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VMware vCenter Converter Standalone

User's Guide

vCenter Converter Standalone 4.3

This document supports the version of each product listed and
supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced
by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this
document, see 

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs

.

EN-000369-01

Summary of Contents for CONVERTER STANDALONE 4.3

Page 1: ...ter Standalone 4 3 This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition To check for more recent editions of t...

Page 2: ...ack vmware com Copyright 2008 2010 VMware Inc All rights reserved This product is protected by U S and international copyright and intellectual property laws VMware products are covered by one or more...

Page 3: ...Conversion 27 Requirements for Remote Hot Cloning of Windows Operating Systems 28 3 Installing and Uninstalling Converter Standalone 33 Perform a Local Installation on Windows 33 Perform a Client Ser...

Page 4: ...zard 76 Select a Source Machine to Configure 76 Select the Options to Configure 79 Review and Submit the Configuration Task 83 6 Managing Conversion and Configuration Tasks 85 Manage Tasks in the Task...

Page 5: ...h release of the product or when necessary This table provides the update history of the VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User s Guide Revision Description EN 000369 01 In Table 2 3 the formatting...

Page 6: ...VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User s Guide 6 VMware Inc...

Page 7: ...aterial in this book is written for information systems engineers software developers QA engineers trainers salespeople who run demonstrations and anyone who wants so create virtual machines VMware Te...

Page 8: ...upport html Support Offerings To find out how VMware support offerings can help meet your business needs go to http www vmware com support services VMware Professional Services VMware Education Servic...

Page 9: ...Mware Player n Virtual machines running on an ESX instance that vCenter Server manages can be both conversion sources and conversion destinations n Virtual machines running on unmanaged ESX hosts can...

Page 10: ...st volume sizes and place volumes on separate virtual disks Converter Standalone Components The Converter Standalone application consists of Converter Standalone server Converter Standalone worker Con...

Page 11: ...cloning you can still perform cold cloning by using the VMware Converter 4 1 x Boot CD Depending on your virtual environment you can choose to use hot or cold cloning Hot cloning also called live clon...

Page 12: ...red for the conversion are on the CD Supported sources Local and remote powered on physical or virtual machines Local powered off physical or virtual machines Advantages n Does not require direct acce...

Page 13: ...physical machine ESX ESXi source destination network snapshot source volumes 2 Converter Standalone prepares the virtual machine on the destination machine Converter Standalone creates a virtual mach...

Page 14: ...t of Windows machines In Windows conversions the Converter Standalone agent is installed on the source machine and the source information is pushed to the destination In Linux conversions no agent is...

Page 15: ...t which source volumes to be copied to the destination machine vCenter Converter Standalone agent and server powered on Linux machine data copied to the helper virtual machine ESX ESXi source destinat...

Page 16: ...and dynamic disks You cannot select which data to copy Disk based cloning is faster than volume based cloning Linked clone Use to quickly check compatibility of non VMware images For certain third par...

Page 17: ...e to the destination machine A full clone is an independent copy of a virtual machine that shares nothing with the parent virtual machine after the cloning operation Ongoing operation of a full clone...

Page 18: ...ated destination disk is 5GB but can expand to 20GB Take this expansion into account when you calculate the free disk space on the destination datastore 2GB Split pre allocated Splits the source disk...

Page 19: ...rce virtual machines or system images have the same identities name SID and so on running them on the same network might result in conflicts To redeploy the source virtual machine or system image make...

Page 20: ...you rearrange volumes during the cloning process Each disk device might have a different model and different manufacturer strings Primary disk controllers Might differ from the source machine Applica...

Page 21: ...ne components only on Windows operating systems Converter Standalone supports Windows and Linux operating systems as sources for powered on machine conversions and virtual machine conversions You cann...

Page 22: ...t and 64 bit No No No Yes Yes No SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 x 32 bit and 64 bit No No No Yes Yes No SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 x 32 bit and 64 bit No No No Yes Yes No SUSE Linux Enterprise Se...

