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Minimizing P2V trouble with VMware Converter

PostDateIcon December 29th, 2008 | PostAuthorIcon Author: Rich Brambley

Since P2V conversions with VMware Converter have been on my mind (and my schedule!) the last few months I figured I’d go ahead and discuss the best practices for troubleshooting failed P2V migrations of Windows physical machines to VMware virtual infrastructure. This post copies VMware KB article Best Practices using VMware Converter but with my own experience and opinions thrown in here and there.

I want all readers to understand that all of the recommendations listed are not always necessary, but instead should be systematically tried as needed when experiencing troubles. Most P2V migrations with VMware Converter “just work” without any issues. Use these steps to troubleshoot that small percentage of conversions that fail without an obvious explanation.

VMware’s KB article starts off by saying the same thing with a few reminders:

To ensure the best possible results with VMware Converter, follow as many of the steps described below as possible. If you do not follow all of the steps and a problem results, attempt another conversion and follow the steps that were missed.

Note: These steps apply only to Windows operations system sources. Using VMware Converter to virtualize a Linux operating system is experimental. If this is required, attempt a cold migration, keeping all disks and partitions at their original size.

Note: The best approach to converting a Windows operating system to a virtual machine is to perform a hot migration with VMware Converter installed locally to the source operating system. If this is not possible, a remote hot migration is the next choice. Performing a cold migration is a final choice. (This is probably the biggest catch all recommendation in this KB article. Install VMware Converter locally on each source physical server if you have to! Besides, local installs also let you use the free Standard Edition to migrate directly to ESX – a limitation of the remote method for the free version)

Note: These steps are not a recommendation against using certain features of VMware Converter in normal daily use. They are meant as troubleshooting steps to be taken that can correct a problem by eliminating variables and simplifying a conversion environment.

Before and during a conversion

    Do not plan for or try to P2V Domain controllers. It’s too easy to either create a new DC as a VM or to just demote to a member server before the P2V.

  1. Do not attempt to convert a Windows operating system that is currently functioning as a domain controller. Domain controllers are extremely sensitive to hardware changes and the virtual hardware presented to a virtual machine is different from the physical hardware presented to a physical machine. A virtual machine created from an active domain controller may exhibit unexpected behavior.VMware recommends removing a domain controller from its domain controller role, virtualizing it, then put the resulting virtual machine back into its domain controller role again.

    2. When in doubt, install VMware Converter directly on the source physical server to be migrated. Remove it after the successful P2V.

  2. Verify that you have the latest version of VMware Converter. If you are converting an operating system that does not have the latest version of VMware Converter installed:
    1. Uninstall VMware Converter from the source computer.
    2. Reboot the source computer.
    3. Install the newer version of VMware Converter.
  3. Install VMware Converter directly to the source operating system as a local administrator.Note:
    Using a domain administrator account may not be sufficient depending on your environment, and local and group policies. Using a local administrator account removes any possible permissions issues.

    Note: If the source operating system is Windows NT or Windows 2000, reboot it after installing VMware Converter.

  4. Confirm that the source operating system has 200 MB of free space on its system drive. (I always forget to check for the available free space!)
  5. Confirm that the VMware Converter related services are started on the source operating system.(personally, I just check the Services MMC, but you can do it from the command line too as follows)

    1. Open a command prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
    2. Type net start vstor2-p2v30 and press Enter.
    3. Type net start ufad-p2v and press Enter.
    4. If the source operating system is Windows NT or Windows 2000:

      1. Type net start “tcp/ip netbios helper service” and press Enter.
      2. Type net start stcp2v30 and press Enter.

      Otherwise:

