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watson4664
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P2V problems withe ESX 5.1

I could use some help in P2V conversions.

I have been using Workstation 9 and just purchased ESXi 4.1 for hopefully better performance.  I installed ESXi 5.1 on a Supermicro and vSphere client 5.1.0 on a HP Z600 workstation.

Creating new VM's from OS media seems to work with no issues on ESXi  but P2V imports using VMware Converter 5.0.1 is another matter.

When I run VMware Converter and save off the vmdk file I see the following.  If I import the vmdk file into Workstation 9 is runs as expected.

When I import the VMDK file into the ESXi database and then try to run it the following error is seen trying to start the machine.  "Failed to open disk scsi0:0: Unsupported and/or invalid disk type 7."  Looking up this error on Google suggested that I needed to run the following command.  vmkfstools -i mydisk.vmdk -d zeroedthick mydisk1.vmdk.  Then removed the original mydisk.vmdk and rename mydisk1.vmdk to mydisk.vmdk.

Well this worked but there mus be a easier way.  Does anyone know how to force this during the conversion?

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vmroyale
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Note: Discussion successfully moved from VMware ESXi 5 to VMware Converter Standalone

Brian Atkinson | vExpert | VMTN Moderator | Author of "VCP5-DCV VMware Certified Professional-Data Center Virtualization on vSphere 5.5 Study Guide: VCP-550" | @vmroyale | http://vmroyale.com
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watson4664
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I tried the same procedure on a 2008R2 Server and it will not convert. to ESXi  Appears that ESXi thinks the disk is corrupt event though Workstation 9 has no problems or issues with the same vmdk file.

This is a huge dissapointment as I was planning on moving away from workstation 9 and into ESXi 5.1

Vmware needs to address this problem as P2V conversions are something I think many large labs like mine would like to use.  I tried the new Vmconverter beta version but it was more or less DOA.  Is anyone at VMware looking at this area?

For now I will have to hold up on future purchases untill this has either been resolved or someone can tell me how to reliable do P2V conversions on Windows XP SP3, Windows 7 SP1, Server 2003 R2 seemed to work and Server 2008 R2 no luck.

I am testing XP SP3 now and kind of suspect it might work.  Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 will probably be the problem areas.

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weinstein5
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Have you tried converting directly to ESXi host?

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watson4664
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The VMware converter requires a UNC path name as a destination.

At first I tried a UNC path to a local drive on the vSphere client machine which is on the same subnet as the target. Every time I started the transfer I would get a message saying the authentication failed but yet I am positive that I provided the correct user name and password.   I set up shared drives, folders, added everyone with full permissions but nothing worked. I kept getting an authentication error.

When I used a UNC path to a mapped drive on a server that we use as a data repository then it transfers worked OK.  This is how I finished the first test cycle and had no issues.

If you have a procedure or general instructions I can try it but I think that VMconverter is not going to let me push the conversion directly to the ESXi server due to the UNC issues that I have had.

Thanks!

Lee

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watson4664
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Also if I move the converted file to workstation 9 it runs with no issues.  I don't think sending the file directly to ESXi will make any difference as the file is verifed as good by the fact the Workstation 9 can create the VM and run it without any detected corruption.

Lee

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weinstein5
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Vmware Converter is designed to allow you to migrate a running machine (this can be both virtual or physical), a VM from one vSphere enfironment to another or as you are trying to do from another VMware product, Hyper-V or assorted backup images directory to a ESXi host or vCenter enfironmenr,- did you review Section 4 of http://www.vmware.com/pdf/convsa_50_guide.pdf

The vmdk formats are different between ESXi and Workstation so hence the need to use a tool like Converter.

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watson4664
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I looked thru this document before starting this testing and decided I wanted to move the converted machines to a repository were they could be accessed at any later date.

This is what I have been testing with some success.

I will look thru the document again and see if sending the conversion directly to the ESXi server will make any difference but my guess is not.  What I did should have worked and regardless of which method I use the vmkfstools will have to be run to inflate the vmdk drive.  If this is not done then the disk type 7 error occurs.

Oddly enough when in Vsphere client  I right click on the imported vmdk file in the data base and try to use the inflate option there is fails.  Can't remember the error message.  Yet when I run the inflate command from the command line using vmkfstools it completes OK??  Wonder why?

From my Google searches VMware converter was just recently made compatible with ESXi 5.1so it seems there still some issues that need addressed.  I will update this thread next week as I am done for the weekend.  I want to know if the XP SP3 test cycle will work or not.

Thanks for your reply!

Lee

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weinstein5
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I have always used converter to go directly to an ESXi host or vCenter - Did you select 

VMware hosted virtual machines as your destination? If you did that is the issue the VMDK format used by the HOsted applications is not compatible with ESXi -

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watson4664
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I will test this today. Thanks!

Lee

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