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How can I export a VM in the OVA format with VMware ESXi 6.5?

In vCenter (vSphere Client version 6.5) I can only export as an OVF. The same is true for the ESXi web client.

The old application (VMware vSphere Client 6.0 and bellow) allowed me to pick OVA, but I can't access an ESXi 6.5 host with this application. The error I get is:

"The required client support files need to be retrieved from the server "0.0.0.0" and installed"

I've tried using VMware OVF Tool to convert from OVF + VMDK to OVA without success. Is there any other solution?

NBajanca
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3 Answers3

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You can use the PowerCLI cmdlet Export-VApp.

From the documentation:

If the value of the Destination parameter is a folder, the vApp or the virtual machine is exported to a container folder (OVF). If the destination is a file, the vApp or the virtual machine is exported in OVA format.

Don't let the name fool you, it's not only for VApps.

Gerald Schneider
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  • Thank you. Using the following worked: ``Export-VApp -Destination C:\Users\...\myvm.ova -vm myvm -Format Ova`` – NBajanca Aug 30 '18 at 15:02
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Try to directly copy the Virtual Machine with VHDX from old ESXi 6.5 to the ESXi 6.0 and register that on the ESXi 6.0.

Stuka
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Exporting an OVF creates and downloads a bunch of files. If you have a Linux machine , you can create a tarball of the dowloaded .ovf, .vmdk and .mf files.

tar -cvf newvm.ova newvm.ovf newvm.vmdk newvm.mf

This will create a newvm.ova file which can be exported.

Note: If the VM has multiple disks, add all the downloaded .vmdk files.

Dino505
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