quot;ko&quot;,&quot;zh&quot;,&quot;zh(tw)&quot;,&quot;fr&quot;,&quot;it&quot;,&quot;es&quot;,&quot;pt(br)&quot;}]" ovf:type="string" ovf:userConfigurable="true" ovf:value="en" ovf:required="true">
          <ovf:Label ovf:msgid="ConfigLocale.language.label">Default Locale</ovf:Label>
          <ovf:Description ovf:msgid="ConfigLocale.language.description">This is the default locale of the Operating System and TSAM</ovf:Description>
        </ovf:Property>

Hi Guys,

I'm getting the below error when using the OVFtool to convert an OVA file to VMX.

Error:

- Line 38: Unsupported value '16' for element 'VirtualQuantity'.

- Virtual machine has 16 virtual CPUs, but the host only supports 8. The number of virtual CPUs may be limited by the guest OS selected for the virtual machine or by the licensing for the host.

I am trying to solve it using the syntax option --viCpuResource=<shares>:<reservation>:<limit>

However I don't know what to denote in the placeholder <shares>

I have also read the OVFtool user guide, but it does not give any info on the viCpuResource option.

Can anyone give me some guidance here?

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.)

Hi, I'm having a problem with ovftool. I'm running ovftool against a ESXi host with a trial license. The command shows the ovf properties that I've set on the commandline, but once I'm on the virtual machine, the ovf environment is not present at all. If I do the deployment through the vSphere client, it works perfectly, same OVA file.

I see the output from ovftool:

--> /prop/ip0 = "192.168.43.159"

--> /prop/ip1 = "192.168.43.185"

but also get the warnings:

When I try to import an OVF vile created with ovftool 1.0 I get a compatibility error

an error occurred while parsing the ovf descriptor:

unable to parse xlm element ‘Envelope'

I made an ovf file using ovftool 1.0 from a virtual machine I was running on an ESX 3.5 server.

The tool created the file with no problems and when I run the following command I get no error:

ovftool --schemaValidate x:\OVF\clone.ovf

Opening OVF source: x:\OVF\clone.ovf

OVF version:   1.0

Name:          clone (1)

Download Size:     5.14 GB

Deployment Sizes:

  Flat disks:     32.00 GB

  Sparse disks:    8.13 GB

Networks:

  Name:        VM Network

  Description: The VM Network network

Virtual Hardware:

  Family:       vmx-04

  Disk Types:   SCSI-lsilogic

Completed successfully

I used ovftool (1.0 running in a RHEL 5.2 VM) to create an ovf of a powered off RHEL 5.1 VM.  All was successful and I can probe the OVF without issue.  However, when I try to import it as a virtual appliance using Virtual Center 2.5 Update 5 I receive:

An error occurred while parsing the OVF descriptor:  Unable to parse xml element 'Envelope'

I've attached the ovf file.

Any ideas?

Hi All,

I'm using ovftool with the --noDisks option, but there still seems to be disk information in the .ovf file (see attachments).

I'm trying to import the virtual appliance on a ESXI 3.5 update 2 server, using VM Converter 4.0.1.

When I try and import the virtual appliance, I get the following error:

FAILED: Unable to download the OVF file 'http: //xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/vm_ovf_backups/esxi-test-disk1.vmdk'.

I thought the --noDisks option would leave out any information relating to the disks - am I wrong?

Regards, Michael

I need to write a script to remotely shotdown a guest VM, export it to .ova format an restart it.

Is there any sample I can start from?

Regards

marius

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.

hello.

         I create a ova file from my ESXi 5.0.0 with ovftool 2.1.0-467744, then I deploy this ova file into ESXi 5.0.0 is success and work well.

But I can't deploy the same ova file into VMWare Player with ovftool 2.1.0-467744 installed. Why?

         Anybody has any idea? Thanks.

Best Regards,

Hello..

Is it possible to give vCenter appliance ip, gateway, netmask etc via ovftool? Same way as to Orchestrator.

