Use qemu-img command to convert between vmdk, raw, qcow2, vdi, vhd, vhdx formats/disk images (qemu-img create, snapshot, resize etc.)

First we need to have qemu installed on the system, for most of Linux systems, we can install “qemu-utils” for Windows we can download QEMU disk image utility from here

related questions
How to open raw disk from VMware
How to open qcow2 disk from VMware
How to open vdi disk from VMware
How to open raw disk from Hyper-V
How to open qcow2 disk from Hyper-V
How to open vdi disk from Hyper-V
How to open raw disk from VirtualBox
How to open qcow2 disk from VirtualBox
How to open vhdx disk from VirtualBox
How to open vmdk disk from VirtualBox
How to open vdi disk from kvm, Xen
How to open vmdk disk from kvm, Xen
How to open vhdx disk from kvm, Xen
How to open vmdk disk from kvm, Xen
…

For all those questions, we can just convert the exiting virtual disk/disk image to the correct format by following the guide, then attach to the correct format to the software

qemu-img command supported formats

Convert from raw to qcow2

qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 /data/source.raw /data/output.qcow2 -p

–f: Source file format (Can be omitted, the command will recognize the format automatically)

-O: Output format

-p: Show the progress bar (Optional)

# We can also use following command

qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 /data/source.img /data/output.qcow2 -p

Convert from qcow2 to raw

qemu-img convert -O raw /data/source.qcow2 /data/output.raw

Convert vmdk, vhd, vhdx, vdi to raw

qemu-img convert -O raw /data/source.vmdk /data/output.raw qemu-img convert -O raw /data/source.vpc /data/output.raw qemu-img convert -O raw /data/source.vhdx /data/output.raw qemu-img convert -O raw /data/source.vdi /data/output.raw

Convert raw, vmdk, vpc, vhdx, vdi to qcow2

qemu-img convert -O qcow2 /data/source.raw /data/output.qcow2 
qemu-img convert -O qcow2 /data/source.vmdk /data/output.qcow2 
qemu-img convert -O qcow2 /data/source.vpc /data/output.qcow2 
qemu-img convert -O qcow2 /data/source.vhdx /data/output.qcow2 
qemu-img convert -O qcow2 /data/source.vdi /data/output.qcow2

Convert qcow2, raw, vpc, vhdx, vdi to vmdk

qemu-img convert -O vmdk /data/source.qcow2 /data/output.vmdk 
qemu-img convert -O vmdk /data/source.raw /data/output.vmdk 
qemu-img convert -O vmdk /data/source.vpc /data/output.vmdk 
qemu-img convert -O vmdk /data/source.vhdx /data/output.vmdk 
qemu-img convert -O vmdk /data/source.vdi /data/output.vmdk

Convert qcow2, raw, vmdk, vhdx, vdi to vpc

qemu-img convert -O vpc /data/source.qcow2 /data/output.vpc 
qemu-img convert -O vpc /data/source.raw /data/output.vpc 
qemu-img convert -O vpc /data/source.vmdk /data/output.vpc 
qemu-img convert -O vpc /data/source.vhdx /data/output.vpc 
qemu-img convert -O vpc /data/source.vdi /data/output.vpc

Convert qcow2, raw, vmdk, vpc, vdi to vhdx

qemu-img convert -O vhdx /data/source.qcow2 /data/output.vhdx 
qemu-img convert -O vhdx /data/source.raw /data/output.vhdx 
qemu-img convert -O vhdx /data/source.vmdk /data/output.vhdx 
qemu-img convert -O vhdx /data/source.vpc /data/output.vhdx 
qemu-img convert -O vhdx /data/source.vdi /data/output.vhdx

Convert qcow2, raw, vmdk, vpc, vhdx to vdi

qemu-img convert -O vdi /data/source.qcow2 /data/output.vdi 
qemu-img convert -O vdi /data/source.raw /data/output.vdi 
qemu-img convert -O vdi /data/source.vmdk /data/output.vdi 
qemu-img convert -O vdi /data/source.vpc /data/output.vdi 
qemu-img convert -O vdi /data/source.vhdx /data/output.vdi

Bonus

Create a virtual disk

qemu-img create -f raw -o size 10G /data/disk.raw

-f: Disk format

-o: Options, list of format specific options, name1=value1, name2=value2 etc. e.g. size=10G

Get into about a virtual disk

qemu-img info source.qcow2

Check virtual disk consistency (Only supports qcow2, vdi as of writing)

qemu-img check source.qcow2

Take Snapshot

qemu-img snapshot /data/source.qcow2 - /data/source.qcow2.snapshot

Note: raw format does not support snapshot, qcow2 does support snapshot

List snapshot

qemu-img snapshot /data/source.qcow2 -l

Delete snapshot

qemu-img snapshot -d /data/source.qcow2 
# Delete specific snapshot with snapshot ID (2 in this example) 
qemu-img snapshot -d 2 /data/source.qcow2

Resize

qemu-img resize /data/disk +1G

Note: We can increase and decrease size on raw format, size of qcow2 format can only be increased

Reference : https://dannyda.com/2020/06/25/how-to-use-qemu-img-command-to-convert-between-vmdk-raw-qcow2-vdi-vhd-vhdx-formats-disk-images-qemu-img-create-snapshot-resize-etc/