VMware vSphere

 View Only
Expand all | Collapse all

Best practices for p2v

  • 1.  Best practices for p2v

    Posted Mar 22, 2007 09:07 PM

    My employer has an enterprise license for VMware Converter 3.0. We have plans to migrate several physical server boxes to virtual machines. Thus far I have been unsuccessful in locating a list of best practices. Has VMware produced such a list? If not, has anyone out there developed their own they're willing to share?



  • 2.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted Mar 22, 2007 09:59 PM

    This was from P2V (pre-Converter) but some of the info is still valid.

    http://download3.vmware.com/vmworld/2006/tac9886.pdf

    Also check out these...

    Guide to P2V 2.x - http://www.rtfm-ed.eu/docs/vmwdocs/admin-p2v-2.0.pdf

    Converter tutorial - http://www.petri.co.il/virtual_convert_physical_machines_to_virtual_machines_with_vmware_converter.htm

    Converter FAQ - http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/faqs.html

    Converter Manual - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/VMware_Converter_manual.pdf

    Converter Release Notes - http://www.vmware.com/support/converter/doc/releasenotes_conv3.html

    What machines should not be converted - http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=73357

    If you find these posts helpful, please award points...



  • 3.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted Mar 22, 2007 10:01 PM

    Also here's some info from a Converter FAQ I am piecing together...

    What are the requirements for Converter?

    For cold cloning the minimum memory requirements is 264MB, the recommended memory is 364MB. Converter uses a RAM disk while cold cloning and will not work with less then 264MB. Also the operating system on which Converter runs must be equal to, or greater, than the operating system on the source machine. For example if your source machine is running Windows 2003 and you are running Converter remotely, you must run it on a Windows XP or 2003 machine. You will not be able to run it on a Windows 2000 machine. If you run Converter on 2003 or XP you should be able to convert any operating system since they are the latest operating systems.

    What platforms can Converter be installed on?

    VMware Converter 3 can be installed on the following platforms: Windows XP Professional, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server and Windows NT SP6+ (IE5 or higher required)

    What import formats does Converter support?

    Source formats supported include: Physical Machines running supported OS, Microsoft Virtual PC (version 7 and higher), Microsoft Virtual Server (any version), Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery images (also Ghost 9 or higher), VMware Workstation 4.x virtual machine (compatible with VMware GSX Server 3.x), VMware Workstation 5.x virtual machine (compatible with VMware Player and VMware Server 1.x), VMware ESX Server 3.x, VMware ESX Server 3.x (when managed by VirtualCenter 2.x), VMware ESX Server 2.5.x (when managed by VirtualCenter 2.x)

    What export formats does Converter support?

    Destination formats supported include: VMware Workstation 4.x virtual machine (compatible with VMware GSX Server 3.x, ESX Server 2.5.x), VMware Workstation 5.x virtual machine (compatible with VMware Player and VMware Server 1.x), VMware ESX Server 2.5.x (when managed by VirtualCenter 2.x), VMware ESX Server 3.x (when managed by VirtualCenter 2.x), VMware ESX Server 3.x Note: VMware ESX Server 2.5.x when managed by VirtualCenter 1.x and VMware ESX Server 2.5.x unmanaged are not supported

    What are the supported guest operating systems?

    The following 32-bit guest operating systems are fully supported by VMware Converter 3: Windows NT, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP Professional, Windows 2003 Server.

    The following 64-bit guest operating systems are fully supported by VMware Converter 3: Windows XP Professional, Windows 2003 Server

    Support for the following guest operating systems is Experimental. VMware Converter 3 can clone source images containing these operating systems, but the destination virtual machine may or may not work without additional configuration after import. In particular, if the source image contains unsupported hardware, you may need to modify the configuration of the destination virtual machine before using it: Linux, Windows NT 3.x, Windows ME, Windows 98, Windows 95, MS-DOS

    What TCP/IP ports are used by Converter?

    Converter uses the following ports:

    • Converter application to remote physical machine - 445 and 139

    • Converter application to VirtualCenter Server - 902

    • Converter application to ESX Server 3.x - 902

    • Physical machine to VirtualCenter Server - 902

    • Physical machine to ESX Server 3.x - 902

    When you select VirtualCenter as a destination and then chose a ESX host, Converter will first make a connection to VirtualCenter and then the ESX host, so you will need to make sure these ports are not being blocked for both the VirtualCenter server and ESX server.

