Convert VMware player virtual file to ESXi format

[ncaa]

Hello all,

Again, I'm new to the virtual world so bare with me.  I recently downloaded and installed ESXi 5.1.0 which is up and running fine.  Using vSphere Client 5.1.0 I tried to create a New Virtual Machine and select a virtual file that was created using VMware vCenter Converter Standalone and running in VMware Player.  The new virtual machine seems to get created fine in vSphere Client but when I try to start the virtual machine I get the following error:

"Failed to start the virtual machine. Module DevicePowerOn power on failed. Unable to create virtual SCSI device"

After researching this error it appears that the file formats between VMware Player and ESXi are different and they recommend using VMware vCenter Converter Standalone to convert the virtual file running in VMware Player to the ESXi format.  This is where I'm having some troubles. These are the steps I'm performing:

1.  Open up VMware vCenter Converter Standalone and click "Convert machine"

2.  In the Select source type I selected "VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine". It wants me to browse to the Virtual machine file.

3.  It wants me to select a .vmx file but the only .vmx file that is available is VMware virtual machine configuration file.  This is only a small file.  The big file is a  .vmdk file and I would suspect that THIS is the file I would want to browse to in the converter tool but I'm not sure? 

4. If I browse the big file (.vmdk) and select ok I get the error "The file you selected is not a supported source". This makes sense since the default file type it wants me to find is a .vmx file.

5. If I browse to the small file (.vmx) it seems to like that, but when I click next I get the error "Unable to obtain hardware information for the selected machine"

So this is where I'm stuck.  I think I'm on the right track with having to convert the VMware Player virtual file using the VMware vCenter Converter Standalone but don't take anything for granted with me .

Any help someone might be able to provide would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Neil

[aravinds3107]

The steps what your are tying is correct..

Just want to make sure is the VM running on VMware Player has been shutdown?

Which version of Vmware converter are you using?

[weinstein5]

Yes you are on the right track - you will want to select the VMX file - Converter reads the information about the VM from that file including the location of the VMDK which is the virtual disk -

[ncaa]

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, the VM running on VMware Player is "Powered Off".

Converter version is: 5.0.1 build-875114

Thanks,

Neil

[ncaa]

Ok thanks.  That's good to know.   I guess I just need an answer to the "Unable to obtain hardware information for the selected machine" error then.

Neil

[ncaa]

Are there any other tools out there besides the converter that can be used to convert a .vmx into the correct ESXi format?

Thanks,

Neil

[aravinds3107]

Can you check if solution mentioned given below works fine..

http://ccolonbackslash.com/2012/11/20/vmware-vcenter-converter-unable-to-obtain-hardware-information...

[ncaa]

Hi Aravinds,

That would have been nice if that's all it was but I still get the same error even when I open and run the converter as administrator.  I'll keep looking on google for a solution.

Thanks,

Neil

[ncaa]

Ok, I was able to get by the: “Unable to obtain hardware information for the selected machine.” error.

Although the vitual that I was trying to convert was listed as "Powered Down" in VMware Player it was not shutdown correctly.  When I turned on the virtual machine there was a windows message on the server saying that it was not shutdown correctly.  I let it boot up and then shut it down again.  Once I did that and went back to the converter tool, I was able to get by that error message.  I'm still trying to get it to convert so I'll let you all know how it goes.

Thanks,

Neil

[ncaa]

Still more questions...

On the "Destination System" screen do I select "VMware Infastructure virtual machine" or "VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine" if it's going to be going to an ESXi format?

If it's "VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine" what do I select in the "Select VMware product" drop down?

Thanks,

Neil

[aravinds3107]

Select "VMware Infastructure virtual machine"

[a_p_]

I'm not quite sure whether this is the issue you are facing, but maybe http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2036572 can help.

André

[ncaa]

Thanks.  I'll give that a shot. What is the difference between the two?

[ncaa]

Ok... I'm at the point in the conversion where it gives me a summary of the options.  Does anything jump out to anyone as something I should chance before going forward?:

Source system information

  Source type:VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine

  Path:D:\VMWARE\Virtual_Machine1\Virtual_Machine1\Virtual_Machine1.vmx

  No throttling information

Destination system information

  Virtual machine name: ServerABC

  Hardware version:Version 7

  Host/Server: 10.20.30.40

  Connected as:root

  VM folder:None

  Host system: hypervisorhost

  Resource pool:Default

  Power on after conversion:No

  Number of vCPUs:4 (4 sockets * 1 cores)

  Physical memory:2GB

  Network:Preserve NIC count

  NIC1 Connected

VM Network  NIC2

Connected VM Network

  NIC3 Connected

VM Network  NIC4

Connected VM Network

  Storage:Volume-based cloning

  Number of disks:1

  Create disk 0 as:Thick provisioned disk

  Configuration files datastore:datastore1

Destination customization 

Install VMware Tools:Yes

  Customize guest OS:No

  Remove restore checkpoints:Yes

  Reconfigure virtual machine:Yes

Synchronization information

  Synchronize changes that occur during cloning:No

Thanks,

Neil

[ncaa]

I actually just went a head and converted it with the above parameters and it is up and running on the ESXi platform.  I'll do some more playing around with it but it looks like the conversion worked!

Thanks,

Neil