Jonathan's Virtual Blog : P2V

Drivers Required for Offline P2V - How to Download, Extract and Stage

Jonathan — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:48:00 GMT

Drivers Required for Offline P2V - How to Extract and Where to Place

There are two types of P2V with SCVMM 2008: offline and online. Online is the way to go most of the time, if you are using Windows 2003 or higher. In a few instances you will need to perform an offline conversion instead. If the Source machine (the machine to be converted) is Windows 2000 SP4, you have no choice… Offline is the only option. Another time to use offline conversion is when the source machine is a domain controller. Here’s a doc to explain the ramifications (USN rollback situations):

Deployment Considerations for Virtualized Domain Controllers

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd348449.aspx

The offline conversion process entails booting the source machine into WinPE and copying the contents of the hard drive via BITS to the destination Host. WinPE as included in SCVMM is based on Vista SP1 (Windows 2008). This means that while there is a good chance the network and mass storage drivers required are included in WinPE, the list is not inexhaustible and there will be times when the correct driver needs to be provided. The rest of this article explains how to do this.

This article describes how to provide the correct network drivers for WinPE during the offline phase of P2V. The same principles apply when WinPE instead needs the correct mass storage drivers to access the disk.

Indications of a driver issue
When booted into the WinPE phase of an Offline P2V, WinPE has no network connectivity. 'ipconfig /all' at the command prompt returns an error or no information. Alternately, there may simply be a failure to access the disk as correct SCSI card drivers are required.

Errors from the 'scvmm_winpe_setupapi.log' file
(See Related Links at end of this post for instructions on creating this trace file)
Log excerpt
>>> [DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV - PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_105E&SUBSYS_105E8086&REV_78\3&61AAA01&0&48]
>>> Section start 2008/10/31 14:24:35.352

cmd: winpeshl.exe
dvi: No class installer for 'Ethernet Controller'
dvi: No CoInstallers found
dvi: Default installer: Enter 14:24:35.363
dvi: {Select Best Driver}
! dvi: Selecting driver failed(0xe0000228)
dvi: {Select Best Driver - exit(0xe0000228)}
! dvi: Default installer: failed!
! dvi: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.

<<< Section end 2008/10/31 14:24:35.363
<<< [Exit status: FAILURE(0xe0000228)]

Locate the correct drivers for your network card
NOTE: Most manufacturers now provide a single installation application to install drivers in Windows for you. This single .EXE or .MSI file CANNOT be used without first extracting the file contents.

- The drivers must designed for VISTA or WINDOWS 2008. The version of WinPE used by
SCVMM is based on Vista/Windows 2008

- There must be .SYS, .INF, and .CAT files for the offline driver install
- It is recommended that drivers are downloaded from the NIC manufacturer's site.
(NOTE: If using SCVMM 2007, locate drivers designed for Windows 2003 instead)

Identify the Network Card (NIC)
The SCVMM Admin Console will detect the type of network card on the source machine, and this description may be good enough to locate the correct NIC driver online

If you need further details on the NIC
- Open Device Manager in the Source machine to determine the type of NIC used.
- The VEN identifies the NIC exactly and is useful in locating compatible drivers.

This can be easily found in Windows or in the WinPE trace log.
     - In Windows: The '%windir%\setupapi.log' file lists all installed hardware
     - In WinPE use the 'scvmm_winpe_setupapi.log'
     - Using the example above we see the VEN:

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_105E&SUBSYS_105E8086&REV_78\3&61AAA01&0&48

Download the Correct NIC Driver
Search the vendor's site for the correct card. If you are unable to locate it, search the web for the VEN number.
Example keywords for this NIC: VEN 8086 DEV 105E

This is the vendor's site and lists of adapters that have matching VEN numbers
http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/CS-012904.htm

Locate the correct driver on the vendor site. We will use this site for this example:
http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/CS-006120.htm

- Select the correct NIC and you will be taken to a page listing drivers for different Windows builds.

- Choose the drivers for Vista 32bit.

- 'PROVISTA32.EXE' is the link you will select in this example

- On this page you see the actual download 'PROVISTA32_V13_4.exe' and a link to the 'ReadMe'

- Download and save the driver to a temp directory close to the root of C: such as ‘C:\temp’

- Open the online ‘Readme’ to determine how to properly extract the drivers from 'PROVISTA32_V13_4.exe'

Extract the contents of the Executable
Create a directory to extract the files to. Do NOT extract the files to the same directory in which the executable (PROVISTA32_V13_4.exe) resides

Example Steps

- Make a directory named 'c:\temp\Intelextracted'

- In this instance the readme shows that you type 'PROVISTA32_V13_4.exe /e /f c:\temp\Intelextracted’

- This extracts the files and saves them to 'c:\temp\Intelextracted'

- Open the c:\temp\Intelextracted directory and locate the correct drivers

- Sometimes you will find the files in a Platform directory that has a folder for the correct operating system. In this example you would open the PRO1000 folder as the card is a PRO1000. This folder contains a Win32 folder with many .inf, .cat and .sys files.

