P2V (VMWare Converter) a Physical Windows 2008 R2 Server

[JamesCampbell]

I'm having endless issues trying to convert a Physical Windows 2008 R2 Server. The failure always seems to be around not being able "to take Snapshop of source volume". The Event Viewer in the physical box throws a host of VSS errors (Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error calling routine CoCreateInstance) in the applciation event log.

Ive tried many differnent things from using Old Converters to the new vCenter 4 Converter. I even tried a VMware converter Boot CD which was successfull but the Converted VM would not boot moaning about device drivers and would not repair via any Microsoft Repair Tools.

Has anyone every got this right? I'm sure it has something to do with creating a snapshop of the disk in Windows Server 2008 but I cant find any solutions around correcting the issue.

Help!!!!

[Gabriel_Chapman]

out of curiosity, have you tried turning off VSS prior to converting?

[JamesCampbell]

Yip I tried both disabling the service and ensuring it was started when running the convert.

Quick update - I got a suggestion to use a 3rd party imaging tool and then run Converter and Import the Image Files. This works but same problem with the Resultant VM being non Functional, Keeps Blue Screen'ing with Device errors (Particulary Classpnp.sys).

This is a real hack way of doing things though. Using 3rd Party tools then VMWare Converter. I'm hoping someone has Run into this before and know how to get this working using VMware Converter.

[arkturas]

Encase you havent found the answer to using vmware converter, you can restore the physical server (2008 or 2008 R2) to a virtual machine see my attached notes hope this helps.

[JamesCampbell]

Hi arkturas, You doc seems to be pointing me in the correct direction but for the life of me I cant get the HP Data Protector 6.0 installed. Perhaps you can provide a bit more clarity on exactly which version you use and where you install the software on the Source or Target.

I did find a usefull link (From another Forum) about VMware converter and it makes no mention to support for Windows server 2008 R2. http://www.vmware.com/support/converter/doc/releasenotes_conv401.html

This would explain why out the box VMware Converter cant do a P2V.

The second option (Your Suggestion) is to use some 3rd party tool to create a disk image that can then be imported using VMware Converter. The only problem with this is that once you import the VM it doesnt start. It failes on device drivers (Classpnp.sys in my particular case) which I have tried for hours now to sort out and there just doesnt seem like any easy way to fix it (Tried StartRep.exe and sfc /SCANNOW /OFFBOOTDIR=C:\ /OFFWINDIR-C:\Windows).

I'm going to try some of the other imaging tools to see if they handle the "dissimilar hardware" issue (Physical to Virtual) better. I'll post back if I find a solution.

[PaulSvirin]

Here is a Vmware KB about the issue, maybe it will be helpful:

---

iSCSI SAN software

http://www.starwindsoftware.com

[DPike]

Try the link Paul suggested. This will fully disable VSS. Disabling the service doesnt cut it. I'd also perform a reboot prior to performing the conversion just to get a clean slate to work with on the physical machine.

_________________

Dustin Pike

VMware Certified Professional (VI3 & vSphere)

Virtual Blocks Blog

[jeffjprince]

I ran into this issue aswell.

This is how I got around it.

First install the VMware Converter Stand alone client to the server you want to convert.

located here on the Server you installed the stand alone converter on: C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone\VMware-Converter-Agent.exe

Then I ran the converter from the plugin inside the VIC. Everything ran smoothly from there.

Trying to just run the import from the plugin would fail because it would not detect the drives, running the converter from the stand alone client failed with VSS errors.

Jeff

[rManic]

Plz do defragmentation before start the conversion.This will resolve your issue.

[bulletprooffool]

Follow the link above to fully disable VSS

Reboot the host

Make sure to disable all firewalls / AntiVirus (and any other services that you do not actually need to have running for the conversion)

When I do P2Vs, I generally only leave about 10 services running while the P2V is running, to ensure as few changes as possible are happening during migration.