Converting a physical or virtual machine to a virtual machine that uses Raw Device Mapping

Products

• VMware

Issue/Introduction

• VMware Converter does not allow you to create a virtual machine that uses Raw Device Mapping instead of .vmdk files.
• There is no option to convert directly to a Raw Device Map.

Environment

VMware Converter 3.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.0.x

Resolution

Follow one or more of the methods below to convert to Raw Device Maps (RDMs).

Note: If you are working with multiple disks, you can use a combination of these methods.

Importing .vmdk files to RDMs

To import .vmdk files to RDMs:

1. Convert your operating system, with its disks, to .vmdk files.
2. Import these .vmdk files to RDMs. For more information, see Converting a virtual disk into a Raw Device Mapping (3443266).
3. Verify RDM data integrity then delete the .vmdk files that are no longer required.

Using existing LUN data for RDMs

To use existing LUN data for RDMs:

1. Create a new virtual machine.
   
   Note: If your source operating system has multiple hard drives, and it is only non-system disk data on LUNs, you can convert the operating system to a virtual machine and specify only the system disk for source data. This creates a virtual machine that uses a .vmdk file for its system disk.
   
   
2. Add existing LUNs with data as new RDM disks to the virtual machine.
   
   Note: If your system disk data was stored on a LUN, and your operating source was a physical machine, then use Converter to Configure the new virtual machine so that it functions correctly.

Restoring data to RDMs

To restore data to RDMs:

1. Use a third party disk imaging utility to create a backup of disk data. For a list of some of these utilities, see Using VMware Converter to convert Microsoft Cluster (MSCS) nodes to virtual machines (1002661).
   
2. Create a new virtual machine.
   
   Note: If your source operating system has multiple hard drives, and it is only non-system disk data that you want to convert to RDMs, you can convert the operating system to a virtual machine and specify only the system disk for source data. This creates a virtual machine that uses a .vmdk file for its system disk.
   
   
3. Create new RDM disks.
4. Use the same imaging software to restore the data to the RDM disks.
   
   Note: If your system disk data was imaged, and your operating source was a physical machine, then use Converter to Configure the new virtual machine so that it functions correctly.