Converting a QCOW2 image to a VHD image

Last Updated : Mar 21, 2024 |
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Depending on the type of VM you are using, you might need to convert a QCOW2 image to a VHD image. Use this procedure to do that conversion.
Before you begin
Download the QCOW2 image from PLDS as described in Downloading software from Avaya PLDS.
Confirm that you have access to Linux QEMU tools. For more information about QEMU tools, see the following website:
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html/configuring_and_managing_virtualization/managing-storage-for-virtual-machines_configuring-and-managing-virtualization#managing-virtual-disk-images-by-using-the-cli_managing-storage-for-virtual-machines
  1. Log on as root to the Linux server.
  2. Copy the QCOW2 image file to a temporary directory.
  3. Run the following command convert the QCOW2 image to a raw file format:
    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
    qemu-img convert -f qcow2 -O raw ASBCE.qcow2 ASBCE.raw
    MB=$((1024 * 1024))
  4. Verify that the size of the raw image is aligned with 1 MB. If it is not, use the following commands to round it up to 1 MB:
    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
    size=$(qemu-img info -f raw --output json "ASBCE.raw" | gawk 'match($0, /"virtual-size": ([0-9]+),/, val) {print val[1]}')
    rounded_size=$((($size/$MB + 1)*$MB))
    qemu-img resize ASBCE.raw $rounded_size
    Note:
    The qemu-img command sometimes displays the following message, but you can ignore the warning:
    WARNING: Image format was not specified for 'ASBCE.raw' and probing guessed raw. 
    Automatically detecting the format is dangerous for raw images, write operations on block 0 will be restricted. 
    Specify the 'raw' format explicitly to remove the restrictions. Image resized.
  5. Run the following command to convert the raw file to a fixed-size VHD image:
    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
    • If you are using QEMU Version 2.6 or later:
      qemu-img convert -f raw -o subformat=fixed,force_size -O vpc ASBCE.raw ASBCE.vhd
    • If you are using QEMU version earlier than 2.6:
      qemu-img convert -f raw -o subformat=fixed -O vpc ASBCE.raw ASBCE.vhd