VMware vCenter Converter Standalone - 6.0 User’s Guide

0 (0)

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone

User's Guide

vCenter Converter Standalone 6.0

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-001794-00

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com

Copyright © 1998–2015 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information.

VMware, Inc.

3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

2

VMware, Inc.

Contents

About This Book 7

 

 

 

 

1 Introduction to VMware vCenter Converter Standalone

9

 

Migration with Converter Standalone 9

 

 

Converter Standalone Components

10

 

 

Cloning and System Configuration of Physical and Powered On Virtual Machines

10

Hot Cloning of Physical and Virtual Powered On Machines

11

 

Remote Hot Cloning of Powered On Source Machines That Are Running Windows 11

Remote Hot Cloning of Powered On Source Machines That Are Running Linux

13

Types of Data Cloning Operations

14

 

 

Volume-Based Cloning

14

 

 

 

Disk-Based Cloning 15

 

 

 

 

Full and Linked Clones

15

 

 

 

Using Converter Standalone with Virtual Machine Sources and System Images 15

 

System Settings Affected by Conversion 16

 

 

Changes to Virtual Hardware After Virtual Machine Migration

16

 

2 System Requirements

19

 

 

 

Supported Operating Systems

19

 

 

Supported Firmware Interfaces

20

 

Supported Source Types

21

 

 

 

Supported Destination Types

22

 

 

Supported Source Disk Types

23

 

 

Supported Destination Disk Types

24

 

Support for IPv6 in Converter Standalone

25

Installation Space Requirements 25

 

Screen Resolution Requirements

26

 

Configuring Permissions for vCenter Users

26

TCP/IP and UDP Port Requirements for Conversion 26

Requirements for Remote Hot Cloning of Windows Operating Systems 28 Ensure that Windows Firewall Does Not Block File and Printer Sharing 28 Prepare the Guest Operating System for Customization 29

3 Conversion Limitations 31

Conversion Limitations for Powered On Machines 31 Conversion Limitations for VMware Virtual Machines 31

Conversion Limitations for Third-Party Virtual Machines or System Images 32 Limitations Related to Creating Snapshots of Windows Sources 33

4 Installing and Uninstalling Converter Standalone 35

Perform a Local Installation on Windows 35

VMware, Inc.

3

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

Perform a Client-Server Installation in Windows 36

Perform a Command-Line Installation in Windows

38

Command-Line Options for Windows Installation

38

Modify Converter Standalone in Windows

39

 

Repair Converter Standalone in Windows

40

 

Uninstall Converter Standalone in Windows 41

 

Connect to a Remote Converter Standalone Server

41

5 Convert a Physical or Virtual Machine 43

 

 

 

Start the Wizard for a Conversion

44

 

 

 

Select a Source Machine to Convert

44

 

 

 

Select a Powered On Windows Machine to Convert

45

 

Select a Powered On Linux Machine to Convert

46

 

 

Select an ESX/ ESXi or vCenter Server Virtual Machine to Convert

46

Select a VMware Hosted Virtual Machine to Convert

48

 

Select a Backup Image or a Third-Party Virtual Machine to Convert

48

Select a Hyper-V Server Virtual Machine to Convert

49

 

Select a Destination for the New Virtual Machine

50

 

 

Select a Managed Destination

50

 

 

 

Select a Hosted Destination 52

 

 

 

Configure the Hardware of the Destination Virtual Machine

53

 

Organize the Data to Be Copied on the Destination Machine

53

Edit the Number of Processor Sockets and Cores

63

 

 

Allocate Memory for the Destination Virtual Machine 63

 

Select a Disk Controller for the Destination Virtual Machine

64

Configure the Network Settings of the Destination Virtual Machine 65

Configure the Network for the Helper Virtual Machine

65

 

Configure the Software on the Destination Virtual Machine

66

 

Customize the Windows Guest Operating System

66

 

 

Install VMware Tools on the Destination Virtual Machine 70

 

Remove System Restore Checkpoints 70

 

 

 

 

Configure the Conversion Job 71

 

 

 

 

Set the Startup Mode for Destination Services

72

 

 

 

Stop Services Running on the Source Machine

73

 

 

 

Synchronize the Destination Machine with Changes Made to the Source Machine 73

Power Off the Source Machine After Conversion

74

 

 

Power On the Destination Virtual Machine After Conversion

75

Limit the Amount of Resources Used by the Conversion Job

75

Uninstall Converter Standalone Agent from the Source Machine 76

Review the Summary and Submit the Conversion Job

76

 

 

6 Configure Virtual Machines

79

Save Sysprep Files 79

 

Start the Configuration Wizard

80

Select a Source Machine to Configure 80

Select a vSphere Virtual Machine to Configure 81

Select a VMware Desktop Virtual Machine to Configure 82

4

VMware, Inc.

Contents

Select the Options to Configure 83

 

 

Install VMware Tools on a Virtual Machine 83

 

Customize the Windows Guest Operating System

83

Remove System Restore Checkpoints

87

 

Reconfiguring a Virtual Machine To Boot Properly

87

Review and Submit the Configuration Job

87

 

7 Manage Conversion and Configuration Jobs and Tasks 89

Manage Jobs in the Job List

89

 

 

 

Add a Job to the Job List

90

 

 

 

View the Running Task of a Job 90

 

 

Deactivate a Job 90

 

 

 

 

Delete a Job

91

 

 

 

 

Create a Job by Copying an Existing Job

91

 

Filter the Jobs in the Jobs List

91

 

 

Add a Synchronization Task to a Conversion Job 92

Manage Tasks in the Task List 93

 

 

 

Control the Number of Tasks Running Concurrently 93

Set the Number of Data Connections per Task

94

View the Job to Which a Task Belongs 94

 

Cancel a Task

95

 

 

 

 

Filter the Tasks in the Task List

95

 

 

Verify Jobs and Tasks Progress and the Log Files

96

View Task Progress 96

 

 

 

 

Export the Log Files for a Job

97

 

 

Export the Log Files for a Task

97

 

 

Back-End and Client Log Files Locations

97

 

Index 99

VMware, Inc.

