ptg6432687 This page intentionally left blank Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 10 Creating Guest Images from Existing Production and Virtual Systems IN THIS CHAPTER . Understanding Virtual Machine Conversions . Performing a P2V Conversion . Performing a V2V Conversion . Creating a Virtual Lab This chapter focuses on the process of using System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008 to create a guest image from a production system and from another virtual guest image for the purpose of creating a static lab environment. This process is also used to create real-time replications of images for operational purposes. Understanding Virtual Machine Conversions VMM 2008 enables the administrator to convert existing physical computers into virtual machines (VMs). This is known as a production to virtual, or P2V, conversion. VMM simplifies P2V conversions by providing an automated wizard for much of the conversion process. VMM 2008 can also converting VMs from other virtualiza- tion platforms, such as VMware ESX and Microsoft Virtual Server to Windows Hyper-V. This process is known as virtual to virtual, or V2V, conversion and can be performed with different processes, depending on the source virtualiza- tion platform. Physical Computers That Can Be Converted There are two methods for converting physical computers to VMs. Online P2V conversions are performed using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to copy data while the server continues to service user requests. The source computer is not interrupted during a P2V online conver- sion. Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 302 10 Creating Guest Images from Existing Production and Virtual Systems TABLE 10.1 Supported Operating Systems for P2V Conversion Operating System P2V Online P2V Offline Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V No No Windows Server 2008 without Hyper-V Yes Yes Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 Yes Yes Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition No No Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 No Yes Windows XP with Service Pack 2 Yes Yes Windows XP x64 Edition No No Windows Vista No No Windows Vista x64 Yes Yes A P2V offline conversion is performed by restarting the source computer in the Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE). VMM then converts the physical disks to Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs). The information in Table 10.1 shows the supported operating systems that VMM can convert using the P2V process. In both online and offline P2V conversions, VMM 2008 temporarily installs an agent on the physical source computer to be converted. NOTE VMM 2008 does not support P2V conversion of Windows NT Server 4.0 source com- puters. These computers can be migrated using the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Migration Toolkit (VSMT) or third-party solutions. Additional Requirements for P2V Conversion To perform a P2V conversion, the source computer must meet the following additional requirements. . Domain—Source computers must be in the same domain as the VMM server or a member of a domain that has a full two-way trust with the VMM server’s domain. . RAM—Offline P2V conversions require that the source computer has a minimum of 512MB of RAM. . Updates—Most P2V conversions will not be affected by updates. However, certain system files and drivers are replaced during the conversion and may require updates after the conversion completes. If those files are missing, the administrator must add them to the Patch Import directory on the VMM server. Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 303 Performing a P2V Conversion 10 Performing a P2V Conversion During a P2V conversion, a VM configuration file is created and new VHDs are created and formatted for use by the new VM. Disk images are then created from the source computer. To perform the conversion, the VMM administrator must provide an account and pass- word with administrator rights on the source computer. NOTE The administrator should perform a disk defragmentation on the source computer’s hard drives to help minimize the time required for the imaging phase. Also, ensure that a fast network connection exists between the source and VMM computers. Performing a P2V Online Conversion Ensure that the source computer meets the operating system and additional requirements listed at the beginning of this chapter. The P2V online conversion process is run from the VMM 2008 Administrator console. Running the Convert Physical Server Wizard The process of running the physical server to virtual server configuration process requires launching a conversion wizard. The process is as follows: 1. Open the VMM Administrator console using the shortcut on the Windows desktop or via the Start menu under Microsoft System Center, Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console. A Connect to Server window may open, prompting for the VMM server to connect to. Enter the server name and connection port (the default is port 8100) using the following format VMMserver:port. NOTE You ma y c h oo se to al w ay s o pen a co n ne c ti on to th i s s er v e r b y sel ec t in g t he Mak e T hi s Server My Default check box. Doing so prevents this connection window from display- ing when the Administrator console is run. 2. Click Convert Physical Server on the Actions pane in any view in the Virtual Machine Manager Administrator console. The Convert Physical Server Wizard will run, as shown in Figure 10.1. Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 304 3. Configure the following on the Select Source page: . Computer Name—Enter the name of the physical computer or click the Browse button to locate the computer object to convert in the Active Directory. . User Name—Enter a username of an account with local administrator rights on the source computer. . Password—Enter the password for the local administrator user account. . Domain—Enter the domain of the local administrator user account if it is not already populated. Click Next. 4. Configure the following on the Virtual Machine Identity page: . Virtual Machine Name—Enter a new name for the VM or accept the default name, which is the same as the source computer. NOTE Renaming the VM name only renames the VM as it appears in the Administrator con- sole. It does not rename the actual computer account in Active Directory. 10 Creating Guest Images from Existing Production and Virtual Systems FIGURE 10.1 The Convert Physical Server Wizard. Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 305 Performing a P2V Conversion 10 . Owner—Accept the prepopulated domain\username value, enter a new domain\username value or click Browse to choose a new value. The owner account must be a member of Active Directory. . Description—This optional field is used to describe the VM. Click Next. NOTE The owner of a VM is used to identify the owner of the new VM. It does not assign any rights to the VM itself. 5. On the Gather System Information page, click the Gather System Information button. By doing so, you begin a survey of the physical source computer and will display a list of operating system, hardware, and software components installed, as shown in Figure 10.2. It will also identify any missing components that are required for the P2V conversion to run. The wizard installs agent software on the source computer to gather this information and will remove it when the conversion is complete. FIGURE 10.2 The Gather System Information page. Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 306 NOTE Ensure that the WMI service is running on the source computer and that a firewall is not blocking HTTP and WMI traffic to the VMM server. A firewall exception will be creat- ed for remote administration service (RemoteAdmin) if a firewall is installed on the source computer. The administrator can remove this exception after the conversion operation is complete. The System Information results window displays the operating system, hard drives, and network adapter information gathered from the survey. Click Next to continue the wizard. 6. The Conversion Information page displays any issues encountered while checking the source computer for suitability for P2V conversion. Do one of the following actions: . Confirm that the message “No issues detected” is displayed. . Review any issues that the wizard reports. These issues must be resolved before the P2V conversion can succeed. Each issue listed is accompanied by a solution that explains how to resolve it. After all issues have been resolved, click the Check Again button to rerun the survey. . When there are no issues detected, click Next. 7. On the Volume Configuration page, review the list of disk volumes detected and make changes, if required: . Deselect volumes that should not be included in the new VM. NOTE The system volume that contains the operating system cannot be deselected. . Increase the size of the VHD for each volume. NOTE The size of a VHD can be increased, but not reduced. The minimum size is determined by the size of actual data on the volume. . Configure the VHD type to be dynamic (the default) or fixed. Dynamic VHDs automatically grow as more data is saved to the disk. Fixed VHDs are constrained to the size configured by the administrator. 10 Creating Guest Images from Existing Production and Virtual Systems Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 307 Performing a P2V Conversion 10 NOTE If the VHD is configured as a fixed VHD type, ensure the VHD size is configured to allow for additional data, if necessary. . Configure the channel that the VHD will use. Options include up to 2 IDE channels and up to 62 SCSI channels each on 4 virtual SCSI buses (providing up to 250 separate channels total). Click Next to continue. 8. On the Virtual Machine Configuration page, select the number of processors and RAM to use on the new VM. The number of processors available for selection is limited by the number of physical processors available in the source computer. The default amount of memory specified by the wizard is equal to the amount of physi- cal RAM in the source computer. 9. On the Select Virtual Machine Host page, select the most suitable host to deploy the new VM on, as shown in Figure 10.3. Each host has a star rating (from zero to five stars) indicating its suitability to host the new VM. FIGURE 10.3 Selecting the VM host. Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 308 NOTE If a large number of hosts are listed, the administrator can use the Host Group, Look For, or Group By fields to display a smaller set of possible hosts. The Details tab displays the status, operating system, virtualization software platform, virtualization software status, and names of the VMs running on the selected host. The Rating Explanation tab explains what the star rating means for the selected host and tells what requirements are met for the VM by this host. The SAN Explanation tab describes the suitability of the host to connect to a SAN for VM storage. Items listed here include Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs) installed and iSCSI initiators installed. NOTE The ratings can be customized using the Customize Ratings button. Here, the adminis- trator can select multiple criteria and assign weights of importance for each compo- nent, such as processor load, memory used, network utilization, and so forth. Select the host on which to deploy the new VM and click Next. 10. On the Select Path page, select the folder where the files associated with the new VM should be placed. The default folder is %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Shared Virtual Machines. Accept the default or click Browse to select a different path. Click Next. 11. On the Select Networks page, the Virtual Network drop-down list will display all the current networks available on the selected host. Select Not Connected or the appro- priate virtual network for the VM to use. Click Next. 12. On the Additional Properties page, configure the following: . Automatic Start Action—Select the action to perform for this VM when the physical host starts. Available actions are as follows: Never automatically turn on the VM. Always automatically turn on the VM. Automatically turn on the VM if it was running when the physical server stopped. . Automatic Stop Action—Select the action to perform for this VM when the physical host shuts down. Available actions are as follows: Save state. This action is similar to the Windows Hibernate function. Turn off VM. This action is equivalent to turning the power off and does not provide a graceful shutdown. Shut down guest OS. This provides a graceful shutdown of the operating system. 10 Creating Guest Images from Existing Production and Virtual Systems Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 309 Performing a P2V Conversion 10 13. The Summary page displays a summary of the settings selected in the Convert Physical Server Wizard. Carefully review these settings and click Create to proceed with the P2V conversion or click Previous to go back and change the configuration. An optional check box can be selected to start the VM immediately after deploying it to the host. As with many actions performed from the VMM Administrator console, the Convert Physical Server Wizard offers a View Script button. This option enables the adminis- trator to view, modify, and save the PowerShell commands that the wizard will execute to perform the P2V conversion, as shown in Figure 10.4. 14. In the Jobs view of the Administrator console, the administrator can monitor the progress of the P2V conversion and confirm that the VM is created successfully. If the job fails, read the error message in the Details pane for information about the cause of the failure and the recommended course of action to resolve the issue. The P2V process will take several minutes and consists of the following steps: . Collect the machine configuration information. . Add the source machine agent. . Create the VM. FIGURE 10.4 Convert physical server script. Download at www.wowebook.com . Conversion Operating System P 2V Online P 2V Offline Windows Server 2008 with Hyper -V No No Windows Server 2008 without Hyper -V Yes Yes Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 Yes Yes Windows Server 2003. also converting VMs from other virtualiza- tion platforms, such as VMware ESX and Microsoft Virtual Server to Windows Hyper -V. This process is known as virtual to virtual, or V2 V, conversion. them to the Patch Import directory on the VMM server. Download at www.wowebook.com ptg6432687 303 Performing a P 2V Conversion 10 Performing a P 2V Conversion During a P 2V conversion, a VM configuration