VMware VCENTER CONVERTER EN-000158-02 - Manual (Page 18)

you can use Converter Standalone to reconfigure it. You can also reconfigure
any operating system installed on a multiboot machine if you imported the
virtual machine to an ESX host. Before you reconfigure a multiboot machine,
you must change the boot.ini file.
Converting and
exporting virtual
appliances You can convert and export virtual appliances stored in Open Virtual Machine
Format (OVF and OVA). You can import a virtual appliance to run in an
existing ESX host or Workstation virtual machine, or you can export an existing
VMware virtual machine to an OVF virtual appliance to share over the
network.
Virtual Appliance Overview
Converter Standalone supports importing virtual appliances stored in OVF 0.9 or OVF 1.0 and creating virtual
appliances stored in OVF 1.0. An appliance is a preconfigured virtual machine that typically includes a
preinstalled guest operating system and other software. Importing virtual appliances allows you to add
preconfigured virtual machines to your vCenter, ESX Server, or Workstation inventory.
Importing a virtual appliance is similar to deploying a virtual machine from a template. You can import a
virtual appliance from any local file system accessible from the source machine or from a remote Web server.
Local file systems can include local disks (such as C: ), removable media (such as CDs or USB key chain drives),
and shared network drives.
OVF is not a bootable format. You cannot boot the file in a virtualization platform in its current state. You must
import the appliance to either a hosted or managed destination to boot it.
In addition to importing virtual appliances with Converter Standalone, you can also import OVF virtual
appliances to ESX Server or a VirtualCenter server by using VI Client 2.5.
Every OVF virtual appliance contains a
.ovf file with metadata that describes the virtual appliance. An OVF
virtual appliance can be packaged as a .ovf file where the .ovf file is a tarred file that contains all of the files
in the OVF virtual appliance.
Managing Tasks
Converter Standalone provides a task manager to manage conversion tasks and configuration tasks.
After you create a task to import or configure a machine, use the Task View of the task manager to perform
the following tasks:
n Control the number of concurrent conversion or configuration tasks.
n Create a copy of a task and edit it.
n Cancel a task.
n Delete a task.
n View a task’s progress.
n Export and view the log files for a task or for all tasks.
n Filter tasks that are displayed in the task list.
User's Guide
18 VMware, Inc.