- Rename the Win32 directory to PRO1000 and place the directory in 'C:\Program
Files\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008\Patch Import'

Perform P2V again with the correct drivers
Start the P2V process again, and this time when hardware has been detected and the network card description is show, click the 'Browse' button at the bottom and select the 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008\Patch Import\PRO1000' folder, then click Next

If you selected the correct drivers WinPE will now be able to initialize the NIC and gain network access during the offline process.

Related Links
Trace file creation during WinPE phase of P2V process

P2V: Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764232.aspx

Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM (P2V Conversions)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb963740.aspx

Update for P2V with SCVMM 2008

Jonathan — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:48:00 GMT

Description of the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 update to address physical to virtual (P2V) issues

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959596

INTRODUCTION

This article describes the Microsoft Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 issues that are fixed in the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 update.

MORE INFORMATION

List of issues that are fixed

•

You use System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 to perform an offline physical to virtual (P2V) conversion. The computer that is running System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 is located on a different subnet from the source computer. However, both computers are configured to use an IP address range, such as 10.x.x.x. The offline P2V conversion fails with the following error message:

Error (3133) Virtual Machine Manager could not connect to source computer servername.domainname.com after it restarted into Windows PE (temporary computer name is p2v-ldjj). Automatic restart to the original operating system is scheduled to occur within 15 minutes. Recommended Action If servername.domainname.com does not restart in 15 minutes, manually restart it back into the original operating system using the boot menu

•

You convert a physical computer to a virtual machine by using VMWare VirtualCenter. One of the disks on the physical computer is larger than 256 gigabytes (GB). You add the VMWare VirtualCenter server to System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008. When you try to create a virtual machine, the operation fails with the following error message:

VMM Cannot find VirtualHardDisk object. Ensure the library object is valid, then try the operation again. ID: 801

Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions - eBook download (did I mention FREE?)

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:54:00 GMT

I found this link on ‘Keith Combs' Blahg.’ Written by Mitch Tulloch with the Microsoft Virtualization team, this is THE reference for all things virtual: Hyper-V, SCVMM, App-V, Med-V, and USMT. Download and read today!

http://blogs.technet.com/keithcombs/archive/2008/12/19/thanks-for-attending-the-usa-virtualization-tour-ebook-download.aspx

Direct download link:

https://www.getvirtualnow.com/usevents/education/download/693371eBook.pdf

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v review,virtual,virtualization,windows,app-v,med-v

Updates! Updates! SCVMM, Hyper-V, Cluster

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:23:00 GMT

There are many updates for SCVMM and Hyper-V. Some are required just following product install, others are provided to offer greater functionality. Some updates/hotfixes address issues that may constitute a headache for you down the road. I'll list everything I know and provide recommendations. This post will change over time as new updates and issues arise. If you find a hotfix or update that you think should be posted here, please let me know. Include the environment conditions (Windows version, etc) and what the update addresses. Here's to being proactive!

Article Ratings

A – Required by product to operate correctly

B – Resolves known issues

C – Adds Functionality

JJ – Get it. This is on my short list when working with customers.

A – SCVMM – Hyper-V

956589 Description of the Hyper-V update for issues that may occur when you manage the Hyper-V role on the 64-bit editions of Windows Server 2008 by using SCVMM

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;956589

A – SCVMM | BITS

956774 A Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) client cannot handle files that have paths that contain the volume GUID in Windows Server 2008 or in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;956774

B – JJ – SCVMM | WMI

958124 A wmiprvse.exe process may leak memory when a WMI notification query is used heavily on a Windows Server 2008-based or Windows Vista-based computer

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;958124

B – JJ – SCVMM | WMI

954563 Memory corruption may occur with the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista Service Pack 1

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;954563

B – JJ – SCVMM - WMI

955805 Certain applications become very slow on a Windows Server 2008-based or Windows Vista SP1-based computer when a certificate with SIA extension is installed

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;955805

B – JJ – SCVMM | P2V

959596 Description of the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 update to address physical to virtual (P2V) issues

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;959596

B – JJ – Hyper-V | VSS

956697 Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V VSS writer is not used during a backup job because of corrupted or invalid virtual machine configuration files

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;956697

B – Hyper-V | VSS

959978 Error message when you back up a Windows Server 2003-based virtual machine on a Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V-based computer: "GetWriterStatus FAILED for Selected writer [Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer], writer is in state [9] [VSS_WS_FAILED_AT_FREEZE]"

