Importing a FileWave Appliance into Scale Computing (OVA → QCOW2)

Overview

This article explains how to deploy a FileWave Server appliance (OVA) on a Scale Computing HyperCore cluster.

Scale does not natively support VMware/VirtualBox OVA imports. To run the FileWave appliance, you must:

• Extract the OVA

• Convert the virtual disk

• Create a VM manually

• Attach the converted disk

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for macOS and Windows.

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Prerequisites

• Scale HyperCore cluster access
• At least twice the OVA size in free working space for extraction and conversion
• A planned static IP address and fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the FileWave Server
• macOS conversion host: Terminal, Homebrew, and QEMU
• Windows conversion host: QEMU CLI or StarWind V2V Converter

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Step 1: Download the Appliance

1. Navigate to FileWave Downloads:
   https://kb.filewave.com/books/downloads

2. Select your FileWave version.

3. Download the VMware/VirtualBox OVA

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Step 2: Extract the OVA

The OVA is a tar archive.

macOS / Linux

#Make a directory for the .ova files to be extracted to
mkdir ~/Downloads/fw-ova/
cd ~/Downloads/fw-ova/
#Extract the files
#If the file wasn't saved to your Downloads, change the directory
tar -xvf ../FileWave_Server_Debian_*.ova

Windows

• Right-click → Extract (7-Zip or WinRAR)

Expected output:

FileWave_Server_Debian.ovf
FileWave_Server_Debian.mf
FileWave_Server_Debian-disk-0.vmdk
FileWave_Server_Debian-disk-1.nvram

👉 Only the .vmdk file is required.

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Step 3: Convert VMDK → QCOW2

Scale works best with QCOW2 disks.

macOS

Install QEMU:

brew install qemu

Convert:

cd ~/Downloads/fw-ova/
qemu-img convert -p -f vmdk -O qcow2 FileWave_Server_Debian-disk-0.vmdk FileWave_Server.qcow2

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Windows (QEMU CLI)

qemu-img.exe convert -p -f vmdk -O qcow2 FileWave_Server_Debian-disk-0.vmdk FileWave_Server.qcow2

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Windows (GUI Option)

Using StarWind V2V Converter:

1. Open StarWind V2V

2. Select VMDK

3. Output format: QCOW2

4. Complete wizard

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Step 4: Create a VM in Scale

Create a new VM manually.

Required Settings

Setting	Value
Firmware	BIOS (Legacy)
CPU	8 vCPU minimum
RAM	16 GB minimum
NIC	Intel E1000

⚠️ Critical:

• Do NOT use UEFI

• Do NOT attach disk yet (or remove placeholder disk)

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Step 5: Upload & Attach Disk

1. Navigate to Control Center > Media

2. Upload FileWave_Server.qcow2 to Scale

3. Attach to VM

Disk Configuration

Disk Type: IDE
Disk Slot: 0
Bootable: Yes

Boot Order

IDE Disk (slot 0) → First

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Step 6: Boot the Appliance

Start the VM.

Expected result:

• Debian boots

• FileWave login prompt appears

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Default Credentials

Username: fwadmin
Password: filewave

At the first login, immediately replace the default password when prompted and store the new password securely. See Setting the Password on First Login to FileWave Appliances (15.5+).

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Troubleshooting

❌ No Bootable Device

• VM must be BIOS

• Disk must be IDE

• Boot order must point to the disk

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❌ Kernel Panic / Root FS Missing

• Disk conversion issue

• Retry conversion

• Ensure the correct VMDK is used

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Why This Works (Important)

The FileWave appliance is built for VMware:

Disk Controller: LSI Logic SCSI
NIC: VMXNET3
Firmware: BIOS

Scale uses different virtual hardware:

Disk: IDE / VirtIO
NIC: E1000 / VirtIO

Because Scale does not support VMware’s SCSI or VMXNET3 directly:

• The disk must be converted

• The VM must be recreated with compatible hardware

• IDE is used for maximum boot compatibility

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Optimization (Optional)

After successful boot:

• Test switching disk to VirtIO

• Test switching NIC to VirtIO

⚠️ Only do this after confirming a stable boot

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Summary

1. Download OVA

2. Extract files

3. Convert VMDK → QCOW2

4. Create BIOS VM

5. Attach the disk as IDE

6. Boot

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Support

If you encounter issues, please contact FileWave Support or your Professional Services representative.