29.3 Migration to VMs on VMware Using X2P Workflow

Raw Device Mapping (RDM) for target VMs on VMware is only supported by using the X2P workflow. When you use the X2P workflow for migrating a workload to VMware, you must set up the VMware Tools for the target workload before you perform the conversion.

Use the guidelines in this section to configure migration to VMs on VMware virtual hosts.

29.3.1 Downloading and Saving the PlateSpin ISO Image (VMware)

  1. Download and prepare the PlateSpin ISO image for use with the target VM. Attended and unattended registration options are possible.

    See Preparing the PlateSpin ISO Image for Target Registration and Discovery.

  2. Save the ISO image in a location that VMware server can access. For example: c:\temp.

    This ensures that the PlateSpin ISO image is available to the target VM as a bootable CD-ROM image.

29.3.2 Creating and Configuring the Target Virtual Machine (VMware)

  1. Log on to the VMware server using the vSphere client and then use the New Virtual Machine Wizard to create a new virtual machine with the following settings:

    • Name and Location: Specify a name for your new target and accept the default location.

    • Operating System Type and Version: Specify the operating system type and version settings that matches the source workload. The wizard uses this information to set appropriate default values, such as the amount of memory needed, and resource limits for the VM.

    • Assign Memory: Assign at least 384 MB of RAM to the VM.

    • Connect Virtual Hard Disk: Ensure that the disk size of every disk is about 50 MB more than the corresponding disk on your source workload.

    • Installation Options: Configure the VM to boot from an ISO image file, and point the wizard to the downloaded PlateSpin ISO image.

    • Summary: Configure the VM to not start upon creation (deselect the Start the virtual machine after it is created option).

  2. Set up VMware tool for the target workload. See Section 29.3.3, Setting Up VMware Tools for the Target Workload.

29.3.3 Setting Up VMware Tools for the Target Workload

VMware Tools setup packages are automatically copied to the target during conversion so that the configuration service can install the tools on the target VM when the target VM contacts the PlateSpin Server. However, if you choose to migrate workloads to VMware using the X2P workflow, you must set up the VMware tools for the target workload before you perform the conversion. Perform the following steps to prepare your environment for setting the VMware tools for the target workload:

  1. Retrieve the VMware Tools packages from an ESX host:

    1. Secure copy (scp) the windows.iso image from the /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages directory on an accessible ESX host to a local temporary folder.

    2. Open the ISO and extract its setup packages, saving them to an accessible location.

      The setup packages are setup.exe and setup64.exe.

  2. Create OFX packages from the setup packages you extracted:

    1. Zip the package you want, making sure that the setup installer file is at the root of the .zip archive.

    2. Rename the.zip archive to 1.package so that it can be used as an OFX package.

      NOTE:If you want to create an OFX package for more than one of the setup packages, remember that each setup package must have its own unique .zip archive.

      Because each package must have the same name (1.package), if you want to save multiple .zip archives as OFX packages, you need to save each in its own unique subdirectory.

  3. Copy the appropriate OFX package (1.package) to the %ProgramFiles%\PlateSpin Migrate Server\Packages\%GUID% directory on the PlateSpin Server.

    The value of %GUID% depends on the version of your VMware ESX host and its VMware Tools architecture, as shown in Table 29-1. Use the appropriate GUID value to copy the package to the correct directory.

    Table 29-1 GUIDs for the VMware Tools Directory Names

    VMware Server Version

    VMware Tools Architecture

    GUID

    5.5

    x86

    660C345A-7A91-458b-BC47-6A3914723EF7

    5.5

    x64

    8546D4EF-8CA5-4a51-A3A3-6240171BE278

    6.0

    x86

    311E672E-05BA-4CAF-A948-B26DF0C6C5A6

    6.0

    x64

    D7F55AED-DA64-423F-BBBE-F1215529AD03

    6.5

    x86

    D61C0FCA-058B-42C3-9F02-898F568A3071

    6.5

    x64

    5D3947B7-BE73-4A00-A549-B15E84B98803

    6.7

    x86

    C1170EA0-B145-4E77-8167-BDB3125487B1

    6.7

    x64

    BAD60698-C360-47CC-BBFF-DBF29BD24062

29.3.4 Registering the Virtual Machine with PlateSpin Server (VMware)

After you create the virtual machine and prepare it to boot with the PlateSpin ISO, you are ready to register it as a target VM with your PlateSpin Server. See Registering and Discovering Target VMs on Virtual Hosts.

29.3.5 Migrating Your Source Workload to the Target Virtual Machine (VMware)

  1. Use PlateSpin Migrate Client to start an X2P migration job with your source workload being the job’s migration source and the target being the new VM on VMware.

    See Migration to Physical Machines.

  2. For host-specific target VM configuration options for the Virtual Machine Configuration dialog, see Target VM Configuration: VMware ESXi.

  3. For host-specific storage configuration options, see Section 29.2.2, Drive Configuration: VMware ESX.

  4. Monitor the migration job in Jobs view in PlateSpin Migrate Client.

    When the job reaches the Configure Target Machine step, the virtual machine’s console returns to the boot prompt of the PlateSpin ISO image.

  5. Shut down the virtual machine and reconfigure it to boot from disk rather than from the boot image.

  6. Power on the virtual machine.

    The migration job resumes, reboots the target, and completes the workload configuration.