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How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

  • 1.  How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 23, 2011 02:28 PM

    I have a rack of very old servers.  I recently purchased a Dell PowerEdge R510 and installed a licensed copy of ESXi.  I want to use Acronis to create a disk image of a file server and mount it to a virtual machine with more disk space and RAM.  I tried a dry-run with a small XP Pro workstation.  Everything went well except I can not get past the login because it requires a key.  The only keys I have are OEM keys and they do not seem to work with the OS installed on a VM.  The server is running Server 2003 and I am pretty sure that the key is a standalone version.  Before I image 500Gb, I was wondering if anyone has done this and if it will work.  Thanks in advance.



  • 2.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?
    Best Answer

    Posted Mar 23, 2011 02:33 PM

    Welcome to the Communities - the best way to bring a physical workload to your new ESXi host would be to VMware Converter - https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/?p=converter - which I also think will allow you to read the Acronis image but I could be wrong -



  • 3.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 23, 2011 02:40 PM

    VMware VCenter Server Converter Standalone

    Supported backup images or third-party virtual machines are:

    Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 or 2007
    Microsoft VirtualServer 2005
    Parallels Desktop 2.5, 3.0 or 4.0 for Mac
    VMware Consolidated Backup (Windows Converter Standalone server only)
    Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 6.5, 7.0, 8.0 (Windows Converter Standalone server only)
    Symantec LiveState Recovery 3/6 (Windows Converter Standalone server only)
    Norton Ghost versions from 9 to 14 (Windows Converter Standalone server only)
    Acronis True Image Backup (Windows Converter Standalone server only)
    ShadowProtect Desktop, Server, SBS, IT, etc versions from 2.0 to 3.2 (Windows Converter Standalone server only)



  • 4.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 23, 2011 03:20 PM

    It sounds like the issue is with your Acronis image. Did you make the image yourself from a well working/licensed XP installation? Usually, the conversion process does not modify licensing information. You may have an image from a Volume License Agreement installation in which the keys are different from OEM.



  • 5.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 23, 2011 03:28 PM

    No, the key(s) that I have are not volume licensing.  The XP Pro workstation is functional and I made the image myself.  However, I did not use the vCenter Converter.  I created a VM, booted to an .iso of Acronis, pointed to the image on a network store and mounted the image.  When I restarted the VM, it booted up fine and went to the login where I entered my specific Admin password.  Then it gave me the message requiring a key before allowing me to progress any further.  I am going to try the Converter and see if that will get it unless you have another suggestion.  Thanks.



  • 6.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 23, 2011 05:58 PM

    Thanks to all of you.  Using the convertor worked on my dry-run workstation.  I am going to start virtualizing servers tomorrow.  Thanks again.



  • 7.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 24, 2011 02:57 PM

    One more quick question.  One of the servers I want to virtualize is running Server 2003.  I plan on upgrading later, but for now I want to keep the older OS.  The Convertor is not compatible with 2003.  Does anyone have any suggestions as to the best way to virtualize a server running 2003?



  • 8.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 24, 2011 03:21 PM

    Hi, I've used the VMware VCenter Converter Standalone for many 2003 P2V conversions. Here are the OS's it supports

    Powered-on machine

    Converts a running machine to a VMware virtual machine. The machine can be your local machine or a remote machine on the network. When converting a remote machine, provide the IP address or name, administrator or root credentials, and operating system on which to create the machine.
    Supported operating systems are:
    Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 2008
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0
    Red Hat Linux Advanced Server 2.1
    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8, 9, 10
    Ubuntu Linux 5.x, 6.x, 7.x, 8.x
    Linux sources should allow root login through SSH.



  • 9.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 24, 2011 04:22 PM

    Okay, I was mistaken.  It is Server 2000 SP4, but I am still getting the following error when I try to deploy the Convertor Agent:



  • 10.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 24, 2011 04:37 PM

    Have you seen this article sounds like your issue? http://communities.vmware.com/thread/277472



  • 11.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 24, 2011 06:12 PM

    Understood.  Now, is there any way to virtualize this server without using the Converter?  Can I use an older version that supported 2000 or can I image the server and mount it to a blank VM?



  • 12.  RE: How do I mount a disk image to a VM?

    Posted Mar 24, 2011 09:58 PM

    You can always create a new VM and just install Windows 2000 on to it.