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btn003
Contributor
Contributor

How to replace a live server OS with ESXi ? (newbie question)

Hi -

I' m a newbie to ESXi. I have tested for some time.

One question I really cant figure is; how do I install ESXi on a live running server, to replace the server OS with ESXi.

Actually so the current server in future can run with ESXi ?

I have seen the converter, but this require another physical server to migrate to, before server 1 can be reinstalled.

Can anyone guide me on this?

thanx!

Bjørn-T

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avlieshout
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

You can't upgrade a server from Windows (I suppose you have windows, but applies to other OS as well) to ESXi and have the original server run as an VM instantly.

You need a secondary server. If you don't have an extra server you could use a temporary pc.

If you are lucky you can install ESX3i on the pc or else you can install VMware server.

Use the VMware converter to convert the physical server to the temporary pc

After checking that your physical server is running fine as a vm on the pc, reinstall your server with ESXi.

After that use converter again to convert your original server vm from the temporary pc to the new ESXi server.

-Arnim van Lieshout

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Arnim van Lieshout Blogging: http://www.van-lieshout.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/avlieshout If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".
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s1xth
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

yep yep...thats what I would do. couple steps but its the only way if you want to use the same hardware that you currently have.

http://www.virtualizationimpact.com http://www.handsonvirtualization.com Twitter: @jfranconi
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