5

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

6

VMware, Inc.

About This Book

The VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide provides information about installing and using VMware®vCenter Converter Standalone.

Intended Audience

This book is intended for users who want to perform the following tasks:

nInstall, upgrade, or use Converter Standalone

nConvert physical and virtual machines into VMware virtual machines

The material is written for information systems engineers, software developers, QA engineers, trainers, salespeople who run demonstrations, and anyone who wants to create virtual machines.

VMware Technical Publications Glossary

VMware Technical Publications provides a glossary of terms that might be unfamiliar to you. For definitions of terms as they are used in VMware technical documentation, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Document Feedback

VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send your feedback to docfeedback@vmware.com.

Technical Support and Education Resources

The following technical support resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book and other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

Online and Telephone To use online support to submit technical support requests, view your Support product and contract information, and register your products, go to

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

VMware, Inc.

7

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

Support Offerings

VMware Professional

Services

Customers with appropriate support contracts should use telephone support for the fastest response on priority 1 issues. Go to http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html.

To find out how VMware support offerings can help meet your business needs, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/services.

VMware Education Services courses offer extensive hands-on labs, case study examples, and course materials designed to be used as on-the-job reference tools. Courses are available onsite, in the classroom, and live online. For onsite pilot programs and implementation best practices, VMware Consulting Services provides offerings to help you assess, plan, build, and manage your virtual environment. To access information about education classes, certification programs, and consulting services, go to http://www.vmware.com/services.

8

VMware, Inc.

Introduction to

VMware vCenter Converter 1 Standalone

VMware® vCenter Converter Standalone is a product to convert virtual and physical machines to VMware virtual machines. You can also configure existing virtual machines in your vCenter Server environment.

Converter Standalone eases the exchange of virtual machines among the following products.

nVMware hosted products can be both conversion sources and conversion destinations. n VMware Workstation

n VMware Fusion™ n VMware Player

nVirtual machines running on an ESX or ESXi instance that vCenter Server manages can be conversion sources and the corresponding ESX, ESXi, and vCenter Server instances can be conversion destinations.

nVirtual machines running on unmanaged ESX or ESXi hosts can be conversion sources and the corresponding ESX or ESXi hosts can be conversion destinations.

This chapter includes the following topics:

n“Migration with Converter Standalone,” on page 9

n“Converter Standalone Components,” on page 10

n“Cloning and System Configuration of Physical and Powered On Virtual Machines,” on page 10

n“Types of Data Cloning Operations,” on page 14

n“Using Converter Standalone with Virtual Machine Sources and System Images,” on page 15

n“System Settings Affected by Conversion,” on page 16

n“Changes to Virtual Hardware After Virtual Machine Migration,” on page 16

Migration with Converter Standalone

Migration with Converter Standalone involves converting physical machines, virtual machines, and system images for use in VMware hosted and managed products.

You can convert virtual machines that vCenter Server manages for use in other VMware products. You can use Converter Standalone to perform a number of conversion tasks.

nImport running remote physical and virtual machines as virtual machines to standalone ESX/ESXi or to ESX/ESXi hosts that vCenter Server manages.

nImport virtual machines hosted by VMware Workstation or Microsoft Hyper-V Server to ESX/ESXi hosts that vCenter Server manages.

nImport third-party backup or disk images to ESX/ESXi hosts that vCenter Server manages.

VMware, Inc.

9

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

nExport virtual machines managed by vCenter Server hosts to other VMware virtual machine formats.

nConfigure virtual machines managed by vCenter Server so that they are bootable, and install VMware Tools or customize their guest operating systems.

nCustomize guest operating systems of virtual machines in the vCenter Server inventory (for example, change the host name or network settings).

nReduce the time needed to set up new virtual machine environments.

nMigrate legacy servers to new hardware without reinstalling operating systems or application software.

nPerform migrations across heterogeneous hardware.

nReadjust volume sizes and place volumes on separate virtual disks.

Converter Standalone Components

The Converter Standalone application consists of Converter Standalone server,

Converter Standalone worker, Converter Standalone client, and Converter Standalone agent.

Converter Standalone server

Converter Standalone agent

Converter Standalone client

Enables and performs the import and export of virtual machines. The Converter Standalone server comprises two services, Converter Standalone server and Converter Standalone worker. The Converter Standalone worker service is always installed with the Converter Standalone server service.

The Converter Standalone server installs the agent on Windows source machines to import them as virtual machines. You can choose to remove the Converter Standalone agent from the source machine automatically or manually after the import is complete.

The Converter Standalone server works with the Converter Standalone client. The client component consists of the Converter Standalone user interface, which provides access to the Conversion and the Configuration wizards, and lets you to manage the conversion and the configuration tasks.

Cloning and System Configuration of Physical and Powered On Virtual Machines

When you convert a source machine, Converter Standalone uses cloning and system reconfiguration steps to create and configure the destination virtual machine so that it works successfully in vCenter Server and hosted environments. Because the migration process does not delete or modify the source, you can continue to use the original source machine after the conversion completes.

