How do you specify ghost image?

[jem1662]

How do you specify ghost image in converter?

[admin]

You choose "Standalone virtual machine" for the source type.

[jem1662]

I tried and I don't see a ghost file from the options. I specify the gho file and I am getting an error from the converter: Unknown error generated from client

[RDPetruska]

Converter (and it's predecessor, Virtual Machine Importer) only supports Ghost 9 and higher images (.sv2i). If you are using an older version of ghost (.gho), you will need to manually create a new VM, boot it with the ghost restore disk, and restore your .gho image. Then, run Converter and just choose the Reconfigure step.

[jem1662]

How do you make v2i images with ghost? I am using Ghost version 11 and the only option, that I have is GHO files.

[asatoran]

Version 11? The current version is 10, which does create .2svi files. Do you have the Symantec version of Ghost or the old Binary Software version? Or is this some beta version?

Edit: Ah! You're using "Norton Save & Restore." Does NSR give you the option to save as .2svi when you create the image file?

[asatoran]

I downloaded the trial version of Norton Save & Restore v1.0. It does create images with a .sv2i extension. There is no option for .GHO extension. I was able to convert the .sv2i image with Converter 3.

The last time I saw Ghost image files with .GHO extension was version 8 and older, which were all DOS based.

[Matt_Dearmon]

I'm running Ghost 11 also. It came as part of the Ghost Solution Suite 2.0, which was released in November of 2006. It only creates .GHO files:

<a href="http://imageshack.us">!http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8030/ghostao2.jpg|alt=Image Hosted by ImageShack.us|src=http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8030/ghostao2.jpg|border=0!</a>

[asatoran]

I'm running Ghost 11 also. It came as part of the

Ghost Solution Suite 2.0, which was released in

November of 2006. It only creates .GHO files:

Got it. GhostCast is based on the older DOS Ghost program, which is why it only produces .GHO files. I used GhostCast and PQI Driveimage in the past. Both product lines were aquired by Symantec and brought under the name "Ghost." Why Symantec has numbered the Ghost portion of GhostCast "11" is beyond me. I read that the next version of the standalone Ghost may be "12" to avoid confusion about the version numbers.

In any case, .GHO files are not compatible with Converter. You'll need to upgrade to the standalone Ghost or Livestate. Otherwise, create a new vritual machine, restore the .GHO file to the VM, then use Converter to "convert" the VM rather than "import."

[jem1662]

I finally got it working by installing Ghost 10. However the converter still fails with "can't determine operating system". I can see why this is a free product.

[asatoran]

Hmm. When you create the Ghost image, don't include any utility partition, if any. Perhaps just the boot partition. If you still have problems, you'll want to start a new thread (for a new topic) and include the converter logs.

And at least we have a Converter product. Does MS have a P2V converter? And what about the Linux guys?

[jem1662]

Totally agree.

It seems, that it can't find boot.ini even so it's there. Which logs would I need and where are they located?

[asatoran]

In Converter, from the File menu, Export Logs.

[jem1662]

Is there an advantage of having ghost image over P2V conversion?

[asatoran]

I suppose if you've P2V the machine, and are never[/i] going back to physical, then probably no reason to have Ghost.

In my case, the servers are still physical and I'm using VMWare server for DR purposes. So the physical servers are regularly Ghosted (Livestate in my case) and I convert the images to VMs. The VMs become offline standby servers. When I can get funding for ESX and have all the servers virtualized, then we'll probably stop using Livestate on the servers. We're still imaging the desktops, again for DR purposes.

[jem1662]

Thank You.

[admin]

What is the OS of your GHO image? Make sure that Converter is running on an OS equivalent to or greater than the OS in the GHO image.

[jem1662]

But how do specify GHO image? Isn't it needs to be in v2i format?

[admin]

As asatoran already mentioned, you will need the sv2i which only applies to Ghost 9 and 10, but not 11.

[RDPetruska]

But how do specify GHO image? Isn't it needs to be in v2i format?

As I already mentioned in my first reply to you... you can create the VM yourself and manually restore the older .gho Ghost image into the VM. Then, before you power the VM up after restoring the Ghost image, run the VMware Converter and select the Configuration option only.