Convert OVF to VMDK

What is OVF file?

The OVF file extension is associated with Open Virtualization Format (OVF). OVF is a platform-independent, efficient, secure and extensible format for packaging and distributing virtual appliances across different virtualization software solutions. OVF specification (version 2.0) is an industry standard and is developed by members of the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) organization. [ ⏩ ] OVF file extension

What is VMDK file?

VMDK (.vmdk) is a virtual machine disk file used by VMware virtualization software. It shares the same format as other virtual disk formats such as those used for VirtualBox and Parallels Desktop virtual machines. VMDK files contain hard drive data that has been “zipped” and packaged for use by a hypervisor, like VMware Workstation, which abstracts physical hardware and allows multiple operating systems to run on different hardware profiles simultaneously. [ ⏩ ] VMDK file extension

How to convert the file from OVF to VMDK?

To successfully convert the OVF file to VMDK, you should install one of the applications from the list. After installing the software, open the program and select the file you want to convert (file-name.OVF). The next step is to select the target format from the list, in this case VMDK (usually converters allow you to convert to several different formats, so check out their features - maybe one of the available formats will suit you more than VMDK).

What is a file conversion?

A data conversion is normally an automated process to some extent. The effect of the operation of one program is automatically the input product of another application. If that does not happen we need to help the process a little bit and convert the file on our own, e.g. OVF to VMDK. To obtain a matched structure of the data, it is necessary to use an appropriate converter.

Program for converting OVF files to VMDK files is a kind of a "binary code translator" compensating for the differences in the code or translating it in such a way so that another application could use it. For us, as users, the visible change will be only another file extension. (After converting the file, it will be the extension VMDK, while before this step we had the OVF file). For the programs, the difference is on a much higher level – either the application will be able to open a new VMDK file, or not.

Other OVF and VMDK file conversions