A source or target locator points to a specific resource. Locators must specify a protocol, which defines how to reach the resource. Supported protocols are file access, vSphere, HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP.

File locators can point to an OVF package (.ovf or .ova), a virtual machine (.vmx). HTTP, HTTPS, or a vApprun workspace entity. FTP locators can point to OVF and OVA files. The resource type is determined from the filename suffix, unless one or both of the options --sourceType and --targetType are used explicitly.

vSphere locators can point to various resource types: virtual machines, vApps, hosts, clusters, or resource pools. For a source locator, the resource type must be a virtual machine or vApp. For a target locator, the resource type must be a host, cluster, or a resource pool. A vSphere locator is used for a vSphere server, vCenter Server, VMware Server, or an ESXi host.

At the command line, type --help locators to display the online help for locators.

Source Locator and Target Locator list the default extensions of the different source and target types, as well as which protocols are supported.

Source Locator

Source Type

Default File Extension

Protocol

Example

OVF

.ovf

File, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP

/ovfs/my_vapp.ovf

OVA

.ova

File, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP

/ovfs/my_vapp.ova

VMX

.vmx

File

/vms/my_vm.vmx

vApprun

N/A

File

~/my_vApprun_workspace/MyVM

vCloud Director

N/A

HTTPS

vcloud://username:[email protected]/ \
org=MyOrg&vdc=MyVDC&catalog=MyCatalog \ &vapp=myVapp

vSphere

N/A

vSphere

vi://username:pass@localhost/my_datacenter/vm/ \ my_vms_folder/my_vm_name

Target Locator

Target Type

File Extension

Protocol

Example

OVF

.ovf

File

/ovfs/my_vapp.ovf

OVA

.ova

File

/ovfs/my_vapp.ova

VMX

.vmx

File (Source must be a

single virtual machine)

/vms/my_vm.vmx

vApprun

N/A

File

~/my_vApprun_workspace/MyVM

vCloud Director

N/A

HTTPS

vcloud://username:[email protected]/ \
org=MyOrg&vdc=MyVDC&catalog=MyCatalog \ &vapp=myVapp

vSphere

N/A

vSphere (If the vSphere

target locator is on a VMware

Server system, or directly on

an ESXi host, the source must

be a single virtual machine)

vi://username:pass@localhost/my_datacenter/vm/ \ my_vms_folder/my_vm_name

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