VMware Converter Enterprise Update 1 for VirtualCenter 2.5
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| Operating System on Which Converter Enterprise Server is Installed |
Compatible Source Virtual Machine or Third-Party Image Operating System | ||||
| Windows NT | Windows 2000 | Windows XP | Windows 2003 | Windows Vista | |
| Windows 2000 | X | X | |||
| Windows XP Pro | X | X | X | X | X |
| Windows 2003 Server SP1 | X | X | X | X | X |
| Windows 2003 Server R2 | X | X | X | X | X |
Interoperability and Supported Guest Operating Systems
VMware Converter Enterprise for VirtualCenter 2.5 supports the following sources and destinations:
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Import from Physical Machines (Source) |
Import from Various Third-Party Formats and VMware Products (Source) |
Export to a Virtual Machine for VMware Hosted and Datacenter Products (Destination) |
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Operating systems that can be imported to VI3 virtual machines using hot or cold cloning:
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For conditions and limitations in importing StorageCraft ShadowProtect, Acronis True Image, and Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery images, see the VMware Converter Enterprise for VirtualCenter Administration Guide.
Support for the following guest operating systems is Experimental. VMware Converter Enterprise for VirtualCenter can clone source images containing these operating systems, but the destination virtual machine may or may not work without additional configuration after import. In particular, if the source image contains unsupported hardware, you might need to modify the configuration of the destination virtual machine before using it:
- Linux
- Windows NT 3.x
- Windows ME
- Windows 98
- Windows 95
- MS-DOS
Known Issues
This VMware Converter Enterprise release contains the following known issues.
Powering on a Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 image containing a Windows NT guest causes a critical system error
After a successful import, a blue screen appears on startup when you use Converter Enterprise Server to import a Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 image containing a Windows NT guest to an ESX Server destination. This issue is seen consistently across all ESX Server destinations: ESX Server 3i, 3.5, 3.0 and 2.5.
Reimporting a failed or canceled Converter Enterprise import task might fail with source in use
If you try to rerun a failed or cancelled import task immediately after cancellation or failure, Converter Enterprise might fail and report that the source machine is in use. When an import task fails or is cancelled, VMware Infrastructure Client immediately indicates this, but it takes a few minutes for Converter to remove the target virtual machine. Before trying to reimport the source machine, wait for the target virtual machine to be removed. This is indicated by the successful completion of the "Destroy Virtual Machine task" (generated by Converter Enterprise server) in the task pane of the Virtual Center client.
Converter operations to VirtualCenter fail when the source machine disk size is greater than 256 GB
When VMware Converter Enterprise tries to import a source machine containing a disk size greater than 256 GB, virtual machine creation fails. This is a Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) limitation. By default, when you create a datastore the block size limit is 1 MB. To increase the file size, create a VMFS3 datastore with a larger block size.
- VMFS2: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 MB
- VMFS3: 1, 2, 4, or 8 MB
Windows misinterprets Converter Enterprise service termination
In some instances, when you stop the Converter Enterprise service from the Windows Management console or by using net stop, Windows misinterprets the action and issues the following error message: The process terminated unexpectedly. You can ignore the error message. This is the intended Converter behavior.
Restarting VirtualCenter Server when Converter Enterprise is importing a virtual machine causes out of sync inventory
If you restart VirtualCenter Server during an import, the Recent Tasks pane does not show the running Converter tasks. The target virtual machine is unusable if VirtualCenter Server is stopped while the import task is running. You must remove the target virtual machine and reimport it.
Importing a Windows Vista source machine with invalid customization values corrupts the destination machine
The destination virtual machine issues an error message and reboots over and over if any of the following situations occur when you customize your Windows Vista source machine:
- The product key is incorrect
- The domain name or domain administrator credentials are invalid
- The domain controller is unreachable because, for example, the virtual machine has no network connectivity or the domain controller is not in the network.
Converter Enterprise Server remote agent deployment fails on Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit systems
Converter Enterprise agent remotely hot clones the remote source to the destination managed by VirtualCenter Server 2.5. However, in the case of Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit, the remote agent is deployed but fails to run. Therefore, these systems cannot be remotely hot cloned.
Workaround 1: Power off the remote source. Use the Vmware Converter Enterprise Boot CD to import the system by cold cloning.
