Download a vApp or vApp Template as OVF or OVA

You can download a vApp or vApp template object as an OVF package or OVA file. A vApp must powered off and undeployed before you can enable it for download.

An OVF package includes a descriptor and one or more virtual disk (VMDK) files. An OVA file is an archive that includes the descriptor and all other components. Downloads in either format are made available in two forms:

default

In the default format, the OVF descriptor for the vApp excludes identity information such as MAC addresses, BIOS UUIDs, and NetworkConfigSection. Ths information is typically specific to the VDC in which the vApp was last deployed, and is unlikely to be portable to other deployment environments.

identity

In the identity format, all deployment-specific information in the vApp or template is retained in the download.

When you enable a VApp or VAppTemplate object for download, the server adds download links in the following form to the XML representation of the object.

<Link type="text/xml" 
      rel="download:default" 
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/transfer/.../descriptor.ovf"/>
   <Link type="text/xml" 
      rel="download:identity" 
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/transfer/.../descriptor-with-id.ovf"/>
   <Link type="text/xml" 
      rel="download:ovaDefault" 
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/transfer/.../descriptor.ova"/>
   <Link type="text/xml" 
      rel="download:ovaIdentity" 
      href="https://vcloud.example.com/transfer/.../descriptor-with-id.ova"/>

The rel value of the link indicates the format of the download. When you make a download request to one of these links, the server constructs a download in the requested format and places it on the transfer server storage.