Converting OVF File Using Ovftool From Virtualbox

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Dasam, Chetan
From: Rangari, Anil
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Subject: FW: Converting OVF file using ovftool from VirtualB... | VMware Communities

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Sent: 15 April 2014 15:02
To: Rangari, Anil
Subject: Converting OVF file using ovftool from VirtualB... | VMware Communities

12 Replies Latest reply: 06-Aug-2012 23:40 by natespringer

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Converting OVF file using ovftool from VirtualBox produces error "Line
39: Unsupported element 'Caption'" and many more errors
This question is Not Answered.

abcuser (10 posts since 06-May-2007) 06-Aug-2010 05:59
Hi,

I would like to convert VirtualBox 3.2.4 virtual machine to VMWare ESX 4.0.
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In VirtualBox I have exported appliance to 0.9 format and then follow the following tutorial: http://www.ctrip.ufl.edu/howto-convert-virtualbox-to-vmware

When executing command "ovftool my.ovf my.vmx" I got the following error:

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Opening OVF source: e:\VMW\my.ovf
Warning: No manifest file
Opening VMX target: e:\VMW\my.vmx
Error:

Line 39: Unsupported element 'Caption'
Line 40: Unsupported element 'Description'
Line 41: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'
Line 42: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'
Line 43: Unsupported element 'VirtualQuantity'
Line 37: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.
Line 37: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.
Line 51: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'
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Line 66: Unsupported element 'Connection'
Line 81: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'
Line 92: Unsupported element 'HostResource'
Line 94: Unsupported element 'Parent'
Line 99: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'
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Line 103: Unsupported element 'Parent'

Please see attached ovf file.

What should I do?

Thanks
my.ovf (16.3 K) .
18762 Views

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1. Re: Converting OVF file using ovftool from VirtualBox produces error "Line 39: Unsupported element 'Caption'" and many more errors
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Eske (215 posts since 25-May-2009) 06-Aug-2010 06:13 (in response to abcuser)

ovftool 2.0 have added a "--lax" mode where you should be able to import an VirtualBox OVF to ESX/vCenter 4.0

try something like

ovftool --lax my.ovf vi://USERNAME:PASSWORD/NAME_OF_HOST/

or if you just want it was a vmx file to use it in fusion/workstation try:

ovftool --lax my.ovf my_great_vm.vmx

For more info on options please download the Ovftool userguide for ovftool 2.0

Eske

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Eske (215 posts since 25-May-2009) 06-Aug-2010 06:21 (in response to Eske)

hmm I just tried it and --lax mode only works for OVF 1.0 OVFs from virtualbox.

Could you try to export it in OVF 1.0 format and test it with ovftool --lax

eske

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abcuser (10 posts since 06-May-2007) 09-Aug-2010 05:03 (in response to Eske)

Eske, I have tried several different options to convert from v0.9 and v1.0 OVF format and nothing really worked without problems.

Now I have solved the problem using (downloading) VMware Converter. Installed this converter inside VirtualBox Windows guest and create new image. Then opened the
image with VMWare Workstation and it works fine.

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eljeque (2 posts since 06-Mar-2010) 23-Jan-2011 10:34 (in response to abcuser)
No solution yet? I'm just trying to Import an OVF file and got the same command line errors.
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5. Re: Converting OVF file using ovftool from VirtualBox produces error "Line 39: Unsupported element 'Caption'" and many
more errors

Eske (215 posts since 25-May-2009) 23-Jan-2011 10:57 (in response to eljeque)
ovftool version 2.0.1 includes a --lax option you can use.

eske

Den 23/01/2011 kl. 19.34 skrev eljeque:

VMware Communities<http://communities.vmware.com/index.jspa>

Converting OVF file using ovftool from VirtualBox produces error "Line 39: Unsupported element 'Caption'" and many more errors
reply from eljeque<http://communities.vmware.com/people/eljeque> in Open Virtualization Format Tool - View the full
discussion<http://communities.vmware.com/message/1685012#1685012
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more errors

eljeque (2 posts since 06-Mar-2010) 24-Jan-2011 08:21 (in response to Eske)
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Thanks for the Feedback Eske, i try to use the ovftool -lax command but show me the same error, i also try to find somemething about the --lax option in the OVF Tool
Guide but don't find anything.
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more errors

ppehrson (1 posts since 30-Apr-2011) 30-Apr-2011 12:10 (in response to eljeque)
It has absolutely NO EFFECT to use lax.
Why does VMware support the open standards officially, when their programs don't???
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more errors

Eske (215 posts since 25-May-2009) 01-May-2011 10:49 (in response to ppehrson)
Sorry, I don't see your point?

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Please remember that this OVF was created with Virtualbox. We do not control how VirtualBox produce the OVF. We cooperate with them to getter better std
conformance for all vendors. We added the --lax method to allow ovftool imports to be more lax around the standard. All the erros you see is where VB do not conform.

If you know of places where we don't not follow the standard please tell us so this can get fixed.

eske
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richardturner (1 posts since 21-Sep-2006) 05-Oct-2011 06:53 (in response to abcuser)
Added to the thread for those arriving from Google etc

The errors appear to be based on the order of the elements. I had exported from VirtualBox and followed the various tutorials. Found that VB had exported the elements in
a random order. By editing the ovf file I found I could clear the errors and convert the file

For each item, make sure that the elements are in this order

Caption
Description
InstanceId
ResourceType
ResourceSubType
..... and then the remaining attributes

Parent should be before AddressOnParent
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example

<Item>
<rasd:Caption>ideController0</rasd:Caption>
<rasd:Description>IDE Controller</rasd:Description>
<rasd:InstanceId>3</rasd:InstanceId>
<rasd:ResourceType>5</rasd:ResourceType>
<rasd:ResourceSubType>PIIX4</rasd:ResourceSubType>
<rasd:Address>0</rasd:Address>
<rasd:BusNumber>0</rasd:BusNumber>
</Item>

Hope that helps

Richard Turner
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blairo (1 posts since 11-Jan-2012) 11-Jan-2012 12:57 (in response to richardturner)
richardturner wrote:

The errors appear to be based on the order of the elements. I had exported from VirtualBox and followed the various tutorials. Found that VB had exported the
elements in a random order. By editing the ovf file I found I could clear the errors and convert the file

For each item, make sure that the elements are in this order
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Caption
Description
InstanceId
ResourceType
ResourceSubType
..... and then the remaining attributes

Parent should be before AddressOnParent

Hope that helps

Worked for me, thanks! Had this problem after exporting to Legacy OVF from VirtualBox 4.1.6, so this is an ongoing issue.

Cheers,
~Blair
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cardsict (1 posts since 16-Sep-2010) 19-Jan-2012 01:31 (in response to blairo)
Thanks for this info, Worked for me !

Exported to legacy OVF Virtualbox 4.1.8; still some manual adjustments required.
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regards,
Patrick
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natespringer (1 posts since 22-Jul-2012) 06-Aug-2012 23:40 (in response to cardsict)
Worked for me exporting to ova and converting to ovf using ovftool. No need for --lax... in fact, it was an unrecognized command.
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