So, the users on the VMware forums tell me I need to talk with xen users to find out how to convert VMware Server 2.0 guests over to xen. Anyone have some help they could offer? Been looking all over the net but keep finding information which is never the same the next time. I''m guessing there must be a tool or information on how to do this by now. Thanks for any help you can offer. Mike _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
lists@grounded.net wrote:> So, the users on the VMware forums tell me I need to talk with xen users to find out how to convert VMware Server 2.0 guests over to xen. > > Anyone have some help they could offer? Been looking all over the net but keep finding information which is never the same the next time. I''m guessing there must be a tool or information on how to do this by now. > >Try http://www.ruizs.org/archives/63 Start reading from "Run MergeIDE" If your windows domU still refuse to start, try setting acpi/apic/pae to 1 on domU config. Regards, Fajar _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Actually, the question is, how do I convert VMware Server 2.0 guests to xen guests. Mike On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:35:26 +0700, Fajar A. Nugraha wrote:> lists@grounded.net wrote: > >> So, the users on the VMware forums tell me I need to talk with xen users >> to find out how to convert VMware Server 2.0 guests over to xen. >> >> Anyone have some help they could offer? Been looking all over the net but >> keep finding information which is never the same the next time. I''m >> guessing there must be a tool or information on how to do this by now. >> >> > Try http://www.ruizs.org/archives/63 > Start reading from "Run MergeIDE" > > If your windows domU still refuse to start, try setting acpi/apic/pae to > 1 on domU config. > > Regards, > > Fajar_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
lists@grounded.net wrote:> Actually, the question is, how do I convert VMware Server 2.0 guests to xen guests. > >Did you read the link I sent? It converts physical machines to Xen guests by way of Vmware. Since you ALREADY have a vmware guest, I made the comment "start reading from RunMergeIDE". Basically, converting vmware to Xen guests involve: - installing IDE controller (Xen HVM presents disk as IDE, while VMware by default uses SCSI) - converting disk format from VMDK to raw (other formats might be usable if your Xen supports tap:vmdk or tap:qemu) - creating a suitable Xen config -- Fajar> Mike > > > On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:35:26 +0700, Fajar A. Nugraha wrote: > >> lists@grounded.net wrote: >> >> >>> So, the users on the VMware forums tell me I need to talk with xen users >>> to find out how to convert VMware Server 2.0 guests over to xen. >>> >>> Anyone have some help they could offer? Been looking all over the net but >>> keep finding information which is never the same the next time. I''m >>> guessing there must be a tool or information on how to do this by now. >>> >>> >>> >> Try http://www.ruizs.org/archives/63 >> Start reading from "Run MergeIDE" >> >> If your windows domU still refuse to start, try setting acpi/apic/pae to >> 1 on domU config. >> >> Regards, >> >> Fajar >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users > >_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Oh gee, I didn''t even catch that, so sorry, I''ll go check it out, thanks for the link! :). Mike On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:36:49 -0600, lists@grounded.net wrote:> Actually, the question is, how do I convert VMware Server 2.0 guests to xen > guests. > > Mike > > > On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:35:26 +0700, Fajar A. Nugraha wrote: >> lists@grounded.net wrote: >> >>> So, the users on the VMware forums tell me I need to talk with xen users >>> to find out how to convert VMware Server 2.0 guests over to xen. >>> >>> Anyone have some help they could offer? Been looking all over the net >>> but >>> keep finding information which is never the same the next time. I''m >>> guessing there must be a tool or information on how to do this by now. >>> >>> >> Try http://www.ruizs.org/archives/63 >> Start reading from "Run MergeIDE" >> >> If your windows domU still refuse to start, try setting acpi/apic/pae to >> 1 on domU config. >> >> Regards, >> >> Fajar > > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
There are a couple of ways to do this. First, you''re not going to be able to automatically pull in your VMX file - I don''t know of a way to do that. Second, I''ve not actually done this with VMware Server - I''ve only migrated ESX machines over, so these methods may or may not work. With ESX machines (and possibly Server 2.0 machines, don''t know), there are two disk files - a <VM>.vmdk file and a <VM>-flat.vmdk file. The first file is the descriptor, the second is just the RAW disk data. This makes migrating these disk really, really easy, because all you have to do is point your XEN configuration at the -flat.vmdk file, and Xen should see it as a raw disk file, read the partition information, etc. If server has the same two files for each disk, migrating your server disks should work about the same. If your disks are split into 2GB files, or the Server arrangement is different from this, I''ve found the qemu-img utility to be pretty helpful. You can get this as part of the Qemu package - it has a "convert" mode that allows you to convert disks from one type to another, including VMDK files. You can specify the source VMDK file and a destination RAW file, and it should pull the disk information over for you. The second major part is converting the operating system. In ESX, at least, the virtual disks are all SCSI disks. In Xen, they''re all IDE disks. So, you have to have a way to tell the Operating System to use SCSI disks rather than IDE disks. Someone else already mentioned one method for Windows - there should be a couple other ones floating around other there. I used