Cloning is the process of copying the source disks or volumes for the destination virtual machine. Cloning involves copying the data on the source machine’s hard disk and transferring that data to a destination virtual disk. The destination virtual disk might have a different size, file layout, and other characteristics, and thus might not be an exact copy of the source disk.

System reconfiguration adjusts the migrated operating system so that it to functions on the new virtual hardware .

If you plan to run an imported virtual machine on the same network as the source machine, you must modify the network name and IP address on one of the machines so that the source and destination machines can coexist. Besides, you must make sure that the Windows source machine and the destination virtual machine have different computer names.

NOTE Before converting a Windows machine, verify that you have the proper Windows license.

10

VMware, Inc.

NOTE

Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware vCenter Converter Standalone

Hot Cloning of Physical and Virtual Powered On Machines

With Converter Standalone, you can perform hot cloning.

Hot cloning, also called live cloning or online cloning, requires converting the source machine while it is running its operating system. Hot cloning lets you clone machines without shutting them down.

Because processes continue to run on the source machine during conversion, the resulting virtual machine is not an exact copy of the source machine.

When converting Windows sources, you can set Converter Standalone to synchronize the destination virtual machine with the source machine after hot cloning. Synchronization is performed by transferring from the source to the destination the blocks that were changed during the initial cloning period. To avoid loss of data on the destination virtual machine, Converter Standalone can shut down certain Windows services before the synchronization. Based on your settings, Converter Standalone shuts down the selected Windows services so that no critical changes occur on the source machine while destination is being synchronized.

Converter Standalone can shut down the source machine and power on the destination machine when the conversion process is complete. When combined with synchronization, this action allows seamless migration of a source machine to a virtual machine destination. The destination machine takes over the source machine operations with the least possible downtime.

When you hot clone dual-boot systems, you can clone only the default operating system to which the boot.ini file or the BCD points. To clone the nondefault operating system, change the boot.ini file or the BCD to point to the other operating system and reboot. After the other operating system is booted, you can hot clone it. If your second operating system is Linux, you can boot it and clone it using the standard procedure for cloning Linux powered on source machines.

Remote Hot Cloning of Powered On Source Machines That Are Running Windows

You can use the Conversion wizard to set up conversion tasks and Converter Standalone components perform all of the cloning tasks.

The following workflow is an example of remote hot cloning in which the powered on machine being cloned experiences no downtime.

1Converter Standalone prepares the source machine for the conversion.

Converter Standalone installs the agent on the source machine and the agent takes a snapshot of the source volumes.

 

vCenter Converter Standalone

 

running on

 

Windows machine

source

destination

powered on

ESX/ESXi

machine

network

 

agent

 

source volumes

snapshot

VMware, Inc.

11

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone - 6.0 User’s Guide

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

2Converter Standalone prepares the virtual machine on the destination machine.

Converter Standalone creates a virtual machine on the destination machine and the agent copies volumes from the source machine to the destination machine.

 

vCenter Converter Standalone

 

running on

 

Windows machine

source

destination

powered on

ESX/ESXi

machine

network

 

agent

VM

 

copied

source

volumes

volumes

snapshot

 

If the proxy mode feature is off, the data traffic passes from the source machine directly to the destination server.

If the proxy mode feature is on, the data traffic passes from the source machine through the Converter Standalone server to the destination server. The proxy mode feature enables conversion processes when the source machine does not have direct access to the destination ESXi server.

NOTE The proxy mode feature is available only for conversion of powered on Windows sources to managed destinations.

3Converter Standalone completes the conversion process.

The agent installs the required drivers to allow the operating system to boot in a virtual machine and personalizes the virtual machine (changes the IP information, for example).

 

 

vCenter Converter Standalone

 

 

running on

 

 

Windows machine

source

 

destination

powered on

 

ESX/ESXi

machine

 

network

 

 

agent

reconfiguration

VM

 

 

customization (optional)

source

snapshot

 

volumes

 

 

 

4Optionally, Converter Standalone uninstalls the agent from the source machine. The virtual machine is ready to run on the destination server.

12

VMware, Inc.

Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware vCenter Converter Standalone

Remote Hot Cloning of Powered On Source Machines That Are Running Linux

The conversion process of powered on machines that are running Linux operating systems differs from that 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 deployed on the source machine. Instead, a helper virtual machine is created and deployed on the destination ESX/ESXi host. The source data is then copied from the source Linux machine to the helper virtual machine. After the conversion is complete, the helper virtual machine shuts down to become the destination virtual machine the next time you power it on.

Converter Standalone supports conversion of Linux sources only to managed destinations.

The following workflow demonstrates the principles of hot cloning powered on source machines that run Linux to managed destinations.

1Converter Standalone uses SSH to connect to the source machine and retrieves source information. Converter Standalone creates an empty helper virtual machine based on your conversion task settings. The helper virtual machine serves as a container for the new virtual machine during conversion. Converter Standalone deploys the helper virtual machine on the managed destination, an ESX/ESXi host. The helper virtual machine boots from a *.iso file that is located on the

Converter Standalone server machine.

 

vCenter Converter

 

 

Standalone server

 

 

Converter Standalone

 

 

server deploys helper

 

source

virtual machine

destination

 

powered on

 

ESX/ESXi

Linux machine

network

 

 

 

 

 

Helper

 

 

VM

source

 

 

volumes

 

 

2The helper virtual machine powers on, boots from the Linux image, connects to the source machine through SSH, and starts retrieving the selected data from the source. While you set up the conversion task, you can select which source volumes to be copied to the destination machine.

