Overwriting a Running Virtual Machine or vApp from vSphere

The OVF Tool supports overwriting existing targets. If a target virtual machine or vApp has the same name as the source, OVF Tool overwrites the target when the --overwrite option is specified. If the target virtual machine or vApp is running, OVF Tool cannot overwrite it. OVF Tool does not automatically power off the target. To power off the target before overwriting it, use the --powerOffTarget option.

> ovftool --overwrite --powerOffTarget package.ovf vi://localhost/?dns=production-host.example.com

You can also power on the newly written virtual machine or vApp at the same time. In the following example, the target machine is powered off and deleted, the package.ovf is imported, and the imported virtual machine or vApp is powered on.

> ovftool --overwrite --powerOffTarget --powerOn package.ovf vi://localhost/?dns=production-host.example.com