Problems converting NT 4.0 SP6 with cold boot CD v4.0.0/3.0.2 - takes so long

[JonRoderick]

I'm having some issues converting some old NT 4.0 SP6 boxes with the cold boot Converter CD.

I initially tried using vCenter Converter plug-in v.4.0.1 but kept getting a C++ runtime error that crashed my whole VI Client - I then read the release notes that indicated NT 4.0 hot-clone is no longer supported with Converter 4.0.0.

So, I've tried the cold-clone....v4.0.0 crapped out after 5 minutes and v3.0.2 has been going well for the past hour but is still on 2% progress - there seems to be disk activity but nothing else indicating whether or not things are going well. I did a similar box last year and it took over 24 hours to migrate 13GB of disk. The physical kit is using EIDE drives - was wondering whether this would make a big difference to the conversion time?

Cheers

Jon

[IamTHEvilONE]

Jon,

I would attempt to download the most recent version of the converter cold clone disk.

- http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/

- Click "Download Now" below "VMware vCenter Server 2.5"

- Login with a username that is associated with the VMware vCenter Server license

- Accept the EULA

- Download the "VMware vCenter Converter BootCD for vCenter Server" ZIP File

This should be newer than what you are using, and still supports NT 4.0 for cold clone purposes. If the conversion fails, try to export the logs to a floppy disk or mount a network share (done at the time you confirm the network parameters on the second tab). logs are also found in the File menu Export logs...

If it is stalling at 2% it's not the typical snapshot error. At this point it is probably a network connection issue, you can try changing the duplex options in the administration menu then network configuration.

Please make sure that it's strictly NTFS Partitions too.

otherwise, post the logs as an attachment to your response.

Regards,

EvilOne

VMware vExpert 2009

NOTE: If your problem or questions has been resolved, please mark this thread as answered and award points accordingly.

[JonRoderick]

Thanks - will try the latest cold boot CD.

Re: the time, I did an identical server last year, had to use cold boot again and it worked but it took around 23 hours to complete - there was some disk resizing involved so I put it down to that at the time but on this one I've left the disks as they are (1 37GB drive). Could the fact that's it EIDE explain why it's so slow compared to our usual SCSI hardware?

Disks are NTFS so no dice there.

Will see if I can get the logs off but it's a live prod server so getting downtime is like pulling teeth.

Jon

[JonRoderick]

Ok, i managed to get some logs after a failed attempt using the latest cold boot CD (see attached).

The process kicks off ok but after 6 or so minutes it backs everything out and destroys the VM, referring to a PLATFORM_ERROR - this looks like the same situation I had with the v4 boot CD but v3.0.2 seems to carry on past this (i've only run it for 3 hours before I had to back out the change and put the physical server back in operation).

Is there anything at the VC end not quite right?

Cheers

Jon

[JonRoderick]

Ok, update time....the v.3.0.2 boot CD appears to be working but it's painfully slow going - it's averaging around 9% per hour (37GB disk) so I'm looking at around 11 hours to completion - this mirrors what I saw on the test box last year.

Could the EIDE architecture of the disk subsystem be the cause of this?

Jon

[JonRoderick]

Ok, another update...

I thought things were going well and the conversion process reached 100% in 11 hours or so - slow but acceptable until I realised that was for the first 4GB NTFS partition - now it's starting the 2nd, 34GB partition - I'd estimate that's going to take, oh, 120 hours!!

Can someone please tell me what is going on here - I've got a excellent 100MB/1GB links in place so that's fine but could it be a network driver issue? What net driver does cold clone CD use?

Thanks

Jon

[FM-DK]

Hi Jon

I have seen this behavior in the past. For some reasons the converter can be painfully slow. Instead I have used Ghost and Ultimate P2V: http://www.rtfm-ed.co.uk/?page_id=174

Take an hour or 2 looking at this solution - It is worth it !

Regards

André

[jokke]

Yes doing it the "manual" way would be alot faster than 120 hours anyway.

Image the system with your favourite backup tool and restore it inside a virtual machine using a bootdisk. Be sure to allocate enough space on the virtual disk beforehand.

When restore is finished, run converter on the virtual machine and choose configure machine.

Joakim

[JonRoderick]

Thanks - I just wish I could find out why things are so slow - I'm suspecting it's disk-based but have nothing to back that up.

My chosen approach is to convert the C drive and then copy the D drive contents manually - at least that's only 11 hours and that's acceptable within the limits of the application downtime window.

Jon

[continuum]

11 hours for a 37 Gb disk ? - thats inacceptable for my taste.

I'd use ghost or something like that to do the imaging part - should be much much faster

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[JonRoderick]

Haha - if only! It's 11 hours for the 4GB partition! Wanted 120 hours for the 34GB partition....

As I said, I'm going to clone the C and then copy the D (34GB) over manually...

Thanks for the feedback.

Jon

[continuum]

37 Gb should be done in an hour if you use ghost or similar.

Keep in mind that you want to import a physical machine - using Converter is no art in itself

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