Copying VM from ESXi 4 to 3.5; VM can't power on

[bankjon]

We are attempting to copy a VM from an ESXi 4 host to an ESXi 3.5 host in another location.

I received the -FLAT.vmdk, .vmdk, and .vmx files separately. I created a new directory on the datastore and put those three files into it. I added the VMX to the inventory on one of our hosts. When I attempt to power it up, I receive an error message that says:

"The attempted operation cannot be performed in the current state (Powered Off)."

What went wrong, and what is the next step?

[Troy_Clavell]

Is it possible to do the copy again, this time using VMware Converter?

[bankjon]

Can you explain how this would work? It seems non-intuitive that we would want to use a piece of software created to migrate physical machines to virtual machines in order to copy a virtual machine from one place to another. It's my understanding that simply copying the VMDK and VMX files should be sufficient.

The hosts are in physically remote locations - tape or USB storage is the transfer medium of choice.

[Troy_Clavell]

Is the VM in question using vHardware 4 or 7? As you see, the "copy" didn't quite work out, this is why I suggest Converter.

[bankjon]

It would appear that the VM to be copied is using VM Version 7.

I am willing to try Converter, but I would like to understand why the copy didn't work. I would also like to find out if there's anything we can do in the meantime with what we have, because creating and transferring a new copy will take at least 2 days. Is it possible to run Converter on the disk image itself, perhaps?

[Troy_Clavell]

It would appear that the VM to be copied is using VM Version 7.

I think your answer lies in the above statement. VM's on VI3 Hosts, cannot run with vHardware7. You need to use converter to move the guest

[bankjon]

OK, that does make sense. Is there any way to perform this on the VMDK on my end (the end running ESXi 3.5), or does it have to be done on the other 4.0 end and re-transferred?

[Troy_Clavell]

there are those who say you can edit the vmx file therefore changing there vHardware, however, I would feel more comfortable using VMware Converter. The conversion will change the hardware version, just ensure you use the latest standalone client, and select v4.

[sharninder]

You should just be able to copy the VMDKs over, create a new VM and instead of creating a new vmdk for those, point it to the older VMDK. That should work.