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vCenter 6.5 to vCenter 5.5 - VM Version Downgrade from 13 to 10

I have one site that everything is up to 6.5 or higher and our baseline Windows 2016 image is stored there, and an another site as a backup where everything is 5.5.

Right now our 2016 baseline image is currently on VM Version 13 at the 6.5 site, but at the 5.5 site it can't handle but up to VM Version 10. I have tried the following and received the following errors:

  1. I have tried using VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 6.1 to connect to the 6.5 vCenter and convert the VM and upload it to the 5.5 vCenter.
    1. It fails at 98% with "FAILED: Unabled to find the system volume, reconfiguration is not possible.
  2. I also tried the same steps above but instead of pointing to the 5.5 vCenter, I pointed right back to the same 6.5 vCenter it was coming from. Received the 98% error as well.
  3. I have downloaded the .vmx file, changed the line number 3 to vm version 10 (from 13), reuploaded and it would not boot with the following error "Module 'SecureBoot' power on failed."

Any idea's from this point to try? Bottom line I need a VM which has hardware version 13 on a 6.5 vCenter site to a 5.5 vCenter site that supports up to hardware version 10 (so downgrading is

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Redhatcc
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Our Server 2016 was sysprep'ed. When running the VMware vCenter Converter Standalone, I would point at the 2016 server and it would recognize it as Windows 10 (I noticed this later). For me, the fix was to open the image and let the sysprep run, then power it down and convert it / move it.

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IT_pilot
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In addition to the article 4 ways to Downgrade the VM hardware version I can recommend a third-party program Paragon hard disk manager 15 Premium (P2V Restore or P2V Copy).

In my case, I made the VM vmware from Hyper-V files.

http://it-pilot.ru
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bluefirestorm
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I have downloaded the .vmx file, changed the line number 3 to vm version 10 (from 13), reuploaded and it would not boot with the following error "Module 'SecureBoot' power on failed."

If you had enabled secureboot for the VM, changing the hardware compatibility down to version 10 will not work for ESXi 5.5 as secure boot requires version 13 or higher.

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Convert and Reconfigure using VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 6.1 both would fail, however I was able to get a Reconfigure to work by letting the VM power up and run through the sysprep until it reached the logon screen. So now I am doing a full Convert from vCenter 6.5 to vCenter 5.5 and doing a VM Hardware downgrade to 10. Will post the results in 8 hours if it failed or worked.

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Redhatcc
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Our Server 2016 was sysprep'ed. When running the VMware vCenter Converter Standalone, I would point at the 2016 server and it would recognize it as Windows 10 (I noticed this later). For me, the fix was to open the image and let the sysprep run, then power it down and convert it / move it.

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