VMware converter 5.0 will crash when using vCenter 5.1 as destination

[gamania]

converter 5.0 will crash when vcenter is upgraded to 5.1. Does anybody know any temp work around or fix? thanks

[continuum]

> making vsphere 5.1 useless to most people.

Oh come on - Converter is just one way to get a P2V or V2V job done - why do you think it is so important ??

[mrichter]

Ulli, why are you so defensive about this regression? I'll tell you why it's important. I just set up a brand new cluster with multiple 5.1 esxi hosts. My plan was to P2V about 20 servers into this SAN-Attached cluster this week. However, I was wasting a crapload of time trying to "workaround" this process, converting to a virtual esxi, to a 4.1 esxi, etc. I was running into space issues since I was unable to VM straight into our SAN, etc. I found it a much better use of my time to go back to the data center and wipe everything out and reinstall all the ESXI and vcenter with 5.0. That's eliminated the bottlenecks and I'm now on pace to get this stuff VM'ed only slightly behind schedule.

I don't know why you and VMWare can't recognize the importance of Converter to P2V operations. I don't have time (or server downtime time) to be clonezilla'ing, bouncing between different esxi hosts, etc all day when I was telling my superiors to expect the kind of convenience/functionality that we had in 4.1.

[trafsta]

+1

well said. very similar situation here, except hyper-v V2V migration rather than physical.

i just blew $20k on licenses for this cause the trial was just about out, i hope i didnt make the wrong decision going from hyperv to vmware

[silus]

Why is Converter important? **Slams head on desk**

If you have the time to convert tens or hundreds of machines another way you're obviously very under utilized. 

The issue is not just that converter was not released with 5.1, but now OVER A MONTH later, VMware still have not pulled their fingers out and fixed it, given from their response so far it is not technical issues but rather red tape surrounding releases.

It's not even like they have made it clear in the release notes or anywhere else that 5.1 is only good for those setting up new infrastructures or doing in place upgrades, NOT for anyone migrating from an existing physical or different hypervisor environment.

They really dropped the ball on this. Incompetent.

[rrockwell]

Add another to the list who are in the same situation.  Brand new 5.1 environment with a planned P2V migration.  After selling management on all the time we would save...

Yes there are work-arounds, but they all take more time and resources.   It would be helpful to have an ETA so that we could decide to either wait a few days or move to plan B.

[de2rfg]

VMware loses more and more ground. Nasty bugs, converter not working, a slow web client that will replace a nice , fast and working solution.

[continuum]

> Ulli, why are you so defensive about this regression?

That was not my intention - not at all.
I just find that the workarounds are so easy that  I do not see a significant problem at all.

Here I just start a ESXi 5.0 LiveCD inside a VM - connect it to the SAN and 5 minutes later I can start with the import.

[continuum]

>  Why is Converter important? **Slams head on desk**

> If you have the time to convert tens or hundreds of machines another way you're obviously very under utilized.

Not at all - as already mentioned setting up a virtual ESXi 5 is done in a matter of a few minutes - and you only have to do that once.

[billmvea]

The whole problem is that it's inefficient. We don't need "workarounds". Fix the problem and release it out to the customers as quickly as possible. This issue has been out since day 1 of the official release. It's now more than a month since release.

Standalone Converter is a very important tool and VMware should have held off on releasing vSphere 5.1 and tested it against all of their tools. THEN release 5.1 with along with the updated tools.

VMware dropped the ball on this.

We are a small-medium business with a single server that was just updated for 5.1. We don't have the luxury taking hosts down to run a live CD or install vSphere 5.0.1 another server.

I have to transfer the image to a trial of VMware workstation on my local computer and then transfer it to vSphere 5.1. This adds an extra step in my project and prolongs it.

This is unacceptable.

[continuum]

> We don't have the luxury taking hosts down to run a live CD or install vSphere 5.0.1 another server.

Nobody ever said that you need to take a host down.
In vSphere 5.1 simply create a esxi 5 VM - give it 2 Gb RAM and 2 vCPUs and access to your storage ...

But I agree : looks like 5.1 was rushed out of the door - just to keep a deadline - without checking  if it is ready

[billmvea]

I'll give that a shot.

[mjbtechie]

@continuum - Could you point me to a guide for presenting SAN storage to ESXi 5.0 running as a VM? The hosts are connected via a fiber switch. I don't understand how to present the stoarge to the VM if it doesn't have an HBA connected to the switch. Any help would be great. Thanks,

[mjbtechie]

Oh, is it just a RDM? My B.

[silus]

Another day, another week, another no-show for vm converter. They've really dropped the ball.

I'm wondering if VMware are actually staffed by a bunch of clowns.

If the last 2 support calls I logged are anything to go by that might actually be true, even the support center has gone downhill from their quite respectable heyday 2-3 years ago.

[voracy]

Add one more to the list!!

If no working converter comes out soon, I will be forced to stop our upgrade -and expansion!- plans.

My dear VMWare, beware you may loose some money......

[Bigi201110141]

Maybee the NEW management team is to blame. I noticed a turnaround for the worse recently.

Support slow to respond and sometimes clueless even with simple things.

QA was not performed at all. I am not sure what happened. The management team needs to apologize for this mess.

[VCSLI]

They are likely outsourcing their development like most large companies today.

They already have you money. Thats all that matters.

[silus]

I think you're right.  There have clearly been some internal upheval and it's left VMware in a really poor state.

We had to log 2 support calls recently and the quality of support was shocking. Absolutely nothing like the level of attention we got a few years back.

What made it worse is that i'd been singing VMware support's praises to the guys here about how great and attentive they are if you need help and the two support calls couldn't have really been worse. Quite embarassing.

[ValiantS]

Sorry didn't read the whole thread.  I was going to p2v last night (Friday right) and Convertor 5 kept crashing.  I don't know if it was already mentioned, but I successfully used 4.3 for a 300GB conversion.  Just a thought.

[AgarMan]

I suspect that VMWare is starting a journey down the road of learning a very tough lesson.

Though, as someone else pointed out above, a lot of  companies are cutting development staff and outsourcing their  development. Certainly organizations can expect the quality to go down,  and as such QA testing should be sufficiently ramped up. But some  organizations don't realize this.

Ultimately trends like this tend to become a facet  with which a company can differentiate themselves handily. They provide  in-house development with quality software engineers, and their product  is or becomes much better in quality/reliability than their competitors.  As such, the market share shifts. Sometimes, companies that start to  lose market share like this can catch it in time and fix the problem.  Often, though, they are slow to maneuver and hurt their reputation in  the market considerably. In either case, it ends up costing real  dollars.