diff --git a/zroc-ova/packer/ubuntu-2404.pkr.hcl b/zroc-ova/packer/ubuntu-2404.pkr.hcl
index 6b0b2f4..636c484 100644
--- a/zroc-ova/packer/ubuntu-2404.pkr.hcl
+++ b/zroc-ova/packer/ubuntu-2404.pkr.hcl
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 packer {
   required_version = ">= 1.10.0"
   required_plugins {
-    vmware = {
-      source  = "github.com/hashicorp/vmware"
-      version = "~> 1.0"
-    }
     qemu = {
       source  = "github.com/hashicorp/qemu"
       version = "~> 1.0"
@@ -14,12 +10,12 @@ packer {
 
 variable "ubuntu_iso_url" {
   type    = string
-  default = "https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/ubuntu-24.04.2-live-server-amd64.iso"
+  default = "https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/ubuntu-24.04.4-live-server-amd64.iso"
 }
 
 variable "ubuntu_iso_checksum" {
   type    = string
-  default = "file:https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/SHA256SUMS"
+  default = "sha256:e907d92eeec9df64163a7e454cbc8d7755e8ddc7ed42f99dbc80c40f1a138433"
 }
 
 variable "vm_name" {
@@ -52,56 +48,13 @@ variable "output_dir" {
   default = "../output"
 }
 
-variable "headless" {
-  type    = bool
-  default = true
-}
-
-source "vmware-iso" "ubuntu2404" {
-  vm_name               = "${var.vm_name}-${var.vm_version}"
-  guest_os_type         = "ubuntu-64"
-  headless              = var.headless
-  iso_url               = var.ubuntu_iso_url
-  iso_checksum          = var.ubuntu_iso_checksum
-  disk_size             = var.disk_size_mb
-  disk_adapter_type     = "pvscsi"
-  memory                = var.memory_mb
-  cpus                  = var.cpus
-  network_adapter_type  = "vmxnet3"
-  network               = "nat"
-  disk_type_id          = 0
-  http_directory        = "http"
-  http_port_min         = 8100
-  http_port_max         = 8199
-  boot_wait             = "5s"
-  boot_command = [
-    "e<wait>",
-    "<down><down><down><end>",
-    " autoinstall ds=nocloud-net;seedfrom=http://{{.HTTPIP}}:{{.HTTPPort}}/",
-    "<f10><wait30s>",
-  ]
-  ssh_username          = "zroc"
-  ssh_password          = "zroc-setup-temp"
-  ssh_timeout           = "30m"
-  ssh_port              = 22
-  shutdown_command      = "echo 'zroc-setup-temp' | sudo -S shutdown -P now"
-  output_directory      = "${var.output_dir}/vmware"
-  skip_export           = false
-  format                = "ovf"
-  vmx_data = {
-    "virtualHW.version" = "19"
-    "tools.syncTime"    = "TRUE"
-    "annotation"        = "zROC Appliance v${var.vm_version}"
-    "guestOS"           = "ubuntu-64"
-  }
-}
-
 source "qemu" "ubuntu2404" {
   vm_name          = "${var.vm_name}-${var.vm_version}"
   iso_url          = var.ubuntu_iso_url
   iso_checksum     = var.ubuntu_iso_checksum
   disk_size        = "${var.disk_size_mb}M"
   disk_interface   = "virtio"
+  format           = "qcow2"
   memory           = var.memory_mb
   cpus             = var.cpus
   accelerator      = "kvm"
@@ -121,14 +74,13 @@ source "qemu" "ubuntu2404" {
   ssh_timeout      = "45m"
   shutdown_command = "echo 'zroc-setup-temp' | sudo -S shutdown -P now"
   output_directory = "${var.output_dir}/qemu"
-  format           = "qcow2"
 }
 
 build {
   name    = "zroc-appliance"
-  sources = ["source.vmware-iso.ubuntu2404"]
+  sources = ["source.qemu.ubuntu2404"]
 
-  # Copy overlay files (setup wizard, etc.) into the VM before provisioning
+  # Copy overlay files (setup wizard binary, etc.) into the VM
   provisioner "file" {
     source      = "../overlays/"
     destination = "/tmp/overlays/"
@@ -166,14 +118,17 @@ build {
     execute_command = "echo 'zroc-setup-temp' | sudo -S bash {{.Path}}"
   }
 