    What Windows Services need to be running for Converter to work properly?

    The Windows Server and TCP/IP Netbios Helper services must be running for Converter to work properly. Also for Windows 2003 Servers the Volume Shadow Copy service must not be disabled (can be Manual or Automatic).

    What should I do before running Converter?

    First, once you install Converter on the source system to do a Hot clone, you must reboot the system before running it. Once you reboot, make sure the Vmware Converter service is started and running before you begin. Next shutdown any un-needed Services, the less Services running the better your chances for a successful conversion. This includes backup agents, virus scanners, applications, etc.

    What types of servers should not be converted?

    In general, Active Directory domain controllers, database servers (SQL/Oracle), Exchange servers and any servers that have sensitive applications are not good candidates for conversions. If you do try and convert these types of servers the best method is to cold-clone them. If you must hot-clone them make sure all applications and services are shutdown before starting the conversion. Database servers are particularly sensitive to corruption when being converted. It is also best if you do not change the drive sizes when converting these servers. If you re-size hard drives this changes the copy method that Converter uses to migrate the data to the destination. Domain controllers have been known to have USN rollback problems after being converted. See the following Microsoft knowledge base articles for more information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885875/ and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875495/ and also http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888794/en-us

    What is the difference between the Starter and Enterprise edition of Converter?

    The differences are Enterprise includes support, the ability to cold-clone with the boot CD, able to do multiple simultaneous conversions and perform remote conversions.

    How do I get a Enterprise license for Converter?

    VMware Converter Enterprise is available at no additional cost to existing and new VirtualCenter Management Server customers and P2V Assistant customers, with valid support and subscription contracts. First go to http://www.vmware.com/download/licensing.html and click on the Manage VMware Product Licenses link. If you are entitled to Converter licenses you will see Vmware Converter 3.0 Enterprise listed once you log in. Once you activate the license and download the license file you can go to http://www.vmware.com/download/converter/ and click on the Enterprise Edition link to download the ISO file for cold-cloning. The installation program for hot-cloning is the same for Starter and Enterprise editions. Once you select a license file in Converter it will unlock the Enterprise features. One thing to note is that the license file you download for Converter does not work with the License Manager server. Even though it is in the same format as the ESX licenses the License Server will not recognize it. To use your Converter license file simply copy it to the server that Converter is installed on and launch the Converter application and select Administration, Licensing Information and click Add License and browser and select your Converter license file.

    Is there support available for Converter?

    Support is available for the Starter edition but needs to be purchased on a per incident basis ($90 per incident). If you have the Enterprise edition support is included as part of the VirtualCenter Management Server. Also the Vmware Converter forum is a great resource for answering Converter questions and solving problems.

    Can I convert Linux servers with Converter?

    The Converter documentation states: “Experimental support only is available for Linux-based physical to virtual machine conversions using the Vmware Converter BootCD (cold cloning) if the source physical machine has SCSI disks.” Some people have had success converting Linux machines, others have not. If Converter does not work on your Linux machine you can try a commercially available conversion product from Platespin called PowerConvert which has full Linux support.

    Why are ESX and VirtualCenter grayed out as destinations when I run Converter?

    If you are using the Starter edition you must run it on the physical server that is being converted for ESX Server and VirtualCenter to be available as destinations. If you do not run it on the server being converted then only the Vmware standalone virtual machine option is available. Enterprise edition does not have this restriction.

    What should I do if the conversion fails?

    First check the converter log files for errors. These files are located in %Windir%\temp\vmware\temp. Once you open the log scroll down to you find the failed task, there should be an error message as to why the conversion failed. When a conversion does fail the virtual machine is automatically destroyed on the destination host.

    What should I do after I successfully convert my virtual machine?

