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abcuser
Contributor
Contributor

Converting OVF file using ovftool from VirtualBox produces error "Line 39: Unsupported element 'Caption'" and many more errors

Hi,

I would like to convert VirtualBox 3.2.4 virtual machine to VMWare ESX 4.0.

In VirtualBox I have exported appliance to 0.9 format and then follow the following tutorial:

When executing command "ovftool my.ovf my.vmx" I got the following error:

Opening OVF source: e:\VMW\my.ovf

Warning: No manifest file

Opening VMX target: e:\VMW\my.vmx

Error:

  • Line 39: Unsupported element 'Caption'

  • Line 40: Unsupported element 'Description'

  • Line 41: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

  • Line 42: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

  • Line 43: Unsupported element 'VirtualQuantity'

  • Line 37: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

  • Line 37: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

  • Line 48: Unsupported element 'Caption'

  • Line 49: Unsupported element 'Description'

  • Line 50: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

  • Line 51: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'

  • Line 52: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

  • Line 45: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

  • Line 45: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

  • Line 57: Unsupported element 'Caption'

  • Line 58: Unsupported element 'Description'

  • Line 59: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

  • Line 60: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'

  • Line 61: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

  • Line 54: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

  • Line 54: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

  • Line 65: Unsupported element 'Caption'

  • Line 66: Unsupported element 'Connection'

  • Line 67: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

  • Line 68: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'

  • Line 69: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

  • Line 63: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

  • Line 63: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

  • Line 74: Unsupported element 'Caption'

  • Line 75: Unsupported element 'Description'

  • Line 76: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

  • Line 77: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

  • Line 71: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

  • Line 71: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

  • Line 81: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'

  • Line 82: Unsupported element 'Caption'

  • Line 83: Unsupported element 'Description'

  • Line 84: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

  • Line 85: Unsupported element 'ResourceSubType'

  • Line 86: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

  • Line 79: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

  • Line 79: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

  • Line 90: Unsupported element 'Caption'

  • Line 91: Unsupported element 'Description'

  • Line 92: Unsupported element 'HostResource'

  • Line 93: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

  • Line 94: Unsupported element 'Parent'

  • Line 95: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

  • Line 88: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

  • Line 88: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

  • Line 99: Unsupported element 'AutomaticAllocation'

  • Line 100: Unsupported element 'Caption'

  • Line 101: Unsupported element 'Description'

  • Line 102: Unsupported element 'InstanceId'

  • Line 103: Unsupported element 'Parent'

  • Line 104: Unsupported element 'ResourceType'

  • Line 97: Missing child element 'InstanceID'.

  • Line 97: Missing child element 'ResourceType'.

Please see attached ovf file.

What should I do?

Thanks

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12 Replies
admin
Immortal
Immortal

ovftool 2.0 have added a "--lax" mode where you should be able to import an VirtualBox OVF to ESX/vCenter 4.0

try something like

ovftool --lax my.ovf vi://USERNAME:PASSWORD/NAME_OF_HOST/

or if you just want it was a vmx file to use it in fusion/workstation try:

ovftool --lax my.ovf my_great_vm.vmx

For more info on options please download the Ovftool userguide for ovftool 2.0

Eske

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

hmm I just tried it and --lax mode only works for OVF 1.0 OVFs from virtualbox.

Could you try to export it in OVF 1.0 format and test it with ovftool --lax

eske

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abcuser
Contributor
Contributor

Eske, I have tried several different options to convert from v0.9 and v1.0 OVF format and nothing really worked without problems.

Now I have solved the problem using (downloading) VMware Converter. Installed this converter inside VirtualBox Windows guest and create new image. Then opened the image with VMWare Workstation and it works fine.

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eljeque
Contributor
Contributor

No solution yet? I'm just trying to Import an OVF file and got the same command line errors.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

ovftool version 2.0.1 includes a --lax option you can use.

eske

Den 23/01/2011 kl. 19.34 skrev eljeque:

VMware Communities<http://communities.vmware.com/index.jspa>

Converting OVF file using ovftool from VirtualBox produces error "Line 39: Unsupported element 'Caption'" and many more errors

reply from eljeque<http://communities.vmware.com/people/eljeque> in Open Virtualization Format Tool - View the full discussion<http://communities.vmware.com/message/1685012#1685012

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eljeque
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for the Feedback Eske, i try to use the ovftool -lax command but show me the same error, i also try to find somemething about the --lax option in the OVF Tool Guide but don't find anything.

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ppehrson
Contributor
Contributor

It has absolutely NO EFFECT to use lax.

Why does VMware support the open standards officially, when their programs don't???

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Sorry, I don't see your point?

Please remember that this OVF was created with Virtualbox. We do not control how VirtualBox produce the OVF. We cooperate with them to getter better std conformance for all vendors. We added the --lax method to allow ovftool imports to be more lax around the standard. All the erros you see is where VB do not conform.

If you know of places where we don't not follow the standard please tell us so this can get fixed.

eske

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richardturner
Contributor
Contributor

Added to the thread for those arriving from Google etc

The errors appear to be based on the order of the elements. I had exported from VirtualBox and followed the various tutorials. Found that VB had exported the elements in a random order. By editing the ovf file I found I could clear the errors and convert the file

For each item, make sure that the elements are in this order

Caption

Description

InstanceId

ResourceType

ResourceSubType

..... and then the remaining attributes

Parent should be before AddressOnParent

example

      <Item>
        <rasd:Caption>ideController0</rasd:Caption>
        <rasd:Description>IDE Controller</rasd:Description>
        <rasd:InstanceId>3</rasd:InstanceId>
        <rasd:ResourceType>5</rasd:ResourceType>
        <rasd:ResourceSubType>PIIX4</rasd:ResourceSubType>
        <rasd:Address>0</rasd:Address>
        <rasd:BusNumber>0</rasd:BusNumber>
      </Item>

Hope that helps

Richard Turner

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blairo
Contributor
Contributor

richardturner wrote:

The errors appear to be based on the order of the elements. I had exported from VirtualBox and followed the various tutorials. Found that VB had exported the elements in a random order. By editing the ovf file I found I could clear the errors and convert the file

For each item, make sure that the elements are in this order

Caption

Description

InstanceId

ResourceType

ResourceSubType

..... and then the remaining attributes

Parent should be before AddressOnParent

Hope that helps

Worked for me, thanks! Had this problem after exporting to Legacy OVF from VirtualBox 4.1.6, so this is an ongoing issue.

Cheers,

~Blair

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cardsict
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for this info,  Worked for me !

Exported to legacy OVF Virtualbox 4.1.8; still some manual adjustments required.

regards,

Patrick

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natespringer
Contributor
Contributor

Worked for me exporting to ova and converting to ovf using ovftool.  No need for --lax...  in fact, it was an unrecognized command.

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