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The purpose of this interface is to make it easier for callers to import VMs and vApps from OVF packages and to export VI packages to OVF. In the following description, the term "client" is used to mean any caller of the interface.
This interface only converts between OVF and VI types. To actually import and export entities, use ImportVApp, ExportVm and ExportVApp.
The client calls parseDescriptor to obtain information about the OVF descriptor. This typically includes information (such as a list of networks) that must be mapped to VI infrastructure entities.
The OVF descriptor is validated against the OVF Specification, and any errors or warnings are returned as part of the ParseResult. For example, the parser might encounter a section marked required that it does not understand, or the XML descriptor might be malformed.
The client decides on network mappings, datastore, properties etc. It then calls createImportSpec to obtain the parameters needed to call ImportVApp.
If any warnings are present, the client will review these and decide whether to proceed or not. If errors are present, the ImportSpec will be missing, so the client is forced to give up or fix the problems and then try again.
The client now calls ImportVApp, passing the ImportSpec as a parameter. This will create the virtual machines and VirtualApp objects in VI and return locations to which the files of the entity can be uploaded. It also returns a lease that controls the duration of the lock taken on the newly created inventory objects. When all files have been uploaded, the client must release this lease.
In addition to the entity reference itself, information about the choices made on these files is passed to createDescriptor as a list of OvfFile instances.
The client must inspect and act upon warnings and errors as previously described.
No matter if the export succeeds or fails, the client is responsible for releasing the shared state lock taken on the entity (by ExportVm or ExportVApp) during the export.
Errors cause processing to abort by definition.
Properties
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
ovfExportOption* P | OvfOptionInfo[] |
Returns an array of OvfOptionInfo object that specifies what options the server
support for exporting an OVF descriptor.
Since vSphere API 5.1 |
ovfImportOption* P | OvfOptionInfo[] |
Returns an array of OvfOptionInfo object that specifies what options the server
support for modifing/relaxing the OVF import process.
Since vSphere API 5.1 |
Methods
Methods defined in this Managed Object |
---|
CreateDescriptor, CreateImportSpec, ParseDescriptor, ValidateHost |
To create the complete OVF descriptor, the client must already have downloaded the files that are part of the entity, because information about these files (compression, chunking, filename etc.) is part of the descriptor.
However, these downloads can be quite time-consuming, so if the descriptor for some reason cannot be generated, the client will want to know this before downloading the files.
For this reason, the client may do an initial "dry run" with the ovfFiles parameter unset. Default filenames will then be used in the descriptor, and the client can examine any warnings and/or errors before downloading the files.
After the final call to this method, client must release the lock on the entity given to it by ExportVm or ExportVApp.
Parameters
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
_this | ManagedObjectReference | A reference to the OvfManager used to make the method call. |
obj P | ManagedObjectReference
to a ManagedEntity |
The entity to export. Supported types are VirtualMachine
and VirtualApp.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
cdp P | OvfCreateDescriptorParams |
Parameters to the method, bundled in an instance of
CreateDescriptorParams.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
Return Value
Type | Description |
---|---|
OvfCreateDescriptorResult | An instance of CreateDescriptorResult |
Faults
Type | Description |
---|---|
ConcurrentAccess | Thrown if a concurrency issue prevents the operation from succeeding. |
FileFault | Thrown if there is a generic file error |
InvalidState | Thrown if the operation failed due to the current state of the system. |
RuntimeFault | Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error. |
TaskInProgress | Thrown if a required managed entity is busy. |
VmConfigFault | Thrown if a configuration issue prevents the operation from succeeding. Typically, a more specific subclass is thrown. |
Events
Type | |
---|---|
None |
Parameters
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
_this | ManagedObjectReference | A reference to the OvfManager used to make the method call. |
ovfDescriptor P | xsd:string |
The OVF descriptor of the entity.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
resourcePool P | ManagedObjectReference
to a ResourcePool |
The resource pool to import the entity to. May be a
vApp.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
datastore P | ManagedObjectReference
to a Datastore |
The datastore on which to create the inventory objects
of the entity, for example "storage1". The privilege
Datastore.AllocateSpace is required on the datastore.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
cisp P | OvfCreateImportSpecParams |
Additional parameters to the method, bundled in an instance of
CreateImportSpecParams.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
Return Value
Type | Description |
---|---|
OvfCreateImportSpecResult |
Faults
Type | Description |
---|---|
ConcurrentAccess | Thrown if a concurrency issue prevents the operation from succeeding. |
FileFault | Thrown if there is a generic file error |
InvalidDatastore | |
InvalidState | Thrown if the operation failed due to the current state of the system. |
RuntimeFault | Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error. |
TaskInProgress | Thrown if a required managed entity is busy. |
VmConfigFault | Thrown if a configuration issue prevents the operation from succeeding. Typically, a more specific subclass is thrown. |
Events
Type | |
---|---|
None |
Typically, this method is called once without a deploymentOption parameter to obtain the values for the default deployment option. Part of the result is the list of possible deployment options. To obtain the values for a particular deployment option, call this method again, specifying that option.
Parameters
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
_this | ManagedObjectReference | A reference to the OvfManager used to make the method call. |
ovfDescriptor P | xsd:string |
The OVF descriptor to examine.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
pdp P | OvfParseDescriptorParams |
Additional parameters for parseDescriptor, wrapped in an instance of
ParseDescriptorParams.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
Return Value
Type | Description |
---|---|
OvfParseDescriptorResult | The information about the descriptor |
Faults
Type | Description |
---|---|
ConcurrentAccess | Thrown if a concurrency issue prevents the operation from succeeding. |
FileFault | Thrown if there is a generic file error |
InvalidState | Thrown if the operation failed due to the current state of the system. |
RuntimeFault | Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error. |
TaskInProgress | Thrown if a required managed entity is busy. |
VmConfigFault | Thrown if a configuration issue prevents the operation from succeeding. Typically, a more specific subclass is thrown. |
Events
Type | |
---|---|
None |
More specifically, this means whether or not the host supports the virtual hardware required by the OVF descriptor.
Parameters
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
_this | ManagedObjectReference | A reference to the OvfManager used to make the method call. |
ovfDescriptor P | xsd:string |
The OVF descriptor to examine.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
host P | ManagedObjectReference
to a HostSystem |
The host to validate against.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
vhp P | OvfValidateHostParams |
Additional parameters for validateHost, wrapped in a ValidateHostParams
instance.
Since vSphere API 4.0 |
Return Value
Type | Description |
---|---|
OvfValidateHostResult | A ValidateResult instance containing any warnings and/or errors from the validation. |
Faults
Type | Description |
---|---|
ConcurrentAccess | Thrown if a concurrency issue prevents the operation from succeeding. |
FileFault | Thrown if there is a generic file error |
InvalidState | Thrown if the operation failed due to the current state of the system. |
RuntimeFault | Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error. |
TaskInProgress | Thrown if a required managed entity is busy. |
Events
Type | |
---|---|
None |
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