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.ova

What is a .ova file?

OVA is a complete virtual machine package — disk image, configuration, and metadata bundled in a single portable file.

Use caution
Type System
By DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force)
MIME application/x-tar

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What is it

An OVA file is a virtual machine in a box. It packages everything needed to run a VM — the virtual disk (usually VMDK), hardware configuration (CPU, memory, network), and metadata — into a single TAR archive following the Open Virtualisation Format (OVF) standard. Download an OVA, import it, and you have a running virtual machine.

The format is the standard for distributing pre-configured virtual appliances: security tools (Kali Linux OVA), development environments, demo systems, and lab setups. Instead of installing an OS and configuring software, you import a ready-made OVA and start working.

VirtualBox and VMware both import OVA files directly (File → Import Appliance). The import extracts the OVF descriptor and VMDK disk, creates a new VM with the specified configuration, and it's ready to boot. For Hyper-V or KVM, you'll need to extract and convert the disk image.

Technical details
Full Name
Open Virtual Appliance
MIME Type
application/x-tar
Developer
DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force)
Magic Bytes
N/A
Safety
.ova requires caution. Contains a complete VM including an operating system and applications. Only import OVAs from trusted sources — they can contain any software.
What opens it
VirtualBox
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
VMware Workstation / Fusion
PAID Windows / Mac / Linux
FAQ
How do I use an OVA file?
Import it in VirtualBox (File → Import Appliance) or VMware (File → Open). The tool creates a new VM from the OVA's configuration and disk image. Boot the VM and it's ready to use.
Can I convert OVA to run on Hyper-V?
Extract the OVA (it's a TAR archive), take the VMDK disk image, and convert it to VHD using qemu-img: `qemu-img convert -O vpc disk.vmdk disk.vhd`. Create a new Hyper-V VM using the converted disk.
Related formats
.vmdk
VMware Virtual Disk
.vdi
VirtualBox Disk Image