 

 

vCenter Converter

 

 

Standalone server

source

 

destination

powered on

 

ESX/ESXi

Linux machine

network

 

 

 

 

data copied to the

Helper

 

helper virtual machine

VM

source

 

 

volumes

 

 

VMware, Inc.

13

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

3Optionally, after data is copied, the destination virtual machine is reconfigured to allow the operating system to boot in a virtual machine.

4Converter Standalone shuts down the helper virtual machine. The conversion process is complete.

You can configure Converter Standalone to power on the newly created virtual machine after the conversion is complete.

Types of Data Cloning Operations

Converter Standalone supports disk-based cloning, volume-based cloning, and linked-cloning modes.

Table 1 1. Cloning Modes

Data Copy Types

Application

Description

Volume based

Copy volumes from the source

 

machine to the destination machine.

Volume-based cloning is relatively slow. File-level cloning is slower than block-level cloning. Dynamic disks are converted into basic volumes on the target virtual machine.

Disk based

Create copies of the powered off

You cannot select which data to copy.

 

source machines, for all types of basic

Disk-based cloning is faster than

 

and dynamic disks.

volume-based cloning.

 

 

 

Linked clone

Use to quickly check compatibility of

For certain third-party sources, the

 

non-VMware images

linked clone is corrupted if you power

 

 

on the source machine after the

 

 

conversion. Linked cloning is the

 

 

fastest (but incomplete) cloning mode

 

 

that Converter Standalone supports.

 

 

 

Volume-Based Cloning

During volume-based cloning, volumes from the source machine are copied to the destination machine. Converter Standalone supports volume-based cloning during hot cloning, and during the import of existing virtual machines.

During volume-based cloning, all volumes in the destination virtual machine, except LVM2 logical volumes, are converted to basic volumes, regardless of their type in the corresponding source volume. LVM2 logical volumes can be preserved as logical volumes during conversion.

Volume-based cloning is performed at the file level or block level, depending on the destination volume size that you select.

Volume-based cloning at the file level

Volume-based cloning at the block level

Performed when you select a size smaller than the original volume for NTFS volumes or you choose to resize a FAT volume.

For FAT, FAT32, NTFS, ext2, ext3, ext4, XFS, and ReiserFS file systems, Converter Standalone preserves the file system type during a volume-based cloning at the file level.

Dynamic source disks are read but not preserved during volume-based conversions. Dynamic disks are converted into basic volumes on the target virtual machine. Volume-based cloning of dynamic source disks at the file level is supported only for Windows.

Performed when you choose to preserve the size of the source volume or when you specify a larger volume size for NTFS source volumes. Volumebased cloning at the block level is supported only for Windows.

14

VMware, Inc.

Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware vCenter Converter Standalone

Disk-Based Cloning

Converter Standalone supports disk-based cloning to import existing virtual machines.

Disk-based cloning transfers all sectors from all disks and preserves all volume metadata. The destination virtual machine receives partitions of the same type, size, and structure, as the partitions of the source virtual machine. All volumes on the source machine's partitions are copied as they are.

Disk-based cloning supports all types of basic and dynamic disks.

Full and Linked Clones

Clones can be full or linked depending on the amount of data copied from the source 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 is separate from the parent virtual machine.

Because a full clone does not share virtual disks with the parent virtual machine, full clones generally perform better than linked clones. Full clones take longer to create than linked clones. Creating a full clone can take several hours or even days if the files involved are large.

You can create a full clone by using any disk clone type other than the linked clone type.

A linked clone is a copy of a virtual machine that shares virtual disks with the parent virtual machine in an ongoing manner. A linked clone is a fast way to convert and run a new virtual machine. You can create a linked clone from the current state, or snapshot, of a powered off virtual machine. This practice conserves disk space and lets multiple virtual machines use the same software installation.

All files available on the source machine at the moment of the snapshot continue to remain available to the linked clone. Ongoing changes to the virtual disk of the parent do not affect the linked clone, and changes to the disk of the linked clone do not affect the source machine. If you make changes to a source Virtual PC and Virtual Server machines, or to LiveState images, the linked clone is corrupted and cannot be used anymore.

A linked clone must have access to the source. Without access to the source, you cannot use a linked clone. For more information about how to create a linked clone, see “Create a Linked Clone,” on page 62.

Using Converter Standalone with Virtual Machine Sources and System Images

With Converter Standalone, you can convert virtual machines and system images, and configure VMware virtual machines.

Converting virtual machines

You can convert VMware virtual machines from and to Workstation, VMware Player, VMware Fusion, Hyper-V, ESX, ESXi Embedded, and ESXi Installable. You can also import virtual machines from Microsoft Virtual Server and Virtual PC.

VMware, Inc.

15

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

Configuring virtual machines

To be able to run an imported VMware virtual machine and its source virtual machine on the same network, you must modify the network name and IP address on one of the virtual machines. Modifying the network name and IP address lets the original and new virtual machines to coexist on the same network.

If the VMware virtual machines have disks that have been populated by using a backup of a physical host, Converter Standalone prepares the image to run on VMware virtual hardware. If you have used third-party virtualization software to create a virtual machine on an ESX host, you can use Converter Standalone to reconfigure it. You can also reconfigure any operating system installed on a multiboot machine if you have imported the virtual machine to an ESX host. Before you reconfigure a multiboot machine, you must change the boot.ini file or the BCD.

System Settings Affected by Conversion

A VMware virtual machine that Converter Standalone creates contains a copy of the disk state of the source physical machine, virtual machine, or system image. Some hardware-dependent drivers and sometimes the mapped drive letters might not be preserved.

