Options
Converting VM to Physical Machine and Vice Versa.
halaakajan
Member Posts: 167
Hello guys. I don't have any idea about this. Please help. We will be using vSphere for this.
Comments
-
Optionsodysseyelite Member Posts: 504 ■■■■■□□□□□halaakajan wrote: »Hello guys. I don't have any idea about this. Please help. We will be using vSphere for this.
You can use vmware converter to do physical to virtual conversions. You need third party like double take or plate spin to go from virtual to physical.Currently reading: Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action -
Optionsptilsen Member Posts: 2,835 ■■■■■■■■■■halaakajan wrote: »Hello guys. I don't have any idea about this. Please help. We will be using vSphere for this.
To be completely frank, if this is the approach you take to this problem then you probably should not be handling the virtualization of physical systems at all. It's not that it's extremely easy or extremely hard -- the way you're requesting for help here seems to indicate that you haven't researched the subject on your own at all. It's not an obscure or highly technical topic -- a really simply Google search would get you high-level descriptions of what to do as well as in-depth walk-throughs of the procedure in question, which is done using highly intuitive GUIs.
If you get the high-level process and have specific questions about the implementation or are curious about the gotchas, that's fine, but if your approach is basically "I'm clueless. Help", I really have to advise against even attempting this. -
Optionscyberguypr Mod Posts: 6,928 ModTo be completely frank, if this is the approach you take to this problem then you probably should not be handling the virtualization of physical systems at all. It's not that it's extremely easy or extremely hard -- the way you're requesting for help here seems to indicate that you haven't researched the subject on your own at all. It's not an obscure or highly technical topic -- a really simply Google search would get you high-level descriptions of what to do as well as in-depth walk-throughs of the procedure in question, which is done using highly intuitive GUIs.
If you get the high-level process and have specific questions about the implementation or are curious about the gotchas, that's fine, but if your approach is basically "I'm clueless. Help", I really have to advise against even attempting this.
Good point. This is why every respectable IT dept. has a lab, no matter how small. Before you try something with a critical system you play with it in the lab and avoid nightmares. If you dont have experience with it, then it's imperative you try it out. There are countless blogs, guides and youtube videos with step by step instructions on how to virtualize. Go check those out and then hit us with specific questions. -
Optionshalaakajan Member Posts: 167I am a student and will be having a project soon at school. So, I was planning to make VMs here at home and once I reach school I will just convert them. I don't have experience like you guys have that was the reason I asked the question here. I know how to use google and search for stuff that would prolly have been easier, I asked thi question here so experienced people can reply. I have been playing vSphere which includes ESX and vCenter but have not that much experience and note this is for school not in real world.
-
OptionsRouteThisWay Member Posts: 514Well, to not beat a dead horse, but.. if this is for school- I imagine you will learn. The first link will help you accomplish what you want!"Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture." ~ Vaclav Havel
-
Optionscknapp78 Member Posts: 213 ■■■■□□□□□□cyberguypr wrote: »Good point. This is why every respectable IT dept. has a lab, no matter how small. Before you try something with a critical system you play with it in the lab and avoid nightmares. If you dont have experience with it, then it's imperative you try it out. There are countless blogs, guides and youtube videos with step by step instructions on how to virtualize. Go check those out and then hit us with specific questions.
Respectable....BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
-
Optionsjibbajabba Member Posts: 4,317 ■■■■■■■■□□cyberguypr wrote: »Good point. This is why every respectable IT dept. has a lab, no matter how small. Before you try something with a critical system you play with it in the lab and avoid nightmares. If you dont have experience with it, then it's imperative you try it out. There are countless blogs, guides and youtube videos with step by step instructions on how to virtualize. Go check those out and then hit us with specific questions.
VERY important to try these things out .. There are so many gotchas which aren't normally mentioned in the "manual" (Ghost NICs anyone) ... So really use a lab for that...
First time I tried that was in the first VCP training I attended - P2Vd my workstation there lol ...My own knowledge base made public: http://open902.com -
OptionsChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□and I will never forget
SMBIOS.reflectHost = "true"
This setting tells VMware to pass Vendor ID of the actual hardware and not abstract it with "VMware Inc" - critical if you want a hardware-tied OEM license for Windows to continue working after P2V..
