Input file
XVA
- Full Name: Citrix Xen Virtual Appliance Format
- Developer: Citrix
Output file
VHD
- Full Name: Virtual Hard Disk Format
- Developer: Microsoft
What is XVA file?
XVA (XVA) is a compact and portable file format used to store both the "state" of an entire virtual machine as well as all its files and data configurations. XVA was originally developed by Citrix Systems for its XenServer, a commercial virtualization platform. It is also supported by VMware vSphere, but not by some of the other major virtualization providers like Microsoft Hyper-V. XVA files are based on XML, so they are text files with specific structure. [ ⏩ ] XVA file extension
What is VHD file?
The VHD (.VHD) file extension is used for virtual hard disk files created by Microsoft Virtual PC, earlier a separate product, which is now included within the Hyper-V toolset. A VHD file stores the complete contents of a physical drive, including the data and structural elements, such as partitions and volume configuration information. [ ⏩ ] VHD file extension
How to convert the file from XVA to VHD?
To successfully convert the XVA file to VHD, 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.XVA). The next step is to select the target format from the list, in this case VHD (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 VHD).
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. XVA to VHD. To obtain a matched structure of the data, it is necessary to use an appropriate converter.
Program for converting XVA files to VHD 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 VHD, while before this step we had the XVA file). For the programs, the difference is on a much higher level – either the application will be able to open a new VHD file, or not.