      1. Type net start “tcp/ip netbios helper” and press Enter
      2. Type net start vss and press Enter.
  6. If the virtual machine target host is an ESX Server, verify that ports 443 and 902 are open between the source operating system and the ESX Server host. For more information, see Testing port connectivity with the Telnet command (1003487).Note: To eliminate variables and a possible source of problems convert to an ESX Server rather than to VirtualCenter. (as simple as this sounds, it has been quite effective for me on certain stubborn migrations. In fact, it’s been a while since I pointed Converter at a VC)
  7. Run the Windows System Configuration utility(msconfig) on the source operating system to eliminate all software except for Microsoft and VMware. For more information, see Using the Windows System Configuration utility (1004010).(I usually just stop the applications and services in the Services MMC and then remove the unneeded software after P2V. That way I have the exact version of the server to fall back to if the P2V just won’t work.)
  8. Run VMware Converter as a local administrator.Note:
    Using a domain administrator account may not be sufficient depending on your environment and local or group policies. Using a local administrator account removes any possible permissions issues.
  9. Do not convert unwanted disk partitions or diagnostic partitions. (They usually are very small and have a ? icon next to them in Converter)
  10. Do not resize any drives or partitions. (another simple fix to unexplained failures. As much as you want to reclaim some space or give some breathing room to an application, you may have to wait until after the P2V.)
  11. Use the IP address of the ESX Server host.Note: Using the host name of the ESX Server may expose issues with name resolution that can prevent the conversion from completing. (bad DNS and reverse lookup will kill you in so many ways with VI. You’ve got to get it right)
  12. Authenticate to the ESX Server host as root.
  13. Confirm that you are providing a unique name for the target virtual machine.
  14. Leave the default number of NICs unaltered.(never had to do this myself to save a P2V)
    Note: This can be changed when the conversion is successful.
  15. Do not install Tools during the conversion. (a good thing to try first. I’ve seen too many conversions fail at 94 to 97 percent complete, the VM still boots, and the VM tools are dragging along. Uninstall, reinstall, and a general fight ensues as the OS tries to recognize the new HAL. Can be eliminated by manually doing the VM tools install later)
  16. Do not customize the virtual machine during the conversion. (is this really done? It’s a great feature, but I have never used it)

After a conversion

  1. If required, change the number of NICs assigned to the virtual machine.
  2. If the virtual machine is being hosted on an ESX Server host, remove any virtual USB ports.
  3. Boot the virtual machine in Safe Mode. For more information, see Booting into Safe Mode (1004011).
  4. Run Device Manager and disable or uninstall all devices that show a yellow exclamation point beside them.

    1. Click Start>Run.
    2. Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.
    3. Click View>Show hidden devices.
    4. Right-click an entry that has a yellow exclamation point beside it.
    5. Click Disable or click Uninstall.
      Note: Not all devices have Disable and Uninstall listed as an available option. If there is a device that does not,
      click the option that is listed. If both are listed, clicking either one is sufficient.
    6. remove hidden devices with this vmetc.com how to post too
  5. Reboot the operating system.
  6. If the source operating system was installed on a physical machine, uninstall any software that was specific to its physical hardware that is no longer available.

    1. Click Start>Run.
    2. Type appwiz.cpl and press Enter. (Add Remove Programs in Control Panel I assume!)
    3. Click on the entry for the software.
    4. Click Change/Remove or Uninstall/Change depending on the version of Windows.
    5. Repeat c and d for each piece of software to be removed. Do not reboot, even if prompted.
    6. Reboot the operating system after all software is removed.
  7. Install VMware Tools.
  8. If the Windows System Configuration utility(msconfig) startup is still in effect on the virtual machine, switch back to a normal boot configuration and reboot.
  9. If required, customize the machine. This can be done by manually changing its computer name, IP address, and other required unique identification or by using the Microsoft Sysprep utility.

Conducting hot P2V migrations with VMware Converter by Eric Siebert on http://searchvmware.techtarget.com is another great referenece for troubleshooting P2V migrations.
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  • http://www.betka.net/wordpress/ Hoosier

    Nice timeliness, I have a P2V scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. And, I was going to do a DC P2V, but we backed off on that after reading about all the potential issues.

  • http://www.betka.net/wordpress/ Hoosier

    Nice timeliness, I have a P2V scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. And, I was going to do a DC P2V, but we backed off on that after reading about all the potential issues.

  • http://www.aj3u.com A.J. Farmer

    Before reading this article, I did a successful P2V of a Windows 2000 DC using VMWare Converter. I just installed VMWare Converter on the DC and ran the conversion with pretty much all default options. I had no issues at all. I guess ignorance was bliss in my case. These are good tips to have in the case of failed P2V conversions though. Thanks!

