MKOVA(1)

📦 version 0.3.13, in ubuntu stonking

💖 MKOVA(1) — the mkova manual, bestie edition 💖

okay so you opened the manual page for mkova, a User Commands classic, and honestly? you came to the right place. this is the legacy way to create Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) templates with configurable hardware options, and we're gonna walk through it together. grab a strawberry 🍓 and let's go.

✨ NAME ✨

mkova — the legacy way to create Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) templates with configurable hardware options 👑

yes bestie, "legacy" — it's giving classic icon, not giving cancelled. it still works, it's still here, we still stan.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

mkova [options] OVA_NAME TEMPLATE_OR_HW VMDK_FILES...

so it's mkova, then some options, then the name of your OVA, then either a template or a hardware version, then the .vmdk files. that's the whole shape of it. slay. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

mkova is a helper script that creates Open Virtual Appliances (OVAs) based on predefined OVF templates and virtual disk files (.vmdk). it's basically the friend who does your makeup for you before the party. 🎀

by default, the OVA will be created with:

  • 2 CPUs
  • 1024 MB memory
  • EFI firmware (for hardware version ≥ 11)

and all of those defaults can be changed using command line options or environment variables. no cap. ✨

💅 OPTIONS 💅

the whole menu. every single one. we do NOT skip items in this house.

  • --num-cpusN — number of CPUs to assign to the OVA template. Default: 2
  • --mem-size N — memory size in MB for the OVA template. Default: 1024
  • --firmware {efi|bios} — firmware type for the OVA template. Default: efi. for hardware versions 7 and 10, only bios is supported — so don't try it, the vibes will not be immaculate. 😭
  • --h N — specify the hardware version to use. if you omit it, the latest available template is used. letting it pick for you is very main character of it honestly.
  • --template PATH — specify the path to a specific OVF template file.
  • --ovf — create only the unpacked OVF directory instead of a full OVA archive. the unpacked moment. 🧚

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

the following environment variables can override defaults:

  • NUM_CPUS — default number of CPUs.
  • MEM_SIZE — default memory size in MB.
  • FIRMWARE — default firmware (efi or bios).

values from these variables can be defined in /etc/open-vmdk.conf. 🫶

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

create an OVA with specific hardware version and custom resources:

$ mkova --num-cpus 4 --mem-size 4096 --firmware bios --hw 20 ova_name disk1.vmdk

create an OVA using a specific template file:

$ mkova --num-cpus 4 --mem-size 4096 --firmware bios \
  --template /usr/share/open-vmdk/template-hw20.ovf \
  ova_name disk1.vmdk

create an unpacked OVF directory instead of a .ova archive:

$ mkova --ovf ova_name template-hw20.ovf disk1.vmdk

create an OVA with multiple disks:

$ mkova ova_name template-hw20.ovf disk1.vmdk disk2.vmdk disk3.vmdk
⚠️ at most 15 disks can be added per OVA. that's the limit, bestie. disk sixteen is not invited to the function. 💀

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /etc/open-vmdk.conf — optional configuration file. shell-style definitions of default parameters:
NUM_CPUS=2
MEM_SIZE=1024
FIRMWARE=efi
  • /usr/share/open-vmdk/ — contains OVF templates for various hardware versions:
template-hw7.ovf
template-hw10.ovf
template-hw11.ovf
template-hw13.ovf
template-hw14.ovf
template-hw15.ovf
template-hw17.ovf
template-hw18.ovf
template-hw19.ovf
template-hw20.ovf

look at that lineup. the whole squad is here. ⭐

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

vmdk-convert (1), ova-compose (1), ovfenv (1)

💜 AUTHOR 💜

written by Mégane Vilain for the Debian project. icon behaviour, honestly. 🫶

Copyright (C) 2025 Mégane Vilain. Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

and that's the page!! this is open-vmdk version 0.3.12, dated October 2025, and it's literally called MKOVA(1) — iykyk. go make some OVAs bestie, you're gonna eat 💖✨🎀🦋🌸💅

📦 where this page comes from