VMware OVF Tool Release Notes
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Note: On Windows systems the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 is required to run this version of OVF Tool. If not available on your system, you can download and install the appropriate 32-bit or 64-bit package from Microsoft.com. New Features in This ReleaseOVF Tool 4.3 is an update to support vSphere 6.7. This software handles Open Virtualization Format (OVF) packages created with previous versions of the OVF Tool, and produces files compatible with OVF specifications 1.0 and 0.9. OVF Tool 4.3 provides these new features for security and functionality:
OVF Tool 4.2 gained these new features with the release of vSphere 6.5 U1.
System Requirements for OVF ToolOVF Tool supports the following operating systems and software. Supported Operating SystemsThe OVF Tool supports the following Windows 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x86_64) operating systems:
The OVF Tool supports the following Linux operating systems:
The OVF Tool supports the following Mac OS X 64-bit operating systems:
Supported VMware Products and PlatformsVersion 4.3 of the OVF Tool supports the following VMware software:
OVF support is built into the vSphere (Web) Client that installs from vCenter Server. It is compatible with vSphere and ESXi hosts. Newer versions of vSphere supply later versions of the OVF Tool. Space Requirements for OVF PackagesA virtual machine is stored as a set of files on disk. In the VMware runtime format, these files have extensions .vmx, .vmdk, .vmsd, .vmxf, and .nvram. The VMware hypervisor requires these file formats, which are optimized for efficient execution. An ESXi host often uses fully allocated flat disks in a VMFS file system to optimize virtual machine performance. The OVF standard supports efficient, secure distribution of vApps and virtual machine templates. OVF is optimized for these goals, rather than for efficient runtime execution. OVF does not include specific information on runtime disk format because such information is not required until the virtual machine is deployed. When you package appliances with OVF, you can optimize one vApp for high performance in a production environment, and optimize another for minimal storage space during evaluation. The following table contrasts a virtual machine in VMware file format with a virtual machine in OVF format. OVF employs a compressed sparse format for VMDK files. Virtual disks in that format cannot be used directly for execution without conversion.
Installing the OVF ToolDownload the Installer
Complete the Installation StepsFollow this procedure for all installations:
Running the OVF Tool from a Windows Command LineAfter installing the OVF Tool on Windows, you can run the OVF Tool from the Windows command line.
If you have the OVF Tool folder in your Path environment variable, you can run the OVF Tool from the command line. Adding the OVF Tool to your Path Environment VariableThe following instructions are for Windows 7, but the steps are similar on other Windows systems.
Resolved Issues in this ReleaseSupport for NVM or PMEM storage type and devices was extended in vSphere 6.7.
Features are in the OVF parser shared by OVF Tool, ESXi, and vCenter Server.
The
OVF Tool ignored a host exception, sometimes causing read errors after VM deployment.
After network disconnect and reconnect,
if the ESXi host failed a write and responded with status code 500,
the Deployment sometimes failed with secure hash algorithm (SHA) digest mismatch. Previously an OVF file transfer would complete but this error prevented deployment: “SHA digest of file https://location does not match manifest.” The fix was to alter the HTTP head request and use it in the URL, thereby avoiding the SHA mismatch.
The NVRAM file was not exported correctly for UEFI type virtual machines.
The fix was to extend the OVF template to include components for UEFI boot enabled
virtual machines in the When an OVF template is deployed from Content Library, the PMEM storage policy, and other storage policies, are disregarded. Storage policies are applied by OVF Tool but not supported for Content Library import. See KB 52370. When it encounters an HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP style URL, OVF Tool now treats it as OVF source type, which it usually is.
On some systems the On rare occasions the OVF Tool would hang, sometimes for days. The cause is unknown, but the fix was simple: avoid entering a loop if zero worker threads exist. Known Issues in This Version
As of release 6.5 U1,
the Although it supports OVF specifications 0.9 and 1.0, OVF Tool does not support OVF specification 2.0 (not to be confused with OVF Tool version 2.0). For workarounds to allow import of VirtualBox OVF 2.0, see this web page.
The You cannot use OVF Tool for deploying a VM to static DVS port groups. To work around this issue:
Deprecated FeaturesThe ESXi and vCenter Server versions older than 5.5 are deprecated; the next release will not support them. Support for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 was discontinued in the previous release of OVF Tool, version 4.2.
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