Page 23: ...rted Sources Source Type Sources Powered on machines n Remote Windows physical machines n Remote Linux physical machines n Local Windows physical machines n Windows virtual machines running on Hyper V...

Page 24: ...for the following sources n Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 and Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 vmc n Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and 2005 R2 vmc Sources that run Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 can be co...

Page 25: ...er virtual machines with most Windows operating systems earlier than Windows NT 4 0 and with non Windows operating systems for example Linux and DOS only for cloning Converter Standalone does not supp...

Page 26: ...oning Allow Disk Access n Resource Assign Virtual Machine To Resource Pool n Network Assign network needed only if you plan to connect the destination virtual machine to a network For more information...

Page 27: ...Table 2 6 contains a list of the ports that must be open during the conversion of physical machine sources running Windows Table 2 6 Ports Required During Windows P2V Communication Paths Communicatio...

Page 28: ...n Ports Notes Converter Standalone server to Fileshare path TCP 445 139 UPD 137 138 Required only for standalone virtual machine sources or destinations If the computer hosting the source or destinati...

Page 29: ...entation for your system Turn Off Simple File Sharing on Windows XP Professional To control permissions for individual users you must turn off simple file sharing on the source machine Turning simple...

Page 30: ...ate of source volumes during hot cloning of physical and virtual machines that run Windows VSS snapshots are also used to synchronize the destination virtual machine with the source machine after the...

Page 31: ...and try to convert the source again Importing powered on Hyper V sources fails if the following two VSS services are not started or are not operating properly on the source machine n Microsoft Softwa...

Page 32: ...VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User s Guide 32 VMware Inc...

Page 33: ...to convert hosted virtual machines managed virtual machines or remote physical machines This chapter includes the following topics n Perform a Local Installation on Windows on page 33 n Perform a Cli...

Page 34: ...verter Standalone Client now to complete the installation without starting the application at this time 10 On the Installation Completed page click Finish A prompt might ask you to restart your system...

Page 35: ...Standalone server and Remote access the local machine becomes a server for conversions which you can manage remotely When you install the Converter Standalone server and the Converter Standalone clie...

Page 36: ...l Converter Standalone from the MS DOS command prompt in Windows or by writing a Windows batch file bat For a list of options to perform command line installation see Table 3 1 Table 3 1 Command Line...

Page 37: ...ndalone server together with Remote access or with the Converter Standalone client or with both Remote access If you install Remote access local and multiple remote Converter Standalone clients can co...

Page 38: ...ins the installer file and double click the VMware converter 4 x x xxxxx exe file where xxxxx is the number of the build Check the number of the build to see if it matches the build you installed n Se...

Page 39: ...o connect to a Converter Standalone server installed on a remote machine Prerequisites Ensure that the Converter Standalone server and agent are installed on the remote machine Procedure 1 Start Conve...

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Page 41: ...Desktop for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS Parallels Workstation and Norton Ghost only sv2i images Supported Source Types on page 23 contains a full list of supported source types and product versions D...

Page 42: ...is listed in the list of supported source types See Supported Source Types on page 23 n Select a Powered On Windows Machine to Convert on page 43 You can select a running powered on Windows machine t...

Page 43: ...he Select source type drop down menu 2 Select an option that corresponds to your source machine location Source Location Action Local Click This local machine For local machines the authorization is s...

Page 44: ...erter Standalone connects to the powered on Linux machine and prepares it for conversion What to do next On the Destination System page you can select the destination type for the new virtual machine...

Page 45: ...provides a view of hosts clusters resource pools and vApps If you select a host managed by a cluster you see the full list of virtual machines and templates in the VM list view If you select a standa...

Page 46: ...local Converter Standalone server provide a network path or a local path to the vmx file The file type choices are limited to VMware Workstation vmx files 3 If you are connected to a remote Converter...

Page 47: ...e you can select the destination type for the new virtual machine Select a Hyper V Server Virtual Machine to Convert You can convert virtual machines that Hyper V Server manages Prerequisites Power of...

