VMWare Image - OVF

[Niantic]

Hi,
I need some help in understanding the working on VMWare tool. I have a Ubuntu system on which I want to add BlackTrack 4 for some testing purpose. For this the virtual environment is best. For that does VMWare tool is an nice one or I should search for a better solution which must be must stable and easy to use. Also what does this OVF stands for and for it is used.

[michaels]

VMware Workstation is a virtualization application that allows to emulate multiple operating systems (except MaxOS). Once the program started, it will allow you to install a distribution on a virtual machine, such as Ubuntu Linux. For this, you can use both of installation CDs as ISO images. The default configuration should be suitable for beginners but the program offers the possibility to customize if you need to add devices or have some specific settings.

[Mr.ken]

OVF 1.0 format (Open Virtual Machine) has just come into being. The XML container, which ensures the portability of virtual machines (VM), is an interesting step towards true application virtualization. OVF is the indispensable gateway to the term virtual appliance to be meaningful. The packaging of a virtual machine in OVF package is supposed to guarantee portability between different environments ensuring its integrity and the automation of handling.

[Orton]

OVF 1.0 offers total portability of virtual machines. The XML container FVO can carry a virtual machine with its attributes from one environment to another. The container packs OVF virtual machine formats own hypervisors from VMware (VMDK), Citrix, Microsoft and Virtual Iron (VHD) as well as KVM, selected by Red Hat (qcow for QEMU Copy-On-Write). FVO adds the description of the parameters necessary for allocating resources for their operation.

[jhon]

There is a tool to convert a machine vmware existing running version Workstation or VMware Player to version ESX (VMware Virtual Infrastructure) range. The tool in question is called OVF Tool Package , it is used in command line under Windows or Linux. To convert a file in vmx fvo C: \ ovfTool> ovfTool e: \ debian.vmx e: \ debian.ovf Deploying e: \ debian.vmx to e: \ debian.ovf. Converting disk e: / debian-disk1.ovf: 100% done. Deployment completed successfully.

[Leonard]

VMware solutions are known for their virtualization operating systems. Their flagship product, VMware Workstation , you can create virtual machines and install an operating system without leaving your main system. VMWare Player is free software that "reads" these virtual machines, but forbids you to create. Clearly, it runs the machines configured with an OS already installed.

[Mr.ken]

To get an idea, VMware offers a very limited version of the Ubuntu Linux distribution that contains only a few Internet applications (Gaim, Mozilla Firefox). It works fairly good speed, and allows, even within Windows, browse a Firefox running on Linux and thus be protected from spyware and viruses, while having your CD or USB peripherals.The solution may also be useful for beta testers who can work easily on a given configuration and contained in a virtual machine.