--prop:vami.DNS.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=10.0.0.69  --prop:vami.gateway.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=10.0.0.1  --prop:vami.ip0.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=10.0.0.96  --prop:vami.netmask0.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=255.255.255.0

When running these commands with ovftool, it doesnt give any errors  or anything, but it doesnt pass the variables forward either. Clearly  vCenter appliance doesnt have any "intelligence" for such feature.

ovftool --acceptAllEulas --skipManifestCheck  --datastore=storage-1 --diskMode=thin --name=vcenter --prop:vami.DNS.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=10.0.0.69   --prop:vami.gateway.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=10.0.0.1   --prop:vami.ip0.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=10.0.0.96   --prop:vami.netmask0.VMware_vCenter_Server_Appliance=255.255.255.0

/VMware-vCenter-Server-Appliance-5.0.0.3324-472350/VMware-vCenter-Server-Appliance-5.0.0.3324-472350_OVF10.ovf.backup  vi://10.0.0.10

So any tips? Do I need to create some external media and modify the appliance to add it in, which will pass the needed variables to appliance, and script which will run from init.d on start and read those?

-k-

Hello all,

I am having a problem with the ovftool.

Here's what i did.

1)I created a VM running CentOS.

2)These are the 3 files that i got.

Test.vmx

Test.vmdk (Descriptor File)

# Disk DescriptorFile

version=1

CID=5046e880

parentCID=ffffffff

createType="vmfsPreallocated"

# Extent description

RW 83886080 VMFS "Test-flat.vmdk" 0

# The Disk Data Base

#DDB

ddb.virtualHWVersion = "4"

ddb.geometry.cylinders = "83220"

ddb.geometry.heads = "16"

ddb.geometry.sectors = "63"

ddb.adapterType = "lsilogic"

Test-flat.vmdk

3) This is the command that i ran

ovftool "Test.vmx" "Test_New.ova"

Please help!

Thank you

Hi,

I am deploying a VM using a OVA format. The  size of OVA format is 60 GB. Currently free space on my datastore is 388 GB.

At the time of selecting Disk Format type if shows me in red that the disk size required is 1 TB therefore you cannot select THICK provisioning.

Therefore, i selected THIN provisiong. It THIN provisioing i am showed that Estimated Disk Usage is 112 GB which is less than the free space available.

But even after selecting THIN proviosing at the time of deployment it throws an error that it cannot create disk as the size of disk is larger than the maximum specified limit. 

My block size is of 1 MB.

Hey all. I know I am using proper syntax, but it seems like there's a missing service running on my esx cluster. I am able to log in with vSphere, but cannot use ovftool to export a stopped server in my ESX 4.0 cluster environment.

command I am using:

ovftool vi://[username]:[password]@vi://192.168.77.111/[serverid] d:\[serveridoutput].ovf

the error I am receiving is as follows:

Error: Could not lookup host: [username]

Completed with errors

Now it's interesting because the server does seem to know that I am using a proper user/pass because if I make a mistake on the password, I am given another chance to log in, until I miss three tries. If I enter the correct password, it seems to almost connect, then fails out with the above error. I would *REALLY* appreciate some help with this guys.

Thanks in advance!

hi everyone

im trying to install Solar Winds virtualization manager on my Esxi 3.5.

The appliance is on OVA format.

i got o File--> Virtual Appliance -->Import-->Import the file and i get the next error:  An error occurred while parsing the OVF descriptor: System out of memory exeption.

Then i try to extract the ova file, and i get 4 new files, one of them a OVF. then i try to use it and i get the the next error: An error occurred while parsing the OVF descriptor : Unable to parse xml element ´Envelope´.

This is a OVF version error, 3.5 use a older version of OVF, (0.9 i think).

I dont know how to install this appliance , i hope u can help me.

SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH!!!

Hi!

I'm trying to to deploy a OVF/OVA file into my vCenter but I'm getting a error message, pls help me.

"Line 61: No space left for device '5' on parent controller '4'."

(Tested to deploy other templates and it worked fine)

Any idea anyone?

okay, I know this isn't developed yet, but I thought I would ask about.

first I love VMware workstation, amazing tool. and most VMware products are quick and easy for the average user.

okay to meat of the topic. What would it take to install VMware natively withOUT a host operating system"

hear me out. I really love virtualization, and the option it gives to run ANY OS, but the drawback would be the HOST OS, I WISH there was a way to install a very simple OS that VMware creates or uses, to launch it's workstation. maybe call it "LiteStation". then with the same use of the workstation, load your OS, or OS's in many cases, being able to with such a low foot print might be able to open some doors for new technology.

now, the simple OS, it need limited capabilities, like driver install (preferably win drivers as they are the most common and most ready, but Linux drivers would be the most understandable), limited programs or possibly no program installs. but it need enough to use the full potential of the machine, so x64 would be required along with VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI + acceleration etc.... with no browsers there won't be a need to install much security, just force it to connect, but not use the network connection except to switch it over to bridge the OS's in VM-LS.

