Invalid parameter when creating virtual machine

[jdictos]

I am trying to restore a VM from 4.1 vcenter, to 4.0 esxi. It gets pretty far along, creates the vmdk's, then fails and un-rolls with an invalid param. Everything works fine if I do not specify the virtual disk device in the device change spec. The logs on the esxi servers are not very helpful either; they are attached to this post.

[BenN]

Shouldn't the controllerKey for the VirtualDisk be 1000, not 800?

[jdictos]

Actually the controller key is 1000 in the soap request:

- <ns1:deviceChange>

  <ns1:operation>add</ns1:operation>

  <ns1:fileOperation>create</ns1:fileOperation>

- <ns1:device xsi:type="ns1:VirtualDisk">

  <ns1:key>2000</ns1:key>

- <ns1:deviceInfo>

  <ns1:label>Hard disk 1</ns1:label>

  <ns1:summary>10,485,760 KB</ns1:summary>

  </ns1:deviceInfo>

- <ns1:backing xsi:type="ns1:VirtualDiskFlatVer2BackingInfo">

  <ns1:fileName>[datastore2]  HYDROGEN/HYDROGEN.vmdk</ns1:fileName>

  <ns1:datastore  xsi:type="ns1:ManagedObjectReference" type="Datastore">4d5151ac-f89f8eac-0540-001a926145e2</ns1:datastore>

  <ns1:diskMode>persistent</ns1:diskMode>

  <ns1:contentId>f128425caefededf5621cba3c3879fcb</ns1:contentId>

  </ns1:backing>

  <ns1:controllerKey>1000</ns1:controllerKey>

  <ns1:unitNumber>1</ns1:unitNumber>

  <ns1:capacityInKB>10485760</ns1:capacityInKB>

- <ns1:shares>

  <ns1:shares>1000</ns1:shares>

  <ns1:level>normal</ns1:level>

  </ns1:shares>

- <ns1:storageIOAllocation>

  <ns1:limit>-1</ns1:limit>

- <ns1:shares>

  <ns1:shares>1000</ns1:shares>

  <ns1:level>normal</ns1:level>

  </ns1:shares>

  </ns1:storageIOAllocation>

  </ns1:device>

  </ns1:deviceChange>

I actually figured out what was causing the invalid param though, its the unit number again. If i restore using the original unit number things work. I have to figure out what the proper setting for unit numbers are I suppose, as I initially reset the unit numbers after a restore failing in another configuration.

[jdictos]

I'm not quite sure why the controller key shows 800 in the logs when I set the unit number. I don't understand what unit number does. When I set the unit number for all devices to 0 things work, and as the logs show the controller key remains what I set it to for the virutal disk, 10000.

So, I guess the question is, what does the unit number do, and what should it be set to for a virtual machine re-creation?

[jdictos]

After doing some reading, unitNumber is a number relative to the controller, that has to be unique, to identify the device within the controller.

Problem solved, thanks.