Exporting images
After exporting an image, you can import it to PowerVC into various storage providers, and then deploy it as a virtual machine. There are several ways that you can export images, depending on your needs.
Export an image to a backup service
If you want to export an image from a PowerVC managed storage provider to another storage provider managed by the same PowerVC, export it to a backup service. From the PowerVC user interface, open the Images page, select an image, and click Export. Export progress can be monitored under the tab.
When exporting an image to a backup service, the backup service stores the entire contents of the source volumes. If the volume in the backup service is fully provisioned, the backup service requires enough space to make copies of the volumes plus up to 5% more space for metadata. For example, if the volumes in the image take up 100 GB, the backup service requires about 105 GB.
Ensure that your backup directory has enough space for the export. By default, the backup service is configured with this directory: /var/opt/ibm/powervc/image-backups/.
- Exported images are not automatically deleted when PowerVC is uninstalled. If you want to
delete them, you must do so manually.
If the default Posix backup service was configured, then the folder to remove is given by the
backup_posix_path
property. To view this value, run thepowervc-config storage backup-service posix
command.For a swift configured backup service, it is recommended to remove the backup images before you uninstall PowerVC.
- Images that are exported to OVA package format are portable and can be imported into any PowerVC with a supported storage provider.
Export an image to an OVA package
- Run
powervc-image export
to export the image to an OVA package. - Copy the OVA package to the second PowerVC instance.
- Log in to the second PowerVC instance and import the OVA package into an image on the second PowerVC instance.
After the OVA package is created, the files that were used to create the OVA package are removed.
The resulting OVA package is compressed through gzip if the --compress
option was
supplied to the export command. A temporary storage provider and template for that provider is
registered, but then deleted when the action is complete. You might notice that the temporary
provider appears in the list of providers. You can ignore this provider.
- Use the
powervc-image list
command to view the available images. This command must be run as the root user. It returns only the images that are owned by the project that the command is run from. Add the --project argument to specify a project other than ibm-default.# powervc-image list +-----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+------+-------------------+--------------+-----------+------------+ | Name | ID | Status | Volumes | Size | Description | Architecture | OS Distro | Exportable | +-----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+------+-------------------+--------------+-----------+------------+ | MyDemoImage | a918cfc2-14e2-4653-863f-40448e7c1c5d | active | 1 | 10 | | ppc64le | ubuntu | True | | MyDemoImage-001 | 38ce9da6-b93c-4940-a930-43a9fb2a2a9d | active | 1 | 10 | Image-description | ppc64le | ubuntu | True | +-----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+------+-------------------+--------------+-----------+------------+ 2 managed images returned.
- Export the first image:
powervc-image export --image MyDemoImage
- By default, the resulting OVA package is in the /var/opt/ibm/powervc/ova folder.
Run powervc-image export -h
for more information about this command.
Exporting an image from VIOS connected storage
You can export an image from VIOS connected storage when you are using shared storage pool or when you have a volume and not an image to download. For instructions, see Manually importing and exporting volumes.