Straight P2V

[BonnoB]

Hi,

In the old days with v4.1x we had a VMware converter boot disk with which we booted the machine that had to have a P2V and within no time we had an exact virtual copy that we could launch, install the vmware tools and most of the time be up and running.

I have to do a P2V on just one more machine that we seem to have forgotten, remember the old "server in a closet" that just kept on going?

I just read up on P2V with VMware 5.x, we have ESXi 5.5 production and ESXi 5.1 test servers. It seems this is getting very complicated with hot conversions and stuff. I do not need all of that, do not need a server/client environment, I just need to convert 1 machine.

I want to use the stand alone converter, no special vCenter integration.

Do I get it right if I say I HAVE to install the Converter server on my laptop, or some other machine and then install the agent on the source server? That would mean the source server is up and running and in theory data changes could be made and I would prety much be forced to use hot cloning. I must be reading something wrong, but what?

[BenLiebowitz]

If you are going to do wha you called a HOT P2V, VMware recommends stopping as many services/apps on the running server. 

I haven't used the P2V boot disk in a long time so I am not certain it would work in this scenario.  There are also 3rd party P2V tools from companies like Acronis that may work off-line, but they aren't free. 

Good luck!

- Ben

[continuum]

Hi
I still have a construction kit on my site that creates a ColdcloneCD based on BartPE - it uses Converter 3.0.3 which no longer is available from official VMware sources.

But using the old style ColdcloneCD is no longer necessary - if you are interested I show you how to use a LinuxLiveCD for Coldclones.

Ulli
skype = sanbarrow

[BonnoB]

Using a Linux LiveCD solution is good too. I would love to know how.

[BonnoB]

Ok. Like we just discussed in this case I am going to simply install the stand alone converter on the source machine itself and disable the service people are using to update data on the server. And... of course telling them to take an extended lunch break.

Thanks for you help Ulli.

[BenLiebowitz]

Found this blog post that may be what you're looking for...

Using the Cold Clone 3.0.3 ISO with vSphere 5 | That... Could Be A Problem...

[continuum]

The ISO from that download has a very limited set of drivers - it is from 2008 ...
If one still needs a coldclone CD I would recommend to build a new one - using latest drivers. Instructions are on my website and I help if necessary.

But actually there is no need for this outdated Converterversion - using a Linux LiveCD in combination with the latest Converter is doing the job better