Virtual Machines and Appliance can be imported and exported using the Web Client. VMware supports the “Open Virtual Machine Format” or .OVF format which consists of an .OVF, VMX and VMDK files which are uncompressed (although are commonly bundled together in .zip format to allow for ease of download) and also the .OVA package which is actually a .tar archive containing the .OVF files. Both OVA and OVF are natively supported by the Web Client, however, there are some technologies such as VMware vCloud Director that only support the .OVF format. As .OVA packages are merely .tar achives they can be extracted, and imported using the native .OVF descriptor file in needed.

One good example of using pre-packaged OVF/OVA virtual machine is so called “Skinny Linux” distributions. These are popular in homelabs where memory and diskspace maybe at a premium. These distributions of Linux use an incredibly small amount of resources, and allow SysAdmins to build lab environments that look and feel much larger than than they actually are. The sources of this distributions are many and varied but often they start the lives as recovery CD-ROMs, which have been installed to disk. However, these Linux distributions are not with limits – they are often not supported by VMware, have very small disk sizes based on IDE virtual disks, and frequently do not contain VMware Tools. This means that features such as reporting the IP address of the VM, or soft reboot/shutdown options are not available. Examples include SliTax and TTYLinux available onmikelaverick.com and DSL hosted on virtualmikebrown.com

Importing an OVF/OVA Template:

OVFS/OVAs can be downloaded from the owners website first, and then imported into vCenter – alternatively if you know the URL for OVF/OVA you can import it directly into vCenter assuming that there is no special authentication required or firewall restrictions

1. Right-click the Datacenter/Cluster or Host that you wish to use for the OVF/OVA import select Deploy OVF Template

2. Either paste the URL for the OVF/OVA OR use the Local File option to Browse for the location to which it has been downloaded

3. Read the Review Details page. In commercially available virtual appliance expect to see the Version, Vendor and Publisher fields to be completed

4. Type a friendly name, and select inventory location in vCenter for the new VM

5. Select a virtual disk format, together with a datastore for the VM

6. Configure the VM’s network settings, by selecting a portgroup for the VM

7. Finally, indicate whether you would like the VM to be powered on after the import process has completed – and click Finish.

Exporting to OVF/OVA Template:

The vCenter Web Client supports the exporting of any VM into either the OVF or OVA format. For those people wanting to have full control over the process of building a virtual appliance, there is the free VMware Studiodistribution that assists in this process. It is a free development tool for authoring, updating and managing virtual appliances and vApps that are optimized for VMware product platforms. Remember a VM encapsulates the operating system and all the applications installed to it – so care must be taken not to breach any license restrictions and agreements.

1. Right-click the target VM, and select All vCenter Actions, and Export OVF Template

2. Type a friendly generic name for the exported VM

Note: If OVF is used as the format, this creates directory by the configured name within which the OVF files are held with the same name. If OVA is selected a single compressed .OVA file created at the location specified with the choose button.

3. Use the Choose button to select a location to export the OVA/OVF file

4. Under Format, select the type of export either OVF or OVA

5. In Annotation provide a friendly description of the OVF/OVA

Note: As the dialog box indicates, the advanced options expose attributes that could decrease the portability of the VM.