P2V of RHEL 4.0 into vSphere 4.0?

[stratolynne]

Planning to do a standalone P2V of a RHEL 4.0 into vSphere 4.0.  I have only done P2V of Windows physical servers up to now.

What version of Converter do I need?  Can I use the Windows one I have from 2009?

Thanks.

[continuum]

try version 4.3 and cross your fingers

[stratolynne]

Did I see that there is a Convertor specifically for Linux?

[JDLangdon]

Let me know if you get this working.

I'm using the standalone vConverter version 4.3.0 build 292228 and I keep getting a general system error at 99%.  I've tried everything I can find on Google but I cannot get it to finish successfully.

If I boot the VM after it fails at 99% I get an error loading operating system.  I've tried booting to a linux rescue mode but it dones find any mount points.

The full vConverter error is:

FAILED: A general system error occurred:
The specified network name is no longer available.

jd

[stratolynne]

I'll definitely report in either way.  I'm hopeful but realistic!

[stratolynne]

A clarification:

Can I use the bootable CD with Convertor for this P2V?

Thanks!

[continuum]

coldcloning can only do the imaging part of the p2v-job.

That is the easy part !!!
you want the hotclone feature of 4.3 as this also does the tricky - patching part of the job

[bulletprooffool]

I have done 100s of Windows hosts and about 35 Linux hosts . .

Sadly, I gave up on converter for Linux about 18 months ago and use PlateSpin PowerConvert instead.

This has proven to work very well, so as I have already purchased a license, I have never looked back at Converter for it. I still use converter for Windows though,

If you find you are battling with Converter for Linux, drop a PlateSpin reseller a call and ask for a trial license. They probably only give you a license for 2 or 3 conversions, but it should be enough to let you figure out whether it is fit for purpose.

Alternatively, if the new version of VMWare converter proves to be bulletproof . . please feed basck . . I may yet be 'converted' 😉

[stratolynne]

The coldclone got 3.5 hours.   We are still trying to get this to work (before  we consider other options).

When we try to boot the disk drive we get these messages/errors:

Uncompressing Linux ... ok booting the kernel

Red Hat nash version 4.2.1.13 starting

mkrootdev: label/not found

mount:error 2 mounting ext

mount:error 3 mounting none

switch root: mount failed: 22

umount / initrd / dev failed: 2

Kernel panic - not syncing Attempted to kill init!

For the whole coldclone process we were following the Petri IT Knowledgebase article:

Physical to Virtual Conversion of Linux Servers with VMware Converter BootDB and got to the part about booting linux rescue

We aren't clear what we need to modify to get access to the correct device paths for boot and other partitions this VM will need.

Any ideas?

Also, in this same document it describes using the mkinitrd command but we aren't clear on that either.

Appreciating any assistance.

[JDLangdon]

After wasting the better part of two days without any luck at Linux p2v's I gave up until I can get some free time.

We've completed maybe 30 or 40 Windows conversions using various versions or VMware Converter without any problems.  Maybe it's just me but you would think a Linux conversion would be much easier then a windows one.

Jason

[continuum]

> Maybe it's just me but you would think a Linux conversion would be much easier then a windows one.

why that ???

nothing migrates as easy as Windows7 or 2008 R2 - well maybe FreeBSD or OpenBSD

[JDLangdon]

I just assumed that since VMware is now pushing SLES for VMware as part of their cloud offering, they would have perfected the p2v process of existing Linux based servers.  Besides, with the opensource community and the level of talent here on these forums, I surprised that p2v'ing a Linux server isn't as easy as a walk in the park.

jd

[continuum]

I asked for a documentation for the Linux-p2v-helper isos several times

if we had that info we could also do Linux P2V to non ESX-platforms with Converter

result : NADA - nothing  - niente

I am sure there are some folks here for whom Linux P2V is a walk in the park - but they prefer to keep their lips sealed

[JDLangdon]

Ulli Hankeln wrote:

I am sure there are some folks here for whom Linux P2V is a walk in the park - but they prefer to keep their lips sealed

If that is the case Ulli, it is very unfortunate.  Without the sharing of knowledge these forums will become yet another form of spam in our inboxes.