The following source computer settings remain unchanged:

nOperating system configuration (computer name, security ID, user accounts, profiles, preferences, and so on)

nApplications and data files

nVolume serial number for each disk partition

Because the target and the source 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 sure that you do not run the source and target images or virtual machines on the same network at the same time.

For example, if you use Converter Standalone to test whether you can run a Virtual PC virtual machine as a VMware virtual machine without first decommissioning the original Virtual PC machine, you must first resolve the duplicate ID problem. You can resolve this problem by customizing the virtual machines in the Conversion or the Configuration wizard.

Changes to Virtual Hardware After Virtual Machine Migration

After conversion, most applications function correctly on the VMware virtual machine because their configuration and data files have the same location as on the source virtual machine. However, applications might not work if they depend on specific characteristics of the underlying hardware, such as the serial number or the device manufacturer.

Several hardware changes might occur after you migrate a virtual machine.

Table 1 2. Hardware Changes After Virtual Machine Migration

Hardware

Behavior

 

 

CPU model and serial numbers

Might change after migration. They correspond to the physical computer

 

hosting the VMware virtual machine.

 

 

Ethernet adapters

Might change for AMD PCNet or VMXnet and get different MAC addresses.

 

The IP address of each interface must be individually reconfigured.

 

 

USB adapters

Might be updated during the cloning process.

 

 

Graphics cards

Might change after migration (VMware SVGA card).

 

 

16

VMware, Inc.

 

Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware vCenter Converter Standalone

Table 1 2. Hardware Changes After Virtual Machine Migration (Continued)

 

 

Hardware

Behavior

 

 

Disks and partitions

The number of disks and partitions might change 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.

 

 

Applications that depend on devices that are not available within a virtual machine might not work after you migrate the virtual machine.

VMware, Inc.

17

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

18

VMware, Inc.

System Requirements

2

You must consider the compatibilities and the interoperabilities among the systems on which and with which the Converter Standalone components work.

This chapter includes the following topics:

n“Supported Operating Systems,” on page 19

n“Supported Firmware Interfaces,” on page 20

n“Supported Source Types,” on page 21

n“Supported Destination Types,” on page 22

n“Supported Source Disk Types,” on page 23

n“Supported Destination Disk Types,” on page 24

n“Support for IPv6 in Converter Standalone,” on page 25

n“Installation Space Requirements,” on page 25

n“Screen Resolution Requirements,” on page 26

n“Configuring Permissions for vCenter Users,” on page 26

n“TCP/IP and UDP Port Requirements for Conversion,” on page 26

n“Requirements for Remote Hot Cloning of Windows Operating Systems,” on page 28

Supported Operating Systems

You can install Converter Standalone 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 cannot reconfigure Linux distributions.

Table 2 1. Supported Operating Systems

 

Converter

Source for Powered

Source for Virtual

 

 

Standalone

On Machine

Machine

Configuration

Supported Operating Systems

Support

Conversions

Conversions

Source

 

 

 

 

 

Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-bit

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

and 64-bit) SP2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

SP2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

64-bit) SP2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

VMware, Inc.

19

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

Table 2 1. Supported Operating Systems (Continued)

 

Converter

Source for Powered

Source for Virtual

 

 

Standalone

On Machine

Machine

Configuration

Supported Operating Systems

Support

Conversions

Conversions

Source

 

 

 

 

 

Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

Windows Server 2012 (64-bit)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

Windows Server 2012 R2(64-bit)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

 

 

CentOS 6.x (32-bit and 64-bit)

No

Yes

Yes

No

 

 

 

 

 

CentOS 7.0 (64-bit)

No

Yes

Yes

No

 

 

 

 

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.x (32-

No

Yes

Yes

No

bit and 64-bit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x (32-

No

Yes

Yes

No

bit and 64-bit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x (32-

No

Yes

Yes

No

bit and 64-bit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x (64-

No

Yes

Yes

No

bit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9.x

No

Yes

Yes

No

(32-bit and 64-bit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10.x

No

Yes

Yes

No

(32-bit and 64-bit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.x

No

Yes

Yes

No

(32-bit and 64-bit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ubuntu 12.04 (32-bit and 64-bit)

No

Yes

Yes

No

 

 

 

 

 

Ubuntu 14.x (32-bit and 64-bit)

No

Yes

Yes

No

 

 

 

 

 

Supported Firmware Interfaces

With Converter Standalone you can perform conversions from BIOS and UEFI sources.

Converter Standalone preserves the firmware interface during the conversion. You cannot convert BIOS sources to UEFI destinations and the reverse.

For UEFI sources, the supported destination types are Workstation 10.0 and later, ESXi 5.0 and later, and vCenter Server 5.0 and later.

Table 2 2. Supported Sources Based on Operating System and Firmware Interface

Operating System

BIOS

64-Bit UEFI

 

 

 

Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2

Yes

No

 

 

 

Windows Vista SP2

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Windows Server 2008 SP2

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Windows Server 2008 R2

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Windows 7

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Windows 8

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Windows 8.1

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Windows Server 2012

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

20

VMware, Inc.

 

 

Chapter 2 System Requirements

Table 2 2. Supported Sources Based on Operating System and Firmware Interface (Continued)

 

 

 

Operating System

BIOS

64-Bit UEFI

 

 

 

Windows Server 2012 R2

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

CentOS 6.x

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

CentOS 7.x

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.x

Yes

No

 

 

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x

Yes

No

 

 

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

Yes

No

10.x

 

 

 

 

 

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

Yes

No

11.x

 

 

 

 

 

Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Ubuntu 14.x

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

Supported Source Types

With Converter Standalone, you can convert remote powered on machines, powered off VMware virtual machines, Hyper-V Server virtual machines, and other third-party virtual machines and system images.

