Networking Troubleshooting topics: VMware Export Import Virtual Machines Guide

You can move virtual machines from one virtual platform to another virtual platform using the import and export virtual machine feature. For example, you can export a virtual machine running on the VMware Workstation host and then you can import it into the Hyper-V host. In this post, we will explain how to export import virtual machines in VMware platform.

Importing Virtual Machines

If you want to run the virtual machines on VMware Workstation exported from the other virtualization platform such as VirtualBox or Hyper-V, you can do this by importing the virtual machines to VMware Workstation. VMware Workstation supports the following types of virtual machines:

Windows XP Mode virtual machines
Open Virtualization Format (OVF) virtual machines
Windows Virtual PC virtual machines

To import a virtual machine in Workstation, you need to perform the following steps:

On the VMware Workstation console, click File, and then click Open.
Browse and select the location of the supported virtual machine configuration file and then run the virtual machine in Workstation.

Exporting Virtual Machines

You can export a virtual machine from VMware Workstation to OVF format. OVF is a platform-independent, open packaging, and distribution format for virtual machines. It provides a complete specification of the virtual machine, including the full list of required virtual disks and the required virtual hardware configuration. In addition, you can also use the standalone OVF Tool to convert a VMware-based virtual machine. Before exporting a virtual machine to an OVF virtual machine, make sure that the virtual machine is not encrypted and it is powered off.
Also read: Encrypted Virtual Machine.
To export a virtual machine to an OVF format, you need to perform the following steps:

Select the virtual machine that you want to export, click File, and then click Export to OVF.
On the Export Virtual Machine to OVF window, type a name for the OVF file and specify a directory in which to save it.
Click Save to start the OVF export process.
The export process can take several minutes. A status bar indicates the progress of the export process.

That’s’ all you need to do to export import virtual machines in VMware Workstation. Hope, it helped you and you have loved it. Do share the article.

August 7, 2016 by ProTechGurus

VMware Physical to Virtual Conversion – Step By Step Guide

Physical to Virtual (P2V) is a conversion process that allows you to convert a physical machine into a virtual hard disk (VHD) file. This VHD file can be imported on a host machine running with the compatible version of VMware Workstation. In this post, we are going focus on how to perform the VMware physical to virtual conversion using VMware vCenter Converter. For this, we will convert a Windows physical machine to VMware virtual machine.

Prerequisites of VMware Physical to Virtual Conversion

Before performing VMware physical to virtual conversion process, you should verify that the physical machine meets the following prerequisites:

The physical machine is running on the compatible version of operating system.
You have the administrative privilege on the physical machine.
Workstation host system has network connectivity to the physical machine.
On the Workstation host system, User Account Control (UAC) is disabled.
On the physical machine, Firewall is disabled.

Performing VMware Physical to Virtual Conversion

Once you verified the prerequisites, you need to perform the following steps for the VMware physical to virtual conversion:

Download the compatible version of VMware vCenter Converter.
Install the VMware vCenter Converter Standalone tool.
Execute the setup file and follow the on-screen instructions to install VMware vCenter Converter Standalone.
Once the installation is finished, clopen the VMware Workstation console.
On the host system, open the VMware Workstation console, click File, and then select Virtualize a Physical Machine.
Provide the following details:
- Hostname or IP address
- Username
- Password
For the testing purpose, you can test it with the localhost system.
Note: You must use the Administrator account or a user account that is a member of the local Administrators group.
On the Store the new Virtual Machine page, type a name for the new virtual machine, specify a location where you want to store the virtual machine files, and then click Next.
On the Create a Network Share page, type the user name and password of the host system.
Click Finish to create a virtual machine from the physical machine. The physical to virtual conversion process starts.
To monitor the conversion process, log in to VMware vCenter Converter console.
In the vCenter Converter console, verify the status of the P2V conversion process. The time required for the conversion process depends on the data stored on the physical machine.

That’s all you need to do to perform the VMware physical to virtual conversion process.