Open Virtual Format (OVF) open standard that contains multiple files in a package.  Use to export VMs as a package. This file can be compressed to optimize downloads.

Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) - single file. The epic focuses on OVAs with a single disk and single NIC.

Importing includes:

• The disk image, including removal of any VMware tools and drivers and adding things that are required for OpenShift Virtualization such as the guest agent and virtio drivers
• The VM definition including OS type, size (CPU and memory), and workload type, and mapping those properties to OpenShift Virtualization definitions for optimal workload performance

User stories:

• As a user I would like to import an OVA file that is located on my computer or on a website into OpenShift Virtualization 
• As a user, I would like to be able to create multiple VM instances from the imported file
• As a user I would like to easily find all imported OVA
• As a user I would like the VMs that I'm creating from the imported OVA to run at optimal performance

References:

• https://developers.redhat.com/articles/2025/01/06/import-your-virtual-appliances-openshift-virtualization?sc_cid=RHCTG0250000436140