After we finish the system for ESXI, we may need to make a backup of the original virtual machine to facilitate later mass deployment or deployment in other ESXI machines. Then we can use the method described in this article to backup the virtual machine as .ova File, and then import the file on the new machine to restore it. Follow the steps below.
1. Download OVF Tool
Official download address: Click here to download
Please download according to the system where you need to run OVF Tool.
2. Install OVF Tool
Double click the downloaded installation package directly, and remember the location of your installation, which will be required later.
3. Start backup
1) Shut down the virtual machine that needs to be backed up first to avoid continuous file changes during the backup process
2) Find the path of OVF tool in step 2, and open the command line window in this path
3) Execute the backup command:
ovftool.exe vi://root:@10.1.1.1/ubuntu22.04 D:\vm_backup\ubuntu22.04.ova
Parameter description: 10.1.1.1 is the management address ip of the virtual machine where ESXI is located. After the slash, ubuntu22.04 is the name of the ESXI virtual machine. After that, D: vm_backup ubuntu22.04.ova is the path where the backup file is saved on the local machine
Overall format: ovftool vi://root: @ ESXI ip address/virtual machine name/storage location/user-defined name.ova
4) After executing the command, you will be prompted to enter the root password, and then start the backup and display the export progress. The backup time varies according to the size of the actual virtual machine. Please wait patiently
4. Restore backup
Open ESXI management console ->New virtual machine ->Select Deploy virtual machines from OVF or OVA files Select the backed up. ova file and continue to the next step