vSphere source locators point to a virtual machine or vApp within the virtual infrastructure. The vSphere target locator provides all required information for importing an OVF package or virtual machine into a cluster, host or resource pool. Both source and target locator use the same syntax:
vi://<username>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<search-term>
The server name and port can designate either a vCenter server, VirtualCenter server, VMware Server, or an ESXi host. If you omit credentials, in which case OVF Tool prompts you for them. Default installations of vCenter Server, VirtualCenter, and ESXi use port 443. If you are using the default port, you do not need to specify it. When using OVF Tool against a VMware Server, you must explicitly specify port 8333, which is the default port for VMware Server.
The search term has the following format:
<path>[?<query>=<value>]
If a query is not given, a VC inventory path lookup is performed using the specified path. Otherwise, the object matching the query is used. The meaning of the query depends on the object type. Source and Target Values for All Query Types shows the different values that you can use in the query field.
Examples of Query Values shows example values for each query type.
You can enter a partial source locator if you do not know the entire inventory path. In this case, the tool fails but suggests possible inventory path completions.
To specify an inventory path for a virtual machine or vApp, use the following syntax:
<datacenter name>/vm/<folders>/<vm or vApp name>
<datacenter name>/host/<resource pool path>/<vm or vApp name>
The use of the vm tag after the datacenter name specifies that you are locating a virtual machine or vApp in the VM and Template view. Use the host tag after the datacenter name if you are locating a virtual machine or vApp in the Host and Clusters view.
The following example shows an inventory path without any folders:
The following example shows an inventory path with two nested folders:
You can specify an inventory path for a host or a resource pool. You can nest resource pools similar to folders. To specify an inventory path for a host or a resource pool as part of target locators, use the following syntax:
<datacenter name>/host/<host name>/Resources/<resource pool>
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<resource pool>. Can take the value of one or more nested resource pools. If no resource pools are specified, the default resource pool for the host is used. |
The following example is of an inventory path without a specified resource pool:
vi://username:pass@localhost/my_datacenter/host/esx01.example.com
The following example is of an inventory path with a specified resource pool:
vi://username:pass@localhost/my_datacenter/host/esx01.example.com/Resources/my_resourcepool