What is the correct way to provide a CentOS 7 - WMware image for ESX ?
You are probably looking for VMware Converter which can p2v or v2v.
IMO: if you are creating a VM image which is a binary blob or image then you are doing it wrong. Have the VM/server/desktop be a simple next/next/next install and the incorporate a config management tool (puppet/ansible/etc) to make it the way you like it. VM-as-code if you will. This results in a reproducible thing instead of an unmanageable thing.
I'm doing this sort of thing, and frankly, VMware Converter would be my last choice.
One project uses packer, the other, a combination of shell scripts, genisoimage, and Virtualbox's vboxmanage. Both projects build a VM and export it to an OVA. Example usage, these are great for creating new VMs from the CentOS rolling ISOs.
As for getting the OVA into vSphere's inventory, I'm using Powershell (Ansible's VMware support wasn't so great when I was working on the projects).
Jack