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milesmeridith
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Migrated one of my VM's to another VSphere host and it won't start

I have a VM that I orignally converted from Hyper-V over to a VSphere host. After I did that it would start fine, but I would get two errors upon boot up.

"An IDE controller is found but the virtual machine does not support the option" and

"A flat backing option was not found."

When i would look at the hard disc in settings it would say it is not supported. Is this because I incorrectly converted them from Hyper-V to VSphere using the VMWare Converter?

But now I set up VCenter Server and tested migrating one of these machines to another host and back using the VSphere Client. It won't start now. I get an error message that says.

"Device "Hard disk 1' uses a controller that is not supported. This is a general limitation of the virtual machine's compatibility with the ESXi version of the selected host."

Remember this is the same VSphere host it was running on originally. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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jrmunday
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So this one is working now - is that correct? - don't forget to award helpful and/or correct points Smiley Wink

I removed these entries;

ide0:0.fileName = "PIC-JVM-v0001-000001.vmdk"
ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.clientDevice = "TRUE"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
ide1:0.startConnected = "FALSE"
ide0:0.redo = ""
ide1:0.fileName = "/usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/windows.iso"
scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-passthru"
scsi0:0.fileName = "/vmfs/devices/cdrom/mpx.vmhba1:C0:T0:L0"
scsi0:0.allowGuestConnectionControl = "FALSE"


And added these;

ide0:0.clientDevice = "true"
ide0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
ide0:0.startConnected = "false"
scsi0:0.fileName = "PIC-JVM-v0001-000001.vmdk"
scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"
scsi0:0.redo = ""

Although there's a high probability that the other six that you need to do will be similar to this, they will have to be assessed individually and changed accordingly.

Cheers,

Jon

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77

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jdptechnc
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I'm surprised that VM converter would create the vSphere VM with an IDE controller by default.  I would have figured it would default to whichever SCSI controller is recommended for the guest OS.  I believe IDE virtual disks aren't even supported in ESX.

It may be something that was misconfigured when you ran Converter.  You should be able to change the controller being used when you are setting up the converter task to a SCSI controller.

Please consider marking as "helpful", if you find this post useful. Thanks!... IT Guy since 12/2000... Virtual since 10/2006... VCAP-DCA #2222
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RParker
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Despite the previous post, it's not IDE related.  I can't remember exactly what the error is.. you have to google it.  It has something do with a connected device like CD/DVD drive or RDM that it cannot access.. not the controller.

I remember this problem once or twice which is why I can't remember the exact issue, but it's not a configuration problem with the VM.  It's something external which isn't accessible from the HOST.

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jrmunday
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What O/S and virtual hardware version is the VM?

With it powered off, edit the hardware settings, select the current controller and click Change Type - the list you get presented with will be dependent on the virtual hardware version. This may need to be changed appropriately (including upgrading the virtual hardware).

Controller.png

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77
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jrmunday
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Also have a look at this ...

http://blog.lewan.com/2009/12/22/vmware-vsphere-using-vmware-converter-to-import-vms-or-vmdks-from-o...

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77
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milesmeridith
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So I discovered a few more things. The migration from one host to another VSphere host had nothing to do with them not starting. I powered off another one of the servers I had migrated from Hyper-V and discovered I got the same error upon bootup. However, If I logged into the host directly with VSphere Client instead of the VCenter Server I can boot the machines fine. It does still give me the two errors stated earlier as always. Attached is a screenshot of my settings it doesn't appear there is a controller set. Should I add the SCSI?

BTW they are all Version 4 and OS of the VM doesn't effect it. They are all doing the same thing.

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jdptechnc
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Your controller is part of the issue, but the "flat backing option" error is also still there if I read you right.  Take a look at that blog post that was linked a couple of posts up and look at what the author says about the error.  If you browse the datastore on which the VM resides, do you see a *-flat.vmdk along with the *.vmdk file?

Please consider marking as "helpful", if you find this post useful. Thanks!... IT Guy since 12/2000... Virtual since 10/2006... VCAP-DCA #2222
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jrmunday
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Yes. Once you have added the controller just select the disk and make sure that it is on the SCSI channel;

Disk-Controller.png

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77
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milesmeridith
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If I select the disc it doesn't give me an option to connect it to the SCSI, it just says that it's unsupported. If I browse to the data store I see .vmdk file but it doesn't say flat. I fix this with the converter?

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jrmunday
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You wont see the flat file through datastore browser, use SSH to check for the flat file.

Message was edited by: jrmunday

  -- Did you apply the controller changes before selecting the disk?

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77
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jdptechnc
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Jon Munday wrote:

You wont see the flat file through datastore browser, use SSH to check for the flat file.


D'oh.. .that's right...

Please consider marking as "helpful", if you find this post useful. Thanks!... IT Guy since 12/2000... Virtual since 10/2006... VCAP-DCA #2222
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milesmeridith
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It doesn't give me an option to add a scsi controller. Just device. When I add device it adds a scsi controller and device which seems to point to my cd/dvd drive. As you can see from the screen shot I can change any settings on the hard disk. I can add a new hard disc and tie it to the scsi controller but I don't think that solves my problem.

