VMware vSphere

 View Only
Back to discussions
Expand all | Collapse all

UUID error trying to convert VM

  • 1.  UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 17, 2014 09:07 AM

    I am trying to convert a VM by vCenter Converter Standalone v5.5 (5.5.0 build-1362012). When I select the VM and press Next, the following error message appears: "A general system error occurred: Invalid Argument".

    The log file shows the following error: "ManagedVmLocation does not have VM MoRef or VM UUID".

    How can I solve this ?

    Thanks.



  • 2.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 17, 2014 10:23 AM

    Please upload the worker's log for more detailed examination. Copy it right after the unsuccessful attempt.

    Converter logs can be found in %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone\logs

    Regards,

    Plamen



  • 3.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 17, 2014 11:50 AM

    I attached the log file to the original posted question.

    Thanks



  • 4.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 17, 2014 02:20 PM

    Hmm, that's strange. I've reviewed the code and it seems like the source VM does not have an instance uuid. I have no idea how this mat have happened.

    You could confirm if that's the case - open the source VM's .vmx file and look for "vc,uuid".

    If that's the case, you could eventually work around it by setting some uuid there (in a format like "50 17 3a 39 7d e6 c6 05-9c a9 1c bc c7 4d 47 f3"). However you'll need to restart the management agents on the ESX host! This is not a harmless operation, so do it only if you know and can accept its implications!

    HTH

    Plamen



  • 5.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 17, 2014 03:43 PM

    In the .vmx I can see uuid.bios and uuid.location but no vc.uuid.

    I am attaching it. The key list is complete,  but some key values have been cleared,

    Thanks.



  • 6.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 17, 2014 04:09 PM

    virtualHW.version = "4"

    Can you try to upgrade the virtual hardware version?



  • 7.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 17, 2014 04:22 PM

    OK I found the KB article explaining how to upgrade as you suggest.

    The vSphere Client warns me that it will upgrade to version 10, but then I will only be able to manage the VM by the web client. Is there a way to upgrade to version 9 instead so that we can go on with the hard Client ?

    Thanks.



  • 8.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 18, 2014 10:25 AM

    Sorry, it seem I have been wrong suggesting that the hardware version is causing the vc.uuid lack.

    Try removing the VM from vSphere Server inventory and re-adding it back. It should add the uuid. (adding to inventory is done by browsing the datastore where the .vmx file is)

    HTH

    Plamen



  • 9.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 20, 2014 09:17 AM

    Removing and re-adding to the inventory does not add the missing property: I still see uuid.location and uuid.bios but no vc.uuid.

    Thanks



  • 10.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 20, 2014 01:30 PM

    By the way, does "vc" in vc.uuid mean VCenter ?

    The VM is running inside a standalone vSphere 5.5 host. Before that, it ran inside a standalone ESX 3.5 host. I am now trying to convert it by means of a standalone vCenter Converter tool.

    Most probably that property never existed in the .vmx file. So is it really needed even if there is no vCenter ?

    Thanks



  • 11.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 20, 2014 02:07 PM

    Yes. I have been mislead by the log entry "Trying connection to VC server" that it is in a vCenter Server.

    In this case a workaround would be to manually add a vc.uuid in the .vmx file. The drawback is you will need to restart the management agent.

    This is a rare case - VC creates vc.uuid when readding the VM. If you create a new VM in standalone ESXi, it will also create it (since a certain version, think it's 4.0 but not completely sure)

    I'll file a bug for that.

    HTH

    Plamen



  • 12.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 20, 2014 04:06 PM

    Well, in your first reply you warned about that being a potential harmful task. I am no vCenter/vSphere expert (not yet, at least) so I am not going to do that now. That leaves me with the problem of moving that VM from its current ESX to a different one. I can't use Converter, anyway.

    Thanks.



  • 13.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 20, 2014 04:44 PM

    Well, I am sorry for the unpleasant experience.

    Restarting hostd (the management agent) is not such a dangerous thing as it might seem from my post, especially when the host is a standalone one, i.e. there is no vMotion, DRS, etc.

    You may want to have a look at these articles for more details:

    VMware KB: Restarting the Management agents on an ESXi or ESX host

    VMware KB: Restarting hostd (mgmt-vmware) on ESX hosts restarts hosted virtual machines where virtual machine Startu…

    Another good news is we have found the reason for this bug, it will be fixed in the next release.

    Regards

    Plamen



  • 14.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM

    Posted Nov 20, 2014 04:59 PM

    OK, I'll give them a look.

    One last question before closing this thread: you suggested to manually add vc.uuid to the vmx configuration before restarting the management agent. What value should I set it to ?

    Thanks



  • 15.  RE: UUID error trying to convert VM
    Best Answer

    Posted Nov 20, 2014 06:02 PM

    Any valid uuid would do. E.g. copy it from uuid.bios and change some digit in it.

    Regards