importing existing VMs into new ESXi install

[cambee]

Hello Everyone!

I am setting up a new ESXi server and in the process playing out some DR scenarios.  In this case...sd card failure.  I have ESXi 4.1 installed on an SD card (it's an HP approved one) and tried cloning the card to another to have a backup but that failed so I reinstalled ESXi to the second SD card.  Now that I have a new install of ESXi, I can see the existing datastores and the VMs.  I tried using the standalone converter and I can connect to the server but it can't see the VM's.  How can I import them into this new install?  Does this require vCenter?  I have a license for vCenter but I haven't installed it yet.

Thanks

[DSTAVERT]

Right click on the datastore and select Browse Datastore. Navigate to the VM folders. RIght click on the VMX file and Add to Inventory.

[cambee]

Thanks DSTAVERT for the quick reply!!!!

[DSTAVERT]

Very welcome

[cambee]

I just answered my own question.  Thought I searched enough but tried once more and found this:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1020655

and this

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1006160

Hope this helps someone else.

[DSTAVERT]

I wouldn't worry too much about the SD card. There are very few writes to the card. ESXi loads directly into RAM. The only regular writes are an hourly backup of the configuration file between alternate system partitions. You should install the vMA appliance http://vmware.com/go/vma There are some things that you can do from the vMA appliance that you can not do from vCenter or the client like backing up your configuration.