Table 2 3. Supported Sources

Source Type

Sources

 

 

Powered on machines

n Remote Windows physical machines

 

n Remote Linux physical machines

 

n Local Windows physical machines

 

n Powered on VMware virtual machines

 

n Powered on Hyper-V Server virtual machines

 

n Powered on virtual machines running under Red Hat KVM or RHEL XEN

VMware vCenter virtual machines

Powered off virtual machines managed by the following servers:

nvCenter Server 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0

nESX 4.0 and 4.1

nESXi 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0

VMware virtual machines

Powered off hosted virtual machines running on the following VMware products:

 

n VMware Workstation 10.x and 11.0

 

n

VMware Fusion 6.x and 7.0

 

n

VMware Player 6.x and 7.0

 

 

 

VMware, Inc.

21

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

Table 2 3. Supported Sources (Continued)

Source Type

Sources

 

 

Hyper-V Server virtual

For Hyper-V Server versions distributed with Windows Server 2008 R2, powered off

machines

virtual machines with the following guest operating systems:

 

n Windows Server 2003 (x86 and x64) SP1 and SP2

 

n Windows Server 2003 (x86 and x64) R2 SP1 and SP2

 

n Windows Server 2008 (x86 and x64) SP2

 

n Windows Server 2008 (x64) R2 and R2 SP1

 

n Windows 7 (except Home editions)

 

n Windows Vista SP1 and SP2 (except Home editions)

 

For other Hyper-V Server sources, perform the procedure for powered on source

 

machines.

 

 

Third-party virtual machines

n Acronis True Image Echo 9.1 and 9.5, and Acronis True Image Home 10 and 11

or system images

(.tib).

 

n Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery (formerly LiveState Recovery) 6.5, 7.0, 8.0,

 

and 8.5, and LiveState Recovery 3.0 and 6.0 (.sv2i format only).

 

n Norton Ghost version 10.0, 12.0, and 14.0 (.sv2i format only).

 

n Parallels Desktop 2.5, 3.0, and 4.0 (.pvs and .hdd). Compressed disks are not

 

supported.

 

n Parallels Workstation 2.x (.pvs). Compressed disks are not supported. Parallels

 

Virtuozzo Containers are not supported.

 

n StorageCraft ShadowProtect Desktop, ShadowProtect Server, ShadowProtect Small

 

Business Server (SBS), ShadowProtect IT Edition, versions 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2

 

(.spf).

 

n The Microsoft VHD format for the following sources:

 

n Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 and Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (.vmc)

 

n Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and 2005 R2 (.vmc)

 

 

Supported Destination Types

With Converter Standalone, you can create virtual machines compatible with VMware hosted and managed products.

Table 2 4. Supported Destinations

Destination Type

Supported Versions

 

 

VMware vCenter virtual machines

Managed destinations

 

n ESX 4.0 and 4.1

 

n ESXi 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0

 

n vCenter Server 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0

 

 

VMware hosted virtual machines

Hosted destinations

 

n VMware Workstation 10.x and 11.0

 

n VMware Fusion 6.x and 7.0

 

n VMware Player 6.x and 7.0

 

 

For UEFI sources, the supported destination types are Workstation 10.0 and later, ESXi 5.0 and later, and vCenter Server 5.0 and later.

22

VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 System Requirements

Supported Source Disk Types

Converter Standalone supports conversions from master boot record (MBR) and GUID partition table (GPT) disks with some limitations that depend on the selected data cloning mode.

NOTE Converter Standalone preserves the partitioning scheme during the conversion. You cannot convert an MBR source disk to a GPT destination disk and the reverse.

Converter Standalone supports all types of basic and dynamic disks for disk-based conversions with the exception of GPT/MBR hybrid disks.

Table 2 5. Supported and Nonsupported Source Volumes and Disks

Source

Supported Volumes and Disks

Nonsupported Volumes and Disks

 

 

 

 

Virtual machine

n Basic volumes

n

RAID

 

n All types of dynamic volumes

n

GPT/MBR hybrid disks

 

n Master boot record (MBR) disks

n

RDM disks

 

n GUID partition table (GPT) disks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Powered on machine

n All types of source volumes that

n

RAID

 

the operating system recognizes

n

GPT/MBR hybrid disks

 

n GUID partition table (GPT) disks

n Linux volumes mounted by Device

 

n Master boot record (MBR) disks

 

Mapper multipath

 

 

 

 

VMware, Inc.

23

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

Supported Destination Disk Types

Several destination disk types might be available for the selected destination.

Table 2 6. Destination Disk Types

Destination

Available Disk Types

 

 

 

VMware vSphere virtual machine

Thick

Copies the entire source disk size to the

 

 

 

destination, regardless of its used and

 

 

free space.

 

Thin

For managed destinations that support

 

 

thin provisioning through GUI, creates

 

 

an expanding disk on the destination.

 

 

For example, if the source disk size is

 

 

10GB, but only 3GB is used, the created

 

 

destination disk is 3GB but can expand

 

 

to 10GB.

 

Managed destinations of virtual machine version 10 and

 

later support disks up to 62TB in size. Earlier virtual

 

machine versions support up to 2TB disks.

 

 

 

VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine

Pre-

Copies the entire source disk size to the

 

 

allocated

destination, regardless of its used and

 

 

free space.

Not preallocated

Creates an expanding disk on the destination. For example, if the source disk size is 20GB, but only 5GB is used, the created 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.