one recently, but have forgotten what it was. If your guests are Linux guests (or any of the other UNIX and BSD variants), then setting them up for this should be fairly easy - before you shut down your guest, simply reconfigure your kernel (depending on your guest configuration, this could mean rebuilding it or simply remaking an initrd) to support the PIIX IDE controller, then shut it down, transfer it, and boot it up. You may also have to adjust things like the root= at boot time and the /etc/fstab entries from sda to hda or something similar. -Nick>>> "lists@grounded.net" <lists@grounded.net> 2009/01/15 16:16 >>>So, the users on the VMware forums tell me I need to talk with xen users to find out how to convert VMware Server 2.0 guests over to xen. Anyone have some help they could offer? Been looking all over the net but keep finding information which is never the same the next time. I''m guessing there must be a tool or information on how to do this by now. Thanks for any help you can offer. Mike This e-mail may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient. If this email is not intended for you, or you are not responsible for the delivery of this message to the intended recipient, please note that this message may contain SEAKR Engineering (SEAKR) Privileged/Proprietary Information. In such a case, you are strictly prohibited from downloading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this message, its contents or attachments in any way. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this e-mail and delete the message from your mailbox. Information contained in this message that does not relate to the business of SEAKR is neither endorsed by nor attributable to SEAKR. _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Fri, 2009-01-16 at 09:35 +0700, Fajar A. Nugraha wrote:> lists@grounded.net wrote: > > So, the users on the VMware forums tell me I need to talk with xen users to find out how to convert VMware Server 2.0 guests over to xen. > > > > Anyone have some help they could offer? Been looking all over the net but keep finding information which is never the same the next time. I''m guessing there must be a tool or information on how to do this by now. > > > > > > Try http://www.ruizs.org/archives/63 > Start reading from "Run MergeIDE" > > If your windows domU still refuse to start, try setting acpi/apic/pae to > 1 on domU config. > > Regards, > > FajarI will have to read this article. I''ve had mixed results with these conversions using this as a guide: http://ian.blenke.com/vmware/vmdk/xen/hvm/qemu/vmware_to_xen_hvm.html It''s seems like the systems I converted that had IDE drives work fine. The machines that had/have scsi drives I could not get to boot up. These were Windows 2000 Servers and they would get nearly to the end of the boot and the CPU would go 100% and then not go any farther. James _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Some of them are win based and most are linux. I am more interested in moving the linux boxes than the win ones. All of the guests are using SCSI which seems to be the default in VMware Server 2.0 at least. Most have CDROM as well. Mike On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:26:51 -0600, Steve Spencer wrote:> Are these a particular type of guests? In other words, do the guests > > contain a mixture of different OS types? > > If you are dealing with strictly Linux guests, I''d go with a philosophy > of backup-restore of the guest file systems-sans operating system, using > rsnapshot (my personal choice for backup) to do your migration. > > Just a thought. > > Thanks, > > Steven G. Spencer, Network Administrator > KSC Corporate - The Kelly Supply Family of Companies > Office 308-382-8764 Ext. 231 > Mobile 308-380-7957 > > > lists@grounded.net wrote: >> Oh gee, I didn''t even catch that, so sorry, I''ll go check it out, thanks >> for the link! :). >> >> Mike >> >> >> On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:36:49 -0600, lists@grounded.net wrote: >>> Actually, the question is, how do I convert VMware Server 2.0 guests to >>> xen >>> guests. >>> >>> Mike >>> >>> >>> On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:35:26 +0700, Fajar A. Nugraha wrote: >>>> lists@grounded.net wrote: >>>> >>>>> So, the users on the VMware forums tell me I need to talk with xen >>>>> users >>>>> to find out how to convert VMware Server 2.0 guests over to xen. >>>>> >>>>> Anyone have some help they could offer? Been looking all over the >>>>> net >>>>> but >>>>> keep finding information which is never the same the next time. I''m >>>>> guessing there must be a tool or information on how to do this by >>>>> now. >>>>> >>>>> >>>> Try http://www.ruizs.org/archives/63 >>>> Start reading from "Run MergeIDE" >>>> >>>> If your windows domU still refuse to start, try setting acpi/apic/pae >>>> to >>>> 1 on domU config. >>>> >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> Fajar >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Xen-users mailing list >>> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com >>> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Xen-users mailing list >> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com >> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