I'm sure this software is not out there yet. but think of the possibilities, it would become a 'virtual' boot-loader... running all OS's in a virtual environment, utilizing the max potential of multi-platform. I could see the diminish of speed as we allocate a % of the native hardware for use by the VM's, but still. No longer would dual booting be a norm, having to restart just to use a different OS, but booting both would increase. sure we have native, but sometimes I don't want to mess with Win/Lin/OS just to get to the one I want. and I feel the native OS limits the use of the virtual machine.

or maybe something like this is already running.... I just haven't found out.

Anyways thanks for the listening... who knows maybe VMware might want to implement something like LiteStation in their software arsenal....

Accipitor

Hi all.  I'm trying to archive some no-longer-used VMs with ovftool, and I've managed to save half of them.  The ovftool output looks like:

wpeters$ ovftool vi://root@zeus/Riverbed/VSH_250m /Volumes/Archive/VSH_250m.ova

Enter login information for source vi://zeus/

Username: root

Password: *********

Opening VI source: vi://root@zeus:443/Riverbed/VSH_250m

Opening OVA target: /Volumes/Archive/VSH_250m.ova

Writing OVA package: /Volumes/Archive/VSH_250m.ova

Transfer Completed                    

Completed successfully


 


The other half of the machines fail with the mysterious vim.fault.FileNotFound without saying which file isn't found.  I've looked at the settings for both successful and unsuccessful VMs and cannot figure out what the difference is:


 

wpeters$ ovftool vi://root@zeus/Riverbed/VSH_markt /Volumes/Archive/VSH_markt.ova

Enter login information for source vi://zeus/

Username: root

Password: *********

Opening VI source: vi://root@zeus:443/Riverbed/VSH_markt

Error: vim.fault.FileNotFound

Completed with errors

I have an OVF with an ovf:qualifiers ValueMap drop down list of strings.

I would like to map the selected string into some other values either int or string will do.

I saw in the DSP0004 Version 2.5.0 "Common Information Model (CIM) Infrastructure" document; an example in Section 5.5.2.51 ~pg 47

This example appears to do what I want, map the ValueMap list to the Values list.

BUT I can not make it work.

Here is the example text:

[Values {"zero&one", "2to40", "fifty", "the unclaimed", "128-255"}, ValueMap {"..1","2..40" "50", "..", "x80.." }]

The document implies that picking a value in the ValueMap will set the property to the coresponding value in the Values list

I get syntax errors when I use vSphere to deploy the OVF

ovf:qualifiers=[Values{...}, ValueMap{...}]

error expect ' or "

ovf:qualifiers='[Values{...}, ValueMap{...}]'

ovf:qualifiers='Values{...}, ValueMap{...}'

more syntax errors

ovf:qualifiers='ValueMap{...}, Values{...}'

The above does not have errors, but it ignores my ovf:userConfigurable="true" so there is no selection and the value is not mapped.

Without the Values{} list, the drop down list is user selectable and the property is a string from the ValueMap list.

I'm trying to use the ovftool to import a OVA file into a ESXi server.  However I get the following error

Error: OVF Package is not supported by target:
- Line 118: Unsupported element 'Property'
Completed with errors

The related lines in the OVF file are:

    <ProductSection ovf:class="vami" ovf:instance="*******">
      <Info>Information about the installed software</Info>
      <Category>Networking Properties</Category>
118-->      <Property ovf:key="gateway" ovf:type="string" ovf:userConfigurable="true">
        <Label>Default Gateway</Label>
        <Description>The default gateway address for this VM. Leave blank if DHCP is desired.</Description>
      </Property>
      <Property ovf:key="DNS" ovf:type="string" ovf:userConfigurable="true">

Based on some initial investigation I have done I beleive this is because the ProductSection is defaulting to required="true" which forces ESXi to use these fields, however ESXi doesn't seem to support this and it errors out as shown above.

The OVA file was generated using ovftoolto export VM in a vcenter instance.  This OVA file imports fine into vcenter, but not ESXi

Is there anyway to configure ovftoolwhen run against vcenter to generate required="false" in the  ProductSection elements?

    <ProductSection ovf:class="vami" ovf:instance="*******" ovf:required="false">
   
Or some otherway to get ovftoolto export a VM from vcenter as an OVA that will import into ESXi?

ovftool 2.1, ESXi 4.1, vCenter 4.1