Error importing .ova E_INVALIDARG 0x80070057

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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GhostfaceThrillah
Posts: 2
Joined: 12. Nov 2020, 17:16

Error importing .ova E_INVALIDARG 0x80070057

Post by GhostfaceThrillah »

I have been trying to import a virtual appliance via a .ova folder using the VirtualBox Manager 6.1.16, and everytime I try to import, I always get the same error: E_INVALIDARG (0x80070057). My research indicated that this error usually occurs when the host machine does not have enough space, but when I tried to deploy the virtual machine on my personal laptop (which has over 2 TB of available space), the same error still occurred. Both of the C: drives of the laptops are formatted in NTFS, which is specified by the tutorial of the associated virutal machine image, and furthermore, different collleagues of mine and myself have all tried to deploy this same virtual disk image on their respective computers, even going so far as to implement a solution discussed in a thread on this forum (whereby the .ova folder has its .vmdk file extracted and converted to a .vdi), but none of us have had any success in getting the deployment to virtual disk image to work. Can anybody else recommend an alternate solution, or might the problem lie with the .ova folder itself?
scottgus1
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Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Error importing .ova E_INVALIDARG 0x80070057

Post by scottgus1 »

The VboxSVC.log might show more info.

Go to C:\Users\{you}\.Virtualbox (note the period in the folder name). Zip the VboxSVC.log, and post the zip file, using the forum's Upload Attachment tab.
GhostfaceThrillah
Posts: 2
Joined: 12. Nov 2020, 17:16

Re: Error importing .ova E_INVALIDARG 0x80070057

Post by GhostfaceThrillah »

So I checked my VboxSVC.log file, and it said that my .ova file was corrupted (sorry I can't upload it at this time). My colleagues all similar messages. But I ended up implementing a solution that a colleague of mine figured out, where they managed to extract files from the .ova folder using 7-Zip, and then they created a new VM in VirtualBox that, rather than pointing to the .ova location, pointed to the extracted .vmdk file. This created a VM that worked perfectly.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Error importing .ova E_INVALIDARG 0x80070057

Post by scottgus1 »

Extracting the vmdk out of the ova does work sometimes, too. Glad you're up and running!
mpack
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Posts: 39134
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Error importing .ova E_INVALIDARG 0x80070057

Post by mpack »

A VMDK packed into an OVA is compressed. While VirtualBox can use a compressed VMDK (as a side effect of supporting OVA), you will not get good performance. So ideally convert the disk to VDI format before use in a VM.
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