Converting a physical or virtual machine with VMware Converter takes longer than expected

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Conversion of a physical or virtual machine takes a very long time
• It may appear that the conversion has become unresponsive or is no longer converting the machine
• The source system seems to perform correctly and does not seem excessively slow
• vCenter Server and/or the ESX/ESXi host performs as expected
• You may receive one or more of these errors:
   
  • Image processing task has failed with MethodFault::Exception: sysimage.fault.DiskLibConnectionFault
  • Image processing task has failed with MethodFault::Exception: sysimage.fault.NfcConnectionFault
  • Image processing task has failed with PlatformError fault: 5666
  • Image processing task has failed with PlatformError fault: 79394
  • Image processing task has failed with PlatformError fault: 4898
  • [NFC ERROR] NfcNetTcpRead: timed out waiting for data
    [NFC ERROR] NfcFssrvrRecv: failed with code = 9
    [NFC ERROR] NfcFssrvr_DiskIo: failed to receive io reply
    DISKLIB-LIB : RWv failed ioId: #1 (5666) (34)
    NfcNetTcpWrite: timed out waiting for socket to be ready (101)
  • Error 5666 writing to the destination volume
  • [NFC ERROR] NfcNetTcpWrite: bWritten: -1 err: 10053
    [NFC ERROR] NfcFssrvrSend: failed
    [NFC ERROR] NfcFssrvr_Close: failed to send close message
    [NFC ERROR] NfcNetTcpWrite: bWritten: -1 err: 10053
  • Error 79394 writing to the destination volume
    DISKLIB-LIB : RWv failed ioId: #50301 (79394) (34)
    [NFC ERROR] NfcFssrvr_Close: received unexpected message 4 from server
  • NfcNetTcpRead: timed out waiting for data
    NfcNetTcpWrite: timed out waiting for socket to be ready (101)
    [NFC ERROR] NfcFileSendMessage: hdr send failed:
    [NFC ERROR] NfcFile_Send: Something is messed up
    [blockLevelCloningTaskImpl,831] File transfer failed.
    Dst error: Network error -- Failed to send header message:
  • Error E7D1001E: Unable to read from file. Error 00000040: The specified network name is no longer available.
    Failed to write out header: The specified network name is no longer available (4194313).
    File transfer failed.
    File error -- Failed to delete file: File not open
  • [NFC ERROR] NfcNewAuthdConnectionEx: Failed to connect to peer. Error: Host address lookup for server 2935/[email protected]@192.168.1.2 failed: No such host is known
  • Error 2338 opening disk vpxa-nfc://[VDI_B] PCoIP_MC_rel-1.7.1-rc_pcoipmc_1_7@2935/[email protected]@192.168.1.2:902

Environment

VMware vCenter Converter 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.3.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.2.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.0.x
VMware Converter 3.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Converter 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 4.0.x

Resolution

To troubleshoot issues when the physical or virtual machine conversion using VMware Converter takes a long time:

1. Shut down any unnecessary services, such as anti-virus, firewall programs, and monitoring software. These services can cause issues during conversion.
    
2. Remove any leftover software applications that are no longer used. Software applications that optimize hardware, monitor physical hardware, or interact with SCSI controllers or network devices could interfere during the conversion. Disable these applications temporarily during conversion.
    
3. Applications such as Microsoft SQL and Exchange can be resource intensive and require a certain amount of resources to function properly. If trying to perform a live conversion, it may be necessary to disable access to the system during the conversion process and disable these programs.
    
4. Clear any third party software from the source machine that could be using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). VMware Converter relies on VSS, and other programs can cause contention.
    
5. Check to see if your vCenter Server,and/or ESX/ESXi hosts are experiencing resource starvation. For more information, see Checking for resource starvation of the ESX Service Console (1003496) and Reduced performance when administering ESX hosts in vCenter Server (1009225).
6. Remove any old hardware drivers, unnecessary device, or hidden devices on the source system. Hidden devices can inadvertently cause performance issues because they call on hardware that is no longer present. Unplug any USB, serial/parallel port devices from the source system.
    
7. If the drive of the source system is very large, depending on the bandwidth of your network, it is not unusual for the conversion to take a very long time. You can guess how long a conversion might take by copying a file of comparable size across your network and record how long it takes.
   
   Note: This does not guarantee that the conversion takes as long as the file copy has, as there are other factors involved when performing a conversion using Converter.

Additional Information

To increase the throughput on VMware Standalone Converter 5.0, see Disabling SSL encryption on VMware Converter Standalone 5.0 (2020517).

Disabling SSL encryption on VMware Converter Standalone 5.x and 6.0
VMware Converter を使用した物理マシンまたは仮想マシンの変換に予想以上の時間がかかる
使用 VMware Converter 转换物理机或虚拟机需要花费比预期更长的时间