Generic move of a VM to offline, how?

[BillClark22]

I want to free up space on our SAN and permanently remove several VM's that are currently powered-off and not being used. I would like to simply dump them to a local drive, back them up to tape and delete them from the SAN and local disk. How can I do this? Can I simply copy the raw VM files using WinSCP, then use the VIClient to delete it from disk? I'm looking for simplicity here, don't really want to have to run VMWare converter and transfer them that way. These VM's will probably never be needed once removed, but need to back them up just in case. Thanks.

Bill

[Troy_Clavell]

if using vCenter you can do cold migrations. Shutdown the VM's in question and choose migrate. As part of the migration wizard you will be asked to "keep" or "move", choose move.

Or if trying to get them off ESX all together, WinSCP will work as well.

[BillClark22]

Yes, I'm looking to get them completely off ESX all together. So basically just copy the entire directory for the desired VM, then "delete from disk" once that is done?

[Lightbulb]

You could just SCP the files off and would be able to recover the VMs on the same Hosts (Cluster) if the need arose. If for some reason you needed to restore them to another enviroment you might have issues. Using converter would allow you to have more confidence in the long term restore capability.

[Troy_Clavell]

yes, that would work.

Lightbulb also makes some good points

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[BillClark22]

How about VM's that have multiple virtual disks on different LUNs? Ex. Server1 has C-drive on "OS" LUN, and D-driver on "Data" LUN. Can I copy all the associated files from the different LUNs, noting which files were on which LUN for a possible restore later on? Or with this setup would it be simpler or best practice to use VMConverter and convert the ESX VM to a stand-alone VM on my local workstation?

[Troy_Clavell]

I would tend to what to get all the disk files together. So, you can use converter or cold migration. Both will do the trick.

[icontender]

The easiest method is to get a samba share or windows share and setup enterprise converter on your virtual center server. Then just right click on the VM and choose export. (choose esx format or workstation format). After you have verified its finished, delete the VM.

[BillClark22]

I'm running v2.0.2 of the VI Client & v3.0.3 of the Converter(licensed) and I don't see anything labeled "export". I can go through the "Convert Machine" wizard and convert the unused ESX VM to a StandAlone VM on my local workstation. Do I need some updated version for this "export" method? I simply don't see it. Thanks.

[Lightbulb]

You could try the Beta 4

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8712

[icontender]

You'll need the following:

1. Virtual Center Server 2.5

2. Goto 3

3. Converter enterprise server (Not the standalone or client software) installed on the VC server. (Its on the VC 2.5 iso)

4. Once that is installed make sure your running the latest virtual infrastructure client software

5. Goto Tools-->Manage plugins and install the convert plugin (then enable it through the installed tab) restart of the client is required

Virtual Center 2.5 integrated converter into virtual center so installing the standalone application is no longer nessesary. ( its now a plugin)

However, this is why you need to install 2.5 and install the converter server also on the ISO.

[icontender]

>>I'm running v2.0.2 of

the VI Client & v3.0.3 of the Converter(licensed) and I don't see

anything labeled "export". I can go through the "Convert Machine"

wizard and convert the unused ESX VM to a StandAlone VM on my local

workstation. Do I need >>some updated version for this "export" method? I

simply don't see it. Thanks.

Export does the same thing, you could get away with both of these options. But its easier when its already on the server.

BTW. converter on the VC server is 4.02