Convert VirtualBox VM to VMware ESXi
Exporting the VirtualBox Disk(s)
- On the VirtualBox host, launch VirtualBox
- Right click the VM to convert > Settings
- Select Storage from the left navigation
- Click the virtual hard disk and copy the Location value for the full path of the disk to the clipboard
- Right click on the Start menu > Run > type cmd.exe > Press Enter
- Enter the following commands in the command prompt
# change directory to VirtualBox installation
cd %programfiles%\Oracle\VirtualBox
# convert the .vdi to .vmdk
VBoxManage clonemedium disk --format VMDK --variant Standard "pasted\full\path\to.vdi" "pasted\full\path\to.vmdk"
Creating the ESXi Virtual Machine
- Open a web browser and navigate to the VMware ESXi web UI
- Log into ESXi
- In the left navigation pane, right click on Virtual Machines > Create/Register VM
- Select Create a new virtual machine > Click Next
- Give the VM a name and set the Guest OS family > Click Next
- Select the storage datastore to use > Click Next
- Set the Memory to match the memory in the source VirtualBox VM
- Remove Hard disk 1 by clicking the X icon to the far right > Click Next
- Review the summary provided and click Finish
- Click the new VM name to view th VM details
- Click the Edit link at the top of the page
- At the top of the dialog click Add hard disk > Existing hard disk
- Browse to the appropriate datastore and find the folder containing the VM
- Click the Upload button at the top left of the file browser window > Browse to and select the exported .vmdk disk image
- After the upload completes, select the uploaded .vmdk file > Click Select
- Click Save in the VM Edit settings dialog
- Test that the VM is functioning by clicking the Start button at the top of the VM details page