ESXi free vs paid

[jwall04]

i just setup my first vm using the free ESXi version. Can someone tell me, or point me in the direction of, the differences between the free and paid versions of ESXi?

Also, using the free version, can I configure the vms to power on automatically when the host starts up?

Third, the way I understand it is if I want to convert a physical Win Server 2003 server to an ESXi virtual machine, I need to pay for the VMware vCenter Converter Enterprise, is this correct?

Thanks for the help.

[Troy_Clavell]

i just setup my first vm using the free ESXi version. Can someone tell me, or point me in the direction of, the differences between the free and paid versions of ESXi?

have you seen this KB?

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006543

Third, the way I understand it is if I want to convert a physical Win Server 2003 server to an ESXi virtual machine, I need to pay for the VMware vCenter Converter Enterprise, is this correct?

you can use VMware Converter Starter, it's free

http://www.vmware.com/download/converter/

[penghaug]

hi,

You can use the VMware vCenter Converter Starter Edition it has some limitations, but it's free to use.

Read about it here:

[jwall04]

Ok, I just tried the free verson on a test XP workstation and it looks good so far, I thought I read somewhere that you needed the Enterprise version to virtualize a physical machine on ESXi.

I found a link to download the Enterprise version of the Converter Boot CD here , which I burned to a CD, it booted fine but once it starts collecting info about the hardware it tells me it's unable to find the NIC. I realize I'll need a license to use it, but other than this error it seems to work. Any ideas on this?

Also, using the free version of ESXi, can I configure the vms to power on automatically when the host starts up?

Thanks.

[Troy_Clavell]

Also, using the free version of ESXi, can I configure the vms to power on automatically when the host starts up?

I'm not 100% sure with ESXi, but if so, it can by connecting to the HOST with the VIC, clicking on the configuration tab, highlight "Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown and click on the properties link in the right hand corner.

if you feel this or any other answer was useful, please consider marking them as "helpful" or "correct"

[jwall04]

Thanks Troy, it was exactly where you said. I'm still getting used to that small Properties... link in the top right corner...

Any ideas on the Converter Boot CD, why it cannot find the NIC?

[Troy_Clavell]

sometimes you need to reboot the physical box, which in turn will fix the problem. However, you may also try to manually install the agent onto the physical device you are trying to P2V. I think in the custom install of converter you can just choose to install the agent.

hope this helps.

[jungsberg]

I am also looking at converting some vmware server guest onto esxi, so any tips would be appreciated

Kind Regards

Torben Jungsberg

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Your post has been moved to the ESXi forum

Dave Mishchenko

VMware Communities User Moderator

VMware Converter (the free edition) will covert from your VMs from VMware server to ESXi.

[jwall04]

Troy, I tried another model of workstation and the boot CD does detect the NIC but when I attempt to convert to a vm it gives me an error about not being able to contact the VC or ESX server and to verify the IP and port. I'll assume this is because I don't actually have a vCenter Server (I'm trying to send the vm to my free ESXi server) or an Enterprise license. FYI: I was rebooting the machine, I had to reboot it in order to boot to the CD. Thanks for the help.