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;959978

B – Hyper-V |SCVMM

957967 Stop error message on a Windows Server 2008-based computer that has the Hyper-V role installed: "STOP 0x0000001A"

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;957967

B – Cluster | Hyper-V

957311 Recommended hotfixes for Windows Server 2008-based server clusters

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;957311

B – JJ - Hyper-V | Drive Letters

958184 Virtual machine backup operations fail in Windows Server 2008 when Hyper-V virtual machine files are saved on a volume that is mounted on a failover cluster by using a volume GUID

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;958184

B – Hyper-V | Cluster

958065 You cannot configure a Hyper-V virtual machine by using Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering when the virtual machine uses a storage device that is managed by a third-party clustered file system or a third-party replication solution

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;958065

C – Hyper-V | Cluster

951308 Increased functionality and virtual machine control in the Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster Management console for the Hyper-V role

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;951308

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v,virtual,virtualization,windows

Ultimate Interactive How To for SCVMM

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:44:00 GMT

Need to add a Host? Click 'To add hosts'. Want to configure a SAN environment for VMM? There's a button for that too. This screen capture shows a few of the options available in the decision flow designed to take you to the right content for the job at hand.

Here's the link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scvmm/cc835256.aspx

Content below is the table version of the interactive decision flow located here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scvmm/cc835256.aspx

Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Decision Flow

Updated: October 21, 2008

To use this high-level decision flow to help you implement System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008, follow the path from top to bottom. After each decision point, click the link to review content about that feature. To view a flowchart version of this table, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=126290 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=126290 ] .

SCVMM Decision Flow Table

Step	Statement	Decision
1	Do you have VMM 2007 or VMM 2008 Beta installed?	If Yes, go to step 2. If No, go to step 3.
2	To Migrate to VMM 2008	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125913 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125913 ] Go to step 4.
3	To install VMM 2008 components	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125914 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125914 ] . Go to step 4.
4	Do you want to add hosts?	If Yes, go to step 5. If No, go to step 6.
5	To add hosts	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125921 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125921 ] . Go to step 6.
6	Do you want to add a VMware Infrastructure 3 Environment?	If Yes, go to step 7. If No, go to step 8.
7	To add a VMware VirtualCenter Server	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=128560 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=128560 ] . Go to step 8.
8	Do you want to configure a VMM library server?	If Yes, go to step 9. If No, go to step 10.
9	To configure a VMM library server	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125945 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125945 ] . Go to step 10.
10	Do you want to integrate Operations Manager 2007 with VMM?	If Yes, go to step 11. If No, go to step 12.
11	To integrate Operations Manager 2007 with VMM	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125948 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125948 ] . Go to step 12.
12	Do you want to configure delegated administration	If Yes, go to step 13. If No, go to step 14.
13	To configure delegated administration	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125951 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125951 ] . Go to step 14.
14	Do you want to configure a SAN environment for use with VMM?	If Yes, go to step 15. If No, go to step 16.
15	To configure a SAN environment for VMM	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125953 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125953 ] . Go to step 16.
16	Do you want to review optional post-installation tasks?	If Yes, go to step 17. If No, go to step 18.
17	To review optional post-installation tasks	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125954 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125954 ] .
18	To review VMM Operations content	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125955 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125955 ] .

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v,virtual,virtualization,windows

Troubleshooting and Data Collection During Offline P2V

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:36:00 GMT

When the P2V process fails there can be a number of issues to identify. A number of situations are discussed below. The machine being virtualized is referred to as the Source machine. The location where the virtualized machine is being copied is the Destination Host.

Use this article as your main reference for all P2V issues
P2V: Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764232.aspx

Requirements for the Source Machine
To perform a P2V conversion, your source computer:
- Must have at least 512 MB of RAM.
- Must have an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) BIOS - Vista WinPE will not install on a non-ACPI BIOS.
- Must be accessible by VMM and by the host computer.
- Cannot be in a perimeter network (also known as a DMZ, demilitarized zone, and screened subnet) where the firewalls or IPsec settings prohibit communication.
- Must contain one of the following supported operating systems:
- Windows Server 2008 (32-bit)
- Windows Server 2008 (64-bit)
- Windows Server 2003 (32-bit) SP1 or later
- Windows Server 2003 (64-bit) SP1 or later
- Windows 2000 Server SP4 or later (Offline P2V only)
- Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4 or later (Offline P2V only)
- Windows XP Professional (32-bit) SP2 or later
- Windows XP Professional (64-bit) SP2 or later
- Windows Vista (32-bit) SP1 or later
- Windows Vista (64-bit) SP1 or later

Errors and Resolutions
- Third party applications can lead to failures
- Disable all antivirus using MSCONFIG and reboot
- Disable all monitoring software such as Insight Manager (optional)
- Disable IIS on the source machine if running

Network Related - Source machine
Make sure that when rebooted into WinPE there is an IP address. There is a command prompt on the console. Type 'ipconfig /all' and verify with the customer that all IP settings are correct and match that of the SCVMM Server and Destination Host

