Strategy for Conversion and ESXi Server setup

[fellowsquare]

Hopefully someone can help me with a strategy here. I have a server called "WEBDEV". I would like to use the physical box it is on as our new ESXi4 Server, "VMSERVER". However, I want to virtualize WEBDEV and then mount it on the ESXi4 VMSERVER on that physical box. What would be the best way of going about this? I downloaded VMware's converter, but it wants me to point it to an existing ESXi server, which I do not have setup? Any ideas?

[dcoz]

fellowsquare,

If you have a PC or spare windows server you could download the free vmware server, use converter to P2V to that vmware server.

Once you have verified the vm works, you could then wipe, and re-build the WEBDEV server with ESXi and convert the VM across from vmware server to ESX4i.

There are also third party tools that you can use to create a virtual image of a physical server, and converter will allow you to import that image into ESX.

Hope this helps.

Regards

DC

[LucasAlbers]

sounds like a good way to do it. You could also just use esxi instead of vmware server, but it should not matter which you convert to.

[AndreTheGiant]

You can use a good PC with VMware Server or Workstation for a temporally conversion.

First you convert your physical machine to VMware Server/Workstation/Player and you run it on virtual on this temporally system.

Then you install your ESX/ESXi.

Finally you use again VMware Converter to convert from VMware Server/Workstation/Player to ESX/ESXi.

Andre

[fellowsquare]

Ok so i think im understanding...

I guess i want to make sure i'm clear...

"Server A" has windows 2003 server and is called WEBDEV. I want to make WEBDEV a VM. Then i want to take the actual physical box and put ESXi on that box and make it our VMSERVER and i want to put the virtualized WEBDEV server back onto it after it has ESXi on it with other virtualized machines as well such as our print server. Am I on the right track here? Or am I confused?

[DSTAVERT]

Take a workstation XP etc. Install VMware Server for Windows on that workstation Available from downloads page. Use the converter tool to convert WEBDEV to the VMware Server machine. Verify that it works before you convert the physical WEBDEV into an ESXi platform.

[AndreTheGiant]

1. Convert WEBDEV to a VM running on another hardware (a good PC or another server) with VMware Player/Workstation or Server.

2. Install on "Server A" with ESXi to have your VMSERVER (you loose all the existing data on the physical server)

3. Use again Conveter to conveter WEBDEV from VMware Player/Workstation or Server to the ESXi (during this conversion also the VM will be copied on the VMSERVER)

Andre