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jrmunday
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Here is an example from a SSH console;

~ # cd /vmfs/volumes/hds_wdata01/VM001/
/vmfs/volumes/4f9c0a12-46e27bf6-0059-0025b3d7d30a/VM001 # ls -lh
-rw-rw-rw-    1 root     root           65 Nov 12 14:36 VM001-4c2ce8fc.hlog
-rw-------    1 root     root         4.0G May 30 13:38 VM001-4c2ce8fc.vswp
-rw-------    1 root     root        10.0G Nov 15 17:38 VM001-flat.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root         8.5k Nov 12 14:37 VM001.nvram
-rw-------    1 root     root          518 Nov 12 14:36 VM001.vmdk
-rw-rw-rw-    1 root     root            0 Apr 28  2012 VM001.vmsd
-rwxrwxrwx    1 root     root         3.5k Nov 12 14:37 VM001.vmx
-rw-rw-rw-    1 root     root          263 Nov 12 14:37 VM001.vmxf
-rw-------    1 root     root         2.0G Nov 15 02:18 VM001_1-flat.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root          518 Nov 13 03:29 VM001_1.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root        30.0G Nov 15 17:38 VM001_2-flat.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root          520 Nov 12 14:36 VM001_2.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root       205.1G Nov 15 17:33 VM001_3-flat.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root          522 Nov 12 14:40 VM001_3.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root        68.4G Nov 15 17:30 VM001_4-flat.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root          521 Nov 12 14:45 VM001_4.vmdk
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root       101.9k Jun 20 08:44 vmware-21.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root       102.1k Jun 21 15:39 vmware-22.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root       125.7k Jul 16 12:36 vmware-23.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root       108.7k Aug 14 12:46 vmware-24.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root       113.1k Oct  2 12:47 vmware-25.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root       149.0k Nov 12 14:36 vmware-26.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root        78.6k Nov 15 02:28 vmware.log
-rw-------    1 root     root        46.0M Nov 12 14:35 vmx-VM001-1278011644-2.vswp

Can you post the list of files you have for this VM?

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77
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jrmunday
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Can you post a copy of your VMX file (this should be tiny)? I'm interested to see the contents ...

Identify the type of SCSI controller the virtual disk is using. You can  do this by examining the virtual machine configuration file (.vmx). The controller is identified by the line scsi#.virtualDev, where # is the controller number. There may be more than one controller and controller type attached to the virtual machine, such as lsisas1068 (which is the LSILogic SAS controller), lsilogic, or buslogic. This example uses lsilogic:

scsi0.present = "true"
scsi0.sharedBus = "none"
scsi1.present = "true"
scsi1.sharedBus = "virtual"
scsi1.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

See this link;

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100251...

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77
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milesmeridith
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Looks like I do have a .flat file. See attached for both requests.

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jrmunday
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I can see the issue, and it should hopefully be easy to fix ... I can't send any changes back at the moment as I'm using my iPad on the train, but will upload a fix later on tonight (unless someone else does before me). The disk is configured to use an IDE controller and needs to be changed to a SCSI device (just take note of the SCSI channel already in use)

You might want to have a go yourself, have look at this;

http://sanbarrow.com/vmx/vmx-scsi.html

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77
milesmeridith
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Ok, excellent. I'm not sure how to go about changing it from your link. Your help is greatly appreciated!

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jrmunday
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Replace your current VMX file with this one attached - should hopefully work Smiley Happy

You always have the option of rolling back to the original one that you uploaded.

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77
milesmeridith
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At first when I hit settings after swapping the file,  the first error  changed to "An IDE controller is found but the virtual machine does not support the option." But then I powered it off and on one more time and the error went away...

What did you change in the file? I have to do it to 6 more machines. Thanks so much btw, I would up the creek without your help.

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jrmunday
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So this one is working now - is that correct? - don't forget to award helpful and/or correct points Smiley Wink

I removed these entries;

ide0:0.fileName = "PIC-JVM-v0001-000001.vmdk"
ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.clientDevice = "TRUE"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
ide1:0.startConnected = "FALSE"
ide0:0.redo = ""
ide1:0.fileName = "/usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/windows.iso"
scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-passthru"
scsi0:0.fileName = "/vmfs/devices/cdrom/mpx.vmhba1:C0:T0:L0"
scsi0:0.allowGuestConnectionControl = "FALSE"


And added these;

ide0:0.clientDevice = "true"
ide0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
ide0:0.startConnected = "false"
scsi0:0.fileName = "PIC-JVM-v0001-000001.vmdk"
scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"
scsi0:0.redo = ""

Although there's a high probability that the other six that you need to do will be similar to this, they will have to be assessed individually and changed accordingly.

Cheers,

Jon

vExpert 2014 - 2022 | VCP6-DCV | http://www.jonmunday.net | @JonMunday77
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