%all.entities; ]> August 2019 VBoxManage-import 1 VBoxManage-import import a virtual appliance in OVF format and create virtual machines Oracle VM VirtualBox VBoxManage import ovfname ovaname --dry-run --options= keepallmacs keepnatmacs keepdisknames importtovdi The VBoxManage import command imports a virtual appliance in OVF or OVA format by copying virtual disk images and by creating virtual machines (VMs) in &product-name;. See . You must specify the path name of an OVF file or OVA archive to use as input. Also, ensure that any disk images are in the same directory as the OVF file or OVA archive. Note that any options you specify to control the imported virtual appliance or to modify the import parameters rely on the contents of the OVF file. Before you use the import operation to create the VM, perform a dry run to verify the correctness of your configuration. ovfname | ovaname Specifies the name of the OVF file or OVA archive that describes the appliance. --dry-run Performs a dry run of the VBoxManage import command before you perform the actual import operation. A dry run operation does the following: Outputs a description of the appliance's contents based on the specified OVF or OVA file. Shows how the appliance would be imported into &product-name;. In addition, the output shows any options that you can use to change the import behavior. The shortened form of this option is -n. --options keepallmacs | keepnatmacs | keepdisknames | importtovdi Enables you to fine tune the import operation. Valid arguments are as follows: keepallmacs: Specifies that the MAC addresses of every virtual network card are left unchanged. keepnatmacs: Specifies that the MAC addresses of every virtual network card are left unchanged if the network type is NAT. keepdisknames: Specifies that all new disk images are assigned the same names as the originals. importtovdi: Specifies that all new disk images are in VDI file format. The following example performs the dry run of an import operation for a sample appliance that contains a Windows 10 guest: $ VBoxManage import Windows10.ovf --dry-run Interpreting Windows10.ovf... OK. Virtual system 0: 0: Suggested OS type: "Windows10_64" (change with "--vsys 0 --ostype <type>"; use "list ostypes" to list all) 1: Suggested VM name "win10-appliance" (change with "--vsys 0 --vmname <name>") 2: Suggested VM group "/" (change with "--vsys 0 --group <group>") 3: Suggested VM settings file name "/home/user1/VirtualBox VMs/win10-appliance/win10-appliance.vbox" (change with "--vsys 0 --settingsfile <filename>") 4: Suggested VM base folder "/home/user1/VirtualBox VMs" (change with "--vsys 0 --basefolder <path>") 5: End-user license agreement (display with "--vsys 0 --eula show"; accept with "--vsys 0 --eula accept") 6: Number of CPUs: 1 (change with "--vsys 0 --cpus <n>") 7: Guest memory: 1024 MB (change with "--vsys 0 --memory <MB>") 8: Sound card (appliance expects "ensoniq1371", can change on import) (disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 5 --ignore") 9: USB controller (disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 6 --ignore") 10: Network adapter: orig bridged, config 2, extra type=bridged 11: Floppy (disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 8 --ignore") 12: SCSI controller, type BusLogic (change with "--vsys 0 --unit 9 --scsitype {BusLogic|LsiLogic}"; disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 9 --ignore") 13: IDE controller, type PIIX4 (disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 10 --ignore") 14: Hard disk image: source image=Windows10.vmdk, target path=/home/user1/disks/Windows10.vmdk, controller=9;channel=0 (change controller with "--vsys 0 --unit 11 --controller <id>"; disable with "--vsys 0 --unit 11 --ignore") The dry run output lists and numbers the individual configuration items that are described in the Windows10.ovf file. Some of the items include information about how to disable or change the configuration of the item. You can disable many of the items by using the --vsys X --unit Y --ignore options. X is the number of the virtual system. The value is 0 unless the appliance includes several virtual system descriptions. Y is the configuration item number. Item 1 in the example command output specifies the name of the target machine. Items 12 and 13 specify the IDE and SCSI hard disk controllers, respectively. Item 14 indicates the hard disk image and the --controller option specifies the device on which the image resides. The default value is specified in the OVF file. You can combine several items for the same virtual system by specifying the same value for the --vsys option. For example use the following command to import a machine as described in the OVF, exclude the sound card and USB controller and specify that the disk image is connected to the IDE controller instead of the SCSI controller. $ VBoxManage import Windows10.ovf --vsys 0 --unit 8 --ignore \ --unit 9 --ignore --unit 14 --controller 13