Virtualization, Servers and Storage : Missing child element 'VirtualHardwareSection' when importing a virtual machine via OVA/OVF

Created by JM Lopez, last modified on May 23, 2025

(blue star) Problem

Error importing a virtual machine: 

Missing child element 'VirtualHardwareSection'

(blue star) Solution

Deploy Instance from Image for further details.

  1. The ITS Private Cloud virtualization platform is VMware vSphere 8.0, and the maximum VMX hardware version is 21. If you have the latest VMware Fusion or Workstation, update VM compatibility settings to version 21.

  2. As a best practice, we recommend to remove unused devices such as sound cards, printer ports, USB and other unused devices, prior exporting the virtual machine.

  3. Sanitize the OVF and/or update its compatibility to VMX 21.