Page 48: ...ensures that DPM does not power off the ESX hosts that Converter Standalone uses When the conversion process completes restore DPM to its original settings For information about how to change DPM sett...

Page 49: ...ne This includes selecting a host resource pool or cluster to accommodate the destination virtual machine selecting the Datastore to hold the files of the destination virtual machine and selecting the...

Page 50: ...server runs has access to that network path Procedure 1 On the Destination System page select VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine from the Select destination type drop down menu 2 Sele...

Page 51: ...ect the network that the destination virtual machine uses You can also set network adapters to connect to the network when the destination virtual machine powers on n Configure the Network for the Hel...

Page 52: ...page of the Conversion wizard click Data to copy in the options list Procedure 1 From the Data copy type drop down menu select Select volumes to copy 2 In the Destination size column select an option...

Page 53: ...e Conversion wizard n The Customizations page is displayed if you select Customize guest preferences for the virtual machine in the Advanced options pane n The Summary page is displayed if you do not...

Page 54: ...olume and use the Move up and Move down buttons to accommodate the volume in the new virtual disk If you leave the new virtual disk empty Converter Standalone does not create the new virtual disk on t...

Page 55: ...tion Select another option from the options list Saves your settings and displays the pane for the selected option Click Next Saves your settings and displays the next page of the Conversion wizard n...

Page 56: ...sk by using volume based or disk based cloning Prerequisites On the Options page of the Conversion wizard click Data to copy in the options list Procedure n Use disk based cloning to create an expanda...

Page 57: ...elect the Destination layout tab select a virtual disk and select Not pre allocated from the Type drop down menu c To apply your settings select another option from the options list or click Next Conv...

Page 58: ...reserve Copy All Disks to the Destination To preserve the source disks on the destination virtual machine you can copy all disks to the destination Disk based cloning is not available for powered on m...

Page 59: ...machine as a destination and click Next 2 On the Options page click Data to copy in the left pane 3 In the Data copy type drop down menu select Linked clone 4 Save your settings Option Description Se...

Page 60: ...ount of memory on the source machine and allocates it to the destination virtual machine Prerequisites On the Options page of the Conversion wizard click Devices in the options list Procedure 1 In the...

Page 61: ...ange the number of network adapters and select the network that the destination virtual machine uses You can also set network adapters to connect to the network when the destination virtual machine po...

Page 62: ...on wizard n The Customizations page is displayed if you select Customize guest preferences for the virtual machine in the Advanced options pane n The Summary page is displayed if you do not select Cus...

Page 63: ...icense Information on page 64 Ensure that you enter licensing information for all destination virtual machines running guest operating systems as necessary n Set the Time Zone for the Destination Virt...

Page 64: ...destination virtual machine are assigned according to your settings What to do next You can select another option to set or click Next to view a summary of the conversion task If the Next button is i...

Page 65: ...environment The option for configuring network adapters is available for all supported destinations NOTE You cannot use IPv6 to customize the guest operating systems of virtual machines Prerequisites...

Page 66: ...tings list for other settings that need your attention on this page Install VMware Tools on the Destination Virtual Machine Install VMware Tools to improve graphics performance of the guest operating...

Page 67: ...references for the virtual machine in the Advanced options pane n The Summary page is displayed if you do not select Customize guest preferences for the virtual machine in the Advanced options pane Co...

Page 68: ...depending on the available computing resources during conversion n Uninstall Converter Standalone Agent from the Source Machine on page 72 When setting up a conversion task for a powered on Windows s...

Page 69: ...xt Saves your settings and displays the next page of the Conversion wizard n The Customizations page is displayed if you select Customize guest preferences for the virtual machine in the Advanced opti...

Page 70: ...data You can transfer data for the second time by copying only the changes made during the first transfer of data This process is called synchronization Synchronization is available only for Windows X...

Page 71: ...nced options pane Converter Standalone powers off the source machine after the conversion is complete Power On the Destination Virtual Machine After Conversion You can minimize the downtime of importa...

