- Advertisement -
HomeVirtualizationVMwareUnable to export OVF template

Unable to export OVF template

Problem

Unable to export OVF template

Attempting to export an OVF template from ESXi 6.5 to host client, fails with the following message:

From google chrome: Failed - Network error

From IE: The disk-1.vmdk download was interrupted

Before this error, I tried to export the VM from vCenter, and it was even worse, it was stuck. And after a long period, it shows another error message.

Solution

Updated: Check the last section for a workaround.

- Advertisement -

The solution is quite simple, Use Firefox!

I was insisting over and over again with Google Chrome and IE, and it seems that these two web browsers have problems when downloading large files.

At the moment of writing this, I used Firefox version 58.0.1 (64-bit) and worked like a charm.

[EDIT: 26/04/2019]:

Google Chrome seems to work well now with large files from a while on. Recently I tested under Google Chrome Version 73.0.3683.103 (Official Build) (64-bit) and vSphere 6.7 U2 to download an OVF file over 10GB, and it went well. If you still have some issues, check the options below or the last section for a workaround.

- Advertisement -

Additional

Follow these basic best practices when exporting a VM (OVF format):

  • Remove snapshots from the VM
  • Unplug ISO files attached to the VM
  • Use a direct connection to the ESXi host, vCenter has always been kind of buggy with this.

Similar issue: https://communities.vmware.com/thread/587924

Still having issues?

Use the VMware OVF tool! If you are still having issues with exporting an OVF template from an ESXi host to your local machine (PC), go to the following blog post for a workaround using the VMware OFV tool. It is easy!

How to export a Virtual Machine using the VMware OVF Tool

Juan Mulford
Juan Mulford
I have been active in IT for over fourteen years now. I am a solutions architect, working with storage, virtualization, and VDI solutions. For the past ten years, I have been living and working in Taiwan.

6 COMMENTS

  1. In my case, the UI was just doing nothing. Turned out your last comment helped, the machine still had a CD with an ISO file but that didn’t exist anymore on the datastore, and that was the reason. Changing the CD back to host device, and it would export fine. Thx!

Leave a Reply

- Advertisement -

Popular Articles

mulcas.com-Raspberry-Pi

Raspberry Pi OS in a Virtual Machine with VMware

4
Although the Raspberry Pi OS is designed and optimized for the Raspberry Pi module, it is possible to test and use it without its hardware, with VMware. This solution can be useful if you are a developer (or just a curious guy) and don't have a Raspberry Pi module with you
Unable to delete inaccessible datastore

Unable to delete an "inaccessible" datastore

7
I was switching my storage array, so I migrated the VMs from that old datastore/storage to a new datastore/storage. The old datastore was shared by 3 ESXi hosts, no cluster. After migrating the VMs and unmount/delete the datastore, it was still presented in two of the ESXi hosts and was marked as inaccessible.
This is not a valid source path / URL

This is not a valid source path / URL - SourceTree and Gitlab

0
I have been working on a project with a friend who set up a repository in Gitlab but even though I was able to view all projects on it, I couldn’t really join the repository. I was using SourceTree and Gitlab.
mulcas.com-VMware-OVF-Tool

How to export a Virtual Machine using the VMware OVF Tool

9
The VMware OVF Tool is implemented by VMware for easily importing and exporting virtual machines in Open Virtualization Format (OVF) standard format. Here, I want to show you how to download and install it, and then how to use it from a Windows machine.
Couldn't load private key - Putty key format too new

Couldn't load private key - Putty key format too new

5
couldn't load private key - Putty key format too new.” This issue happens when you use PuTTygen to generate or convert to a ppk key. Here is how to fix it. 
- Advertisement -

Recent Comments