Convert VirtualBox VM to VMware ESXi 🌱

Exporting the VirtualBox Disk(s)

  1. On the VirtualBox host, launch VirtualBox
  2. Right click the VM to convert > Settings
  3. Select Storage from the left navigation
  4. Click the virtual hard disk and copy the Location value for the full path of the disk to the clipboard
  5. Right click on the Start menu > Run > type cmd.exe > Press Enter
  6. Enter the following commands in the command prompt
    # change directory to VirtualBox installation
    cd %programfiles%\Oracle\VirtualBox
    # convert the .vdi to .vmdk
    VBoxManage clonemedium disk --format VMDK --variant Standard "pasted\full\path\to.vdi" "pasted\full\path\to.vmdk"

Creating the ESXi Virtual Machine

  1. Open a web browser and navigate to the VMware ESXi web UI
  2. Log into ESXi
  3. In the left navigation pane, right click on Virtual Machines > Create/Register VM
  4. Select Create a new virtual machine > Click Next
  5. Give the VM a name and set the Guest OS family > Click Next
  6. Select the storage datastore to use > Click Next
  7. Set the Memory to match the memory in the source VirtualBox VM
  8. Remove Hard disk 1 by clicking the X icon to the far right > Click Next
  9. Review the summary provided and click Finish
  10. Click the new VM name to view th VM details
  11. Click the Edit link at the top of the page
  12. At the top of the dialog click Add hard disk > Existing hard disk
  13. Browse to the appropriate datastore and find the folder containing the VM
  14. Click the Upload button at the top left of the file browser window > Browse to and select the exported .vmdk disk image
  15. After the upload completes, select the uploaded .vmdk file > Click Select
  16. Click Save in the VM Edit settings dialog
  17. Test that the VM is functioning by clicking the Start button at the top of the VM details page