You can use this script I just wrote https://github.com/Yafet-Getachew/vmbackuputil.git. It loops through multiple virtual machines in Virtualbox (I'm sure you can do some modifications for vmware) and backs them up to a remote server. You can delete the bottom half of the script and just get the OVA files.
#!/bin/bash
#
#
# Backup Virtual Machines to SERVERNAME
#
#
#
# create array with names, ips, usernames and passwords of virtual machines
echo
echo "Backup utility for VirtualBox virtual machines"
echo
ssh-add
declare -A virtualmachines
virtualmachines=(
[VIRTUAL_MACHINE_NAME]="VIRTUAL_MACHINE_IPADDRESS"
)
users=(
[VIRTUAL_MACHINE_NAME]="VIRTUAL_MACHINE_USERNAME"
)
passwords=(
[VIRTUAL_MACHINE_NAME]="VIRTUAL_MACHINE_USER_PASSWORD"
)
#make a directory
mkdir -p backup-vms
#check if sshpass is installed and install it if not
if ! (dpkg-query -l sshpass) > /dev/null; then
echo -e "sshpass not installed, installing (sudo might be required)... "
sudo apt install sshpass
fi
# loop through virtual machines and shut them down
for i in "${!virtualmachines[@]}"
do
echo "shutting down $i through ip ${virtualmachines[$i]}"
sshpass -p ${passwords[$i]} ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no ${users[$i]}@${virtualmachines[$i]} sudo poweroff
echo "Waiting for machine $i to poweroff..."
until $(VBoxManage showvminfo --machinereadable $i | grep -q ^VMState=.poweroff.)
do
sleep 1
echo "poweroff state not reached for $i"
done
echo "poweroff of $i successful, building ova"
echo
# build .ova in home directory to then transport to medemer
VBoxManage export $i -o backup-vms/$i-$(date +"%m-%d-%y").ova
# Copy backed up file to remote backup folder
rsync -e 'ssh -p 22' -avzpi --progress backup-vms BACKUP_SERVER_USER@BACKUP_SERVER_IP:~/backup/backup-vms
#rm -rf backup-vms/*
echo "SUCCESSFUL BACKUP OPERATION"
done
echo
