Convert between virtual disk formats

You can convert the virtual disk image to a different format by using the qemu-img convert command. For example, converting between virtual disk image formats might be necessary if you want to attach the disk image to a virtual machine (VM) running on a different hypervisor.

Before you begin

  • Any virtual machines (VMs) that use the disk image must be shut down.
  • The source disk image format must be supported for conversion by QEMU. For a detailed list, see Supported disk image formats.

Procedure

Use the qemu-img convert command to convert an existing virtual disk image to a different format. For example, to convert a raw disk image to a QCOW2 disk image: 
# qemu-img convert -f raw <original-image.img> -O qcow2 <converted-image.qcow2>

Results

  1. Display information about the converted image and see if it has the intended format and size. 
    # qemu-img info <converted-image.qcow2>
     
    image: converted-image.qcow2
file format: qcow2
virtual size: 30 GiB (32212254720 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
  2. Check the disk image for potential errors. for instructions, see Checking the consistency of a virtual disk.