Virtualization technology has helped companies deploy virtual environment and improved the performance of the traditional physical environment. There are a lot of virtualization solutions in the world and it is necessary for IT administrators to learn to manage multiple virtualization platforms because virtual environment can be still optimized by multiple hypervisors working together.
Both VMware and oVirt are popular virtualization solutions so you can use learn both of them to manage heterogeneous environment.
P.S. If you would like to backup both VMware and oVirt with an all-in-one solution, you can try Vinchin Backup & Recovery.
oVirt and OVA
After IT administrator creates a new VM on the host, a folder will be created at the same time to store all the data of VM like configuration, applications, etc. The folder needs to be well managed especially in production environment.
Usually, the folder will be exported and then saved to another datastore as the backup of VM and virtualization vendors will also allow users to export VM into the template for virtual environment.
OVA, Open Virtual Appliance, is the format for VM template and both VMware and oVirt allow users to export VM into OVA template. This kind of format can be recognized by multiple virtualization platforms for V2V migration. Sometimes there will be compatibility issues but oVirt has announced that VMware OVA template can be used in oVirt environment.
By the way, VMware vCenter only supports exporting OVF template now so if you need VMware OVA template, you need to use OVF Tool to convert the template.
Import OVA to oVirt
Before you directly import OVA template to oVirt environment, there is some preparation.
Store the VMware OVA template in the VDSM host
Change the permission for the OVA template to qemu:kvm (36:36)
1. Log into oVirt Administration Portal > select Compute > select Virtual Machines
2. Click the dots on the right of Migrate > select Import
3. Select VMware Virtual Appliance (OVA) in Source
4. Select the host of the OVA template > type the directory of the OVA template
5. Select the OVA template > click the arrow icon to add it to the right box > click Next
6. Modify the configuration of the VM or use the default configuration > click OK
If you just have the virtual disk, the vmdk file, of VMware VM, you can convert vmdk to OVA and then import it to oVirt.
Except for importing OVA template, virt-v2v command will also help you migrate data.
Import OVF to oVirt
If you have got the OVA template from VMware, you can use OVF Tool to convert OVF to OVA.
You need to download the tool from VMware, install it on local machine, and convert the template with the command below:
> ovftool /ovfs/my_vapp.ovf /ovfs/my_vapp.ova
Export oVirt VM to OVA
oVirt also allows you to export oVirt VM to OVA template in oVirt Administration Portal.
Just select Compute > select Virtual Machine > select the oVirt VM > click the dots > select Export to OVA
Migrate VMware to oVirt with Vinchin Backup & Recovery
Export moving data via importing OVA template, you can also use Vinchin Backup & Recovery to perform VM migration via an easier way.
Vinchin Backup & Recovert is a professional backup and disaster recovery solution for virtual environment and you can use it to protect your virtual environment and move VM between different virtualization platforms.
There will be a user-friendly web console to help you manage both VMware vSphere and oVirt. Just make a backup of oVirt agentlessly, and then you can select an ESXi host to recover the VM.
You will have many useful backup strategies, like automatic backup, data encryption, data compression, etc. to protect the VM and VM backup files will be systematically stored so it will be good for VM recovery later. Vinchin Instant Recovery technology can help you recover a failed VM from its backup in 15 seconds.
Vinchin Backup & Recovery has been chosen by thousands of companies. You can also start to use this powerful system with a 60-day full-featured free trial. Just click the button to get the installation package.
Sum Up
oVirt supports OVA template import and export so you can manage oVirt VM with its OVA template. Although there are some differences between OVA templates generated by different vendors, oVirt supports VMware OVA now, so you can import VMware OVA template to oVirt for VM migration.
Vinchin Backup & Recovery can also help you perform V2V migration and protect virtual environment in a better way so don't miss the free trial.
