Importing Virtual Machine from Oracle VirtualBox to VMware Fusion, Workstation, or Player

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

The article provides steps to import a virtual machine running in Oracle VirtualBox to VMware Fusion, Workstation, or Player.

Environment

VMware Fusion 3.x
VMware Fusion 4.x
VMware Fusion 5.x
VMware Fusion 6.x
VMware Fusion 7.x
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware Fusion 10.x
VMware Fusion 11.x
VMware Fusion Pro 8.x
VMware Fusion Pro 10.x
VMware Fusion Pro 11.x
VMware Player 3.x (Linux)
VMware Player 3.x (Windows )
VMware Player 4.x (Linux)
VMware Player 4.x (Windows)
VMware Player 5.x (Linux)
VMware Player 5.x (Windows)
VMware Player 6.x (Linux)
VMware Player 6.x (Windows)
VMware Player 7.x (Linux)
VMware Player 7.x (Windows)
VMware Player Pro 7.x (Linux)
VMware Player Pro 7.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation Player 12.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Player 12.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Player 14.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Player 14.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Player 15.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Player 15.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows)

Resolution

Process to Import a Virtual Machine Running in an Oracle VirtualBox to VMware Fusion, Workstation, or Player:

To import a virtual machine running in Oracle VirtualBox, you must

• Export the virtual machine from VirtualBox to an Open Virtualization Format Archive (.ova file) and then
• Import this file to VMware Fusion, Workstation, or Player.

To export the virtual machine from VirtualBox to an Open Virtualization Format Archive (.ova file):

1. Power off the virtual machine in VirtualBox. If the virtual machine is in a suspended state, power on the virtual machine and shut it down.
2. Click File > Export Appliance.
3. Select one or more VMs to export, and click Next.
4. Select a Format & provide a location to store the .ova file.
5. Follow the onscreen instructions to make the necessary changes.
6. Click Export to begin the export process.

Note: The time taken to export depends on the size of the virtual machine's virtual disk.

 

After the export completes, import the .ova file in VMware Fusion, Workstation, or Player.

To import the .ova file to VMware Fusion, Workstation, or Player, see:

• VMware Fusion – Import an Open Virtualization Format Virtual Machine
• VMware Workstation and Player – Import an Open Virtualization Format Virtual Machine

Follow the steps below after the import completes:

1. Uninstall/remove VirtualBox Guest Additions from the virtual machine.
2. Restart the virtual machine.
3. Install VMware Tools. For more information, see Overview of VMware Tools (315382).

Additional Information

When importing the .ova file to VMware Fusion, Workstation, or Player, you may see this error:

The import failed because .ova did not pass the OVF specification conformance or virtual hardware compliance checks

 

If you see this error, click Retry with lower specifications to relax the specification and start the import.

Overview of VMware Tools