+  # Convert qcow2 → VMDK → OVA (no ovftool required)
   post-processor "shell-local" {
-    only = ["vmware-iso.ubuntu2404"]
     inline = [
-      "cd ${var.output_dir}/vmware",
-      "ovftool --compress=9 *.ovf ../${var.vm_name}-${var.vm_version}-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.ova",
-      "cd ..",
-      "sha256sum ${var.vm_name}-${var.vm_version}-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.ova > ${var.vm_name}-${var.vm_version}-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.ova.sha256",
-      "echo 'OVA packaged successfully'",
+      "bash ../scripts/qcow2-to-ova.sh ${var.output_dir}/qemu/${var.vm_name}-${var.vm_version} ${var.output_dir}/${var.vm_name}-${var.vm_version}-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.ova ${var.vm_name} ${var.vm_version}",
+    ]
+  }
+
+  # Produce a KVM/libvirt/Proxmox-compatible qcow2 artifact
+  post-processor "shell-local" {
+    inline = [
+      "bash ../scripts/qcow2-to-kvm.sh ${var.output_dir}/qemu/${var.vm_name}-${var.vm_version} ${var.output_dir}/${var.vm_name}-${var.vm_version}-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.qcow2",
     ]
   }
 }
diff --git a/zroc-ova/packer/variables.pkrvars.hcl b/zroc-ova/packer/variables.pkrvars.hcl
index 17fe9f8..b5da886 100644
--- a/zroc-ova/packer/variables.pkrvars.hcl
+++ b/zroc-ova/packer/variables.pkrvars.hcl
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 # zroc-ova/packer/variables.pkrvars.hcl
 vm_version = "1.0.0"
 
-ubuntu_iso_url      = "https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/ubuntu-24.04.2-live-server-amd64.iso"
-ubuntu_iso_checksum = "file:https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/SHA256SUMS"
+ubuntu_iso_url      = "https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/ubuntu-24.04.4-live-server-amd64.iso"
+ubuntu_iso_checksum = "sha256:e907d92eeec9df64163a7e454cbc8d7755e8ddc7ed42f99dbc80c40f1a138433"
 
