Learn how to import OVA to Proxmox from our experts. Our Proxmox Support team is here to help you with your questions and concerns.

 Import OVA to Proxmox | An Introduction

Proxmox Virtual Environment can be described as an open-source server virtualization management platform that allows us to run and manage VMs and containers.

A key feature of Proxmox VE is its ability to import VMs from different formats like OVA files.

An OVA file, short for Open Virtualization Appliance, is a package with the complete description of a VM. This includes the VM’s disk images, configuration settings, and so on. It is a commonly used format to distribute and deploy virtual appliances.

How to Import an OVA VM to Proxmox

Today, our experts are going to demonstrate how to import OVA to Proxmox with these steps:

1. First, we have to download the OVA file we plan on importing from the source.
2. Then, we can use a third-party tool like WinSCP to upload the downloaded OVA file to the ova_import folder in the root directory.
3. Next, we have to log in to Proxmox via SSH and locate the folder from the previous step and extract the file as seen below:

   tar xvf filenameova

   Here, xvf stands for extract –verbose –file.
4. Now, we have to create the VM. The extracted OVA consists of two configuration files, one for the VM and the other for the Disk.

   We will be creating the VM with the corresponding configuration file as seen below:

   qm importovf 245 ./filename.ovf proxthin --format qcow2
   This command will import the VM described in the OVF file with the specified settings. The resulting VM will be assigned the given VM ID 245 and stored in the specified storage location.

5. Next, we have to import the VMDK to My Virtual Machine as seen here:
   qm importdisk 245 filename.vmdk local-lvm -format qcow2
6. Then, we have to add the disk to the VM with this command:

   qm set vmid; --scsi device_number storage:disk_image

   Here vmid is the VM ID, device_number is the SCSI device number, storage is the storage name where the disk image is located, and disk_image is the path of the disk image.
7. Next, we have to log into the Proxmox VE web interface and choose the imported VM.
   Our experts recommend reviewing the VM details and tweaking them if necessary.
8. Then, click the Start button at the top right of the screen and we can click the Console link to watch the booting process.
9. Finally, once we verify the VM is up and running, we can run this command to clean up the OVA data we downloaded earlier:

   cd ..
rm ova_import/ -r

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Conclusion

To conclude, our Support Techs demonstrated how to import an OVA VM to Proxmox.