I have generated a vmdk file and exported an ovf from vmware Workstation. When I import the ovf file in VMware Workstation, I can start the machine, everything works.
Problem comes when I try to package it into an ova.
tar cvf my-file.ova my-file.ovf my-file.vmdk
(I know there's an optional step to use a mf file and I tried with it too, I got the same result.)
Then, when trying to import this ova, I first get:
The import failed because /home/david/Documents/virtualbox/my-file.ova \ did not pass OVF specification conformance or virtual hardware compliance checks.
I press retry and finally obtain:
Error importing OVF: Disk (my-file.vmdk) could not be found
I double checked the ovf but I don't believe anything is wrong with it, it looks like there's a bug coming from the packaging step or if this can't work, I don't get why.
Setup:
Here is my ovf:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Envelope vmw:buildId="build-10104578" xmlns="http://schemas.dmtf.org/ovf/envelope/1" xmlns:cim="http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/common" xmlns:ovf="http://schemas.dmtf.org/ovf/envelope/1" xmlns:rasd="http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-schema/2/CIM_ResourceAllocationSettingData" xmlns:vmw="http://www.vmware.com/schema/ovf" xmlns:vssd="http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-schema/2/CIM_VirtualSystemSettingData" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<References>
<File ovf:href="oblac-box-os-product-20181127144109-disk1.vmdk" ovf:id="file1" ovf:size="436076544"/>
</References>
<DiskSection>
<Info>Virtual disk information</Info>
<Disk ovf:capacity="27943501824" ovf:capacityAllocationUnits="byte" ovf:diskId="vmdisk1" ovf:fileRef="file1" ovf:populatedSize="0" ovf:format="http://www.vmware.com/interfaces/specifications/vmdk.html#streamOptimized"/>
</DiskSection>
<NetworkSection>
<Info>The list of logical networks</Info>
<Network ovf:name="nat">
<Description>The nat network</Description>
</Network>
<Network ovf:name="bridged">
<Description>The bridged network</Description>
</Network>
</NetworkSection>
<VirtualSystem ovf:id="vm">
<Info>A virtual machine</Info>
<Name>oblac-drives</Name>
<OperatingSystemSection ovf:id="100" vmw:osType="other4xLinux64Guest">
<Info>The kind of installed guest operating system</Info>
</OperatingSystemSection>
<VirtualHardwareSection>
<Info>Virtual hardware requirements</Info>
<System>
<vssd:ElementName>Virtual Hardware Family</vssd:ElementName>
<vssd:InstanceID>0</vssd:InstanceID>
<vssd:VirtualSystemIdentifier>oblac-drives</vssd:VirtualSystemIdentifier>
<vssd:VirtualSystemType>vmx-07</vssd:VirtualSystemType>
</System>
<Item>
<rasd:AllocationUnits>hertz * 10^6</rasd:AllocationUnits>
<rasd:Description>Number of Virtual CPUs</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>Virtual CPU(s)</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>1</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceType>3</rasd:ResourceType>
<rasd:VirtualQuantity>2</rasd:VirtualQuantity>
</Item>
<Item>
<rasd:AllocationUnits>byte * 2^20</rasd:AllocationUnits>
<rasd:Description>Memory Size</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>Memory</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>2</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceType>4</rasd:ResourceType>
<rasd:VirtualQuantity>1024</rasd:VirtualQuantity>
</Item>
<Item>
<rasd:Address>0</rasd:Address>
<rasd:Description>SATA Controller</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>sataController0</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>3</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceSubType>vmware.sata.ahci</rasd:ResourceSubType>
<rasd:ResourceType>20</rasd:ResourceType>
</Item>
<Item ovf:required="false">
<rasd:Address>0</rasd:Address>
<rasd:Description>USB Controller (EHCI)</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>usb</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>4</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceSubType>vmware.usb.ehci</rasd:ResourceSubType>
<rasd:ResourceType>23</rasd:ResourceType>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="ehciEnabled" vmw:value="true"/>
</Item>
<Item>
<rasd:Address>1</rasd:Address>
<rasd:Description>IDE Controller</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>ideController1</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>5</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceType>5</rasd:ResourceType>
</Item>
<Item ovf:required="false">
<rasd:AddressOnParent>0</rasd:AddressOnParent>
<rasd:AutomaticAllocation>false</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>
<rasd:ElementName>cdrom0</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>6</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:Parent>5</rasd:Parent>
<rasd:ResourceType>15</rasd:ResourceType>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="connectable.allowGuestControl" vmw:value="true"/>
</Item>
<Item>
<rasd:AddressOnParent>1</rasd:AddressOnParent>
<rasd:AutomaticAllocation>true</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>
<rasd:Connection>nat</rasd:Connection>
<rasd:Description>E1000 ethernet adapter on "nat"</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>ethernet0</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>7</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceSubType>E1000</rasd:ResourceSubType>
<rasd:ResourceType>10</rasd:ResourceType>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="wakeOnLanEnabled" vmw:value="true"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="connectable.allowGuestControl" vmw:value="true"/>
</Item>
<Item>
<rasd:AddressOnParent>2</rasd:AddressOnParent>
<rasd:AutomaticAllocation>true</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>
<rasd:Connection>bridged</rasd:Connection>
<rasd:Description>E1000 ethernet adapter on "bridged"</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>ethernet1</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>8</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceSubType>E1000</rasd:ResourceSubType>
<rasd:ResourceType>10</rasd:ResourceType>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="wakeOnLanEnabled" vmw:value="true"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="connectable.allowGuestControl" vmw:value="false"/>
</Item>
<Item ovf:required="false">
<rasd:AutomaticAllocation>false</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>
<rasd:ElementName>video</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>9</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceType>24</rasd:ResourceType>
</Item>
<Item ovf:required="false">
<rasd:AutomaticAllocation>false</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>
<rasd:ElementName>vmci</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>10</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceSubType>vmware.vmci</rasd:ResourceSubType>
<rasd:ResourceType>1</rasd:ResourceType>
</Item>
<Item>
<rasd:AddressOnParent>0</rasd:AddressOnParent>
<rasd:ElementName>disk0</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:HostResource>ovf:/disk/vmdisk1</rasd:HostResource>
<rasd:InstanceID>11</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:Parent>3</rasd:Parent>
<rasd:ResourceType>17</rasd:ResourceType>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="connectable.allowGuestControl" vmw:value="false"/>
</Item>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="cpuHotAddEnabled" vmw:value="true"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="memoryHotAddEnabled" vmw:value="true"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="tools.syncTimeWithHost" vmw:value="false"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="tools.afterPowerOn" vmw:value="true"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="tools.afterResume" vmw:value="true"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="tools.beforeGuestShutdown" vmw:value="true"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="tools.beforeGuestStandby" vmw:value="true"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="powerOpInfo.powerOffType" vmw:value="soft"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="powerOpInfo.resetType" vmw:value="soft"/>
<vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="powerOpInfo.suspendType" vmw:value="soft"/>
<vmw:ExtraConfig ovf:required="false" vmw:key="nvram" vmw:value="oblac-drives-file1.nvram"/>
<vmw:ExtraConfig ovf:required="false" vmw:key="virtualHW.productCompatibility" vmw:value="hosted"/>
</VirtualHardwareSection>
</VirtualSystem>
</Envelope>