Page 72: ...the current conversion task is reduced slightly below normal Medium The priority of the current conversion task is set to lowest NOTE Converter Standalone reduces the thread priorities of conversion t...

Page 73: ...ormation about the source machine the destination virtual machine and destination customization settings if any Converter Standalone performs task validation at this stage Prerequisites You must compl...

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Page 75: ...p files to the specified locations on the machine where Converter Standalone server runs 2 Start the Configuration Wizard on page 76 You can configure VMware desktop virtual machines or virtual machin...

Page 76: ...2bit and 64bit guest operating systems by using the Conversion or the Configuration wizard What to do next You can now use the Configuration wizard to customize Windows guest operating systems Start t...

Page 77: ...ine to Configure If you choose to configure a virtual machine managed by a vCenter Server or ESX host you must browse the inventory to locate the source virtual machine Prerequisites On the Source Sys...

Page 78: ...onverter Standalone server runs has access to that network path In the main application window of Converter Standalone click Configure Machine to open the Configuration wizard Procedure 1 On the Sourc...

Page 79: ...e of the mouse pointer copying and pasting between guest and host improved mouse performance and so on Install VMware Tools on the virtual machine you are configuring Procedure u On the Options page o...

Page 80: ...puter Name text box specify a computer name to identify the virtual machine on the network Valid characters include A Z a z 0 9 and the hyphen The underscore _ is nonstandard but Converter Standalone...

Page 81: ...set or click Next to view a summary of the configuration task If the Next button is inactive check the Current settings list for other settings that need your attention on this page Set the Time Zone...

Page 82: ...heck the Current settings list for other settings that need your attention on this page Assign a Workgroup or Domain Details You can configure the workgroup and the domain for a virtual machine Prereq...

Page 83: ...vironment try configuring it to update its device drivers Procedure u On the Options page of the Configuration wizard select Reconfigure destination virtual machine and click Next Converter Standalone...

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Page 85: ...the task list depending on the maximum number of tasks that is set in Administration menu Maximum concurrent tasks n Control the Number of Tasks Running Concurrently on page 86 You can set the number...

Page 86: ...ber from 1 to 12 The default number of concurrent tasks is set to Maximum Procedure 1 On the main menu select Administration Maximum Concurrent Tasks 2 In the Custom spin box specify a number 3 Click...

Page 87: ...ancel a task in the queue or a task that is in progress When you cancel a conversion task the task is removed from the queue Canceling a configuration task removes it from the queue and reverts the so...

Page 88: ...mpletion of a conversion task in the End Time column You can obtain a general indication of a task s progress by looking at its row in the task list of the Task view View the Task progress tab in the...

Page 89: ...ware VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Logs Filter the Tasks in the Task List The number of archived tasks can grow to be very large To minimize clutter in the task list you can lower the number of...

Page 90: ...tasks in the task list Tasks that are currently running are displayed regardless of the filtering criteria you apply Procedure u Use the drop down menus in the toolbar to select the status and histor...

Page 91: ...in details 82 guest operating system 79 install VMware tools 79 removing system restore checkpoints 83 selecting a source 76 selecting VMware Fusion source 76 selecting VMware Player source 76 selecti...

Page 92: ...power on 71 destination services startup mode 68 destination setup computer information 63 DNS 65 domain details 66 guest operating system 63 network adapters 65 SID 63 time zone 65 Windows license 6...

Page 93: ...86 canceling 86 87 changing the number of tasks displayed 89 90 checking task progress 88 deleting 87 filtering tasks by history 89 filtering tasks by status 90 multiple criteria filtering 90 task vie...

Page 94: ...ec LiveState Recovery 23 vCenter Server 23 Virtual Iron 23 VirtualCenter support 23 VMware Fusion support 23 VMware Server support 23 VMware virtual machines 23 Workstation support 23 Xen 23 Symantec...

Page 95: ...destination 25 source 23 support 23 VMware hosted products support 23 VMware managed products support 23 VMware Player destination 25 source 23 support 23 VMware Server destination 25 source 23 suppor...

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