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I am looking for a way to automate a conversion process of true image backup (.tib) files to Virtual Machines. I have been looking around VMware for a way to implement this but have left myself really unsure of what I would need.

The reason for this is that I have a bunch of these files that I would like to check to see if they are valid. I would like an automated way to grab these files, convert them, start them up, and then shut them down. I currently have everything set up, I am just lost for a way to actually convert these files.

The two closest solutions that I have found so far are these:

From my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong) I would be able to use PowerCLI to automate a way to convert these .tib files to VMs, but the catch is that I would need a VMware server or ESXi to do so. This seems to provide the ESXi that would be needed to do that.

Again, from my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong) I would be able to use this to convert the files to VMs. I have downloaded this before just to use the GUI and it seems to work up until i get to the point where it asks me for the name of the server that I would like to use. I see that there is an option to "Buy Now" on the webpage, but it just takes me to (what seems like) a products page. I figured that the buy now option would be the solution to my server issue there. My thoughts to using this would be to use the API to automate what I need.

My official questions are:

  1. I must not be the first person to want an automated way to convert these files over for testing. Does anyone have any ideas/past experiences to share?
  2. Has anyone used either of these options before?
  3. Are my assumptions correct in thinking that I need a VMware server or ESXi to convert these files?
  4. Would I be able to use the API method that I mentioned above?
Jonathan Hall
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scapegoat17
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1 Answers1

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VMware vCenter Converter has its own SOAP/WebServices based API. SDK can be found at https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/converter-sdk/

So you can automate any task basically, using a programming language which is capable to work with WebServices

Mikhail Stepura
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  • And I will not need any kind of access to using VMware servers of any kind? I can just run the conversions with no hassle? – scapegoat17 Sep 12 '13 at 12:21
  • I have been looking at the API and it seems to need server credentials to be used. Am i looking at this wrong? If my assumption is correct, what package would I need to buy from VMware to suit these needs? – scapegoat17 Sep 12 '13 at 13:14
  • The converter itself is a server, so you have to use credentials to log in into it. And if you want to convert your images into hosted VMs (which run inside ESX hosts) you have to specify credentials for the destination too. – Mikhail Stepura Sep 12 '13 at 18:38
  • Ahh! So then how would I go about getting credentials to use the server? – scapegoat17 Sep 12 '13 at 18:42
  • Just use windows/domain credentials for the machine on which you installed the Converter. Make sure you installed the Converter as a server. – Mikhail Stepura Sep 12 '13 at 21:27
  • And to specify credentials for the destination would be the same windows domain credentials then? Also, is there some sort of trick to integrating this through vs2010? I have been unable to do so as of right now... – scapegoat17 Sep 13 '13 at 12:37