Converted VMWorkstation 7 to ESXi 5.0 and now the Java connection fails

[Robbin201110141]

We built a smart card solution for an Oracle web server that uses Java.  Java reads the certs from the browser and passes the username to Oracle via a cookie.  This works great when running on VMWare workstation.  We converted it to ESXi to start a full testing cycle and the Java does not work.  Best I can tell the username cookie is null.  I can convert the machine BACK to workstation and it works.  So it's not code.  Everything else works as I can log in without a smart card manually entering the un/pw and the application works fine.   I'm struggling to understand the problem with the converter.  To start with, why isn't it an exact clone?  It comes over with DCHP instead of static IP addresses.  I can fix all of that, but I don't think I should have to.  It also "Remembers" Net adaptors that aren't there anymore and asks me about them.  I'm sure that somewhere in this process VMware is changing the server setup and breaking the application.  But I can't find it for the life of me.  Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Robbin

I had posted this in vcenter community, but I think it is better suited to the converter community.

[patanassov]

Converter doesn't do an exact clone because Workstation and ESX are not exactly the same, to start with. Virtual hardware may differ, the vmdk format differs.

I suspect your issue doesn't have to do with conversion but rather with different network configurations of the two VMs. Debugging the application would be another good starting point.

HTH,

Plamen

[ivivanov]

You say you are creating a smart card application - how exactly the smart card is used? Is there some sort of card reader that is plugged e. g. in the USB port? If yes, is this device recognized in the guest OS when running on ESX? Have you configured properly USB passthrough in order to connect this device inside the guest OS on the ESX server?

To your other question (why the copy is not identical) - it is because these are different products, they have different features and formats, also we are making some changes to the destination during the conversion process in order to make it bootable, etc.

[Robbin201110141]

Actually, the physical smart card is not being used in this test, the cert from the card is loaded into the client Browser.  When it runs, it asks if if the loaded cert is th correct one, and you click yes and it continues.

I've tried debugging the app on the ESXi server. I know the cookie that is suppose to contain the username from the cert is blank, but I can't figure out why. I can also take the now broken version of the VM and run the converter again and pull it back to my PC and run it on workstation, and it works....:smileycry:

[Robbin201110141]

I fixed the network to be the same as it was before, down to the mac address of the NIC and the same Static IIP address.  It's really amazing to me that I can convert the VM to ESXi and it breaks, then I can convert it back to workstation on my PC and it works again!

[patanassov]

To further Ivan's suggestion - some virtual peripherals can be pass through (i.e. mapped to a physical device) or e.g. mapped to a file; these include CD-ROMs, floppies, USBs, serial and parallel ports. In the case of Workstation they are pass through by default. This is not so in case of ESX (the reason being WS usually runs 1 VM, ESX usually runs many which may contend for its hardware devices; and, obviously, the ESX must have those devices physically). That's why he has suggested that you configure the device where the card is put to be pass through, plug in the card, and try the application again. I don't know the app, but it seems possible that it, or the browser, checks the environment before providing the cookie.