Migration of SUSE Linux VMs from HyperV to ESXi

[hp_avik2401]

I have SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.x virtual machines currently running from HyperV2012 R2, with UEFI Firmware Interface.

As per the VMWARE converter user guide, its not listed as supported. SLES 12 is not listed at all, and as for the UEFI in SLES 11 version itself is listed not supported in the userguide. Would that mean it would not support the offline migrations as well ?

any feedback is much appreciated.

[vHaridas]

are you using latest VMware convertor?

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Release Notes

What's New

Note: The latest VMware vCenter Converter Standalone version is 6.1.1. If you are using VMware Converter Standalone 6.1, upgrade to VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 6.1.1 due to security fixes.

The VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 6.1 provides: 

• Support for additional guest operating systems: Windows 10, Ubuntu 15.
• Offline conversions for HyperV 2012 R2 virtual machines.
• SSH key based authentication for the Linux sources during conversion.
• Support for VMware Workstation 12

Supported Guest Operating Systems

Converter Standalone 6.1 supports the following guest operating systems:

• Windows Vista SP2 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Windows Server 2008 SP2 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)
• Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Windows Server 2012 (64-bit)
• Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit)
• Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• CentOS 6.x (32-bit and 64-bit)
• CentOS 7.0 (64-bit)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.x (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x (64-bit)
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10.x (32-bit and 64-bit)
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.x (32-bit and 64-bit)
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.x (64-bit)
• Ubuntu 12.04 (32-bit and 64-bit)

[hp_avik2401]

customer is using UEFI .... is this supported ?

i read somewhere in the userguide that only bios firmware interface is supported....

[patanassov · Accepted solution]

It is supported. The issue is with the boot loader. SLES 11 used to install GRUB on BIOS and ELILO on UEFI. Converter doesn't support (E)LILO. However SLES 12 switched to GRUB2 which is now used for both firmwares.

[hp_avik2401]

super

[patanassov]

Let me warn you about something. Offline Linux migrations do not reconfigure the destination (the distro and version do not matter), there is a chance the VM won't boot. It is recommended to to a powered on conversion. It doesn't matter it is in Hyper-V, treat it as a physical machine.

HTH,

Plamen

[hp_avik2401]

vm doesnt boot up after the online conversion due to the above error...

I was trying the online migration, it actually picks up a new disk for the /boot/efi rather than creating a seperate partition on the boot-disk itself like in the source. is there a way to control this behavior ?

[patanassov]

It picks a new disk because of LVM, this is by design. Converter creates a separate virtual disk on the target for each volume group. The EFI partition needs to be a basic volume.

The problem is different - the old mappings have not been fixed. Did the conversion succeed w/o errors? If yes then perhaps there's a bug. Can you upload the log bundle for examination?

[hp_avik2401]

yes, conversion completes successfully with no errors....logs attached.

[patanassov]

These are GUI logs. Click on the task and choose 'export logs'

[hp_avik2401]

PFA'd

[patanassov]

Let me repeat the warning, seems you may have missed it

Offline Linux migrations do not reconfigure the destination, there is a chance the VM won't boot. It is recommended to do a powered on conversion.

Power on the VM in  hyper-v and convert it as powered on machine. Otherwise - no reconfig, no boot.

HTH

Plamen

[hp_avik2401]

the problem with powered on VM conversion is, it a prepares a separate hard-disk for /boot/efi alone, unlike in the source where /boot/efi is a part of root disk ( it is partitioned there for /boot/efi...)

[hp_avik2401]

could you point me to document where the below info is documented...

Offline Linux migrations do not reconfigure the destination, there is a chance the VM won't boot. It is recommended to to a powered on conversion.

[hp_avik2401]

btw, the moment the vmdk is updated to use "ide" adapterType,(instead of bus/lsi) the vm boots up...

[hp_avik2401]

Hello

I am getting below error during the conversion...there is a firemwall between the ESXi and source VM, however any <-> any is opened bi-directional between the ESXi/VM/Converter tool..

2016-10-01T12:24:07.124+04:00 error vmware-converter-server[06400] [Originator@6876 sub=Default] [task,350] [LRO] Unexpected Exception: vmodl.fault.HostNotReachable

2016-10-01T12:24:07.126+04:00 info vmware-converter-server[06400] [Originator@6876 sub=Default] [task,379] [task-7] -- ERROR -- Convert: vmodl.fault.HostNotReachable

--> (vmodl.fault.HostNotReachable) {

-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,

-->    msg = ""

--> }

2016-10-01T12:24:07.126+04:00 info vmware-converter-server[06400] [Originator@6876 sub=Default] [diagnosticManager,260] Retrieved taskInfo for "converter.task.Task:task-7" mapping it to "converter.task.Task:task-7".

2016-10-01T12:24:07.126+04:00 info vmware-converter-server[06400] [Originator@6876 sub=Default] [diagnosticManager,300] The task with id = "task-7" was found to be a "recent" task.

[patanassov]

User Guide, p.32, section "Conversion Limitations for VMware Virtual Machines"

[patanassov]

You have been lucky. Most probably SUSE has been able to reconfigure itself (like Windows). Do not rely on that for Linux in general.

[patanassov]

Context please. Is this Linux P2V again? At what stage did the error occur?

[vikrant_kamboj]

It is supported. The issue is with the boot loader. SLES 11 used to install GRUB on BIOS and ELILO on UEFI. Converter doesn't support (E)LILO. However SLES 12 switched to GRUB2 which is now used for both firmwares.   

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