Troubleshooting Techtalk on

VMware Converter 3.0.x

Ajay Anthony
Technical Support
VMware Inc
Toll free
numbers
Local - Australia, Sydney: +61 (0) 2 8207 3470
Local - Hong Kong: +852 3008 0313
Local - Singapore: +65 6517 0620
International toll free - China, Northern Region: 10 800
714 1205 
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140 1184
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Purpose

Setting baselines – brief review of product operation in

support of how to troubleshoot issues.
Explain – the underlying conversion process
Impart – more detailed understanding of possible causes
and subsequent remedies for unsuccessful conversions
Agenda

Terminology
Requisites
Components involved
Underlying Process
Demo
General Overview
Log files and their locations
Information available in the agent log
Deep-dive into the agent log
Troubleshooting
Common Issues and Causes
Raising Support Requests
Questions
Terminolog
y
Source Machine
Machine to be converted.
Can be physical, virtual or images
Destination Machine
VI3 or physical machine
Client Machine
Machine on which converter is installed
Can be physical or virtual
Requisites for a successful
conversion

Supported source and destination types

Release notes
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/converter_pubs.html
System Requirments
User manual
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/VMware_Converter_manual302.pdf
Components involved in the Conversion
Process

Physical Machine (Source) that ESX/VC or Hosted

is to be converted/imported. destination.

Machine where Converter is running.

Can be a Physical Machine or Virtual
Machine.
 Underlying Process of Conversion

Agent installed on the Source

Machine and gives information
about the Source machine to be
converted in the UI. Os and disk
info.

Agent connects to the

Destination and information is
relayed back to the Converter
UI.

Once the destination VMs are

configured and customized,
the import process then
begins.

Import process initiated using the

Converter UI
Underlying Process of Conversion
(contd)
Once the import begins
VM is created at the destination
.vmx and .vmdk
If ESX destination, vmdk is pre-allocated
If Hosted destination, vmdk can be pre-allocated or extensible
Transfer of data by Agent
Can be either Block transfer (Maintain Size) or File Transfer
(Minimum Size)
Reconfiguration, if VM requires it
Demo
 Logs

In the temp directory

Agent log (vmware-converter-*.log) vpxa.log/Hostd.log (If

destination is VC/ESX
machine)

Client Log (vmware-client-*.log)

 Information available in the Agent
Log
Converter Version and Build Number
Source Machine Info
Agent Directory path on the Source Machine
Source Machine Operating System Information
IP/Hostname, port number and type of cloning
Number of Volumes and Active Volumes Information
Boot.ini of the Source Machine
OS type, Version no, SMP and 64-bit information from the registry
Volume where OS resides
NIC Info: No of Nics, Mac and Description
Source Information that has been collected
Physical Hard Drive information
Target Machine Info
Destination info with VM name and username
Target VM specification
Creation of the VM on the Destination
Import Process Info
Import progress
Errors
 Deep-Dive into the Agent
Log
Converter log analysis document
Troubleshootin
g
Tools
Client, Agent and ESX logs
Errors out in ‘stages’
Stages can be put in the following order
The ‘Detection of the Source’ stage
The ‘Detection of the Destination’ stage
Beginning/End of conversion stage
During the conversion stage
The re-configuration stage
For a successful conversion, all stages have to be completed.
Common issues and causes

Type of issue
Fail to detect the source
Possible Causes
Check the source for
Unsupported Host
Software Raid
Dell Perc Raid controller (should no longer be a problem)
If not host OS, error would have to do with the type of disk
Common issues and causes

Type of Issue
Failure after entering the destination information
Possible causes
Required Ports are not available
Incompatible destination
Next Steps
Telnet to check on ports availability
Analyze agent log and hostd.log based on timestamps
Check if username has required permissions by writing to the
datastore/host manually
Reference Logs
vmware-converter-*.log
Hostd.log/vc log
Common issues and causes

Type of issues
Failure at 0%-10% during conversion
Failure at 97%-100%
Possible causes
[0-5%] The snapshot process did not take place. Check agent log to
confirm
[97-100%] The reconfiguration process did not take place.
Workaround/Solutions
If snapshot was the problem, check kb.
Reference Logs
vmware-converter-*.log
Hostd.log/vc log
Common issues and causes

Types of issue
Failure at 12% - 95% during conversion
Conversion turns lengthy
Possible causes
Networking infrastructure.
Check agent log.
Transfer a particular size file from source to destination to figure out n/w
bandwidth.
Workaround/Solutions
Conversion at time when bandwidth is maximum.
Reference Logs
vmware-converter-*.log
Hostd.log/vc log
Common issues and causes

Type of issues
Failure during re-configuration
Failure between 97-100%
Possible causes
Unable to edit boot.ini.
Check agent log for exact problem.
Workaround/Solutions
If a VM is created, run the option ‘Configure VM’ against the vmx
created.
Useful Logs
vmware-converter-*.log
Raising VMware Support
Requests
Raise when none of the solutions/workaround helped.
When filing, please provide the following
Provide the appropriate logs (Depending on the stage)
Troubleshooting done this far
Source and Destination information
Question
s