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Disk Image Formats (VHD, VHDX, AVHDX, and VMDK)

May 6, 2025
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Using the Import wizard, you can import a disk image into a resource pool or into a specific host as a VM.

You might want to import a disk image when only a virtual disk image is available, but there is no OVF metadata associated with it. Situations when this scenario might occur include:

  • The OVF metadata is not readable. However, it is still possible to import the disk image.
  • You have a virtual disk that is not defined in an OVF package.
  • You are moving from a platform that does not let you create an OVF appliance (for example, older platforms or images).
  • You want to import an older VMware appliance that does not have any OVF information.
  • You want to import a standalone VM that does not have any OVF information.

When available, Citrix recommends importing appliance packages that contain OVF metadata and not just importing an individual disk image. The OVF data provides information that the Import wizard needs to recreate a VM from its disk image. This information includes the number of disk images associated with the VM, the processor, storage, and memory requirements, and so on. Without this information, it can be much more complex and error-prone trying to recreate the VM.

In XenServer environments where Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is implemented, only users with the RBAC role of Pool Admin can import disk images. For more information, see RBAC overview.

Supported disk image formats

The following disk image formats can be imported using the XenCenter Import wizard:

   
Format Description
Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) VHD is a group of virtual disk image formats specified by Microsoft as part of their Open Specification Promise. Their file name extension is .vhd. XenCenter imports and exports the Dynamic VHD format – a thinly provisioned virtual disk image that allocates space only when used.
Virtual Hard Disk (VHDX) (XenServer 8.4 and later) Successor format to VHD. The file name extension is .vhdx.
Automatic Virtual Hard Disk (AVHDX) (XenServer 8.4 and later) A disk image checkpoint for a particular state of a VHDX file. The file name extension is .avhdx.
Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK) VMDK is a group of virtual disk image formats specified by VMware. Their file name extension is .vmdk. XenCenter imports stream-optimized and monolithic flat VMDK formats. Stream-optimized VMDK is the format used by OVF packages produced for VMware and Virtual Box hypervisors. Monolithic flat VMDK is a common format of a virtual disk available for download by VMware management clients.

Installing XenServer VM Tools for Windows

If you also have the Conversion Manager virtual appliance version 8.5.0 or later running in your pool, you can choose to install XenServer VM Tools for Windows as part of an import. If you choose not to install XenServer VM Tools for Windows as part of the import process, ensure that you install them manually later for the VM to be fully supported. For more information, see Install XenServer VM Tools.

Using Operating System Fixup

XenCenter includes an advanced hypervisor interoperability feature Operating System Fixup. This feature aims to ensure a basic level of interoperability for VMs created on hypervisors other than a XenServer server. If you don’t select a Windows template when importing a disk image that was created on another hypervisr, you can instead choose to run Operating System Fixup as part of the import.

To find out more, see About VM Import and Export.

XenServer 8.4

Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 Cumulative Update 1

Disk Image Formats (VHD, VHDX, AVHDX, and VMDK)
May 6, 2025
Contributed by: 
X
May 6, 2025
Contributed by: 
X

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