Vmware converter reboots physical server after cold clone

[LiamSinton]

Hey

This may have already been mentioned but I can't find any other discussion on it. I am doing some P2Vs using the Vmware converter 4.1.0 cold clone bootable disk. As we do not have any KVM/IP switches, I have to visit the server room to check the progress of the conversion. The problem I am having is that once once converter completes, it randomly reboots the physical server I have converted (didn't seem to happen to all of them). Obviously, I do not want the physical server powering up again as changes could be made to it. I cannot see any options within the converter to tell it not to reboot or even to shut down which would be ok?

Has anyone else come across this problem and maybe a solution?

Cheers :smileyblush:

[krowczynski]

Have you got a special software installed on the Pserver?

Perhaps an UPS aganet, against powerloss or so?

[LiamSinton]

No UPS agents installed....

?:|

[krowczynski]

Have you checked out he logfiles on the Server?

[LiamSinton]

On the physical server?

I never checked any logs as I assumed this was normal behaviour for the converter but I could somehow overide the option to exit /reboot? It would be nice if there was an option in the converter gui to shutdown the physical server after the task completes

I only have one left to convert now so I don't want to spend too much time trawling through logs but it does seem a bit silly that if you do a cold clone of a physical server (that obviously requires being powered off like an Exchange server) it should power back up after the task completes, therefore rendering the converted vm useless if the server is connected to the network (which it will be to connect to the vcenter server in the first place) and changes are made.....

Cheers

Liam

[krowczynski]

Is the PServer an Linux system?

[LiamSinton]

By PServer, I am guessing you mean physical server :smileyshocked:

No, the latest one I tried was a 64 bit windows storage server...

[krowczynski]

Yes I mean so.

Can you make an NTbackup on this machine, with consistency check?

I've never tried an a 64 bit windows storage server because it is a very special one!

[krowczynski]

Probably you can try this.

Install the standalone converter on another WIndows machine, and try to consodidate the Server from this.

[LiamSinton]

I can't do a backup of it as the data drive is over 700GB and the reason I am doing a cold clone is so that no changes can be made to it. Surely if I do a stand alone conversion while it's booted up, changes can be made unless I mess about with the networking which I do not want to do...

[krowczynski]

Is this a fileserver you want to consolidate here?

[LiamSinton]

It is indeed..

[krowczynski]

Aha!

So I think if we are talking about such a big amoutn of data I would not to try to convet it throgh the converter.

[Rubeck]

Is this server a HP one?

If so, I would try to disable ASR (Automatic Server Recovery) in the BIOS ...

/Rubeck

[LiamSinton]

Why not do it through converter? I wasn't aware there were any file limitations?

[LiamSinton]

Hi Rubeck

No, it's a Dell Pe2950

[krowczynski]

There are no limitations, but a storage server BS is always something special and if I am right it is not supported by vmware!!

[LiamSinton]

I can manage to convert it, that's not really the issue :smileysilly:

The problem I have is that converter completes the task and reboots the machine and I don't want it to. Surely it isn't going to matter what OS the physical machine is?

[continuum · Accepted solution]

Here is a very dirty hack that will do what you want

edit the coldclone.iso and remove the file ...\I386\bootfix.bin.

If you remove this file the CD will not ask "press any key to boot from CD" - instead it will always boot into the CD.

So this also means that you must change the BIOS-boot-sequence of the physical machine to boot from CD.

Then - even if the Coldclone CD reboots for unknown reasons - it will never reboot into the original system but launch the CD again.

___________________________________

VMX-parameters- VMware-liveCD - VM-Sickbay

[LiamSinton]

Genius! :smileylaugh:

Ta very much