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Vijayashwath
Contributor
Contributor

Unable to boot vCenter Converter Boot CD

I have the vCenter Converter bootCD but it does not boot to winPE but shows a message "Waiting for the Helper's configuration variable". Is there a workaround for this issue

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ivivanov
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Boot CD is no longer supported. What you are looking at is the "Helper VM ISO", which is used for Linux P2V conversions.

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It is worse!
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paulblyth123
Contributor
Contributor

I need to do a cold P2V of a Windows 2003 machine, what options do I have?  Thanks

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iw123
Commander
Commander

Hi,

Is there a reason why it has to be a cold P2V ?

Which version of the boot CD have you been using?

*Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers
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paulblyth123
Contributor
Contributor

Hi

We need to capture an application server which is also running AD.  I don't have a Converter BootCD as it's no longer supported.

Thanks

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iw123
Commander
Commander

You should still be able to get the boot CD if you have the necessary license and a current support contract, I think the latest available is 4.1 which should work for your 2003 server.

Otherwise you may have to look demoting the DC, and promoting a new server to DC which would allow you to do a hot clone just of your app server. Obviously, I dont know your environment etc and whether this is a valid approach for you.

There are other tools available that can help with P2V such as platespin etc, but not free.

*Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers
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paulblyth123
Contributor
Contributor

Hi

Unfortunately I can't get hold of the BootCD even at verison 4.1.

I expect will have to investigate a thirdy party solution such as Platspin.

Thanks

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

If you still have a copy of Converter 3.0.3 you can create a bootable CD using the instructions here
http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-14671

If you need help - I am the author - feel free to ask

You can always create a Coldclone with any Linux LiveCD - just dd the system disk if the system like this

dd if=/dev/sda of=p2vimport-flat.vmdk bs=1M

You can do all the rest later


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Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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paulblyth123
Contributor
Contributor

I don't have converter 3.0.3, is it available for download?

Thanks

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