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flyingscubakev
Contributor
Contributor

Problems with VM data after P2V of SUSE 9

Hi,

I recently converted a windows 2003 server to a VM, and I had issues with dropped connections and data errors. I then removed the default network card that was used during the conversion and replaced it with the vmxnet driver. And now all is well in that machine, performace is great and file access is as near the physical machine as possible - no user complaints.

The problem I had was I originally converted a SUSE 9 server that was hosting our (non-exchange smtp) mail and when it ran as a VM in production the next day I had users (some but not all) complaining about not being able to send/receive email, their outlook clients took for ever to download, after more than a few phone calls complaining I quickly stopped the VM and brought the physical machine back on line. So after finding the issue with the windows 2003 network card fix I decided to try the mail server conversion again, this time before the server booted after the P2V process I edited the network card type and selected the vmxnet2 driver (the vmxnet3 was not an option as it was for the MS 2003 conversion), this was done after hours and I could copy up and down large files at speeds that lead me to believe that this conversion with the new network card was good to go into production. Then the next morning as more people started to use the system I started to get calls that clients could not receive messages - just as that had when I tried the conversion initially.

My server is a Dell PowereEdge R610 that has 4 port network card, 24GB memory and SCSI Raid 10 drives, there are two lans setup, the winodws 2003 server is on one segment, the SUSE server is on a separate segment. (vmtools are installed)

Sorry for the short novel but I wanted to get the full picture out, and have no idea where to turn next.

Thanks in advanced.

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flyingscubakev
Contributor
Contributor

I'm guessing that no one has any ideas on this and that I'm the only one to have this problem!

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khughes
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Did you do these conversions Hot or Cold?

-- Kyle

"RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "

-- Kyle "RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "
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flyingscubakev
Contributor
Contributor

These were both done as Hot conversions. I'm really concerned with the SUSE one now as the W2K3 server is working great.

Kev

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khughes
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Have you tried doing the conversion cold (aka powered off)?

-- Kyle

"RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "

-- Kyle "RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "
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flyingscubakev
Contributor
Contributor

I don't have the cold converter CD, I'm using the free ESXi 4.1

Kev

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khughes
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

which version of converter have you been using? A new version 4.3 just came out a little while ago - http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/converter401/dGhiZHRwaGJ0QGg= which is the stand alone version. Or you can download the cold boot disk here I believe - http://www.vmsage.com/vmware-converter/getting-the-vmware-cold-clone-iso

-- Kyle

"RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "

-- Kyle "RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "
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flyingscubakev
Contributor
Contributor

I originally tried the latest version of the standalone converter (at the time it was 4.0) on our ESXi version 4 server. I had the same problems and then saw that ESXi v4.1 was out so I installed that, tried the standalone converter and it wasn't compatible. I then installed the 45 day demo of vCenter Server 4.10, 258902 and have been using that to convert the machine (import function). Seemed to work, with no errors, until I actually tried to use the converted server. I had been watching the standalone version to see when they were coming out with one that was compatible with ESXi 4.1 and missed the release from August 30, so I just downloaded it. But I can't download the cold version, even after following the link you provided.

Kev

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khughes
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Give that new version a try on the hot convert and see if that fixes anything

-- Kyle

"RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "

-- Kyle "RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "
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flyingscubakev
Contributor
Contributor

The only issue I have with the "try" is that I loose a couple hours of data if it fails again.

Thanks for you help,

Kev

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flyingscubakev
Contributor
Contributor

Well I tried the conversion again. No luck.  According to the screens, etc all seems to convert properly to the new machine.  I've now done 3 MS server conversions with no issues.  This one seems to convert OK, then I make the necessary network changes and the system comes up fine.  I can log in and remotely copy large files to the server at pretty good speeds.

The problem starts when the end users start to hit it with send/receiving of mail (basically the only app running on this server).  The system seems to time-out or can't handle more the 2 users.  The firewall/spam machine seems to hand off the message to the server fine, but then I start to get calls from the end users saying that they mail client is hung up on downloading - at the same time I can ssh into the box and copy files back and forth, etc.

Anyone know if there is a specific order of steps when converting?  (Do the main conversion, edit setting of virtual machine before starting to change the type of network card, start, reinstall vmtools, etc)

Thanks

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