 memory_mb    = 8192
 cpus         = 4
 disk_size_mb = 102400
 
-headless   = true
 output_dir = "../output"
diff --git a/zroc-ova/scripts/qcow2-to-kvm.sh b/zroc-ova/scripts/qcow2-to-kvm.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2b66e39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zroc-ova/scripts/qcow2-to-kvm.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# qcow2-to-kvm.sh — Package a QEMU qcow2 image as a KVM/libvirt/Proxmox artifact.
+#
+# Usage: qcow2-to-kvm.sh <qemu_output_dir/vm_name> <output.qcow2>
+#
+# Example:
+#   qcow2-to-kvm.sh ../output/qemu/zroc-appliance-1.0.0 \
+#                   ../output/zroc-appliance-1.0.0-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.qcow2
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+QEMU_VM_PATH="$1"   # path to qcow2 (without extension) or directory
+QCOW2_OUT="$2"      # destination .qcow2 file
+
+# ── Locate the source qcow2 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+if [[ -f "${QEMU_VM_PATH}.qcow2" ]]; then
+  QCOW2_SRC="${QEMU_VM_PATH}.qcow2"
+elif [[ -d "$QEMU_VM_PATH" ]]; then
+  QCOW2_SRC=$(find "$QEMU_VM_PATH" -name "*.qcow2" | head -1)
+else
+  QCOW2_SRC="$QEMU_VM_PATH"
+fi
+
+if [[ -z "$QCOW2_SRC" || ! -f "$QCOW2_SRC" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: could not find qcow2 image at ${QEMU_VM_PATH}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-kvm] Source qcow2: $QCOW2_SRC"
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-kvm] Output qcow2: $QCOW2_OUT"
+
+mkdir -p "$(dirname "$QCOW2_OUT")"
+
+# Re-encode with qemu-img to compact/sparsify and ensure compatibility.
+# subformat=compressed produces a space-efficient image suitable for distribution.
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-kvm] Compacting qcow2 for distribution…"
+qemu-img convert \
+  -f qcow2 \
+  -O qcow2 \
+  -o compression_type=zlib,preallocation=off \
+  "$QCOW2_SRC" \
+  "$QCOW2_OUT"
+
+SIZE=$(du -sh "$QCOW2_OUT" | cut -f1)
+SHA=$(sha256sum "$QCOW2_OUT" | awk '{print $1}')
+
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-kvm] qcow2 complete: $QCOW2_OUT ($SIZE)"
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-kvm] SHA256: $SHA"
+echo "$SHA  $(basename "$QCOW2_OUT")" > "${QCOW2_OUT}.sha256"
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-kvm] Done"
diff --git a/zroc-ova/scripts/qcow2-to-ova.sh b/zroc-ova/scripts/qcow2-to-ova.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..c679056
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zroc-ova/scripts/qcow2-to-ova.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# qcow2-to-ova.sh — Convert a QEMU qcow2 disk image to a VMware-compatible OVA
+# without requiring ovftool.
+#
+# Usage: qcow2-to-ova.sh <qemu_output_dir/vm_name> <output.ova> <vm_display_name> <version>
+#
+# Example:
+#   qcow2-to-ova.sh ../output/qemu/zroc-appliance-1.0.0 \
+#                   ../output/zroc-appliance-1.0.0-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.ova \
+#                   zroc-appliance 1.0.0
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+QEMU_VM_PATH="$1"   # path to the qcow2 file (without extension) or directory
+OVA_OUT="$2"        # destination .ova file
+VM_NAME="$3"        # display name inside the OVF
+VM_VERSION="$4"     # version string
+
+# ── Locate the qcow2 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+if [[ -f "${QEMU_VM_PATH}.qcow2" ]]; then
+  QCOW2="${QEMU_VM_PATH}.qcow2"
+elif [[ -d "$QEMU_VM_PATH" ]]; then
+  QCOW2=$(find "$QEMU_VM_PATH" -name "*.qcow2" | head -1)
+else
+  # Packer QEMU plugin writes <vm_name> (no extension) as the output file
+  QCOW2="$QEMU_VM_PATH"
+fi
+
+if [[ -z "$QCOW2" || ! -f "$QCOW2" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: could not find qcow2 image at ${QEMU_VM_PATH}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] Source qcow2: $QCOW2"
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] Output OVA:   $OVA_OUT"
+
+WORK_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "$WORK_DIR"' EXIT
+
+VMDK_NAME="${VM_NAME}-disk1.vmdk"
+OVF_NAME="${VM_NAME}.ovf"
+MF_NAME="${VM_NAME}.mf"
+
+# ── 1. Convert qcow2 → stream-optimised VMDK ─────────────────────────────────
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] Converting qcow2 → VMDK (stream-optimised)…"
+qemu-img convert \
+  -f qcow2 \
+  -O vmdk \
+  -o subformat=streamOptimized,adapter_type=lsilogic,compat6 \
+  "$QCOW2" \
+  "${WORK_DIR}/${VMDK_NAME}"
+
+DISK_SIZE_BYTES=$(qemu-img info --output=json "${WORK_DIR}/${VMDK_NAME}" | python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d['virtual-size'])")
+DISK_SIZE_GB=$(( (DISK_SIZE_BYTES + 1073741823) / 1073741824 ))
+DISK_FILE_BYTES=$(stat -c%s "${WORK_DIR}/${VMDK_NAME}")
+
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] VMDK: virtual=${DISK_SIZE_GB}GB, file=${DISK_FILE_BYTES} bytes"
+
+# ── 2. Generate OVF descriptor ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] Generating OVF descriptor…"
+cat > "${WORK_DIR}/${OVF_NAME}" << OVFEOF
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<Envelope xmlns="http://schemas.dmtf.org/ovf/envelope/1"
+          xmlns:cim="http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/common"