If the IP starts with 169.254.x.x this is an auto-configed IP. This means there is no DHCP serve to provide an IP address or there are problems with the NIC drivers. It is preferable that the source and destination host are on the same subnet. If not test all routing by pinging…
     - Ping the SCVMM and Host SCVMM servers by DNS name, not IP. If they do not resolve, correct DNS
     - Ping the IP address of the default gateway and DNS servers. If they do not reply, correct IP settings
     - If IP information needs to be set manually in WinPE, at a command prompt type:
‘netsh interface ipv4 set address "Local Area Connection" static 10.241.0.7 255.255.0.0    10.241.0.2    1’
     Where:
‘netsh interface ipv4 set address "Local Area Connection" static %ipaddr% %subnet% %dns server% 1’

Network Related - Source and SCVMM machines
On Windows 2003 machines follow the 'Workaround' in this article (disregard the fact that it is a SQL KB. It is correct). This will disable TCP Offloading in Windows 2003 SP2, which can lead to a number of networking issues.

     942861 Error message when an application connects to SQL Server on a server that is running Windows Server 2003:
     "General Network error," "Communication link failure," or "A transport-level error"
     http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;942861

WMI and 'Access Denied' errors
Follow the article on this site ‘WMI Errors and SCVMM’

During 'Scan System' operation
Example Error
VMM does not have appropriate permissions to access the resource on the <destination_computer> server. Ensure that Virtual Machine Manager has the appropriate rights to perform this action.
ID: 2910
Details: Access is denied (0x80070005)

Resolution #1
- Make sure the computer object for the SCVMM server is in the Administrators group on the source machine
- Make sure the account specified in the SCVMM Admin Console is a member of the Administrators group on the source machine.
- SCVMM 2008 - If the machine is in a workgroup, make sure the Domain specified along with the Account and Password is actually the name of the source machine, not the domain of the SCVMM server

Resolution #2
Ensure that the following services are not set to 'Disabled,' and that you can start them successfully on the source machine
     - WMI
     - Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
     - HTTP SSL
     - RPC

Resolution #3
Enable auditing of object access to determine if the account specified in SCVMM or the SCVMM computer object are failing to access the source machine as required. Look for 'Failure' in the security log once configured and tested.

- Follow the first section of the article below 'For the local computer'
     325898 How to set up and manage operation-based auditing for Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
     http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;325898

- Record any settings under 'Audit Policy' that are already configured
- Change configure all Policies to record Success and Failure
- If any Policies have an icon of gray servers instead of blue 0's and 1's you will not be able to make this change and must involve the customer's Group Policy administrator
- Back at a command prompt type 'gpupdate /force'
- Try the scan again, then check the Security log for ’Failure’ audits
- Set all Policies back to the state you recorded them as before making changes

Resolution #4
Make sure the DCOM (DCOMLaunch) service is set to Automatic and running. (Thanks to Pramod for this tip)

Non-ACPI HAL
If the source machine has a non ACPI HAL P2V cannot be performed.

P2V: Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764232.aspx

309283 HAL options after Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Setup
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;309283

249694 How to move a Windows installation to different hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;249694

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v,virtual,virtualization,windows,P2V

Flattening the SCVMM Learning curve

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:51:00 GMT

Below is an excerpt from Justin Zarb’s article on his ‘Virtual World’ site.

Quick Start from Nothing to SCVMM

http://blogs.technet.com/virtualworld/archive/2007/10/18/quick-start-from-nothing-to-scvmm.aspx

So I have been chatting to more and more people around System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) and this product is great! Compared to other virtualization management tools that I have used in the past (prior to myself joining MS) this product really stands up and stands proud! If you have not played with SCVMM it is soooo simple and sooooooo easy to get up and running and communicating to your virtualized estate. I strongly recommend you all to give it a try.

Anyway so whilst reading some of the techcenter articles I came across these for SCVMM. There is a range of how to video's that are here to set you on your way and get you going! Click on one of the links below and start getting SCVMM underway.......

Getting Started

Title	Length	Presenter
Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) Getting Started	(5:17)	Rakesh Malhotra
Tour of VMM Technical Overview	(16:25)	Keith Combs
VMM Introduction 1 Layout and Use	(3:28)	Edwin Yuen
VMM Introduction 2 How to Deploy a New Virtual Machine	(3:00)	Edwin Yuen
VMM Introduction 3 Physical to Virtual Machine Migration	(3:48)	Edwin Yuen
VMM Introduction 4 Virtual Machine to Virtual Machine Migration	(3:26)	Edwin Yuen

Setup

Title

Length

Presenter

VMM Setup

The Three Steps to Install VMM

(9:51)

Kerim Hanif

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v,virtual,virtualization,windows,P2V,V2V