Troubleshooting checklist for VMware Converter
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Troubleshooting checklist for VMware Converter

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Article ID: 344457

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Updated On:

Products

Converter

Issue/Introduction

This article provides troubleshooting information for issues experienced in VMware Converter.

Resolution

This article includes these sections:

Troubleshooting checklist (for Windows)

Note: Each environment is unique, so this checklist is just a guideline.

  1. To eliminate permission issues, always use the local administrator account instead of a domain account.

    Note: Disable UAC for Windows Machines before converting.
     
  2. To eliminate DNS issues, use IP address instead of Hostname.
  3. Ensure that you do not choose partitions that contain any vendor specific Diagnostic Partitions before proceeding with a conversion.
  4. To reduce network disruptions, choose ESXi host instead of vCenter Server as the destination. 
  5. VMware vCenter Converter has many more options available to customize your conversion. If you are having issues using the Converter Plug-in inside vCenter Server, consider using Standalone setup version from the Broadcom Download Center
  6. If a conversion fails using the exact size of hard disks, decrease the size of the disks by at least 1MB. This forces VMware Converter to do a file level copy instead of a block level copy, which can be more successful if there are errors with the volume or if there are file-locking issues.
  7. Ensure there is at least 500MB of free space on the machine being converted. VMware Converter requires this space to copy data.
  8. Stop and disable any unnecessary services, such as SQL, Antivirus and firewall. These services can cause issues during conversion.
  9. Run a check disk on the volume before running a conversion as errors on disk volumes can cause VMware Converter to fail.
  10. Do not install VMware Tools during the conversion. Install VMware Tools after you confirm that the conversion was successful.
  11. Do not customize the new virtual machine before conversion.
  12. Ensure that these below services are enabled:
     
    • Workstation Service
    • Server Service
    • TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service
    • Volume Shadow Copy Service
       
  13. Check that the appropriate firewall ports are opened. For more information, see TCP and UDP Ports required to access vCenter Server, ESX hosts, and other network components.
  14. Make sure that boot.ini is not looking for a Diagnostic/Utility Partition it doesn't exits anymore.
  15. If you are unable to see some or all of the data disks on the source system, ensure that you are not using GPT on the disk partitions.
  16. In Windows XP, disable Windows Simple File Sharing. This service is known to cause issues during conversion.
  17. Unplug any USB, serial/parallel devices from the source system. VMware Converter may interpret these as additional devices, such as external hard drives which may cause the conversion to fail.
  18. If the source machine contains multiple drives or partitions and you are having issues failing on certain drives, consider converting one drive or partition at a time.
  19. Verify that there are no host NICs or network devices in the environment that have been statically configured to be at a different speed or duplex. This includes settings on the source operating system, switches and networking devices between the source and destination server. If this is the case, Converter checks the C: drive but not the D: drive.
  20. If you are using a security firewall or Stateful Packet Inspecting (SPI) firewall, check firewall alerts and logs to ensure the connection is not being blocked as malicious traffic.
  21. If you have static IP addresses assigned, assign the interfaces DHCP addresses prior to conversion to avoid IP conflict post conversion.
  22. If the source server contains a hard drive or partition larger than 256GB, ensure that the destination datastores block size is 2MB, 4MB, or 8MB, and not the default 1MB size. The 1MB default block size cannot accommodate a file larger than 256GB.
  23. Clear any third-party software from the physical machine that could be using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). VMware Converter relies on VSS and other programs can cause contention.
  24. Disable mirrored or striped volumes. Conversion of Mirrored or striped volumes is unsupported.
  25. Verify that the VMware Converter agent is installed on the source machine. It may not be if the conversion fails right away.
  26. Verify that DNS and reverse DNS lookups are working. It may be necessary to make entries into the local hosts file on source machine. Use IP addresses, if possible.
  27. If an IP address is used but a hostname is configured for ESXi, then the name must be resolved using DNS or hosts.
  28. Run msconfig on the source server to reduce the number of services and applications running at startup. Only Microsoft services and the VMware Converter Service should be running.
  29. Install VMware SCSI drivers into the machine before conversion. Windows tries to Plug-n-Play the new SCSI Controller, and Windows may fail if the proper drivers are not installed.
  30. If you customized permissions in your environment, ensure that local administrator has rights to all files, directories, or registry permissions before conversion.
  31. Ensure that you do not have any virtual mounted media through an iLO or iDRAC type connection. Converter can misinterpret these as convertible drives and fails upon detecting them.


Troubleshooting a Conversion that fails at 2% or lesser

  1. Use a local administrator account in the Machine that requires conversion.
  2. Use root credentials for the Destination ESXi Host.
  3. Use IP address and verify DNS resolution functionality.
  4. Check firewall settings.
  5. Ensure the Converter agent is installed on the source machine.
  6. Verify network adapter settings for speed and duplex.


Troubleshooting a converted virtual machine that fails to boot into the Operating System

  1. Avoid load balancers between the source and destination Servers.
  2. If a virtual machine experiences a Blue screen (BSOD) error after conversion, repair it using Windows ISO.
  3. Toggle between using Bus Logic and LSI Logic as the Virtual SCSI controller.

For more information, see Troubleshooting a virtual machine converted with VMware Converter that fails to boot with the error: STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE (1006295).

Troubleshooting Checklist (for Linux)

  1. Use the VMware vCenter Standalone Converter. Because, vCenter Server plug-in does not include Linux support. 
  2. Ensure that you are using a supported version of Linux.
  3. Always use the root user account.
  4. Verify that DNS and reverse DNS resolutions are working as expected. If not, you may need to add entries in the local Windows Host file for your Linux system.
  5. Verify that your Linux source machine can ping the ESXi Console IP address. If the conversion fails at 2%, then you likely have a resolution/permission/firewall related issue.
  6. Ensure that your physical Linux machine allows SSH connections. You can verify this by using an SSH client and logging into your Linux system from the computer you are running the conversion from.
  7. Ensure that the helper virtual machine has a static IP address instead of using DHCP.
  8. Ensure your source and destination machines are on the same subnet. Different subnets can cause Network routing issues.
    Note: VMware Converter does not support Software Raid on Linux machines.


VMware Converter log locations:

There are also several ways to diagnose issues by viewing the VMware Converter logs. The logs can contain information that is not apparent from error messages. In newer versions of VMware Converter, you can use the Export Log Data button. Otherwise, logs are typically stored in these directories:

  • Windows XP, Vista, 7, 2003 2008:
     
    • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware Converter Enterprise\Logs
    • C:\WINDOWS\Temp\vmware-converter
    • C:\WINDOWS\Temp\vmware-temp
       
  • Windows 8 and Windows 2012:

    C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone\logs

    Note: In order to access this location in Windows Vista, 7, or 2008, you may need to go to the folder options and ensure that Show Hidden Files is enabled and that Hide Protected Operating System Files is disabled.
     
    • C:\WINDOWS\Temp\vmware-converter
    • C:\WINDOWS\Temp\vmware-temp
       
  • Linux:
     
    • $HOME/.vmware/VMware vCenter Converter Standalone/Logs
    • /var/log/vmware-vcenter-converter-standalone

For further troubleshooting information, you can enable verbose logging in vCenter Converter. For more information, see Increasing the logging levels to verbose for vCenter Converter application components (2008019).

 

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