Split preallocated

Split not preallocated

For disks smaller than 2TB, splits the source disk into 2GB sections on the destination.

For disks larger than 2TB, splits the source disk into 2TB sections on the destination.

For disks smaller than 2TB, creates 2GB sections on the destination that include only the real used space on the source disk. As the destination disk grows, new 2GB sections are created to accommodate the new data until the size reaches that of the original source disk.

For disks larger than 2TB, creates 2TB sections on the destination that include only the real used space on the source disk. As the destination disk grows, new 2TB sections are created to accommodate the new data until the size reaches that of the original source disk.

24

VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 System Requirements

Table 2 6. Destination Disk Types (Continued)

Destination

Available Disk Types

Hosted destinations of virtual machines support up to 8TB disks.

Hosted destinations support disks sizes larger than 2040GB only if the Split not pre-allocated disk type is selected.

To support destination virtual disks on FAT file systems, split the source data into 2GB files.

Support for IPv6 in Converter Standalone

Converter Standalone supports both IPv4 and IPv6 Internet protocols with several limitations.

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6 or IPng) is the successor to Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), which is the currently used protocol for assigning IP addresses to computers on the Internet. IPv6 was adopted to overcome the expected exhaustion of IPv4 addresses that might be caused by the constantly increasing number of computers on the Internet.

While IPv4 uses 32bit addresses, IPv6 uses 128bit. IPv6 addresses can have different formats or notations.

n1040:0:0:0:0:0:0:1

n1040::1

n21DA:00D3:0010:2F3B:02AA:00FF:FE28:9C5A

n[2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319:8a2e:0370:7344]:443

Converter Standalone supports all IPv6 notations for all components of the system.

nConverter Standalone installer

nConverter Standalone client

nConverter Standalone agent

nAll destinations supported in Converter Standalone

Along with the higher security level and much larger address space, IPv6 brings about some compatibility tasks that have not been resolved yet. For example, IPv4-only nodes cannot communicate directly with IPv6 nodes and need additional routing. This makes the end-to-end support of mixed IPv4 and IPv6 environments precarious.

Installation Space Requirements

During installation, you can select the Converter Standalone components that you want to install. All components require different amounts of free disk space to install.

Table 2-7 shows the disk space required to install Converter Standalone and its components.

Table 2 7. Installation Space Requirements

 

 

Disk Space Requirement for Decompressed

Installation Component

Disk Space Required

Files

 

 

 

Installation file

100MB

100MB

 

 

 

vCenter Converter client

25MB

25MB

 

 

 

vCenter Converter server

120MB

300MB

 

 

 

vCenter Converter agent

25MB

100MB

 

 

 

VMware, Inc.

25

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

Screen Resolution Requirements

To display wizards properly, Converter Standalone requires a screen resolution of at least 1024x768 pixels.

Configuring Permissions for vCenter Users

To convert virtual machines to vCenter Server machines with Converter Standalone, you must have certain vCenter Server permissions set at the datacenter level.

To start using Converter Standalone, you need to set a number of minimum privileges at the datacenter level.

nDatastore.Allocate space

nDatastore.Browse datastore

nHost.Local operations.Create virtual machine

nHost.Local operations.Delete virtual machine

nHost.Local operations.Reconfigure virtual machine

nNetwork.Assign network (required only if you plan to connect the destination virtual machine to a network)

nResource.Assign virtual machine to resource pool

nVirtual machine.Configuration

nVirtual machine.Interaction.Power On (required only if you choose to power on the destination virtual machine after conversion)

nVirtual machine.Inventory

nVirtual machine.Provisioning.Allow disk access

nVirtual machine.Provisioning.Allow read-only disk access

Converting Linux and powered on Windows machines might require a number of additional vCenter Server privileges.

nVirtual machine.Interaction.Configure CD media (required only if you need to boot a converted Linux virtual machine to install media after the conversion)

nVirtual machine.Snapshot management.Create snapshot (required only if you want to synchronize changes between the source and destination Windows virtual machine)

nVirtual machine.Snapshot management.Remove Snapshot (required only if you want to synchronize changes between the source and destination Windows virtual machine)

For more information about setting permissions, see the vSphere Datacenter Administration Guide.

TCP/IP and UDP Port Requirements for Conversion

To enable conversion, the Converter Standalone server and client must be able to send data to each other, to remote machines, and to vCenter Server. Also, the source and destination hosts must receive data from each other. Designated ports are reserved for this communication.

If any of these ports is blocked, the corresponding conversion task fails.

Ports Used When Converting a Powered On Machine Running Windows

Table 2-8 contains a list of the ports that must be open during the conversion of powered on source machines running Windows.

26

VMware, Inc.

 

 

Chapter 2 System Requirements

Table 2 8. Ports Required During Windows P2V

 

 

 

 

 

Communication

 

Communication Paths

Ports

Notes

 

 

 

Converter Standalone server to

TCP - 445, 139,

If the source computer uses NetBIOS, port 445 is not required.

powered on source machine

9089

If NetBIOS is not being used, ports 137, 138, and 139 are not

 

UDP - 137, 138

required. When in doubt, make sure that none of the ports are

 

 

blocked.

 

 

NOTE Unless you have installed Converter Standalone server

 

 

or agent on the source computer, the account used for

 

 

authentication to the source computer must have a password,

 

 

network file sharing must be enabled on the source computer,

 

 

and Simple File Sharing must not be used.

 

 

 

Converter Standalone server to

TCP - 443

Required only if the conversion destination is a

vCenter Server

 

vCenter Server.

