Issues with ovftool an machine import in WS 14.0

[bottkars]

Hi all,

i have a serious problem with Workstation 14 and import of OVA´s  uing VirtualSCSI Adapter.

In workstation 12 and earlier, OVA´s with VirtualSCSI got installed with warning and get´s translatet to lsilogig.

 ==>C:\Users\KarstenBott\Sources.labbuildr\OVA found
 ==>found Nested_ESXi6.5d_Appliance_Template_v1.0.ova in C:\Users\KarstenBott\Sources.labbuildr\OVA
 ==>Importing from OVA Nested_ESXi6.5d_Appliance_Template_v1.0, may take a while
Warning:
 - The specified operating system identifier 'VMware ESXi 6.5' (id: 104) is not supported on the selected host. It will be mapped to the following OS identifier: 'Other (32-bit)'.
 - Hardware compatibility check is disabled.
 - Line 52: Unsupported virtual hardware device 'VirtualSCSI'

In Workstation 14, the same import leads to an error:

==>Importing from OVA Nested_ESXi6.5d_Appliance_Template_v1.0, may take a while
Warning:
 - Line -1: Unsupported value 'vmware.tools.internalversion' for attribute 'key' on element 'ExtraConfig'.
 - Line -1: Unsupported value 'vmware.tools.requiredversion' for attribute 'key' on element 'ExtraConfig'.
Error: Invalid target disk adapter type: pvscsi
[success]

So why does Workstation 12 utilize lsilogig during OVA Import where 14 tries to use (unsupported ? ) pvscsi ?

PVSCSI is still. available in 14, i have machines successfully booting with it.

the machines i tried to import are lamw​ ´s NestedESXI OVA´s that worked pretty well prior 14.

[bottkars]

i tested with multiple ova´s and looks that the error is general in 14.0

[manmany]

How do you get the ova files?

[dbirtch]

I see the same behavior when pulling content from vCenter 6.5 using ovftool 4.2.0 (build-6230482), shipped with WS 14 Pro for Linux.  Any VM using the pvscsi (VirtualSCSI) disks results in the same error.  WS 14 Pro is able to run VMX files using pvscsi.

[mhampto]

This seems to be a bug from what has been stated so far.  If you would like, please open a Support Request to troubleshoot further.

[bottkars]

Same behaviour in Fusion 10 ..... seams to be a bug in OVFTool 4.2 ...

[bottkars]

see initial post. the OVA´s are lamw´s nested ESXI ... but similar with all OVA´s i tried so far

[lholling]

Problem still exists in 14.10 where my 12.5.8 install works fine...

[virtualg_uk]

Same here, v12 working fine but v14 broken. Has anyone found a workaround?

Would it be possible to keep with Workstation 14 and use an older version of OVFTool?

[touimet]

Same issue here.  Updated to WS 14.1.1 and still have the issue whereas I can't import an OVA and receive "Invalid target disk adapter type: pvscsi"

[virtualg_uk]

Has anyone logged an SR with VMware about this? If so, could you PM my your SR number and I'll log one too and reference that case?

I'll post back with their response.

[lholling]

I have not logged an SR as I was just playing with the trial version.

I did manage to find a workaround which would be completely unsupported... Copy the OVFTOOL directory from Workstation 12.5. Boot computer in Windows Safe Mode and remove the existing Workstation 14 OVFTOOL directory and copy over the 12.5 one. Boot up Windows normally and then it can import fine...

Would be interested to know when it is fixed so if you raise the SR and get a solution, please post back...

[dimiguel]

Can we get an update on this? I just purchased VMWare Workstation Pro in order to create a virtual network and the first thing I do is import an OVA file... and it fails with this error. Can we get an update from the VMWare team?

[jdptechnc]

I am having the same problem in VMware Workstation 14.1.1 importing an OVA derived from a VM with a pvscsi controller.

Anyone figured this out?  VMware doesn't seem to be interested.

[jdptechnc]

Absent a real fix, here is a confirmed workaround: manually edit the ovf to change the scsi controller to lsi, then generate a new checksum and overwrite the checksum file. 

Fixing VMware Virtual Machine Pvscsi Import Error - RootUsers

[jdptechnc]

So, following this workaround with a Windows Server VM, it was unbootable because the LSI drivers had never been installed previously.  To make that work, I had to 1) add a virtual hard disk on the source VM on a new controller, 2) change the controller type to lsi sas, 3) after exporting to ovf, change the type from VirtualScsi to lsilogicsas.

Voila, bootable windows VM imported from ovf into Workstation.

[Mark_L1]

The openssl workaround does not work if the .mf file was signed by a certificate with a .cert file.  Look at the Data Domain Virtual Edition for an example.  I am stuck again and need this to work, when is VMware going to fix this???

[gecman47]

Just tested. Still a problem on ESXi 6.7C with Workstation 14.

[anupchhetri]

I have recently updated my VMWARE workstation to 14.1.3build-9474260 and I had same problem.

After few google clicks, I found some useful link: VMware Fusion 10 – Cannot import .ova virtual appliance templates anymore? | Jani Kohonen

It is working for me now.

Cheers !