What is a .ova file?
Open Virtual Appliance · Disk image · DMTF (OVF standard) · 2009 (OVF 1.0)
An .ova file is a complete virtual machine packed as one archive: a tar file containing an .ovf descriptor, the virtual disks and a manifest. Import it into VirtualBox, VMware or another hypervisor and the VM appears ready to run.
What is a .ova file used for?
OVA is the single-file form of the DMTF's Open Virtualization Format: the .ovf XML file describes the hardware (CPU, memory, network), the .vmdk or .vhd files carry the disks, and tar binds them in a defined order. Appliance vendors ship products this way.
Portability has limits: hypervisors interpret OVF hardware differently, so imports sometimes need adjusted settings (network adapters are the classic one). VirtualBox and VMware both import and export OVA directly.
What opens a .ova file?
The .ova format opens in the following apps, grouped by operating system. If one app does not work, try another from the same list.
Windows
- VirtualBox (import appliance)
- VMware Workstation
- 7-Zip (inspect as tar)
macOS
- VirtualBox
- VMware Fusion
- tar (inspect)
Linux
- VirtualBox
- virt-manager (after conversion)
- tar (inspect)
Open a .ova file step by step
- Confirm the file really is a .ova. Drop it into the WhatFileType identifier, which reads its signature in your browser without uploading anything.
- On Windows, open it with VirtualBox (import appliance) or VMware Workstation.
- On Mac, use VirtualBox or VMware Fusion.
- On Linux, try VirtualBox or virt-manager (after conversion).
- Still stuck? Convert the .ova to ovf (extract), which opens more widely.
Why can't I open my .ova file?
Almost always because no installed app understands OVA. Install one of the apps above, or convert the file to a format your existing software already reads. If double-clicking opens the wrong program instead of nothing at all, the file association is set to the wrong app rather than the file being broken.
The other possibility is that the file is not really a .ova at all. Drop it into the file identifier to check it by its bytes instead of its name. Nothing is uploaded.
How to convert a .ova file
You can convert a .ova file to ovf (extract), vmdk/vhd (extract disks), qcow2 (via qemu-img) using a conversion tool or the export menu of an app that opens it.
What is the .ova file signature (magic bytes)?
A .ova file carries the hex bytes 75 73 74 61 72 at offset 257, which read as ustar in ASCII. Programs identify OVA by those bytes, not by the filename, so a renamed file still gives itself away.
These are the documented signatures for OVA. For a full breakdown, see the TAR (ustar) file signature page.
| Hex signature | Offset | ASCII | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 75 73 74 61 72 | 257 | ustar | tar archive (ustar) containing OVF + disks |
See the full magic-numbers reference for every format.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .ova file?
An .ova file is a complete virtual machine packed as one archive: a tar file containing an .ovf descriptor, the virtual disks and a manifest. Import it into VirtualBox, VMware or another hypervisor and the VM appears ready to run.
How do I open an .ova file?
Import it: File > Import Appliance in VirtualBox, or Open in VMware. To just look inside, extract it with tar or 7-Zip, since an OVA is a tar archive.
What is the difference between .ova and .ovf?
.ovf is the XML descriptor (usually alongside separate disk files); .ova is the whole set, descriptor plus disks plus manifest, packed into a single tar archive.
Why does my OVA import fail?
Commonly a hardware mismatch or a strict manifest check. Retry with the hypervisor's compatibility option, or extract the OVA and import the .ovf directly after adjusting it.
Related formats
Sources
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