---
title: "Download a copy of a VM in vCloud Director"
slug: "export-a-vm-in-vclouddirector"
tags: ["HowTo", "VMware", "vSphere"]
updated: 2026-07-01T05:29:45Z
published: 2026-07-01T05:29:45Z
canonical: "docs.serversaustralia.com.au/export-a-vm-in-vclouddirector"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.serversaustralia.com.au/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Export a Virtual Machine (VM) in vCloud Director (vCD)

If you would like to export a copy of a VM that is hosted in your Virtual Data Center, you can do so by following this guide. First, you will need to ensure that the VM exists inside of a vApp. In your VDC Navigate to Virtual Machines and locate your VM.![](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/image-1776842114664.png)

In **Actions** for the VM, select **Convert to vApp**. If the VM is already in a vApp, then this option will be greyed out, and you may skip this step.![](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/image-1776841635583.png)

![](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/image-1776841845019.png)

Once the VM is in a vApp, locate this vApp in the vApps menu.![](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/image-1776842577991.png)

Under **Actions** for the vApp select Download. If Download is greyed out, the vApp may be powered off. **The vApp must be powered off in order to download a copy of it.** Once the vApp is powered off select **Download** from the actions menu.

![](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/image-1777000486465.png)

![](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/image-1776842817973.png)

vCloud Director will take some time to Enable the download of the Virtual Application, then your web browser will begin downloading the OVA of the application.