Migrating physical File Server to a VM

[hamadiegwu]

Hello All,

I have a physical File Server running on NAS and I wish to migrate it to a VM. I want the server to retain the same nam, shares and permissions in the VM.

Please can someone give me in detail how to go about doing it.

Thanks in advance

[vmroyale]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

This should be pretty easy to accomplish. Can you provide more detail on your setup?

Current file server hardware, OS, storage configuration, storage sizes, ESX storage information, etc. The more info you provide, the more detail you will receive on how to perform the conversion.

Good Luck!

[mikeyhoward]

I'm making some assumptions on your setup here...

From the plugins menu within vCenter, ensure that you have the VMware Converter Enterprise installed and enabled, then from within vCenter right click the folder or resource pool where you want the VM to reside and select "Import Machine".

Follow the Wizard to complete the P2V conversion of the server selecting "Physical Computer" as the source .

The server can remain on during this process although an agent will be installed and subsequently removed. If the server is Windows 2000 then a reboot to complete the agent install will be required.

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[hamadiegwu]

The OS is windows 2003 server, the hardware is HP Proliant, storage configuration is NAS, There are 3 drives in the physical server.

[mikeyhoward]

What about your ESX setup?

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[hamadiegwu]

Hello,

The OS is windows 2003 server, the hardware is HP Proliant, storage

configuration is NAS, There are 3 drives in the physical server.

[avlieshout]

Best way to do this is using the VMware Converter. If you have no virtual center setup use the converter standalone version.

If you have virtual center setup, you can use the converter enterprise plugin.

Importing machines (P2V) is very straight forward, just follow the wizard.

You can find documentation here:

-Arnim van Lieshout

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[hamadiegwu]

Thanks for your reply. But the server uses NAS storage. Does it have any

effect?

Regards,

[hamadiegwu]

Thanks for your reply. But this is a NAS server. Will it work in same way?

Regards,

[avlieshout]

What do you mean by using NAS?

Is the NAS located on another storagebox?

or is the fileserver servicing NAS storage?

Everything that is located on the physical server will be converted using the Converter. If the file server is using storage on another box, then this will still be the same in the converted VM.

-Arnim van Lieshout

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[vcpguy]

Henry,

First thing - I am not sure about this - if you are working for a Bank, you should not advertise it in a forumn. I don't have any wrong intentions, just think about various Security standards one has to follow when he/she is working in a bank. Please don't misunderstand me.

Now for your question -

1) You can use cold boot CD. I have used it few times and it works fine. Once a cold boot did not work but the Live migration did work.

2) Search for P2v.iso by Mike it will help you a in Post conversion.

3) Do not de-commission your Physical server for few days. Just in case something goes bad you can always Power-on that server and be back in business.

I had some bitter/good experience with P2V. So best of Luck

Thanks

[hamadiegwu]

Thanks for your reply.

It is just a NAS box directly connected to the physical server. So how will I

do it?

[hamadiegwu]

Thanks for your email. I think what happened was that I replied the email

from my outlook so it took my signature along, but I've edited the messages

to remove the signature now.

What do u mean by cold boot cd and can I use it?

Where can I download the P2v.iso from?

[avlieshout]

I'm still not sure about your setup. Sorry

IMHO a NAS box is an appliance that is connected to the ethernet network.

When you say connected directly to the server, do you mean a disk cabinet attached to the server?

How is it connected to the server and how is the server accesing it?

I'm a bit confused.

-Arnim van Lieshout

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[azn2kew]

Well, you have 3 options to convert your physical NAS server to run on virtual machine. The following options are:

1. P2V Cold Boot CD this will boot from the CD and do the conversion from directly.

2. P2V Standalone Converter which you can install on any windows machine and run the wizard and choose the source and point to destination location.

3. P2V Enterprise Converter plugin with vCenter server where you right click the "host" and choose "Import Machine" and went through same wizards with standalone version.

Now, question is your NAS box is a windows 2003 server is it serving file access to local attach disks or have other storage servers presented RDM/LUNs to it? I'm assuming the NAS server is your file server which can be virtualize using P2V Converter as mentioned above. After P2V, you should clean up the zombies/stale devices and tweak it to perform well. If you want the .iso from Mike, which is a script that automatically remove zombie devices for you without spending 1/2 hour manually. I've also attached the .iso for your use. If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!!

I can't upload due to large file but the link should direct to download.

Regards,

Stefan Nguyen

VMware vExpert 2009

iGeek Systems Inc.

VMware, Citrix, Microsoft Consultant

Message was edited by: azn2kew