.ova image created with Virtual Box, failed to import in VMware

[Tsso]

The image can be imported into Virtual Box without any problems.

VMware fails:

The import failed because /home/user/Whonix-Gateway.ova did not pass OVF
specification conformance or virtual hardware compliance checks.

Click Retry to relax OVF specification and virtual hardware compliance
checks and try the import again, or click Cancel to cancel the import.
If you retry the import, you might not be able to use the virtual machine
in VMware Player.

Who is responsible for the bug? VMware or Virtual Box?

VMware Bug report: ​http://communities.vmware.com/thread/423920

Download link Whonix-Gateway.ova: ​http://sourceforge.net/projects/whonix/files/whonix-0.4.5/ project website: ​http://whonix.sf.net

Source code: ​https://github.com/adrelanos/Whonix

How the .ova image is created: ​https://github.com/adrelanos/Whonix/blob/master/whonix_createvm

[ckujau]

Same here. Created an OVF 2.0 export via "Export Appliance" in VirtualBox 4.3.0_BETA3 (Mac) and VMware Fusion 6.0.1 (Mac) could not import it:

The import failed because machine.ova did not pass OVF specification conformance 
or virtual hardware compliance checks.

Click Retry to relax OVF specification and virtual hardware compliance checks and
try the import again, or click Cancel to cancel the import. If you retry the 
import, you might not be able to use the virtual machine in VMware Fusion.

Clicking "Retry" then gives:

Line 2: Incorrect namespace 'http://schemas.dmtf.org/ovf/envelope/2' found

Importing an OVF 1.0 export still leads to VMware complaining about it not passing the OVF spec, but then "Retry" succeeds.

[vw_mwa]

Has anybody found a solution to this bug?

[Renjith]

Anyone got an update about this issue?

[Paras]

It worked for me by exporting from VirtualBox as v1.0 ova and selecting "Include Manifest File" option

[dragon788]

The correct solution to this is to export as ovf v1 either from the UI, or when running an export from the command line it appears to default to v1.

vboxmanage import futsy-v2.ova

# A vm's name can be different than the OVA name

vboxmanage list vms

# VM_NAME from listing above

vboxmanage export VM_NAME -o futsy-v1.ova

# --lax option basically tells the ovftool not to fail on errors, just make them warnings

ovftool --lax futsy-v1.ova futsy-v1.vmx

This should import and work without issue in VMware Workstation/Fusion/ESXi.

[Calidge]

The previous comment is a workaround, not a solution.

Problem still exists. VM Workstation will import V1 spec with relaxed standards, V2 spec will not import at all.

VirtualBox 5.0.22 r108108, VM Workstation 12.

It would at least be useful to know if the problem lies with VirtualBox or VMWare not being fully spec-compliant.

[aeichner]

No activity for 4 years and there quite a few changes in our OVF code. Please reopen if still an issue with a supported VirtualBox release.

[ChrisNelsonPE]

How interesting that I encountered this just days after the issue was closed. I'm using VirtualBox Version 6.1.2 r135662 (Qt5.6.2) and VMWare Workstation Player 15.5.1 build-15018445

[aeichner]

Is there more verbose output from VMwares ovftool or a log indicating which part of the OVA is allegdly violating the spec?

[ChrisNelsonPE]

PS C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player\OVFTool> .\ovftool.exe MyVM.ova MyVM.vmx
Opening OVA source: MyVM.ova
Opening VMX target: MyVM.vmx
Error: OVF Package is not supported by target:
 - Line 28: Unsupported hardware family 'virtualbox-2.2'.
Completed with errors
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player\OVFTool>

[ChrisNelsonPE]

This appears to be the same problem as 7982.

[wish it would work]

11 years after the creation of this ticket, it is still an issue. Virtualbox exported as ovf v. 1.0 cannot be imported into VMware. Only difference is, now, the workaround hack suggested elsewhere, changing the virtualsystemtype line to <vssd:VirtualSystemType>vmx-06</vssd:VirtualSystemType>, no longer solves the problem.

I especially don't trust running a vm imported with the "--lax" option. You don't fix errors by turning the error messages off. The ovf disks need to be formatted correctly, and not require you to loosen standards to use them. The standards are strict for a reason.

I am going to rebuild my vm from scratch in VMware and not use VirtualBox again, since this makes it appear undependable. I need to know that if I ever need to get my data out of it in the future, I can.