1virt-convert(1M) System Administration Commands virt-convert(1M)
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6 virt-convert - convert virtual machines between formats
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9 virt-convert [option]... input.vmx | input-dir [output.xml | output-dir]
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13 The virt-convert program is a command line tool for converting virtual
14 machines (VMs) from one format to another. It accepts either a VM defi‐
15 nition file (such as VMware vmx format) or a directory containing a VM.
16 By default, a new VM definition file, and converted disk images, will
17 be placed in a new output directory.
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20 If an output directory is specified, it will be created if necessary,
21 and the output VM definition placed within the new directory, along
22 with any disk images, as needed.
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25 If an output VM definition file is specified, it will be created along‐
26 side any disks in the same directory.
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29 Any of the following options can be omitted, in which case virt-con‐
30 vert will use defaults when required. An input VM definition or con‐
31 taining directory must be provided. By default, an output directory is
32 generated based upon the name of the VM. The default input format is
33 VMware vmx, and the default output format is a libvirt "image" XML def‐
34 inition.
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36 -a, --arch=arch
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38 Architecture of the virtual machine (i686, x86_64, ppc). Defaults
39 to that of the host machine.
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42 -D, --disk-format=format
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44 Output disk format, or none if no conversion should be performed.
45 formatis one of:
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47 none
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49 No disks are converted or copied.
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52 vmdk
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54 VMWare VMDK format
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57 raw
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59 raw file
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62 vdisk
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64 vdisk format (see vdiskadm(1M))
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68 -d, --debug
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70 Display debugging information.
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73 -h, --help
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75 Display the help message and exit.
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78 -i, --input-format format
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80 Input format. Currently, vmx is the only supported input format.
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83 --noacpi
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85 Override the OS type and variant to disable the ACPI setting for
86 fully virtualized guest.
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89 --noapic
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91 Override the OS type and variant to disable the APIC setting for
92 fully virtualized guest.
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95 -o, --output-format format
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97 Output format. Currently, the supported output formats are virt-
98 instance and virt-image. virt-instance is the recommended format
99 for Solaris.
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102 --os-type=os_type
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104 Optimize the guest configuration for a type of operating system.
105 This will attempt to pick the most suitable ACPI and APIC settings,
106 optimally supported mouse drivers, and generally accommodate other
107 operating system quirks. See virt-install(1M) for a list of valid
108 operating system types.
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111 --os-variant=os_variant
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113 Further optimize the guest configuration for a specific operating
114 system variant. This parameter is optional. See virt-install(1M)
115 for a list of valid operating system variants.
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118 -p, --paravirt
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120 Create a paravirtualized guest image. Convert machine to a par‐
121 avirtualized Xen-based image.
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124 -q, --quiet
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126 Avoid verbose output.
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129 -v, --hvm
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131 Create a fully virtualized guest image. Convert machine to a
132 hvm/qemu-based image (this is the default if --paravirt is not
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137 Example 1 Converting a VMware VMX appliance
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140 The following sequence of commands converts a VMware VMX appliance and
141 imports it into Solaris xVM.
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144 # virt-convert -o virt-instance /guests/vmx-appliance/ \
145 /guests/xvm-appliance/
146 # virsh define --relative-path=/guests/xvm-appliance/ \
147 \guests/xvm-appliance/appliance.xml
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152 See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
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157 ┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
158 │ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
159 ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
160 │Availability │SUNWxvmu │
161 ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
162 │Interface Stability │Volatile │
163 └─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
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166 vdiskadm(1M), virt-install(1M), attributes(5), xvm(5)
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169 Not all conversions will result in a working guest installation. If the
170 source OS image is configured to use SCSI disks, the use of IDE disks
171 may cause the OS boot to fail. Some images may be configured to use the
172 VMware drivers such as vlance. In the vlance case and in general,
173 device emulation support may not be sufficient for all OS installa‐
174 tions.
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177 Written by Joey Boggs and John Levon.
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180 See the AUTHORS file in the source distribution for the complete list
181 of credits.
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185SunOS 5.11 8 Sep 2009 virt-convert(1M)