Workaround 2: Turn off Windows Vista User Account Control (UAC) before beginning the remote hot clone. For more information, search on the Microsoft Web site for the "Windows User Account Control Step-by-Step Guide."
VMware Converter Enterprise cannot read short host names
If you log in to VMware Infrastructure Client by using a short machine name for Virtual Center that is resolvable by the client machine but not by Converter Enterprise agent, the agent fails to connect to VirtualCenter. When Converter Enterprise Server tries to contact the VirtualCenter server during the remote hot clone setup, the following error message is issued: Unable to find the server . Verify that the server name is correct and then try again.
Workaround: Log in by using a fully qualified host name or IP address in VMware Infrastructure client. Alternatively, you can ensure that the short host name of the VirtualCenter Server is resolvable from the remote source.
Converter Enterprise allows import of powered on hosted sources
Converter Enterprise allows import of powered on or suspended hosted sources, but this action is not supported. The tool must terminate with an error message when you try to import a Workstation 5.5 or 6.0 source machine.
Workaround: Shut down and power off the virtual machine before importing it.
Setting the firewall on Windows systems to allow incoming file share connections
To allow incoming file share connections, you must set Windows Firewall in the following cases:
- When the machine is used to host standalone images
- When the machine is used as a standalone destination
- When the machine will be remotely hot cloned
Windows XP
- Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Windows Firewall.
- Click the Exceptions tab and select File and Printer Sharing.
- Click Edit.
- For each listed port, click Change Scope and select Custom list.
- Add the range of IP addresses that need access.
Windows Vista
- Open the Control Panel and select Administrative tools > Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.
- Double-click Inbound rules and in the list of rules, select the rule(s) for File and Printer Sharing (SMB-in).
- Select View Properties and under Properties, select Scope and select Remote IP address.
- Any IP address
- Custom list of IP addresses which need access to the file server (By default, this list contains "local subnet")
Importing an Acronis image of a system with dynamic disks fails
In some circumstances, importing an Acronis image of a system with dynamic disk fails with the following error message: Guest OS not found. VMware Converter Enterprise does not support importing system images with dynamic disks.
VMware Converter Enterprise for VirtualCenter installation wizard stops responding when mapping multiple Converter Enterprise Servers to
the same VirtualCenter Server
VMware Converter Enterprise for Virtual Center supports mapping one Converter Enterprise Server to one VirtualCenter Server. If you are
installing Converter Enterprise Server and map it to a VirtualCenter Server that already has an associated Converter Enterprise Server, the
installation wizard hangs. To avoid this problem, make sure to map each Converter Enterprise Server to a unique VirtualCenter Server.
Manual uninstall of VMware Converter Enterprise Agent from remote source physical machine may be required
In some cases, manual cleanup of the Converter Enterprise Agent may be required. You can uninstall VMware Converter Enterprise Agent from the Add/Remove Programs control panel
on the source physical machine.
Source with mixed IDE and SCSI disks might not produce a bootable virtual machine
A source machine with both SCSI and IDE disks has the IDE disks attached to the end of the disk list.
If the source machine boots from an IDE disk, the target virtual machine created by Converter Enterprise boots from the wrong
disk because a VMware virtual machine looks for the first disk in the disk list. Workaround:
- Boot the imported virtual machine and press F2 to enter the BIOS
- Go to the Boot menu
- Highlight the Hard Drive row and press Enter
- Change the boot order of the disks so that the system disk is first
- Continue
Sysprep deletes drive letter mappings if your task includes customization
If you choose customization options and the destination virtual machine fails at a "Please Wait" screen after
the second, sysprep reboot, you will need to rerun the import without customization. This problem occurs because of
a problem with Microsoft's sysprep, which has deleted the drive letter mappings, preventing access to certain files.
Windows NT Terminal Server (SP3) fails on boot after import
Error message:
**STOP : 0x0000007B
INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE
When you import some Windows NT machines with old service packs, the resulting virtual machine might fail on boot up.
Converter Enterprise upgrades the virtual machine's file system during the import process, and Windows NT systems with older
service packs cannot read upgraded NTFS. Workaround: Ensure that the SP on the source machine is high enough to read
newer NTFS file systems (SP4 and above).
