Free online RAW to OVF converter

What the RAW format is

In virtualization, a RAW file is a headerless, sector-by-sector image of a virtual disk. It contains partitions, filesystems, boot sectors, and operating-system data, but normally does not contain metadata describing virtual CPUs, memory, network adapters, firmware, or the original hypervisor.

QEMU and KVM can create RAW images, and the format also appears in dd disk copies, cloud exports, backup systems, and conversions from VMware, VirtualBox, or Hyper-V storage. A RAW image can be sparse or fully allocated; its filename extension is not sufficient to identify its internal structure.

What the OVF format is

OVF is an XML-based packaging format for describing and distributing a virtual appliance. The .ovf descriptor records virtual hardware, firmware, disk controllers, CPU and memory settings, network adapters, and references to one or more virtual disk files.

An OVF export commonly contains an .ovf descriptor and a converted .vmdk disk, with optional .mf manifest and other appliance files. The OVF descriptor does not replace the virtual disk, so copying only the .ovf file usually produces an incomplete appliance.

How to actually convert RAW to OVF

VirtualBox provides a practical desktop and command-line workflow:

1. Install Oracle VM VirtualBox and make a backup of the RAW image. Do not modify the original during conversion.
2. Convert the disk image to VirtualBox storage with:

VBoxManage convertfromraw disk.raw disk.vdi --format VDI

Replace disk.raw with the source filename. The destination needs enough free space for the converted image.

3. Create a temporary virtual machine and attach the converted disk:

VBoxManage createvm --name "Imported RAW" --register
VBoxManage modifyvm "Imported RAW" --memory 4096 --firmware bios --nic1 nat
VBoxManage storagectl "Imported RAW" --name SATA --add sata --controller IntelAhci
VBoxManage storageattach "Imported RAW" --storagectl SATA --port 0 --device 0 --type hdd --medium disk.vdi

Use --firmware efi instead of --firmware bios if the source operating system was installed for UEFI. Set the memory, processor count, chipset, controller type, and network mode to match the source system when those details are known.

4. Export the configured machine:

VBoxManage export "Imported RAW" --output appliance.ovf

VirtualBox writes the OVF descriptor and the associated exported disk files. You can perform the same operations in the graphical interface through Tools → Virtual Media, Machine → New, and File → Export Appliance.

For a one-off conversion without installing desktop software, the built-in converter on 101convert.com can be used online for free. Uploading a RAW disk may be impractical because virtual disks are large and can contain private operating-system data.

Compatibility and limitations

A RAW-to-OVF conversion does not guarantee that the guest operating system will boot. Boot mode, partition table, virtual storage controller, CPU architecture, and installed drivers must be compatible with the destination hypervisor. A disk installed with UEFI/GPT may fail when attached to a BIOS-configured virtual machine, and a system-dependent storage driver may not support the exported controller.

Shut down the source guest before obtaining the RAW image. A live copy can contain inconsistent filesystem data. Test the exported appliance on an isolated network before deleting the source, and keep every file generated beside the .ovf descriptor. OVF importers may differ in their support for VirtualBox-specific settings, snapshots, sparse disks, manifests, and hardware versions.