C# examples failing with "Unable to recognize the server type or version when connecting to the host"

[brianfairchild]

I'm trying to submit a job for conversion P2V from a c# app. I've tried running the app remotely and locally but I keep getting this error (here's the full error):

<detail><InvalidArgumentFault xmlns="urn:converter" xsi:type="vim25:InvalidArgument" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><vim25:faultCause><vim25:fault xsi:type="ConverterNotSupportedConnection"><hostName>RSMITH</hostName></vim25:fault><vim25:localizedMessage>Unable to recognize the server type or version when connecting to the host 'RSMITH'.</vim25:localizedMessage></vim25:faultCause></InvalidArgumentFault></detail>

RSMITH is the name of the machine with the VCenter Converter Standalone (5.0) and where I wan tthe VM to go. It's a Windows 7 SP1. I'm running .net 4.0 winform.

Any suggestions? I'm pretty much running the example out of the box, except for wrapping a winform around it instead of a console app.

[ivivanov]

Hi,

I looked at Converter code and it seems that this error is generated only when Converter tries to connect to an unsupported version of *vCenter Server*. What is running on RSMITH host - is it Converter server or vCenter server?

the name of the machine with the VCenter Converter Standalone (5.0) and where I wan tthe VM to go

It looks a bit contradictory to me - if it is where you want the VM to go it should be the vCenter server, but not Converter server, unless both servers are installed on the same machine. Can you also export a log bundle from Converter GUI?

[brianfairchild]

I'm using VMWare VCenter Converter Standalone. I'm wanting to convert a physical machine to a VM. I was trying to convert it to VMPlayer, but that could be where I'm going wrong. 

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

Am I missing something? Does this version not support converting from the SDK? Or do I need to have something else to convert the VM to?

[ivivanov]

Oh, you are trying to convert it to a Player, which means there is no vCenter server... in this case you need to use ConverterTargetVmSpecHostedVmLocation class to specify where you want the target created. I am not sure what is your code, but the samples provided with the SDK are designed to perform P2V conversion to a vCenter server and if you want to convert it to a VMware Player VM, you need to change it a bit.

HTH,

Ivan

[ivivanov]

Are you converting Windows or Linux source? Linux cannot be converted to Player. Are you using the provided sample code or start implementing everything from scratch?

[brianfairchild]

I'm converting a Windows machine. Windows 7 to be exact.

I've gotten past the first issue by installing ESXi and setting up my target vm server to that. Now I'm getting an error saying that the agent is not installed properly after it checks to see if the agent is there. I'm guessing that it might be a problem with the cert on the target machine agent that's the problem?

I'm getting this error:

Unable to access the remote vCenter Converter agent service. It either does not exist or is not responding.

But it comes from the soap method ConverterServerConversionManagerCreateJob. This is called after a successful call to InstallAgent. So it seems odd to me that the app I'm calling this from can install and verify the install of the agent on the target machine, but the converter server can't see the target machine.

Thanks,

Brian

[ivivanov]

Most likely there is a firewall on the source machine that prevents Converter server from connecting to the freshly installed agent. The agent listens on port 9089.

[brianfairchild]

I thought about that so I even turned the firewall completely off.

[ivivanov · Accepted solution]

So can you telnet from your Converter machine to the source machine on port 9089?

[brianfairchild]

I cannot telnet to it. However, when I try to convert it directly from VCenter Converter Standalone, which is the same converter server I'm using in my test, It works.

[brianfairchild]

By the way, I've changed the setup in my test so that it is now converting to a ESXi server instead of VM Player. However, I do have a question: how do I define a data store in the API?