Open Virtualization Format (OVF) Version 1.0 Published as a DMTF Standard

Distributed Management Task Force has published "Open Virtualization Format Specification v1.0 as a DMTF Standard. OVF describes an open, secure, portable, and extensible format for packaging and distribution of software to be run in virtual machines. OVF uses XML for capturing metadata about virtual appliances. Packaging virtual appliances in OVF independent software allows vendors to create pre-packaged appliances that run on any virtualization platform.