title: VMware Converter Automation
body: <p>I am looking for a way to automate a conversion process of true image backup (.tib) files to Virtual Machines. I have been looking around VMware for a way to implement this but have left myself really unsure of what I would need.</p>
  
  <p>The reason for this is that I have a bunch of these files that I would like to check to see if they are valid. I would like an automated way to grab these files, convert them, start them up, and then shut them down. I currently have everything set up, I am just lost for a way to actually convert these files.</p>
  
  <p>The two closest solutions that I have found so far are these:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="http://store.vmware.com/DRHM/store?Action=DisplayProductDetailsPage&amp;SiteID=vmware&amp;Locale=en_US&amp;ThemeID=2485600&amp;Env=BASE&amp;productID=282883900" rel="nofollow noreferrer">VMware vSphere Essentials Kit</a></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>From my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong) I would be able to use PowerCLI to automate a way to convert these .tib files to VMs, but the catch is that I would need a VMware server or ESXi to do so. This seems to provide the ESXi that would be needed to do that.</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">VMware vCenter Converter</a></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Again, from my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong) I would be able to use this to convert the files to VMs. I have downloaded this before just to use the GUI and it seems to work up until i get to the point where it asks me for the name of the server that I would like to use. I see that there is an option to "Buy Now" on the webpage, but it just takes me to (what seems like) a products page. I figured that the buy now option would be the solution to my server issue there. My thoughts to using this would be to use the API to automate what I need.</p>
  
  <p>My official questions are:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>I must not be the first person to want an automated way to convert these files over for testing. Does anyone have any ideas/past experiences to share?</li>
  <li>Has anyone used either of these options before?</li>
  <li>Are my assumptions correct in thinking that I need a VMware server or ESXi to convert these files?</li>
  <li>Would I be able to use the API method that I mentioned above?</li>
  </ol>