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.

Prerequisites

• Scale HyperCore cluster access

• ~2x disk space of the OVA size

• Required Tools:
  • macOS:
    • Terminal
    • Homebrew
    • qemu
  • Windows:
    • QEMU (CLI) OR StarWind V2V Converter (GUI)

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

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.

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

Windows (QEMU CLI)

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

Windows (GUI Option)

Using StarWind V2V Converter:

1. Open StarWind V2V

2. Select VMDK

3. Output format: QCOW2

4. Complete wizard

📸 Screenshot: StarWind conversion wizard

Step 4: Create a VM in Scale

Create a new VM manually.

📸 Screenshot: Scale “Create VM” screen

Required Settings

⚠️ Critical:

• Do NOT use UEFI

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

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

Step 6: Boot the Appliance

Start the VM.

Expected result:

• Debian boots

• FileWave login prompt appears

Default Credentials

Username: fwadmin
Password: filewave

You will be prompted to change the password.

Troubleshooting

❌ No Bootable Device

• VM must be BIOS

• Disk must be IDE

• Boot order must point to the disk

❌ Kernel Panic / Root FS Missing

• Disk conversion issue

• Retry conversion

• Ensure the correct VMDK is used

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

Optimization (Optional)

After successful boot:

• Test switching disk to VirtIO

• Test switching NIC to VirtIO

⚠️ Only do this after confirming a stable boot

Summary

1. Download OVA

2. Extract files

3. Convert VMDK → QCOW2

4. Create BIOS VM

5. Attach the disk as IDE

6. Boot

Support

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