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JMRK
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USB drive contains VMX and VMDK files, I would like to import these to an ESX 3.5 Server

I've been using VMware Workstation to use these VM's but now I would like to add these VM's to an ESX Server. Each VM is in its own directory on the USB drive and each folder contains vmdk, vmx, vmxf, etc. files. What's the best way to get these onto an ESX server from the external USB drive?

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Chamon
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Or install the stand alone vConverter. Its free and that is the portion of VC you would be using anyway. So I would just install the vConverter and import your VMs and be done. After they are imported you will need to register the VMs.

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Chamon
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Do you have VC? If so you can import a vm. When the wizard starts select "Other" at the machine type and point it at your vmx file. It should pull it in for you. You can have the files on your usb drive that is plugged into your workstation or where ever you are using the VIC from. You can also have the USB plugged into your Host as well but that requires mounting the drive.

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TimCam
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This does not answer all your question - but I found these commands useful

lsusb

cat /proc/bus/usb/drivers

cat /proc/bus/usb/devices

Or by SCP from another host

Or you could use scp to copy the files from another host (Say a windows PC or server) using a SCP client

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Chamon
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If you want to mount it as a local drive on your host.

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• lsusb (this will show you if it sees the drive. Look for flash drive manufacturer name)

• dmesg | grep –i “SCSI device” (This will show all SCSI devices that it sees. You will have one for each LUN look for the one that has the correct size of your drive. The info you need from this is the …. sd?.... where ? is a letter. This denotes its drive letter.

• fdisk –l /dev/sd? ( This will show you the partition number that you will need for the mount command.)

• mount /dev/sdg1 /tmp (This is the command syntax and drive for me here so your drive may be different. /tmp is a directory that we already have there and where the drive will be mounted. You can also create a directory to mount the drive in.)

• ls /tmp (this will show all of the files in your flash drive. /tmp becomes the drive.)

So with out the explanations do this:

lsusb

dmesg | grep –i “SCSI device” (need “ and is capital SCSI)

fdisk –l /dev/sd?

mount /dev/sdg1 /tmp

then cp the directories to your vmfs datastores.

JMRK
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I don't have virtual center at the moment. I could install it if that would make things easier.

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Chamon
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Or install the stand alone vConverter. Its free and that is the portion of VC you would be using anyway. So I would just install the vConverter and import your VMs and be done. After they are imported you will need to register the VMs.

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JMRK
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I'm downloading vConverter and Virtual Center so I'll try them both. Thank you both for all the help.

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Chamon
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To use the function you need in VC you will need to install vConverter and add it as a plug-in in the VC. Then you will have the import function.

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Chamon
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If you found any of the information helpful please consider awarding points.

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Chamon
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Where you able to pull in your VM's?

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JMRK
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I ended up using vConverter to do the job.

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