Extract text from VMware hotfix files (VMHF)
To convert VMHF hotfixes to another format, you need VMware vSphere or other System software.
To convert other file formats to the "VMware Update Package" file type, you need software like VMware vSphere or a similar tool.
A .vmhf file is a system patch or update package utilized by VMware virtualization products, such as vSphere and ESXi. System administrators use these files to apply urgent security patches, bug fixes, or minor feature updates to host servers without requiring a full version upgrade. To use a .vmhf file, you typically upload it to the VMware datastore and apply it using the ESXi command-line interface (CLI) or through the VMware vSphere Update Manager.
The major disadvantage of the .vmhf format is its rigid, proprietary nature. It is a closed binary or specialized archive designed exclusively for VMware environments. You cannot natively double-click to open it on a standard Windows or Mac desktop. This makes it frustrating when you need to inspect the patch contents, verify its integrity, or read the bundled release notes before deploying it to a production server.
If you need to view what is inside, the best approach is to extract the data to standard archive formats like ZIP or TAR, or to extract the metadata as TXT or XML. Keep in mind that modifying the internal structure will invalidate the hotfix digital signature, rendering the patch useless for server deployment.
Because this is a specialized system format, standard document and image converters completely fail to process it. Even if full conversion is not applicable, our analyzer will inspect the file to show embedded text, XML metadata, or identify if it is a standard compressed archive under the hood.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VMHF file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert VMHF file to TMP, TEMP, CACHE, LOG, BAK, OLD, NEW, PART, DOWNLOAD, CRDOWNLOAD, LOCK or PID, you can use VMware vSphere or similar software from the "System Patch Deployment" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DEVICE, CACHE, SOCK, SYMLINK, PID, MOUNT, FIFO, LOG, PIPE, TMP, JUNCTION or TEMP files to VMHF, try VMware vSphere or another comparable tool in the "System Patch Deployment" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our VMHF converter.