Hi,
Running Vsphere on two ESX hosts attached to an EVA SAN.
We have a number of machines that need to be migrated to the Virtual environment.
What is th process for this using Vmware converter?
The migration process will take place out of hours. so not sure what the best way to ensure a successfull migration?
Thanks in advance
You have two options the hot migration or the cold migration. I would recommend the cold migration for best results, this is using the coldclone.iso cd and booting from it.
I would also run something like ccleaner and delete temp files and temp internet files, you can also resize the disks to more reasonable sizes. I would normally tick the box to create a new disk for each partition, as this makes it a bit easier to change things within virtualcenter in needed later. Once converted into a VM, install the VMware tools, and remove any unneeded software, the dell / hp etc specific software.
Also go into device manager and clear the now unused disconnected devices as per HERE
Reboot the virtual machine and confirm all services are up
Put in the IP address etc as a new network card will be in the Network Adapters section.
This seems to works for us.
Thanks for the imformative reply.
I have never done cold migrations before. How do i create this ISO CD to boot from?
Sam
u can also take help from the following notes....
1. Agent Installation Location
• Locally: Install Converter and agent directly on source
machine if converting directly into ESX Server
• Remotely: Connect to source machine over network to
install agent
2. Agent Installation
• Use local administrator account
• Avoid domain accounts that have restrictive policies
• Allow reboot for Windows NT 4.0 and 2000 sources
3. Machine Preparation
• Do not deactivate services or harden security
Workstation service
Server service
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service
Volume Shadow Copy service (Windows
2003 or XP)
• Ensure sufficient free disk space (at least 200MB)
• Mirrored or striped volumes across multiple disks should
be broken
• Dynamic disks with utility partitions should use cold
cloning
• Disable Windows Simple File Sharing (Windows XP only)
• Disable anti-virus software
• Defrag hard disks
• Shutdown any un-needed Windows Services
• Clean-up any temporary files and un-needed data
• Run chkdsk
• Keep users off if possible
• Power off VM if not using hot cloning
• VCB VM exports need editing prior to import
Edit virtual disk filenames inside
.vmx
Rename filenames for .vmdk files to
match those listed in .vmx
Edit index .vmdk file to change
references to span files
4. Network Preparation
• Open TCP/UDP ports 139, 445, and 902 (Converter 3.0.0) or
443 (Converter 3.0.1)
• Open network ports between source and destination
Alternative is to create a VM
visible to source, copy VM files to location visible to destination, and import
VM
• Use FQDN to connect to both source and VI3
5. Converter Preparation
• Run on OS greater than or equal to source if source is
VM and powered off, or
Symantec Livestate System Image6. Cloning
• Starter edition limitations and workarounds
Cannot remote hot clone directly
into VI3
-
Workaround 1: install Converter on source machine
-
Workaround 2: select standalone VM as destination, and then import VM to VI3
using two steps
Cannot run multiple tasks
concurrently
-
Workaround: run multiple copies of Converter
Cannot cold clone
-
Workaround: create new VM, use third-party cloning application such as Ghost,
and run Converter configure
• Do not resize volume for fastest clone speed (block-level
copying)
• Resize volumes if source disks have inefficient
utilization (resorts to file-level copying)
• Use cold-cloning disk-based cloning (not volume-based)
for non-Windows systems
• Use hot cloning for Windows NT 4.0 systems to avoid NTFS
upgrade
• Destination needs to be writeable
7. Configure
• Avoid cloning utility partitions
• Check partition numbers in boot.ini
• Automatic “Install VMware Tools” option is only available
for ESX Server VMs
8. Clean-Up Prior to Power On
• Edit VM settings according to desired goal
Number of vCPUs
Add/Delete USB devices
Add/Delete Serial and parallel
devices
Remove Floppy drive if not needed
SCSI controller type (BusLogic vs.
LSI Logic)
• OEM source may require license activation
SMBIOS.reflectHost = “TRUE” in .vmx
may avoid reactivation
Requires destination host to have
same hardware
9. Clean-Up After Power On
• Detect hardware
VMware Tools installation may hang
if hardware not detected
• Allow reboots to occur
Detect hardware and VMware Tools
installation
• Verify HAL and change if necessary
• Remove non-present old hardware
CMD prompt type set
DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
Next type DEVMGMT.MSC and select
Show Hidden Devices
Delete any old grayed out
non-present hardware
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Do you have anything in detail which describes below point and is it still a road block in latest versions?
Mirrored or striped volumes across multiple disks should be broken
Rather than resurrecting a 12-year old thread, you might want to create a new one in the correct area for Converter Standalone: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/Converter-Standalone-Discussions/bd-p/2505