Customization not applied if virtual machine manually restarted after reconfiguration
The process for customization occurs in this order:
- Customize the virtual machine image with Converter Enterprise and wait for 100% Complete
- Power on the virtual machine
- Wait for it to reboot automatically
- Sysprep processes the customizations
- Sysprep reboots the virtual machine
- The Windows operating system loads, and the network configurations occur
Converter Enterprise does not distinguish between physical serial ports and virtual serial ports on the source machine
Virtual serial ports are treated as physical serial ports during the migration. For instance, if a source machine has two physical
serial ports and two virtual serial ports, the import creates four serial ports on the destination machine.
Importing a Windows 2000 virtual machine fails when an OEM-type partition is selected When selecting individual volumes for a clone, with or without resizing the volumes, do not select any OEM or diagnostic partitions on the disk. The only volumes needed are the active, system, and any data partitions.
Cloning a large disk with lots of free space to an ESX Server destination fails
Selecting "Import all disks and maintain size" on the Converter Enterprise import wizard Source Data page when converting a large disk
with lots of free space to an ESX Server destination can cause the import to fail. Check the logs, and if there are error
messages with NFC failures, use the "Import volumes . . ." method with or without resizing.
Converter Enterprise does not support, as destinations, clusters in which the VMware DRS is set to partially automated or fully automated.
Converter Enterprise can import to a cluster only if its DRS settings are set to manual instead of automatic.
New Import of a physical machine to an ESX server 3.x host destination requires port 902
During import of a physical machine source to an ESX server 3.x host destination, make sure that port 902 is not used by any other application.
New The VI client displays incorrect version of the Converter Enterprise server after upgrade
When the Converter Enterprise for Virtual Center server upgrades to the latest version, the Available tab continues to display the wrong version (1.0 instead of 4.0.0) although the server has been successfully upgraded. However, if you go to Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs, the correct server version is displayed.
New Internationalization Issues
VMware Converter Enterprise Update 1 for VirtualCenter 2.5 is not localized for this release.
Virtual Machines with non-ASCII characters in their folder name and configuration file name cannot be powered on with Fusion
If you use VMware Workstation to import a virtual machine that contains non-ASCII characters in either its folder name or configuration (.vmx) filename, you won't be able to start it with VMware Fusion.
Image customization might fail if non-ASCII characters are used
When making image customization, do not use non-ASCII characters to populate the "Owner name" and "Organization" fields. If you attempt to do so, you won't get an error message but the system won't be able to process your input.
Remote agent installation unsuccessful when specifying a computer or DNS name with non-ASCII characters in the Import wizard
If you use non-ASCII characters to populate the computer or DNS name field in the Import wizard when installing the Converter Enterprise remote agent, the installation fails. Clicking on the Log Info button displays an erroneous log location message.
Installation limitations
The name of the computer on which VMware Converter Enterprise Update 1 for VirtualCenter 2.5 is installed must not contain non-ASCII characters. This applies also to the installation path names - use the default ones because the installer does not support installation path names containing non-ASCII characters.
Configuration and display limitations:
- Datastore names, virtual network names, and image files names (CD, DVD, and floppy drive) must contain only ASCII characters.
- In conformance with general Internet practice and protocols, the following must contain ASCII characters only: host names, workgroup names, domain names, URLs, email addresses, SMTP server names, and SNMP community strings.
- When using the Converter Enterprise Import Wizard, the date and time format might be inconsistent with the current location.
Resolved Issues
The following are known issues in build 62386 that have since been resolved.
- VMware Converter Enterprise Server terminates abnormally when multiple jobs are run in a short period of time. The Update 1 release corrects this problem.
- Importing a Windows Vista source with a USB device to ESX Server 3.0.x causes a critical system error. The Update 1 release corrects this problem.
- Converter Enterprise Server crashes when a scheduled task tries to import to or export from a disconnected host in the VirtualCenter inventory. This problem is fixed in this release.
- Scheduled tasks might not run if you restart VirtualCenter Server. This problem is fixed in this release.
- When hot cloning dual boot systems, you can clone only the default operating system that boot.ini points to. This problem is fixed in this release.
- Scheduled tasks are not run if Converter Enterprise Server is disconnected from the network at the scheduled runtime. The Update 1 release corrects this problem.