Just a random flashback from P2V project days...“You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896
GetCertified4Less - discounted vouchers for certs -
Optionsscott28tt Member Posts: 686 ■■■■■□□□□□ChooseLife wrote: »and I will never forget
SMBIOS.reflectHost = "true"
This setting tells VMware to pass Vendor ID of the actual hardware and not abstract it with "VMware Inc" - critical if you want a hardware-tied OEM license for Windows to continue working after P2V..
Just a random flashback from P2V project days...
You sure it's legal to use a Microsoft OEM license inside a VM, where the VM ends up running on a different piece of physical hardware than the original physical system?VCP2 / VCP3 / VCP4 / VCP5 / VCAP4-DCA / VCI / vExpert 2010-2012
Blog - http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/vmtraining
Email - vmtraining.blog@gmail.com -
OptionsChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□You sure it's legal to use a Microsoft OEM license inside a VM, where the VM ends up running on a different piece of physical hardware than the original physical system?“You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896
GetCertified4Less - discounted vouchers for certs -
Optionsscott28tt Member Posts: 686 ■■■■■□□□□□ChooseLife wrote: »As long as the VM continues running on the same hardware, it is legal - that's what I was told by Microsoft customer service when I inquired about it in 2008.
It depends on the definition of the "same hardware" I guess - the actual same physical hardware, the same model of hardware, the same hardware manufacturer...VCP2 / VCP3 / VCP4 / VCP5 / VCAP4-DCA / VCI / vExpert 2010-2012
Blog - http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/vmtraining
Email - vmtraining.blog@gmail.com -
OptionsChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□It depends on the definition of the "same hardware" I guess - the actual same physical hardware, the same model of hardware, the same hardware manufacturer...“You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896
GetCertified4Less - discounted vouchers for certs -
Optionsjibbajabba Member Posts: 4,317 ■■■■■■■■□□ChooseLife wrote: »and I will never forget
SMBIOS.reflectHost = "true"
This setting tells VMware to pass Vendor ID of the actual hardware and not abstract it with "VMware Inc" - critical if you want a hardware-tied OEM license for Windows to continue working after P2V..
Just a random flashback from P2V project days...
Oh VERY nice .. .didn't know about that one .. Thanks !!My own knowledge base made public: http://open902.com -
OptionsQHalo Member Posts: 1,488I believe that vMotion is fine as long as you hold a Datacenter licensing scheme. It then doesn't technically violate licensing.
http://communities.vmware.com/groups/licensing/blog/2012/01/06/microsoft-server-licensing-implications-with-vmotion -
OptionsChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□
Yes, Datacenter license provides most flexibility for a virtualized environment.
In my case, it was a P2V project for a small company (~20 production servers), Datacenter edition was completely out of budget, and this little SMBIOS.reflectHost feature saved the company some ~25% of the licensing costs (at the 4 VM per host virtualization ratio).“You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896
GetCertified4Less - discounted vouchers for certs -
OptionsQHalo Member Posts: 1,488ChooseLife wrote: »That's a great document! (and it happens to support the statements I made above )
Yes, Datacenter license provides most flexibility for a virtualized environment.
In my case, it was a P2V project for a small company (~20 production servers), Datacenter edition was completely out of budget, and this little SMBIOS.reflectHost feature saved the company some ~25% of the licensing costs (at the 4 VM per host virtualization ratio).
Technically you can do it, but you can't vMotion the machine to another host which wouldn't be the same OEM hardware tied to the license is how I'm reading it.If its an OEM Windows Server license, the OS license is tied to the original ESX server hardware (regardless of whether its STD, Ent or DC license) and is never moveble to another hardware through VMotion or any other method. So No VMotioning allowed there. -
OptionsChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□Technically you can do it, but you can't vMotion the machine to another host which wouldn't be the same OEM hardware tied to the license is how I'm reading it.“You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896
GetCertified4Less - discounted vouchers for certs -
Optionsscott28tt Member Posts: 686 ■■■■■□□□□□So no VM migration of any sort, no HA, no DRS, no recovery of the VM off-site - using an OEM license for a VM is very limiting...VCP2 / VCP3 / VCP4 / VCP5 / VCAP4-DCA / VCI / vExpert 2010-2012
Blog - http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/vmtraining
Email - vmtraining.blog@gmail.com