  • http://www.aj3u.com A.J. Farmer

    Before reading this article, I did a successful P2V of a Windows 2000 DC using VMWare Converter. I just installed VMWare Converter on the DC and ran the conversion with pretty much all default options. I had no issues at all. I guess ignorance was bliss in my case. These are good tips to have in the case of failed P2V conversions though. Thanks!

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Hoosier,

    Glad to be able to provide a sanity check for you! ;)

    A.J.

    True, it can work, but I would not chance it again. Did you have a single DC or a multi DC environment? I’ve seen more tombstoned DCs and replication errors between multi DCs than any other issues after p2v.

  • http://vmetc.com Rich

    Hoosier,

    Glad to be able to provide a sanity check for you! ;)

    A.J.

    True, it can work, but I would not chance it again. Did you have a single DC or a multi DC environment? I’ve seen more tombstoned DCs and replication errors between multi DCs than any other issues after p2v.

  • Pingback: Minimizing P2V trouble with VMware Converter « H9Newser’s Blog

  • http://www.platespin.com mark

    Hi Everyone,

    For all those who want to multi-task and acoomplish while your migrations are running live in the backgroud, its time to look into PlateSpin. We offer a ‘real-world’ P2V migration solution that will handle DCs and all critical applications seamlessly. Live, file based, block based migrations with incremental synch allowsing for certification testing is just the beginning. We have diags to analyze failed migrations and if that doesn’t work call support that comes with your migrations.

    Failed migrations equate to wasted time, and we help manage migrations and scale the number of migrations to drastically reduce the amount of time you spend on this time consuming task.

    With 7000 customers and VMworld 2008 Best Migraiton Award, you can trust your migrations with us.

    I encourage you to visit this link to determine if PlateSpin is a good fit for you: http://www.platespin.com/Solutions/index.aspx

  • http://www.platespin.com mark

    Hi Everyone,

    For all those who want to multi-task and acoomplish while your migrations are running live in the backgroud, its time to look into PlateSpin. We offer a ‘real-world’ P2V migration solution that will handle DCs and all critical applications seamlessly. Live, file based, block based migrations with incremental synch allowsing for certification testing is just the beginning. We have diags to analyze failed migrations and if that doesn’t work call support that comes with your migrations.

    Failed migrations equate to wasted time, and we help manage migrations and scale the number of migrations to drastically reduce the amount of time you spend on this time consuming task.

    With 7000 customers and VMworld 2008 Best Migraiton Award, you can trust your migrations with us.

    I encourage you to visit this link to determine if PlateSpin is a good fit for you: http://www.platespin.com/Solutions/index.aspx

  • http://www.holy-vm.com David Strebel

    Rich
    Great Post! Have you seen with using the built in P2V Converter plugin in VI3. That sometimes it gives an error that the .vmx already exists, but is no where to be found. I find the built in converter plugin to be flaky at times.

  • http://www.holy-vm.com David Strebel

    Rich
    Great Post! Have you seen with using the built in P2V Converter plugin in VI3. That sometimes it gives an error that the .vmx already exists, but is no where to be found. I find the built in converter plugin to be flaky at times.

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Mark,

    Thanks for the info about Platespin. I done my share of Platespin PowerConvert migrations too, and it is a great alternative to VMware Converter. I’ve seen my share of failed Platespin migrations as well, but it has been a while since I’ve used the tool.

    There is no doubt that if a company needs to migrate a large number of VMs in a small outage window Platespin should be looked at closely, but I think most VI 3.5 Enterprise customers will use VMware Converter because they already own it when they buy the VI licences. BTW, VI 3.5 Enterprise customers get full support from VMware on Converter too.

    As far as the DCs and critical applications – I did not know that Platespin can handle a DC P2V now. I will have to research that some more. Critical applications are regularly migrated with VMware Converter as well, but the services are disabled for the P2V. If you are suggesting that PowerConvert can dynamically move a server with an application or service available to users then that is news to me too.