    If you change from a multi-processor system to a uni-processor system you need to manually change the HAL on the Windows server after the conversion. To do this go into Device Manager after the machine first boots and discovers it's new hardware and then click on Computer then right-click on the processor and select Update Driver. Then select Install from specific location and then Don't search I will choose the driver to install. Then select show All compatible hardware and select the appropriate processor. For example, if you went from a dual cpu to a single cpu then select ACPI uni-processor PC instead of ACPI multi-processor PC. You will need to reboot once you change this. To verify what HAL you are using you right-click your hal.dll in c:\windows\system32 and select the Version tab and select Internal Name and it should say halmacpi.dll for multi-processor acpi and halacpi.dll for uni-processor acpi.

    Next clean up all the non-present hardware after the P2V conversion. To do this go to a CMD prompt and type SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1 and then DEVMGMT.MSC and then select Show Hidden Devices. Delete any old grayed out hardware.

    Next remove any vendor specific applications/drivers. For example on a HP server you should go to Add/Remove programs and remove any HP management agents, survey utility, array config utility, version control agent, etc. Also check your NIC and make sure there are no vendor specific drivers there (ie. teaming). Check the Services to see if all there is anything vendor specific related there and disable any services that are.



  • 4.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted Mar 23, 2007 11:40 PM

    Sounds like a lot of pre and post manual work -- we paid for PlateSpin PowerConvert so we would not have to do any of that work including the need to reboot to get the agent installed which it does not need.



  • 5.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted Mar 24, 2007 12:09 AM

    It's really not that bad. Aside from installing the agent on the source server, rebooting and making sure the firewall ports are open if you are in a DMZ there is not much pre-work. I've used P2V and Converter on about 50 Windows servers. If you are willing to shell out all that money on PlateSpin I guess thats OK. Converter is free and does an adequate job converting Windows servers. If you want to convert Linux servers then Platespin is a better fit. As far as post-work there is not much either, I prefer to cleanup the old non-present hardware drivers in the OS. I don't think Platespin does this either. Changing the HAL you only have to do if you change the number of processors in a server.



  • 6.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted Mar 25, 2007 07:36 AM

    Next clean up all the non-present hardware after the

    P2V conversion. To do this go to a CMD prompt and

    type SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1 and then

    DEVMGMT.MSC and then select Show Hidden Devices.

    Delete any old grayed out hardware.

    Your post was very informative and helpful, thanks

    Regarding the "Clean-up" of gray-out devices within v-machine......

    Can you (or anyone) point out any "official" VMWare documentation/writeup on this practice ?

    thanks



  • 7.  RE: Best practices for p2v



  • 8.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted May 10, 2007 01:16 AM

    First of all, thanks for a very good post.

    The section about deleting greyed out HW is a bit dangerous, not all greyed out HW should be deleted, some might be needed even though hidden.

    Is there anyone with a list of HW safe to remove for a W2000/2003 Dell PowerEdge 2650/2850?

    Marten

    Message was edited by:

    martentrogen



  • 9.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted May 10, 2007 01:39 AM

    I have never had a problem with this, I've done it on 30+ servers, I remove anything that is hardware vendor specific ie. HP, Compaq. I've also removed other stuff, for example, every time you plug a flash drive into a server it leaves behind old hardware. Old software that is no longer installed I also remove from this.



  • 10.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted May 10, 2007 12:39 PM

    Yup, remove any no longer needed software such as HP iLO and HP Array Configuration Utility, likewise for Dell servers.

    When converting Dell servers do not bring the maintenance partition into the virtual machine.

    Also when converting servers that have more than two serial ports, the conversion will always fail, you will need to edit the registry to remove any serial ports from 3 and above.

    Software RAID is also not supported on Converter 3.0, so you will need to break the RAID before starting conversion.



  • 11.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted May 11, 2007 02:05 AM

    Thanks fellows, I'll stick to removing HW specific items for Dell. Interesting that more than three serial devices always will make conversion fail. Has anyone done any conversion with version 3.0.1 and seen any changes/fixes?

    Thanks



  • 12.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted May 11, 2007 08:17 AM

    Yeah, that's because a VM only supports a max of two serial ports.



  • 13.  RE: Best practices for p2v

    Posted Oct 29, 2009 06:16 PM

    Thanks again for this infomative post...

    I have a ton of non-present system devices ( Intel bridges, Extended IO Bus, Interface controllers, PCI bus', etc). Do you recommend removing these aswell? Screenshot attached.

    BigDave