Open Virtualization Format (OVF) is an open standard defining the file format that allows for compatibility of VMs across management platforms. CVM supports OVF templates exported from CAS CVM, VMware vSphere, Oracle VM, and ZTE iECS systems.
The time required for uploading an OVF template depends on the disk size that is occupied by the VM image file. As a best practice, adjust the idle timeout to ensure that the OVF template can be uploaded without interruption. For more information, see "Configure system parameters."
The current software version does not support deployment of OVF templates that contain disk partitions.
An OVF template cannot be used to deploy VMs if it contains disk files or files with invalid names. A file name is invalid if it meets one of the following conditions:
Contains characters other than letters, digits, minus signs (-), underscores (_), and dots (.).
Starts with a minus sign (-) or dot (.).
Contains only digits.
To convert a VMware vSphere VM or VirtualBox VM that uses the Windows XP operating system to an OVF template, make sure the VM has good hardware compatibility. If you cannot ensure the hardware compatibility of the VM, edit the registry to enable the operating system of the VM to support ide(piix3/piix4). If you do not follow this guideline, blue screen issues might occur after you deploy VMs by using the OVF template.
In the current software version, ARM hosts support deploying only the OVF templates exported from CAS.
From the left navigation pane, select Resources > Host Pool Name > Cluster Name > Host Name or Resources > Host Pool Name > Host Name.
Click More, and then select Deploy OVF Template.
Follow the configuration wizard to finish the deployment.
Configure basic settings:
Alias: Enter an alias for the VM. Chinese characters are supported.
CPUs: Specify the CPU number and CPU cores.
Memory: Specify the memory size of the VM.
Start Now: Select whether to start the VM immediately after it is being deployed.
Configure disk settings:
Target Storage File: Name of the VM's storage volume.
Target Storage Pool: Select a storage pool for the VM's storage volume.
Bus Type: Select a bus type. As a best practice, select IDE as the disk bus type when you deploy an OVF template exported from a third-party system. After the deployment, install CAStools for the VM online and then change the disk bus type to high-speed offline to improve the disk I/O performance. When you install CAStools, the system installs a virtio driver for the VM by default.
Configure network settings:
Network: Select a virtual switch for the VM.
Port Profile: Select a port profile for the VM.
Virtual Firewall: Select a virtual firewall for the VM. The incoming and outgoing data packets of the VM will be filtered based on the firewall rules.
NIC Type: Select a NIC type. High-speed NICs are driven by CVK.
Bound IPv4/IPv6 Address: Enter the IP address bound to the MAC address of the VM's NIC. If the IP address specified for the VM's NIC is different from the bound IP address, the NIC cannot communicate correctly.
Fast Forwarding: Enable fast forwarding to improve the network performance of the VM. This feature is available for high-speed NICs and is enabled by default.