Import-vApp OVA: Invalid URI: The hostname could not be parsed

[antize1]

Hi we are getting this same error when importing an OVA via PowerCLI 10.

PowerCLI: Import-vApp OVA: Hostname cannot be parsed. – ReadySetVirtual.com

The same work around to import an OVF worked using PowerCLI 10, however we need to import OVAs.

Is this a known issue with PowerCLI 10?

[LucD]

This is a know issue since a long time (already in 6.5) I'm afraid.

Not sure why you insist on OVA, it's nothing more than an archive of the OVF files.

And the archiving part can be done with native PowerShell cmdlet nowadays.

An alternative is to use the OvfManager directly.

I have some sample code in Re: Need a script to keep the MAC address when we export the vm to OVF file.

[antize1]

Thanks for the help LucD (as always!)

Sounds like this should be entered as a bug for PowerCLI 10.0 (if not already).

I'm aware that OVF format works with PowerCLI 10.0 works as well as using the ovftool to deploy the OVA.

The reason for not simply using OVF instead is that my organization has been using OVAs in CM (configuration management) for years to deploy systems so all deployment VMs are in that format. OVA format works with PowerCLI version 6 so it should also still work with version 10. We would like to take advantage of the new capabilities in 10 (DRS cmdlets for example). Using the ovftool would be a much smaller impact to us however this would require a relatively small change to the scripts that deploy the OVAs. The ideal solution is to just have 10 fixed so that it worked as 6 did with OVAs so it wouldn't require a change to our scripts/processes/VMs in CM.

[LucD]

I agree :smileygrin:

[antize1]

Do you know if a bug has already been created? If not I'll try to contact VMware support to create one.

[LucD]

I assume yes, since it has been reported before.

But it would not harm if you open a SR as well.
If the support guys tell you that PowerCLI is not supported, refer to PowerCLI Support Breakdown

[lusid2]

Did they ever fix this?

I'm trying to fix some broken scripts, and hoping I can target a fixed version.

If not, what's plan B? Some unholy hack to get at the OVF inside the tarball?

[LucD]

Not that I know of.
The alternative, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, is to use the OvfManager.
The entry links to another thread with sample code.

[lusid2]

That's unfortunate.  It looks like you had to write your own export-vapp so you could retain the MAC addresses.

Have you tried it with OVA sources?  The docs only mention OVF, and the sample snippets I've come across imply I'd need to extract the OVA locally anyway.