[Users] Making v2v easier?

[Ted Miller]

On 01/17/2014 10:19 AM, Itamar Heim wrote:
> I see a lot of threads about v2v pains (mostly from ESX?)
>
> I'm interested to see if we can make this simpler/easier.
>
> if you have experience with this, please describe the steps you are using
> (also the source platform), and how you would like to see this make simpler
> (I'm assuming that would start from somewhere in the webadmin probably).

I have spent most of the day trying to do this, and so far have failed.

Source: VMWare Server 2.0 disk files (.vmx, .vmdk, etc.), about 10 VMs to 
transfer.

Eliminating all the false starts and detours along the way, this is what I 
have done so far.

* copy my tree of vmware files to local storage;
     in case I goof up or get fumble-fingered and need to start over clean
     again.

* Set up a 32-bit VM (running Centos 6)
     because vmware-vdiskmanager only seems to come in 32 bit in the VDSDK
     package I found to download.
        I was planning to do this anyway, to run GoogleEarth and other
        software that doesn't come in pure-64bit format.

* run vmware-vdiskmanager -R <file-name.vmdk>
     to clean up errors that kept next step from happening on about 1/3 of
     *.vmdk files.

* run ovftool <office-5/office-5>.vmx <office-5>.ova
     to turn .vmx and .vmdk files into .ova files -- long process

* BEAT HEAD AGAINST WALL because virt-v2v.x86_64 0.9.1-5.el6_5 from Centos 
updates doesn't seem to know about .ova files.  I was following the 
instructions in 
Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization-3.3-Beta-V2V_Guide-en-US.pdf guide, but I 
figured out that the v2v they are talking about has an "-i ova" option, 
while the help file for the version I am using does not list ova as an 
option for -i, and if I try to use it, it tells me that it is an invalid 
option, and if I leave it off it goes off looking for a qemu///system to 
attach to.  help files for v2v say nothing at all about .ova files.

I am wondering where to find a v2v program that knows about .ova files, or 
else am I going to have to import all my VMWare files to my (non-ovirt) KVM 
host, and then drag them into ovirt from libvirt?

My setup:
All hosts running Centos 6.5, fully up to date.
2 hosts
engine running in KVM VM, hosted on a non-oVirt KVM host.
gluster replica 3 file system across 2 ovirt hosts and on KVM host.

Going to bed now to give head some rest.
Ted Miller
Elkhart, IN, USA