In August VMware restricted downloads of its Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) to partners. That hurt, because lots of migration tools load the same library to read VM disks: virt-v2v, nbdkit, Forklift/MTV, Proxmox VE and Apache CloudStack importers. Now cloud architect Panić has written OpenVDDK, The Register reports.
What it is
- “An independent drop-in for libvixDiskLib.so.8.0.3,” written from scratch from public docs and black-box testing, with no VMware code
- Written in Go with a thin C layer that matches VMware’s C interface, library name and symbol versions
- Apache-licensed
- He tested it on vSphere 6.7 U3, 7.0.3, 8.0.3 and 9.1.1, and testers report success with Forklift, MTV on OpenShift and a Proxmox VE pipeline
He’s careful to say those reports aren’t audited endorsements or a guarantee for every production setup.
His reason: “I didn’t think it was fair that people’s ability to move or protect their own data should depend on a download page.”
My take
Use the source, literally. If you’re planning a VMware exit like Tesco’s move to Proxmox (post), this is worth a look. Test it on copies first.
God Bless, and Happy hacking!
