qemu-img convert: raw, qcow2, qed, vdi, vmdk, vhd

This example will convert a raw image file named image.img to a qcow2 image file.

qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 image.img image.qcow2

Run the following command to convert a vmdk image file to a raw image file.

qemu-img convert -f vmdk -O raw image.vmdk image.img

Run the following command to convert a vmdk image file to a qcow2 image file.

qemu-img convert -f vmdk -O qcow2 image.vmdk image.qcow2

root@manu:~# qemu-img create -f qcow2 /Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img 20G
Formatting '/Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img', fmt=qcow2 cluster_size=65536 extended_l2=off compression_type=zlib size=21474836480 lazy_refcounts=off refcount_bits=16
	.
root@manu:~# du -sh /Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img
196K	/Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img

root@manu:~# qemu-img info /Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img
image: /Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img
file format: qcow2
virtual size: 20 GiB (21474836480 bytes)
disk size: 196 KiB
cluster_size: 65536
Format specific information:
    compat: 1.1
    compression type: zlib
    lazy refcounts: false
    refcount bits: 16
    corrupt: false
    extended l2: false
Child node '/file':
    filename: /Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img
    protocol type: file
    file length: 192 KiB (197120 bytes)
    disk size: 196 KiB

qemu-system-x86_64 -k fr -m 512 -drive file=/Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img,format=qcow2 -boot d -cdrom /home/manu/Downloads/Rocky-9.4-x86_64-minimal.iso -nographic -netdev user,id=mynet0 -device e1000,netdev=mynet0

virt-install \

1. -memory 1024 \
2. -vcpus 1 \
3. -name Rocky9 \
4. -disk /Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img,device=disk,bus=virtio,format=qcow2 \
5. -disk home/manu/Downloads/Rocky-9.4-x86_64-minimal.iso,device=cdrom \
6. -os-variant virt-install \
7. -memory 1024 \
8. -vcpus 1 \
9. -name Rocky9 \
10. -disk /Virtual_srv/qemu/rocky9_01_disk.img,device=disk,bus=virtio,format=qcow2 \
11. -disk /home/manu/Downloads/Rocky-9.4-x86_64-minimal.iso,device=cdrom \
12. -os-variant rocky9 \
13. -virt-type kvm \
14. -graphics none \
15. -import

manu@manu:~$ virsh domiflist rocky9
 Interface   Type      Source    Model    MAC
-------------------------------------------------------------
 vnet0       network   default   virtio   52:54:00:56:fe:1e

manu@manu:~$ virsh list
 Id   Name     State
------------------------
 1    rocky9   running

manu@manu:~$ virsh shutdown rocky9
Domain 'rocky9' is being shutdown

manu@manu:~$ virsh list
 Id   Name   State
--------------------

manu@manu:~$ virsh start rocky9
Domain 'rocky9' started

manu@manu:~$ virsh list
 Id   Name     State
------------------------
 2    rocky9   running

Review the provision from the Host OS.

manu@manu:~$ virsh domblklist FMGinternal

 Target   Source
----------------------------------------

 hda      /srv/VMs/fmg.qcow2
 hdb      /srv/VMs/fortimanager.qcow2
 vdb      /srv/VMs/fortimanager2.qcow2


manu@manu:~$ virsh domblkinfo FMGinternal vdb --human

Capacity:       80.000 GiB
Allocation:     196.000 KiB
Physical:       193.250 KiB