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A .vmdk dynamic disk of 250 GB has been created in VMWare, and an OS is installed on it. Only 20 GB are actually used.

I finally want to use this with VirtualBox, but when using "Export to OVF", it seems the exported .ovf file will use 250 GB ... even if only 20 GB are used! (I have already defragmented and use the option to compact the disk)

Is there a way to export as .ovf, using only 20 GB ?

Or better: can I use the .vmdk directly in a VirtualBox machine, even if it was created in VMWare?

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  • You can simply import a vmdk file into Virtualbox using the Virtualbox Media manager (no conversion is applied if you do so). There may be special features Virtualbox does not support but a regular dynamic image should be directly usable without conversion in a Virtualbox VM.
    – Robert
    Commented May 27, 2022 at 11:40

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From Chapter 5. Virtual Storage:

Oracle VM VirtualBox also fully supports the popular and open VMDK container format that is used by many other virtualization products, such as VMware.

So you can use the VMDK directly in a VirtualBox VM.

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  • I think VMWare actually updated their VMWare format? When I upgraded VMWare it asked me if I wanted to upgrade the VMDK format and I said yes and now I even after upgrading VirtualBox, I cannot run the Guest OS on VBox although it works fine on VMWare.
    – Shayan
    Commented Feb 12 at 13:23
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You can open a VMDK file in VirtualBox. You should follow the steps in the article below to import it.

Import VMDK to VBOX

If you're using VMware and want to attach a VMDK file to a virtual machine so that the virtual machine can see the emulated disk, open the machine in VMware. Then, with the virtual machine powered down, click the "VM" button and click "Settings."

Click the "Hardware" tab and click "Add." Select "Hard disk" and then "Next." Click "Use an existing virtual disk" and then "Next." Browse to the file and click "OK" to import it and attach it to your virtual machine.

If you want to create a VM from a VMDK file, set up the virtual machine with the operating system settings corresponding to the virtual disk but without creating a new disk in setup. Then, use this procedure to add the existing VMDK file to the virtual machine and spin it up to start the operating system.

You may wish to SHRINK your VMDK file first in VMware.

For Windows operating systems, shut down the machine and use the VM Men, Manage, and Cleanup Disks.

For Linux machines, run the shrink command inside the running Linux machine: sudo vmware-toolbox-cmd disk shrink /

Your dynamic VMDK file is made up of numerous small segments. If SHRINK does not do the job, you may be better off building a new Virtualbox guest system in VBOX.

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  • Are you sure? The other answer says we can directly use the VMDK in a VirtualBox VM. In your quoted documentation, is there a part that explicitly tells we cannot do it?
    – Basj
    Commented May 27, 2022 at 11:10
  • There were some steps in the article - not just straight open. But the steps should work.
    – anon
    Commented May 27, 2022 at 11:19

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