Synnefo » snf-ganeti » ganeti-local

OVF package should contain one file with ``.ovf`` extension, which is an

Each of the elements in ``.ovf`` file may, if desired, contain a

Import and export - the closer look

===================================

This section contains an overview of how different parts of

Ganeti's export info are included in ``.ovf`` configuration file.

It also explains how import is designed to work with incomplete

information.

Ganeti's backup format vs OVF

-----------------------------

.. highlight:: xml

The basic structure of Ganeti ``.ovf`` file is the following::

    <Envelope>

        <References></References>

        <DiskSection></DiskSection>

        <NetworkSection></NetworkSection>

        <VirtualSystem>

            <Name></Name>

            <OperatingSystemSection></OperatingSystemSection>

            <VirtualHardwareSection><VirtualHardwareSection>

        </VirtualSystem>

        <gnt:GanetiSection>

            <gnt:VersionId/>

            <gnt:AutoBalance/>

            <gnt:Tags></gnt:Tags>

            <gnt:OSParameters></gnt:OSParameters>

            <gnt:Hypervisor>

                <gnt:HypervisorParameters>

                </gnt:HypervisorParameters>

            </gnt:Hypervisor>

        </gnt:GanetiSection>

    </Envelope>

.. note ::

    Tags with ``gnt:`` prefix are Ganeti-specific and are not a part of

    OVF standard.

.. highlight:: text

Whereas Ganeti's export info is of the following form, ``=>`` showing

where will the data be in OVF format::

  [instance]

      disk0_dump = filename     => References

      disk0_ivname = name       => ignored

      disk0_size = size_in_mb   => DiskSection

      disk_count = number       => ignored

      disk_template = disk_type => References

      hypervisor = hyp-name     => gnt:HypervisorSection

      name = inst-name          => Name in VirtualSystem

      nic0_ip = ip              => Item in VirtualHardwareSection

      nic0_link = link          => Item in VirtualHardwareSection

      nic0_mac = mac            => Item in VirtualHardwareSection

      nic0_mode = mode          => Network in NetworkSection

      nic_count = number        => ignored

      tags                      => gnt:Tags

  [backend]

      auto_balanced             => gnt:AutoBalance

      memory = mem_in_mb        => Item in VirtualHardwareSection

      vcpus = number            => Item in VirtualHardwareSection

  [export]

      compression               => DiskSection

      os                        => OperatingSystemSection

      source                    => ignored

      timestamp                 => ignored

      version                   => gnt:VersionId

  [os]                          => gnt:OSParameters

  [hypervisor]                  => gnt:HypervisorParameters

In case of multiple networks/disks used by an instance, they will

all be saved in appropriate sections as specified above for the first

network/disk.

Import from other virtualization software

-----------------------------------------

In case of importing to Ganeti OVF package generated in other software,

e.g. VirtualBox, some fields required for Ganeti to properly handle

import may be missing. Most often it will happen that such OVF package

will lack the ``gnt:GanetiSection``.

If this happens, the tool will simply ask for all the necessary

information or otherwise you can specify all the missing parameters in

the command line. For the latter, please refer to [TODO: reference to

command line options]

Export to other virtualization software

---------------------------------------

When exporting to other virtualization software, you may notice that

there is a section ``gnt:GanetiSection``, containing Ganeti-specific

information. This may on **rare** cases cause trouble in importing your

instance. If that is the case please do one of the two:

1. Export from Ganeti to OVF with ``--external`` option - this will

cause to skip the non-standard information.

2. Manually remove the gnt:GanetiSection from the ``.ovf`` file. You

will also have to recompute sha1 sum (``sha1sum`` command) and update

your ``.mf`` file with new value.

.. note::

    Manual change option is only recommended when you have exported your

    instance with ``-format`` option other that ``raw`` or selected

    ``--compress``. It saves you the time of converting or compressing

    the disk image.

package or packing the OVF package into one OVA (Open Virtual

Appliance) file. As for certificates and licenses in the package,

We plan to support compression both for import and export - in tar.gz

format. There is also a possibility to provide virtual disk in chunks

of equal size.