When you run the machineOutput option in export mode, OVF Tool reports the following status sequence:

  1. AUTHENTICATION (zero or more)
  2. MANIFEST (zero or one)
  3. CERTIFICATE (zero or one)
  4. PROGRESS (one or more)
  5. TARGET_ID (exactly one)
  6. RESULT (exactly one)

To use machine mode to download an OVF from vSphere, you run the following command. 

ovftool.exe --machineOutput                                       \
            --I:sourceSessionTicket=<session ticket>              \
            -tt <OVA or OVF>                                      \
            -n=<name>                                             \
            --overwrite (optional)                                \
            --powerOffSource (optional)                           \
            --chunkSize=<value> (optional)                        \
            --compress=<value> (optional)                         \
            vi://<servername>?moref=<type>:<moref-id>             \
            <directory>

The type value is either vim.VirtualMachine or vim.VirtualVApp.

When you specify --machineOutput, OVF Tool monitors STDIN, and cancels the operation if it reads the ABORT\n line in stdin.

For an example, see Output from Running machineOutput in Export Mode.