    Incremental sync is a great exclusive for PowerConvert – for now! ;)

  • http://www.vmetc.com Rich

    Mark,

    Thanks for the info about Platespin. I done my share of Platespin PowerConvert migrations too, and it is a great alternative to VMware Converter. I’ve seen my share of failed Platespin migrations as well, but it has been a while since I’ve used the tool.

    There is no doubt that if a company needs to migrate a large number of VMs in a small outage window Platespin should be looked at closely, but I think most VI 3.5 Enterprise customers will use VMware Converter because they already own it when they buy the VI licences. BTW, VI 3.5 Enterprise customers get full support from VMware on Converter too.

    As far as the DCs and critical applications – I did not know that Platespin can handle a DC P2V now. I will have to research that some more. Critical applications are regularly migrated with VMware Converter as well, but the services are disabled for the P2V. If you are suggesting that PowerConvert can dynamically move a server with an application or service available to users then that is news to me too.

    Incremental sync is a great exclusive for PowerConvert – for now! ;)

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    David,

    The only times I’ve seen the error that the .vmx or VM already exists is when it did exist already! Maybe you can’t see it in the VI client as a registered VM, but if you use the datastore browser and explore the LUN your failed p2v was targeted on you might find the VM volume there?

  • http://www.vmetc.com Rich

    David,

    The only times I’ve seen the error that the .vmx or VM already exists is when it did exist already! Maybe you can’t see it in the VI client as a registered VM, but if you use the datastore browser and explore the LUN your failed p2v was targeted on you might find the VM volume there?

  • http://www.vladan.fr Vladan

    Hi Rich,

    I tried the P2V of our DC’s and even MS Exchange without any issue. Maybee I’m just lucky…. -:) but the conversion went smoothly.

    BTW there is another soft on the market which can do not only P2V convertions but also continuous P2V migration. I wrote an post about here:
    http://www.vladan.fr/p2v-from-vizioncore-vconverter-4/

  • http://www.vladan.fr Vladan

    Hi Rich,

    I tried the P2V of our DC’s and even MS Exchange without any issue. Maybee I’m just lucky…. -:) but the conversion went smoothly.

    BTW there is another soft on the market which can do not only P2V convertions but also continuous P2V migration. I wrote an post about here:
    http://www.vladan.fr/p2v-from-vizioncore-vconverter-4/

  • Chris

    Thanks for the post, good timing for me as well. This is my first run at this. I’m trying to convert a Win2K Sp4 machine as well. I first tried to convert P2V remotely, but failed (didn’t read your post). Later I found installing VMWare converter on source machine could now find the ESX server. Thought I was good to go. But, now VMWare Convertor errors with “ERROR: Failed to take snapshot of a source volume.
    Possible causes include not having any NTFS volumes on Windows XP or Windows 2003 source systems,
    and not having enough free disk space.”
    Am I missing a step? There are NTFS volumes, but no XP or Windows 2003 OS, I’m working from a Windows 2000 machine. Thanks in advance on any comments.

  • Chris

    Thanks for the post, good timing for me as well. This is my first run at this. I’m trying to convert a Win2K Sp4 machine as well. I first tried to convert P2V remotely, but failed (didn’t read your post). Later I found installing VMWare converter on source machine could now find the ESX server. Thought I was good to go. But, now VMWare Convertor errors with “ERROR: Failed to take snapshot of a source volume.
    Possible causes include not having any NTFS volumes on Windows XP or Windows 2003 source systems,
    and not having enough free disk space.”
    Am I missing a step? There are NTFS volumes, but no XP or Windows 2003 OS, I’m working from a Windows 2000 machine. Thanks in advance on any comments.

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Chris,

    You did not mention it, so make sure you have at least 200 mb of free space on your OS partition. Do things like a Windows disk cleanup, temporarily move the windows swap file to another partition if possible, and most importantly run a disk defrag and a chkdsk (requires reboot). Disk defrag has been a huge help for me in the past.

    Check out this VMware Communities thread too http://communities.vmware.com/thread/83721

    Also make sure all non windows services are stopped before running the p2v again.

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