virt-convert(1M) System Administration Commands virt-convert(1M)NAMEvirt-convert - convert virtual machines between formats
SYNOPSISvirt-convert [option]... input.vmx | input.ovf | input-dir
[output.xml | output-dir]
DESCRIPTION
The virt-convert program is a command line tool for converting virtual
machines (VMs) from one format to another. It accepts either a VM defi‐
nition file (such as VMware vmx format) or a directory containing a VM.
By default, a new VM definition file, and converted disk images, will
be placed in a new output directory.
If an output directory is specified, it will be created if necessary,
and the output VM definition placed within the new directory, along
with any disk images, as needed.
If an output VM definition file is specified, it will be created along‐
side any disks in the same directory.
OPTIONS
Any of the following options can be omitted, in which case virt-convert
will use defaults when required. An input VM definition or containing
directory must be provided. By default, an output directory is gener‐
ated based upon the name of the VM. The default input format is VMware
vmx, and the default output format is a libvirt "image" XML definition.
-a, --arch=arch
Architecture of the virtual machine (i686, x86_64, ppc). Defaults
to that of the host machine.
-D, --disk-format=format
Output disk format, or none if no conversion should be performed.
format is one of:
none
No disks are converted or copied.
vmdk
VMWare VMDK format
raw
raw file
vdisk
vdisk format (see vdiskadm(1M))
-d, --debug
Display debugging information.
-h, --help
Display the help message and exit.
-i, --input-format format
Input format. Currently, vmx and ovf are supported.
--noacpi
Override the OS type and variant to disable the ACPI setting for
fully virtualized guest.
--noapic
Override the OS type and variant to disable the APIC setting for
fully virtualized guest.
-o, --output-format format
Output format. Currently, the supported output formats are virt-
instance and virt-image. virt-instance is the recommended format
for Solaris.
--os-type=os_type
Optimize the guest configuration for a type of operating system.
This will attempt to pick the most suitable ACPI and APIC settings,
optimally supported mouse drivers, and generally accommodate other
operating system quirks. See virt-install(1M) for a list of valid
operating system types.
--os-variant=os_variant
Further optimize the guest configuration for a specific operating
system variant. This parameter is optional. See virt-install(1M)
for a list of valid operating system variants.
-p, --paravirt
Create a paravirtualized guest image. Convert machine to a paravir‐
tualized Xen-based image.
-q, --quiet
Avoid verbose output.
-v, --hvm
Create a fully virtualized guest image. Convert machine to a
hvm/qemu-based image (this is the default if --paravirt is not
specified).
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Converting a VMware VMX appliance
The following sequence of commands converts a VMware VMX appliance and
imports it into Solaris xVM.
# virt-convert-o virt-instance /guests/vmx-appliance/ \
/guests/xvm-appliance/
# virsh define --relative-path=/guests/xvm-appliance/ \
\guests/xvm-appliance/appliance.xml
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │system/xvm/header-xvm │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │Volatile │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOvdiskadm(1M), virt-install(1M), attributes(5), xvm(5)CAVEATS
Not all conversions will result in a working guest installation. If the
source OS image is configured to use SCSI disks, the use of IDE disks
may cause the OS boot to fail. Some images may be configured to use the
VMware drivers such as vlance. In the vlance case and in general,
device emulation support may not be sufficient for all OS installa‐
tions.
AUTHORS
Written by Joey Boggs and John Levon.
See the AUTHORS file in the source distribution for the complete list
of credits.
SunOS 5.11 5 Nov 2009 virt-convert(1M)
