An OVA is a zipped file consisting of the basic files that exist in an OVA in the correct order of: .ovf, .mf, .vmdk, .iso. So in principle I think if I have these four files, I should be able to tar this into an OVA file manually and deploy it?
However I when I try, this vsphere complains about the VMDK with: "Not supported disk format (sparse VMDK version too old)".
If I take a VMDK file, export it to vsphere, and export it as an OVA - then I see that the VMDK has been changed - it's larger for a start.
So my 'nubie' questions are:
1. Is this manual process something that I should even bother persuing?
2. What's the magic that vsphere is doing to the VMKD from import to export and can it be replicated manually.
Thanks!
