Exporting a Virtual Machine as a Single OVA File in vSphere 6.5 and Later

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Users are unable to directly export a virtual machine (VM) as a single OVA (Open Virtual Appliance) file in vSphere 6.5 and newer versions. The standard export process results in multiple OVF (Open Virtualization Format) files instead of a single OVA file.

Environment

- VMware vSphere 7.0 or later
- vSphere Client

Cause

Starting from vSphere 6.5, VMware removed the direct option to export VMs as single OVA files from the vSphere Client. This change was made to improve compatibility and standardization across different platforms and products.

Resolution

To create a single OVA file, follow these steps:

1. Export the VM as an OVF template:
   
   
   1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
      
      
   2. Locate and right-click on the VM you want to export.
      
      
   3. Select Template > Export OVF Template.
      
      
   4. Choose a destination for the exported files and complete the export process.
      
      
2. Use the OVF Tool to convert the exported OVF files to a single OVA:
   
   
   1. If not already installed, download and install the OVF Tool from:
      Open Virtualization Format (OVF) Tool
      
      
   2. Open a command prompt with administrator privileges.
      
      
   3. Navigate to the OVF Tool installation directory:
      cd "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware OVF Tool"
      
      
   4. Run the following command to convert the OVF to OVA:
      ovftool path\to\exported\file.ovf path\to\destination\file.ova
      
      
   5. Replace "path\to\exported\file.ovf" with the path to your exported OVF file, and "path\to\destination\file.ova" with the desired path and filename for your new OVA file.
      
      
3. Verify that the OVA file has been created successfully.
   
   
   

   Flowchart showing OVF to OVA process:

   

 

Additional Information

- For more information on using the OVF Tool, refer to the VMware OVF Tool User Guide. The link to this guide is also in Open Virtualization Format (OVF) Tool.
- For additional details on OVF Tool command syntax, see the article OVF Tool Command Syntax to Export and Deploy OVA/OVF Packages.
- If you encounter the following issue, here is the link to resolve it:
   "The OVF package is invalid and cannot be deployed" error when deploying the OVA