>Some of them are win based and most are linux. I am more interested in moving the linux boxes than the win ones. All of the guests are using SCSI which seems to be the default in VMware Server 2.0 at >least. Most have CDROM as well.Mike, For windows, unless you use an answer file to *explicitly* not install an IDE driver, it will have it and boot fine. I just did a slew of them and actually ghosted them out and in (actually multicast) so it was fast. You may have to change the HAL let me know if you need help, check the bsod # to determine this if needed. For Linux, you simply need to reconfigure your initrd to have the appropriate module ide module if it doesn''t and make it boot of that and the xen kernel. Check your fstab etc... Configs are easy to do by hand. jlc _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Sat, Jan 17, 2009 at 2:49 AM, lists@grounded.net <lists@grounded.net> wrote:> Some of them are win based and most are linux. I am more interested in moving the linux boxes than the win ones.Oh my. It seems I (incorrectly) assume that you''re moving win boxes only. Sorry about that.> All of the guests are using SCSI which seems to be the default in VMware Server 2.0 at least. Most have CDROM as well. >In general, Joseph''s suggestion would work for Linux boxes. If you need more specific instructions, some additional details of what you''re trying to do would be helpful : - Are you going for PV guests or HVM guests? I''d go for PV for performance reasons. - Which distro do you use? Different distros might require different strategies. For example, some might provide kernel-xen package which can make converting to PV easier, or PV drivers which can improve performance on HVM guests - Are you familiar with creating xen domU config files by hand? Regards, Fajar _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
If you are migrating generally Linux boxes, I''d just create the xen virtual machines, and then use rsnapshot to migrate them as a backup of the live system. I''m assuming that you are doing this on different hardware. I can tell you that this is a very clean way of doing it without trying to figure out file system differences etc. Rsnapshot is a backup solution based on rsync and perl and does not require any special libraries or anything. I recently migrated a LAN server from a standalone box, by setting up rsnapshot and a cron to run it nightly to the live xen machine in a backup location. Once I was ready to move it live, I simply moved the directories from their backup locations to the live location, unplugged the network cable of the old box, and fired up the new virtual machine. It was flawless and it took very little personal time to do. If this sounds like something you''d like to try, feel free to contact me off list. I''m actually getting ready to do exactly this with an old machine running vmware to a new xen setup with 3 virtual servers on the vmware machine. Thanks, -- Steven G. Spencer, Network Administrator KSC Corporate - The Kelly Supply Family of Companies Office 308-382-8764 Ext. 231 Mobile 308-380-7957 Fajar A. Nugraha wrote:> On Sat, Jan 17, 2009 at 2:49 AM, lists@grounded.net <lists@grounded.net> wrote: >> Some of them are win based and most are linux. I am more interested in moving the linux boxes than the win ones. > > Oh my. It seems I (incorrectly) assume that you''re moving win boxes > only. Sorry about that. > >> All of the guests are using SCSI which seems to be the default in VMware Server 2.0 at least. Most have CDROM as well. >> > > In general, Joseph''s suggestion would work for Linux boxes. If you > need more specific instructions, some additional details of what > you''re trying to do would be helpful : > - Are you going for PV guests or HVM guests? > I''d go for PV for performance reasons. > - Which distro do you use? > Different distros might require different strategies. For example, > some might provide kernel-xen package which can make converting to PV > easier, or PV drivers which can improve performance on HVM guests > - Are you familiar with creating xen domU config files by hand? > > Regards, > > Fajar > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users > >-- Steven G. Spencer, Network Administrator KSC Corporate - The Kelly Supply Family of Companies Office 308-382-8764 Ext. 231 Mobile 308-380-7957 _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
You don''t need rsnapshot for that, one line of rsync is all you need. Kai -- Kai Schätzl, Berlin, Germany Get your web at Conactive Internet Services: http://www.conactive.com _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
I need to take notes from this thread and try a few of these things when I get the chance. I''m hoping not to have to migrate things very often, just build them and back them up. On that note, is it fairly easy to move a machine back to a physical server? Mike _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
lists@grounded.net wrote:> I need to take notes from this thread and try a few of these things when I get the chance. I''m hoping not to have to migrate things very often, just build them and back them up. > > On that note, is it fairly easy to move a machine back to a physical server? > >Yes. The limiting factor (e.g. the one that takes most time) is usually the data copy process. If you predict that you frequently need to migrate Linux domU <-> physical machines, you could : - put them on external SAN/NAS, using disk/LVM-backed storage - use either UUID/LVM to reference filesystems (in fstab and in grub) That way migration should only need initrd rebuild (when necessary) and a shutdown-startup. Regards, Fajar _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Ah, something easy :). Thanks for the info, this is going to go in my notes as well. Thanks everyone. Mike On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:30:50 +0700, Fajar A. Nugraha wrote:> lists@grounded.net wrote: > >> I need to take notes from this thread and try a few of these things when >> I get the chance. I''m hoping not to have to migrate things very often, >> just build them and back them up. >> >> On that note, is it fairly easy to move a machine back to a physical >> server? >> >> > Yes. The limiting factor (e.g. the one that takes most time) is usually > the data copy process. If you predict that you frequently need to > migrate Linux domU <-> physical machines, you could : > - put them on external SAN/NAS, using disk/LVM-backed storage > - use either UUID/LVM to reference filesystems (in fstab and in grub) > > That way migration should only need initrd rebuild (when necessary) and > a shutdown-startup. > > Regards, > > Fajar_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users