diff --git a/PVE/QemuServer/ImportDisk.pm b/PVE/QemuServer/ImportDisk.pm
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..0757131e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PVE/QemuServer/ImportDisk.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+package PVE::QemuServer::ImportDisk;
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use PVE::Storage;
+use PVE::QemuServer;
+use PVE::Tools qw(run_command extract_param);
+
+# imports an external disk image to an existing VM
+# and creates by default a drive entry unused[n] pointing to the created volume
+# $optional->{drive_name} may be used to specify ide0, scsi1, etc ...
+# $optional->{format} may be used to specify qcow2, raw, etc ...
+sub do_import {
+    my ($src_path, $vmid, $storage_id, $optional) = @_;
+
+    my $drive_name = extract_param($optional, 'drive_name');
+    my $format = extract_param($optional, 'format');
+    my $debug = extract_param($optional, 'debug');
+    if ($drive_name && !(PVE::QemuServer::is_valid_drivename($drive_name))) {
+	die "invalid drive name: $drive_name\n";
+    }
+
+    # get the needed size from  source disk
+    my $src_size = PVE::Storage::file_size_info($src_path);
+
+    # get target format, target image's path, and whether it's possible to sparseinit
+    my $storecfg = PVE::Storage::config();
+    my $dst_format = PVE::QemuServer::resolve_dst_disk_format($storecfg,
+	$storage_id, undef, $format);
+    warn "format : $dst_format\n" if $debug;
+
+    my $dst_volid = PVE::Storage::vdisk_alloc($storecfg, $storage_id, $vmid,
+	$dst_format, undef, $src_size / 1024);
+    my $dst_path = PVE::Storage::path($storecfg, $dst_volid);
+
+    warn "args:  $src_path, $vmid, $storage_id, $optional\n",
+	"\$dst_volid: $dst_volid\n", if $debug;
+
+    # qemu-img convert does the hard job
+    # we don't attempt to guess filetypes ourselves
+    my $convert_command = ['qemu-img', 'convert', $src_path, '-p', '-n', '-O', $dst_format];
+    if (PVE::Storage::volume_has_feature($storecfg, 'sparseinit', $dst_volid)) {
+	push @$convert_command, "zeroinit:$dst_path";
+    } else {
+	push @$convert_command, $dst_path;
+    }
+
+    my $create_drive = sub {
+	my $vm_conf = PVE::QemuConfig->load_config($vmid);
+	PVE::QemuConfig->check_lock($vm_conf);
+
+	if ($drive_name) {
+		# should never happen as setting $drive_name is not exposed to public interface
+		die "cowardly refusing to overwrite existing entry: $drive_name" if $vm_conf->{$drive_name};
+
+		my $modified = {}; # record what $option we modify
+		$modified->{$drive_name} = 1;
+		$vm_conf->{pending}->{$drive_name} = $dst_volid;
+		PVE::QemuConfig->write_config($vmid, $vm_conf);
+
+		my $running = PVE::QemuServer::check_running($vmid);
+		if ($running) {
+		    my $errors = {};
+		    PVE::QemuServer::vmconfig_hotplug_pending($vmid, $vm_conf, $storecfg, $modified, $errors);
+		    raise_param_exc($errors) if scalar(keys %$errors);
+		} else {
+		    PVE::QemuServer::vmconfig_apply_pending($vmid, $vm_conf, $storecfg);
+		}
+
+	} else {
+	    PVE::QemuConfig->add_unused_volume($vm_conf, $dst_volid);
+	    PVE::QemuConfig->write_config($vmid, $vm_conf);
+	}
+
+    };
+
+    eval {
+	# trap interrupts so we have a chance to clean up
+	local $SIG{INT} = $SIG{TERM} = $SIG{QUIT} = $SIG{HUP} = $SIG{PIPE} = sub {
+	    die "interrupted by signal\n";
+	};
+	PVE::Storage::activate_volumes($storecfg, [$dst_volid]);
+	run_command($convert_command);
+	PVE::Storage::deactivate_volumes($storecfg, [$dst_volid]);
+	PVE::QemuConfig->lock_config($vmid, $create_drive);
+    };
+
+    my $err = $@;
+    if ($err) {
+	eval { # do not die before we returned $err
+	    PVE::Storage::vdisk_free($storecfg, $dst_volid);
+	};
+	die $err;
+    }
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/PVE/QemuServer/Makefile b/PVE/QemuServer/Makefile
index 06617c52..f75f2e65 100644
--- a/PVE/QemuServer/Makefile
+++ b/PVE/QemuServer/Makefile
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ install:
 	install -D -m 0644 PCI.pm ${DESTDIR}${PERLDIR}/PVE/QemuServer/PCI.pm
 	install -D -m 0644 USB.pm ${DESTDIR}${PERLDIR}/PVE/QemuServer/USB.pm
 	install -D -m 0644 Memory.pm ${DESTDIR}${PERLDIR}/PVE/QemuServer/Memory.pm
+	install -D -m 0644 ImportDisk.pm ${DESTDIR}${PERLDIR}/PVE/QemuServer/ImportDisk.pm