Moving Virtual Machine from 64-Bit Host to 32-Bit Host

[John_Slattery]

I read in the documentation for Workstation 6 in chapter 8, page 188 that it isn't possible to move a virtual machine from a 64-bit host to a 32-bit host. This is a little bit of a concern for me since if I have trouble with my 64-bit host it will be easier and quicker to come up with a 32-bit temporary replacement. I decided to test this and, if it proved not to work, I wanted to see if I could import the 6.x virtual machine from the 64-bit host as another 6.x virtual machine on a 32-bit host. I never got as far as the latter experiment. The virtual machine from the 64-bit host seemed to run just fine on the 32-bit host.

I'm working with 6.0.0, build 45731. The 64-bit host is Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition SP2 with an Intel Core2 Quad Core Q6600 processor. The 32-bit host is Windows XP Professional SP2 with an Intel Pentium 4 with HyperThreading enabled. The virtual machine is Windows XP Professional SP2.

Is the documentation wrong? Was this a fluke or can I expect the virtual machines I develop on the 64-bit host to run nicely on a temporary 32-bit host?

I'm not sure how it could matter, but I'll add that the virtual machine on the 64-bit host was imported from a Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 virtual machine.

Thanks.

[IamTHEvilONE]

I think it was referring to the Host requirements. Some hosts in 32 bit mode will not support a 64-bit guest. However, it's specific to the hardware ... this document will explain in more detail:

Hardware and Firmware Requirements for 64-Bit Guest Operating Systems

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1901/

It should be fine to have a 64-bit guest on a 64-bit host, and move it to a system that supports a 64-bit guest on a 32-bit operating system. There will be other limits that are imposed outside of this, but that's typically at the operating system layer (RAM available for example).

EvilOne

1 - Check the documents

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[KevinG]

If the virtual machine is running a 64-bit virtual machine guest OS, the host you move it to will also need to be a supported 64-bit host.to run this VM.

If you move a 32-bit virtual machine from a 64-bit host, the machine you move it to does not matter if it is running on a 32-bit or 64-bit host or running a 64-bit or 32-bit host OS.

When moving VM, you should not move a suspened or a VM with snapshots

[John_Slattery]

Thanks EvilOne and KevinG for your posts. It seems your experience and mine suggest that the following documentation is incorrect:

On a second reading, I guess it really is rather ambiguous. The first paragraph says it might not work while the second paragraph says it simply won't work. Any chance we might have a clarification from one of our friends at VMware?

Thanks.

[IamTHEvilONE]

>ws_move_vm_ws5_hardware.html

I think that's dealing with workstation 5 hardware within workstation 6.

WS 5 was a little more picky. If you make a VM with WS 6 or upgrade a WS 5 to WS 6, then you should be fine moving it around based on our previous recommendations.

EvilOne

[John_Slattery]

Based on the URI of the help page, it would seem that an ambiguous page from the documentation for Workstation 5 was mistakenly included in the documentation for v6. My experience, and apparently that of others, contradicts the statement that 32-bit v6 guests created on 64-bit v6 hosts cannot be moved to 32-bit v6 hosts.