virt-convert(1)

NAME

virt-convert - convert virtual machines between formats

SYNOPSIS

virt-convert [OPTION]... INPUT.VMX|INPUT-DIR [OUTPUT.XML|OUTPUT-DIR]

DESCRIPTION

virt-convert is a command line tool for converting virtual machines from one format to another. Pass in either a VM definition file (such
as VMWare vmx format) or a directory containing a VM. By default, a new VM definition file, and converted disk images, will be placed in a new output directory.

If an output directory is specified, it will be created if necessary,
and the output VM definition placed within, along with any disk images as needed.

If an output VM definition file is specified, it will be created
alongside any disks in the same directory.

OPTIONS

Any of the options can be omitted, in which case virt-convert will use defaults when required. An input VM definition or containing directory must be provided. By default, an output directory is generated based
upon the name of the VM. The default input format is VMWare vmx, and
the default output format is a libvirt "image" XML definition (see
virt-image(5)).

-h, --help

Show the help message and exit

-a ARCH, --arch=ARCH

Architecture of the virtual machine (i686, x86_64, ppc). Defaults
to that of the host machine.

-v, --hvm Create a fully virtualized guest image

Convert machine to a hvm/qemu based image (this is the default if
paravirt is not specified)

-p, --paravirt Create a paravirtualized guest image

Convert machine to a paravirt xen based image

-i format

Input format. Currently, "vmx" is the only supported input format.

-o format

Output format. Currently, "virt-image" is the only supported
output format.

-D format

Output disk format, or "none" if no conversion should be performed. See qemu-img(1).

-d, --debug

Print debugging information

-q, --quiet

Avoid verbose output.

--os-type=OS_TYPE

Optimize the guest configuration for a type of operating system.
This will attempt to pick the most suitable ACPI & APIC settings,
optimally supported mouse drivers and generally accommodate other
operating system quirks. The valid operating system types are

linux

Linux 2.x series

windows

Microsoft Windows 9x or later

unix

Traditional UNIX BSD or SysV derivatives

other

Operating systems not in one of the 3 prior groups

--os-variant=OS_VARIANT

Further optimize the guest configuration for a specific operating
system variant. This parameter is optional. The valid variants are

linux

rhel2.1

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1

rhel3

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3

rhel4

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4

rhel5

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

centos5

Cent OS 5

fedora5

Fedora Core 5

fedora6

Fedora Core 6

fedora7

Fedora 7

sles10

Suse Linux Enterprise Server 10.x

debianEtch

Debian 4.0 (Etch)

debianLenny

Debian Lenny

generic26

Generic Linux 2.6.x kernel

generic24

Generic Linux 2.4.x kernel

windows

winxp

Microsoft Windows XP

win2k

Microsoft Windows 2000

win2k3

Microsoft Windows 2003

vista

Microsoft Windows Vista

unix

solaris9

Sun Solaris 9

solaris10

Sun Solaris 10

freebsd6

Free BSD 6.x

openbsd4

Open BSD 4.x

other

msdos

Microsoft DOS

netware4

Novell Netware 4

netware5

Novell Netware 5

netware6

Novell Netware 6

--noapic

Override the OS type / variant to disables the APIC setting for
fully virtualized guest.

--noacpi

Override the OS type / variant to disables the ACPI setting for
fully virtualized guest.

EXAMPLES

Convert a paravirt guest from "image.vmx":

# virt-convert --arch=i686 --paravirt image.vmx

Convert a 64-bit hvm guest:

# virt-convert --arch=x86_64 vmx-appliance/ hvm-appliance/

AUTHOR

Written by Joey Boggs and John Levon

See the AUTHORS file in the source distribution for the complete list
of credits.

BUGS

Report bugs to the mailing list
"http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/et-mgmt-tools" or directly to
BugZilla "http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/" against the "Fedora"
product, and the "python-virtinst" component.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2006-2008 Red Hat, Inc, and various contributors. This
is free software. You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of the GNU General Public License "http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html". There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO

virt-pack(1), virt-image(5), the project website "http://virt-manager.org"

perl v5.10.0 2008-07-29 VIRT-CONVERT(1)