VMware vCenter Converter

 

 

How to Install vCenter Converter
The following steps will show you how to install VMware vCenter Converter software on vCenter Server system

  1. Log in to desktop of your vCenter Server system as Admin.
  2. Go to location of vCenter Server installation software.
  3. Start VMware vCenter Installer:
    • If you have an ISO image or physical CD mounted on vCenter Server system’s CD-ROM drive and autorun enabled, then he Installer main window appears.
    • If you are using Zip archive files or files from a network share, open the directory containing the unzipped files and double-click the autorun.exe file.
  4. Click vCenter Converter link inn VMware vCenter Installer.
  5. Enter the following when you see the vCenter Converter installation wizard:
    1. Select the setup language and click OK. (Setup language)
    2. Click Next. (Welcome page)
    3. Click Next. (End-User Patent Agreement)
    4. Select I accept the terms the License Agreement. Click Next. (License Agreement)
    5. Accept the default value and click Next. If you get an error message about free space, click OK. (Destination Folder)
    6. Enter a vCenter Server system name, the user named Administrator, and Administrator’s password. Leave the port set to 80. If you get an untrusted SSL certificate message, click Yes to continue. (VMware vCenter Server Information)
    7. Accept default values and click Next. (VMware vCenter Converter Port)
    8. Verify that either the fully qualified domain name (FQDN), IP address, or system name of vCenter Server system is selected and click Next. (VMware vCenter Converter Identification)
    9. Click Install. (Ready to Install)
  6. When installation is complete, click Finish.
  7. Click Exit to close VMware vCenter Installer.

 

 

How to Configure vCenter Converter Guest operating System Customization
The following steps will show you how to configure guest operating system customization on the vCenter Server system.

  1. Log in to the computer of you vCenter Server system.
  2. Right-click Windows Sysprep CAB file WindowsServer2003-KB892778-SPI-DeployTools-x86-ENU and select Open.
  3. In Windows Explorer, open Sysprep tools installation folder. *Note that the folder that vCenter Converter uses for Windows Sysprep files differs from the guest operating system customization folder that vCenter Server uses for operations like cloning and deploying from a template.
  4. Copy all files from CAB file to Sysprep tolls installation folder. A pop-up warning will appear for each file whose publisher is not verified. Click Save for each file.
  5. Close all Windows Explorer windows and log out of vCenter Server system.

 

 

 

Install and Enable vCenter Converter Plug-In
The following steps will install and enable vCenter Converter plug-in in VMware vSphere Client.

  1. Using VMware vSphere Client, log in to you vCenter Server system.
  2. In menu bar, select Plug-ins > Manage Plug-ins. Plug-in Manager appears.
  3. Under Available Plug-ins, next to the entry for vCenter Converter, click Download and Install link.
  4. When download completes, enter the following values:
    1. Select setup language. (Setup Language)
    2. Click Next. (Welcome page)
    3. Click Next. (End-User Patent Agreement)
    4. Select I accept the terms in the License Agreement and click Next. (License Agreement)
    5. Click Install. (Ready to Install)
  5. Click Finish when installation completes.
  6. You can verify that the vCenter Converter plug-in has a status of Enabled in the Plug-in Manager. *Note that if the status does not refresh, exit vSphere Client and log in again.

 

 

 

Prepare a System for Hot Cloning
The following steps will show you how to import a powered-on machine, whether physical or virtual. A hot-clone operation will fail if vCenter Server is unable to access the system to hot-clone over the network or if the source system to hot-clone is protected by a firewall.

  1. Go to Home > Inventory > Host and Clusters.
  2. Open a console to the system to clone and log in.
  3. From the desktop of the system to clone, select Start > Run.
  4. Type services.msc.
  5. When the Services window appears, select the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Service.
  6. Click Stop.
  7. Close the Services window.
  8. Close the console of the system to clone.

 

 

 

Hot-Clone a System
The following steps will show you how to hot-clone a system.

  1. Right-click your ESXi host in inventory and select Import Machine.
  2. When prompted by the Import Machine wizard, do the following:
    1. Select Powered-on machine.
    2. Enter the IP address of the virtual machine. (Powered-on machine – IP address or name)
    3. Enter import task user name. (User name)
    4. Enter import task password. (Password)
    5. Select Windows and click View Source Details. (OS Family)
    6. Leave Automatically uninstall the files when import succeeds selected and click Yes to continue. Review the information in the Machine Details window and click Close. Click Next. (Uninstall VMware vCenter Converter Agent)
    7. Leave inventory at default. (Inventory)
    8. Type a name for the virtual machine. (Virtual Machine Name)
    9. Select a datastore. (Datastore)
    10. Select version 7 and click Next. (Virtual Machine Version)
    11. Verify that the copy type is volume-based. (Option – Data to Copy)
    12. Verify that Processors is set is 1. Verify that Disk Controller is set to Preserve Source. *Note that a warning indicates that the source machine is running with less than the minimum recommended memory for this operating system. Conversion process will adjust memory value to 512MB for you. (Option – Devices)
    13. Verify that NIC 1 is set to Production. (Option – Networks)
    14. Click Edit. Find Print Spooler in list. Take note of current status. To easily find this service, click Service column to sort services in alphabetical order. Click Destination services tab. Find Print Spooler on the list. In the Startup Mode column, change the value to disabled. (Option – Services)
    15. Click Edit and select the following options:
      • Power on destination machine
      • Power off source machine
    16. Leave all options on Post-conversion processing at default values. (Option – Advanced Options)
    17. Scroll down in Options pane to see throttling option in the list. Click Edit and verify that CPU throttling is set to None and the Network bandwidth throttling check box is not selected. Click Next. (Option – Throttling)
    18. Verify all information and click Finish. (Summary)
  3. In Recent Tasks pane, monitor the progress of the Import Machine task.
  4. When task completes, verify that the machine was converted properly. Check the following:
    • The destination virtual machine boots up completely.
    • The source virtual machine is powered down.
    • System memory is set to 512 MB on cloned system.
    • You are able to log in to guest operating system as user Administrator.
    • The cpubusy.vbs file is on the desktop.
  5. Select Start > Run and type services.msc in the box.
  6. When Services window appears, find Print Spooler in the list and verify that Startup Type is set to Disabled.
  7. Close the Services window.
  8. Close the console of the clone.