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VM from its disk image, including the number of disk images associated with the VM, the processor, storage,
network, and memory requirements and so on. Without this information, it can be much more complex and
error-prone when trying to recreate the VM.
Importing disk images consists of two major tasks, which you perform with the XenServer Disk Image Import
Wizard:
1. Selecting a disk image to import.
2. Enter information for XenCenter to use to create the VM after the image is imported (that is, "defining"
the VM).
Note:
Running Fixups on disk images may or may not be required. It is impossible to account for every potential
device driver or other component installed and required by the original hardware platform (virtual or bare
metal). In some cases, Fixups may not be able to ensure the disk imported will successfully boot as a
XenServer VM. See CTX124961, Operating System Fixup in the XenCenter 5.6 OVF Appliance Plug-in for
additional information regarding Fixup, operating systems and disk import types.
To start the Disk Image Import wizard
1. In the XenCenter tree, right-click the host where you want to import the image and select Disk Image
Import.
2. Continue selecting options in the appliance wizard. Additional information about the choices in each
page is available by pressing F1 on a wizard page to invoke the online help.
Supported disk image formats
The Disk Image Import wizard supports importing the following formats:
• Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) is a universal virtual hard-disk file format that contains items similar to a physical
hard drive, such as files, folders, and partitions. Often, VHD is used as the hard disk of a virtual machine.
• Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK). The VMware virtual appliance file format for VMware products.
• Virtual Disk Image (VDI). Sun’s virtual appliance file format for VMware the Virtual Box product.
• Windows Imaging Format (WIM). Microsoft's file-based disk image format used for its more recent
operating systems (Windows 7, Windows Server 2008).
Tip:
If you are importing a WIM disk image, consider reading the following Citrix Knowledge Center article: How
to Build a Reference Virtual Machine for Deployment from WIM. It is important to understand that the most
recent Windows versions auto-detect hardware changes and do not need to run Fixups where as Windows
Server 2003 and earlier do not have this capability. In these cases, you must know what type of disk controller
the WIM has to know if Fixups are required. For WIM with IDE interfaces, Fixups should not be necessary.
For WIM with SCSI interfaces, Fixups are required.
Troubleshooting the XenServer OVF Appliance Wizard
When exporting and importing appliances and disk images, errors can occur for a variety of reasons.
Sometimes the wizard may fail to start or errors occur after completing the wizard due to file format