libvirt users - Nov 2011 - kvm/libvirt can't use vmdk files? qemu: 'vmdk' invalid format

Hi all,

I have a RHEL6.1 qemu-kvm  hypervisor running a raw image that I need 
for various reasons to convert to vmdk.


I used this process:
qemu-img convert server3.img -O vmdk server3.vmdk


Then I edited the XML file (/etc/libvirt/qemu/server3.xml) like so:

<devices>
<emulator>/usr/libexec/qemu-kvm</emulator>
<disk type='file' device='disk'>
<driver name='qemu' type='vmdk'/>
<source file='/raid5/images/guilder3.vmdk'/>
<target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
<address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0'
unit='0'/>
</disk>


Which basically means that I changed raw to vmdk in this line:
<driver name='qemu' type='vmdk'/>


but when I try to start the VM, I get this:



Error starting domain: internal error Process exited while reading 
console log output: char device redirected to /dev/pts/5
qemu: 'vmdk' invalid format


Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/asyncjob.py", line 45, in
cb_wrapper
     callback(asyncjob, *args, **kwargs)
   File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/engine.py", line 959, in 
asyncfunc
     vm.startup()
   File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/domain.py", line 1128, in
startup
     self._backend.create()
   File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/libvirt.py", line 330, in
create
     if ret == -1: raise libvirtError ('virDomainCreate() failed',
dom=self)
libvirtError: internal error Process exited while reading console log 
output: char device redirected to /dev/pts/5
qemu: 'vmdk' invalid format


This bit is telling:  qemu: 'vmdk' invalid format


As a test I tried using libvirt to create a vmdk  and then add it to an 
existing VM, and it failed with the same message.
Does this mean that libvirt supports vmdk, but qemu-kvm doesn't?  IF so, 
why does libvirt continue to offer it as an option for KVM VM's??


IF this isn't related to libvirt, I apologise, but I'd appreciate any 
pointers.


kindest regards

Frank
UWA

On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 11:45:02AM +0800, Frank Hauptle
wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I have a RHEL6.1 qemu-kvm  hypervisor running a raw image that I
> need for various reasons to convert to vmdk.
The RHEL-6 qemu-kvm build only supports raw + qcow2 file formats.

If you have another format, you must use  qemu-img to convert it
to raw/qcow2 before you can launch a KVM guest with it.

> Error starting domain: internal error Process exited while reading
> console log output: char device redirected to /dev/pts/5
> qemu: 'vmdk' invalid format
This is QEMU telling you it doesn't support vmdk.

Daniel
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