 

 

 

Converter Standalone client to

TCP - 443

Required only if the Converter Standalone server and client

vCenter Server

 

components are on different machines.

 

 

 

Converter Standalone server to the

TCP - 902

Converter server always requires access to ESX/ESXi at port

destination ESX/ESXi

 

902.

 

 

 

Powered on source machine to

TCP - 443, 902

If the conversion destination is vCenter Server, only port 902 is

ESX/ESXi

 

required.

If the proxy mode feature is on, port 902 is not required.

Ports Used When Converting a Powered On Machine Running Linux

Table 2-9 contains a list of the ports that must be open during the conversion of powered on source machines running Linux.

Table 2 9. Ports Required During Linux P2V

Communication Paths

TCP Ports

Notes

 

 

 

Converter Standalone server to

22

Used to establish an SSH connection between the

powered on source machine

 

Converter Standalone server and the source machine.

 

 

 

Converter Standalone client to

443

Required only if the Converter Standalone server and client

Converter Standalone server

 

components are on different machines.

 

 

 

Converter Standalone server to

443

Required only if the conversion destination is a vCenter Server.

vCenter Server

 

 

 

 

 

Converter Standalone server to

443, 902

If the conversion destination is a vCenter Server, only port 902 is

ESX/ESXi

 

required.

 

 

 

Converter Standalone server to helper

443

 

virtual machine

 

 

 

 

 

Helper virtual machine to powered on

22

Used to establish an SSH connection between the helper virtual

source machine

 

machine and the source machine. By default, the IP address of

 

 

the helper virtual machine is assigned by DHCP. If no DHCP

 

 

server is available on the destination network, you must

 

 

manually assign the helper virtual machine an IP address.

 

 

 

Ports Used When Converting Virtual Machine Sources

Table 2-10 contains a list of the ports that must be open during the conversion of virtual machines.

VMware, Inc.

27

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

Table 2 10. Ports Required During V2V

 

Communication

 

Communication Paths

Ports

Notes

Converter Standalone server to

TCP - 445, 139

Fileshare path

UPD - 137, 138

Required only for standalone virtual machine sources or destinations. If the computer hosting the source or destination path uses NetBIOS, port 445 is not required. If NetBIOS is not being used, ports 137, 138, and 139 are not required. When in doubt, make sure that none of the ports are blocked.

Converter Standalone client to

TCP - 443

Required only if the Converter Standalone server and client

Converter Standalone server

 

components are on different machines.

 

 

 

Converter Standalone server to

TCP - 443

Required only if the conversion destination is a

vCenter Server

 

vCenter Server.

 

 

 

Converter Standalone server to

TCP - 443, 902

If the conversion destination is a vCenter Server, only port

ESX/ESXi

 

902 is required.

 

 

 

Requirements for Remote Hot Cloning of Windows Operating Systems

To avoid problems related to permissions and network access, ensure that simple file sharing is turned off and that Windows Firewall does not block file and printer sharing. Also, to access file and printer sharing ports, you might need to change the scope of the IP addresses that the firewall allows.

To ensure successful remote hot cloning of Windows platforms, verify the following conditions on the source machine before you start the application:

nEnsure that simple file sharing is turned off.

nEnsure that file and printer sharing is not blocked by Windows Firewall. You must allow incoming file share connections in the following situations:

nWhen you use the machine to host standalone images

nWhen you use the machine as a standalone destination

nWhen you hot clone the machine remotely

For Windows Vista and later, you must either use an administrator account for Converter Standalone when logging to the source machine, or disable UAC on the source machine.

To enable customization of the guest operating system, install Sysprep files on the machine where Converter Standalone server runs.

Ensure that Windows Firewall Does Not Block File and Printer Sharing

If Converter Standalone fails to connect to a remote Windows machine and issues a bad username/password error message, ensure that file and printer sharing is not blocked by Windows Firewall.

Procedure

1 Select Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy.

2In the Security Settings list on the left, select Local Policies > Security Options.

3 In the policies list on the right, select Network access: Sharing and Security model for local accounts.

4Verify that Classic – local users authenticate as themselves is selected.

28

VMware, Inc.

Chapter 2 System Requirements

What to do next

For troubleshooting information about file and printer sharing, search the Microsoft TechNet Web site.

For information about setting file and printer sharing on other Windows systems, see the documentation for your system.

Prepare the Guest Operating System for Customization

To customize the guest operating system of a virtual machine that runs Windows Server 2003, you must save the Sysprep files to the specified locations on the machine where Converter Standalone server runs.

If Sysprep files are missing from the server machine, the Customize Guest OS option is not accessible in the Converter Standalone wizards.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have obtained the Sysprep files that correspond to the source operating system. You can download the Sysprep files from the Microsoft Download Center.

Procedure

uSave the Sysprep files that correspond to the source operating system on the machine where Converter Standalone server runs.

If you have downloaded a .cab file, you need to extract its contents. If you have downloaded an .exe file, double-click the downloaded file to start the Sysprep installation.

Operating System

Action

Windows Server 2003 (32bit)

Save the Sysprep files in %ALLUSERSPROFILE

 

%\Application Data\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter

 

Standalone\sysprep\svr2003

 

 

Windows Server 2003 (64bit)

Save the Sysprep files in %ALLUSERSPROFILE

 

%\Application Data\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter

 

Standalone\sysprep\svr2003-64

 

 

What to do next

You can now customize Windows Server 2003 (32bit and 64bit) guest operating system by using the Conversion or the Configuration wizard.

VMware, Inc.

29

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

30

VMware, Inc.

Loading...
+ 74 hidden pages