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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 versionversion.

  3. Download the VMware/VirtualBox OVA

image.png

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

Setting Value
Firmware BIOS (Legacy)
CPU 4–8 vCPU
RAM 8–16 GB
NIC Intel E1000

⚠️ 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

image.png

image.png

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.

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