10 Steps for Physical to Virtual OS Migration

Executive Summary: Save your organization time and server space by performing a physical to virtual (P2V) migration using the Virtual Server Migration Toolkit (VSMT) and Mobile Automated Services (ADS). This mobile P2V solution gives you the flexibility to handle migrations anywhere in the organization.

If you’re up against a tight OS migration deadline, you’ll be a hero if you have a fully functional and tested physical to virtual (P2V) solution on a server that you can take anywhere in your organization. A P2V solution lets you perform a migration with no impact on or reconfiguration of your production network. I’ll explain the inner workings of the Microsoft Virtual Server Migration Toolkit (VSMT) and demonstrate how to configure a mobile server using ADS for the P2V migration.

I’ll pick up where I left off in this series. In “ADS Unplugged” (October 2006, InstantDoc ID 93625), I showed how to build a basic mobile ADS solution for Windows OS migrations. Then, in the Web-exclusive article, “Kick Your Mobile ADS Solution Up a Notch” (February 2007, InstantDoc ID 94982), I went over how to install VSMT to extend the mobile ADS solution to perform physical machine to virtual machine migrations. Now I’ll demonstrate how to use VSMT to perform a P2V machine migration.

Before You Begin
Using this series of articles, you’ve seen how to create a mobile ADS solution by assembling the necessary hardware on a movable cart and installing the basic software: Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DCHP) Server, ADS 1.1, Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1, and VSMT 1.1. I call the source server Testserver, and I assume it’s running Windows Server 2003, Enterprise. To perform a P2V migration, you need to follow 10 steps, as I’ll show in this article.

Before you begin, put some time into deciding whether your servers are good candidates for a P2V conversion. Sometimes it’s not worth it to perform a P2V migration on an unstable production server because the instability issue just comes along during the migration. If this is the case, it might be better to rebuild the virtual machine from scratch and move the data from the old physical server to the new virtual server. In addition for servers that have OEM system applications, you should uninstall or disable them before you attempt a P2V migration to ensure that they will not interfere with the virtual machine on first boot.

Are your servers are good candidates for a P2V conversion? If so, you’re ready to get started.

Step 1: Prepare the Source System
Although VSMT doesn’t modify the source system, I recommend that you follow the best practice of backing up the source system before you start the P2V migration process. In addition, disable any drivers or applications that are specific to the physical hardware and that won’t be available in the virtual machine environment.

Step 2: Prepare the MobileP2V Server
VSMT includes a tool called GatherHW.exe that collects the physical hardware information on the source server and creates an XML configuration file you can use to analyze the source server for any known hardware incompatibilities in the source system (dynamic disks, more than 3.6 GB RAM, unsupported devices, and so forth). To run GatherHW.exe, you must copy it to the source system. I recommend creating a share called VSMT on the MobileP2V server in the VSMT installation folder, which is by default C:\Program Files\Microsoft VSMT. You’ll also need a place to store the XML files that GatherHW.exe produces, so create a directory called C:\P2VSource on MobileP2V and share it as P2VSource, specifying local administrator write permissions.

Here’s quick summary of the MobileP2V server drive configurations you’ll be using: C drive (C: - operating system), D drive (D: - ADS image files), and E drive (E: - virtual machine storage).

Step 3: Gather the Configuration Information
Once you’ve created the shares on the MobileP2V server, log on to Testserver as the local administrator. Then, create a directory called C:\VSMT, and map a network drive to \\MobileP2V\VSMT. Copy GatherHW.exe to C:\VSMT. Double-click GatherHW .exe on the source system to collect the configuration information. GatherHW.exe creates an XML file with the name of the source system (e.g., Testserver.xml) in the directory. Copy the XML file to \\MobileP2V P2VSource.

Step 4: Validate the Configuration Information
After collecting the configuration information from Testserver with GatherHW.exe, use VMScript.exe (which was installed on Mobile P2V as part of VSMT) to validate the data. To run VMScript.exe against the XML file, log on to the MobileP2V server and open a command prompt. Change directory to C:\Program Files\Microsoft VSMT. In the command window, execute the VMScript by typing:

 VMScript.exe /hwvalidate /hwinfofile:”C:  P2VSource\Testserver.xml”

VMScript analyzes the XML file and reports any errors or configuration issues with the source hardware. (Note that some server hardware such as special add-in boards, USB-attached devices, and other devices—such fiber channel host bus adapters— won’t work on virtual machines.)

Examine the VMScript output for any issues, warnings, or errors. Use Vmpatch.exe to correct any issues and copy any missing system files, service packs, or hotfix files before continuing. If you receive the following error regarding missing Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) files, see the sidebar, “Adding Windows Server 2003 SP2 Support to the VSMT Patch Directory,” for how to update the patch cache with Windows 2003 SP2 drivers.

Error: Cannot find patch files for the operating system/service pack level in the C: Program Files\Microsoft VSMT\Patches Source\5.2.3790\SP2 directory.

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