+          xmlns:ovf="http://schemas.dmtf.org/ovf/envelope/1"
+          xmlns:rasd="http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-schema/2/CIM_ResourceAllocationSettingData"
+          xmlns:vmw="http://www.vmware.com/schema/ovf"
+          xmlns:vssd="http://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wscim/1/cim-schema/2/CIM_VirtualSystemSettingData"
+          xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
+  <References>
+    <File ovf:href="${VMDK_NAME}" ovf:id="file1" ovf:size="${DISK_FILE_BYTES}"/>
+  </References>
+  <DiskSection>
+    <Info>Virtual disk information</Info>
+    <Disk ovf:capacity="${DISK_SIZE_GB}" ovf:capacityAllocationUnits="byte * 2^30"
+          ovf:diskId="vmdisk1" ovf:fileRef="file1"
+          ovf:format="http://www.vmware.com/interfaces/specifications/vmdk.html#streamOptimized"
+          ovf:populatedSize="${DISK_FILE_BYTES}"/>
+  </DiskSection>
+  <NetworkSection>
+    <Info>The list of logical networks</Info>
+    <Network ovf:name="VM Network">
+      <Description>VM Network</Description>
+    </Network>
+  </NetworkSection>
+  <VirtualSystem ovf:id="${VM_NAME}">
+    <Info>zROC Observability Console Appliance v${VM_VERSION}</Info>
+    <Name>${VM_NAME}</Name>
+    <AnnotationSection>
+      <Info>A human-readable annotation</Info>
+      <Annotation>zROC Appliance v${VM_VERSION} — https://github.com/recklessop/zroc</Annotation>
+    </AnnotationSection>
+    <OperatingSystemSection ovf:id="94" vmw:osType="ubuntu64Guest">
+      <Info>The kind of installed guest operating system</Info>
+      <Description>Ubuntu Linux (64-bit)</Description>
+    </OperatingSystemSection>
+    <VirtualHardwareSection>
+      <Info>Virtual hardware requirements</Info>
+      <System>
+        <vssd:ElementName>Virtual Hardware Family</vssd:ElementName>
+        <vssd:InstanceID>0</vssd:InstanceID>
+        <vssd:VirtualSystemIdentifier>${VM_NAME}</vssd:VirtualSystemIdentifier>
+        <vssd:VirtualSystemType>vmx-19</vssd:VirtualSystemType>
+      </System>
+      <Item>
+        <rasd:AllocationUnits>hertz * 10^6</rasd:AllocationUnits>
+        <rasd:Description>Number of virtual CPUs</rasd:Description>
+        <rasd:ElementName>4 virtual CPU(s)</rasd:ElementName>
+        <rasd:InstanceID>1</rasd:InstanceID>
+        <rasd:ResourceType>3</rasd:ResourceType>
+        <rasd:VirtualQuantity>4</rasd:VirtualQuantity>
+      </Item>
+      <Item>
+        <rasd:AllocationUnits>byte * 2^20</rasd:AllocationUnits>
+        <rasd:Description>Memory Size</rasd:Description>
+        <rasd:ElementName>8192 MB of memory</rasd:ElementName>
+        <rasd:InstanceID>2</rasd:InstanceID>
+        <rasd:ResourceType>4</rasd:ResourceType>
+        <rasd:VirtualQuantity>8192</rasd:VirtualQuantity>
+      </Item>
+      <Item>
+        <rasd:Address>0</rasd:Address>
+        <rasd:Description>SCSI Controller</rasd:Description>
+        <rasd:ElementName>SCSI Controller 0</rasd:ElementName>
+        <rasd:InstanceID>3</rasd:InstanceID>
+        <rasd:ResourceSubType>lsilogic</rasd:ResourceSubType>
+        <rasd:ResourceType>6</rasd:ResourceType>
+      </Item>
+      <Item>
+        <rasd:AddressOnParent>0</rasd:AddressOnParent>
+        <rasd:ElementName>Hard Disk 1</rasd:ElementName>
+        <rasd:HostResource>ovf:/disk/vmdisk1</rasd:HostResource>
+        <rasd:InstanceID>4</rasd:InstanceID>
+        <rasd:Parent>3</rasd:Parent>
+        <rasd:ResourceType>17</rasd:ResourceType>
+      </Item>
+      <Item>
+        <rasd:AddressOnParent>7</rasd:AddressOnParent>
+        <rasd:AutomaticAllocation>true</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>
+        <rasd:Connection>VM Network</rasd:Connection>
+        <rasd:Description>VmxNet3 ethernet adapter</rasd:Description>
+        <rasd:ElementName>Network Adapter 1</rasd:ElementName>
+        <rasd:InstanceID>5</rasd:InstanceID>
+        <rasd:ResourceSubType>VmxNet3</rasd:ResourceSubType>
+        <rasd:ResourceType>10</rasd:ResourceType>
+      </Item>
+    </VirtualHardwareSection>
+  </VirtualSystem>
+</Envelope>
+OVFEOF
+
+# ── 3. Generate manifest (.mf) with SHA256 checksums ─────────────────────────
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] Generating manifest…"
+OVF_SHA=$(sha256sum "${WORK_DIR}/${OVF_NAME}"  | awk '{print $1}')
+VMDK_SHA=$(sha256sum "${WORK_DIR}/${VMDK_NAME}" | awk '{print $1}')
+cat > "${WORK_DIR}/${MF_NAME}" << MFEOF
+SHA256(${OVF_NAME})= ${OVF_SHA}
+SHA256(${VMDK_NAME})= ${VMDK_SHA}
+MFEOF
+
+# ── 4. Package as OVA (tar, OVF first per spec) ───────────────────────────────
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] Packaging OVA…"
+mkdir -p "$(dirname "$OVA_OUT")"
+tar -C "$WORK_DIR" \
+  --format=ustar \
+  -cf "$OVA_OUT" \
+  "${OVF_NAME}" \
+  "${VMDK_NAME}" \
+  "${MF_NAME}"
+
+OVA_SIZE=$(du -sh "$OVA_OUT" | cut -f1)
+OVA_SHA=$(sha256sum "$OVA_OUT" | awk '{print $1}')
+
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] OVA complete: $OVA_OUT ($OVA_SIZE)"
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] SHA256: $OVA_SHA"
+echo "$OVA_SHA  $(basename "$OVA_OUT")" > "${OVA_OUT}.sha256"
+echo "==> [qcow2-to-ova] Done"