Exporting an ovf template with VMWare (Part 1)

Description

The purpose of this 3 part lab is to import a VM as an AWS ami using VM import/export. However, before we get to the AWS portion, we need to convert our virtual machine into a acceptable format to be uploaded. The first part of the lab will inform users on how to successfully export a virtual machine from VMWare vsphere 6.0 into an ovf template which we will later convert to an .ova file to be used to create an AWS machine image (AMI) and launch an ec2 instance. Although this can be done in multiple operating systems, this lab was being conducted from a Windows OS.

If you are using Citrix, Microsoft Hyper-V or Azure check out the links below on how to export VM’s from those environments.

Citrix , Hyper-V , Azure (Windows) , Azure (Linux)

Now, these are merely steps because the environment utilized had confidential information. However, if you follow these steps it will all make sense.

What’s an ovf package?

The open virtualization format or ovf is an open standard for packaging and distributing virtual appliances. The standard details open, secure, portable and efficient ways for packing and distributing software to be ran in virtual machines. The purpose of an ovf package captures the state of a virtual machine into a self contained package. The disk files are stored into a compressed sparse format.

Prerequisites

Before attempting to conduct the export, you want to ensure that the virtual machine is not currently running.

Steps

1. Once in vSphere client, find the virtual machine you’re interested in exporting and perform the following steps:
2. File > Export > Export OVF Template
3. In the OVF template dialog, type the template name (ex. NewVM)
4. Next , browse for the location where the exported template is to be saved. I decided to simply save mine to the C:\ Drive, which is the default location. I am going to name the file as ovfpkg.
5. In the format field, specify how you want the files stored. Which you will have two options:

A.)Folders of files (OVF) to store the OVF template as a set of files (.mf, .ovf, .vdmk) which .mf is the manifest , .ovf is exactly what it says it is and .vmdk is the virtual disk image.

B.)Single file (OVA) to package the ovf template into a single .ova file. This is beneficial if you’re wanting to distribute the package as a single file, if it needs to be downloaded from a website or moved around via USB.

Sidenote: Using option (b. Single file- .ova) is the simplistic option, but when I initially did this lab, I didn’t do that. Instead, I took the scenic route and stored the files as an ovf template.

6. After deciding what format to store the files, in the description field, write a brief description for the virtual machine (ex.purpose of the machine or type of server, etc.) However, the text from the notes pane on the virtual machine’s summary tab will automatically appear, so if you’re cool with that — proceed.

7. Select “Ok”.

If you chose to store the files as an .ova , you’ve reached the end of the road and won’t need to convert the format. However, if you’re like me and like to learn things the hard way — come on over to part 2 of the lab and see how to export the file format.

Sincerely,

Carlintheclouds