[libvirt-users] kvm/libvirt can't use vmdk files? qemu: 'vmdk' invalid format

Hi all, I have a RHEL6.1 qemu-kvm hypervisor running a raw image that I need for various reasons to convert to vmdk. I used this process: qemu-img convert server3.img -O vmdk server3.vmdk Then I edited the XML file (/etc/libvirt/qemu/server3.xml) like so: <devices> <emulator>/usr/libexec/qemu-kvm</emulator> <disk type='file' device='disk'> <driver name='qemu' type='vmdk'/> <source file='/raid5/images/guilder3.vmdk'/> <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/> <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' unit='0'/> </disk> Which basically means that I changed raw to vmdk in this line: <driver name='qemu' type='vmdk'/> but when I try to start the VM, I get this: Error starting domain: internal error Process exited while reading console log output: char device redirected to /dev/pts/5 qemu: 'vmdk' invalid format Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/asyncjob.py", line 45, in cb_wrapper callback(asyncjob, *args, **kwargs) File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/engine.py", line 959, in asyncfunc vm.startup() File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/domain.py", line 1128, in startup self._backend.create() File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/libvirt.py", line 330, in create if ret == -1: raise libvirtError ('virDomainCreate() failed', dom=self) libvirtError: internal error Process exited while reading console log output: char device redirected to /dev/pts/5 qemu: 'vmdk' invalid format This bit is telling: qemu: 'vmdk' invalid format As a test I tried using libvirt to create a vmdk and then add it to an existing VM, and it failed with the same message. Does this mean that libvirt supports vmdk, but qemu-kvm doesn't? IF so, why does libvirt continue to offer it as an option for KVM VM's?? IF this isn't related to libvirt, I apologise, but I'd appreciate any pointers. kindest regards Frank UWA