MVUG Blog

Best Practice Tips - P2V with SCVMM 2008 and Windows 2003

Again, although not definitive, I have compiled a list of what I consider to be a best practice approach after carrying out a number of P2V conversions, where the source computer was running Windows 2003 SP1 or later:

• Obtain the administrator password for the source computer
• Scan the source computer using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Configuration Analyzer (VMMCA) to ensure that the source computer meets the “minimum requirements”
• Ensure that you have a slipstreamed Windows 2003 SP1 or later ISO, optionally consider copying the contents of that ISO up to the source computer
• If using an ISO ensure that the Hardware Profile for then target virtual machine has a minimum of two optical drives
• Validate the SCVMM server block list and add any services and drivers that you want disabled after the P2V conversion. The block list can be found at C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008\VMMData\BlockList.xml
• After conversion, on first boot of the virtual machine, cancel the Windows driver installation and insert the Integration Services media from the Hyper-V console. Connect to the virtual machine and install the Integration Services
• When prompted for the slipstreamed Windows 2003 SP1 or later source media, either point the install at the optical drive or to the local folder where the Windows 2003 SP1 or later media can be found.
• After the virtual machine reboots, ensure that all the VMBus drivers are installed via Device Manager. Reboot the virtual machine again
• After the virtual machine restarts, check all system events, and ensure any unwanted services and drivers have been disabled. Remove any unnecessary software e.g. vendors hardware monitoring agents

Patrick Lownds

Best Practice Tips - P2V with SCVMM 2008 and Windows 2000

Although not a definitive list, I have compiled a list of what I consider to be a best practice approach after carrying out a number of P2V conversions where the source computer was running Windows 2000 SP4:

• Obtain the administrator password for the source computer
• Scan the source computer using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Configuration Analyzer (VMMCA) to ensure that the source computer meets the “minimum requirements”
• Create an empty log file for WinPE logging on the root of C:\ named scvmm_enable_winpe_tracing.txt
• Obtain a copy of any required third party drivers and upload the drivers to the SCVMM server
• Ensure that you have a slipstreamed Windows 2000 SP4 ISO or optionally consider copying the contents of that ISO up to the source computer
• If using an ISO ensure that the Hardware Profile for then target virtual machine has a minimum of two optical drives
• Validate the SCVMM server block list and add any services and drivers that you want disabled after the P2V conversion. The block list can be found at C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008\VMMData\BlockList.xml
• After conversion, on first boot of the virtual machine, cancel the Windows driver installation and insert the Integration Services media from the Hyper-V console. Connect to the virtual machine and install the Integration Services
• When prompted for the slipstreamed Windows 2000 SP4 source media, either point the install at the optical drive or to the local folder where the Windows 2000 SP4 media can be found. The virtual machine will prompt to update the HAL and will reboot
• After the virtual machine reboots, ensure that all the VMBus drivers are installed via Device Manager. Reboot the virtual machine again
• After the virtual machine restarts, check all system events, and ensure any unwanted services and drivers have been disabled. Remove any unnecessary software e.g. vendors hardware monitoring agents
• Change the virtual machine to an ACPI Uni-Processor PC and reboot

Patrick Lownds

P2V with SCVMM 2008 and Windows 2000

Recently I had the opportunity to carry out some P2V conversion and amongst the machines that I converted were a number of Windows 2000 servers.

SCVMM 2008 is restricted to an offline conversion and when conducting an offline conversion the operator must provide any necessary third party drivers for WinPE. These additional drivers must be uploaded to the SCVMM server and stored in “Program Files\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008\ Driver Import”. You can either place the drivers directly in this folder or create a sub folder structure of your choosing.

An offline conversion consists of the following high level steps:

·        SCVMM installs the P2V agent on the source computer.

·        The SCVMM agent installs a Windows PE image on the source computer and modifies the boot record. As a result, the source computer boots into Windows PE instead of booting into the installed operating system.

·        SCVMM begins streaming the physical disks.

·        SCVMM prepares the virtual hard disks for virtual machine creation.

·        SCVMM creates the virtual machine.

·        SCVMM attaches virtual hard disks, network adapters, CD-ROM, and memory.

To carry out an offline conversion the source computer must meet the following criteria:

·        The source computer must be running Windows 2000 SP4 and have the following components installed

o   Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable (v2)

o   Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package

o   Windows Update Agent update (KB946928)

·        The source computer must have 512 MB of RAM

·        The source computer must either be in a workgroup, in the same domain as the SCVMM server, or a member of a domain that has a full two-way trust with the domain that hosts the SCVMM server.

You can easily determine if the source computer meets the criteria by using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Configuration Analyzer (VMMCA) which can be downloaded from the following link http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=02d83950-c03d-454e-803b-96d1c1d5be24&displaylang=en

There are also some requirements on the target computer as well:

·         Sufficient storage must be available on the target host computer (required to store the image of the P2V source machine which is being copied in VHD format while the target virtual machine is being built).

·         The target host computer must be running Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V or Virtual Server R2 SP1

·         The target host computer must have sufficient memory (256 MB of RAM plus the amount of memory allocated to the virtual machine)

Linux ICs for Hyper-V R2 Now Available

RC SUSE Linux ICs for Hyper-V R2 are now available for download and testing at https://connect.microsoft.com/SelfNomination.aspx?ProgramID=1863&pageType=1&SiteID=495

Patrick Lownds

RSAT tools for Windows 7 (which includes the Hyper-V Management tools)

The RSAT tools or Windows 7 have been released which include the Hyper-V Management tools. They can be downloaded at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f6c62797-791c-48e3-b754-c7c0a09f32f3&displaylang=en

Patrick Lownds

Virtual PC and XP Mode for Windows 7 now available for download

Windows Virtual PC Beta, a feature of Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate plus XP Mode, that uses virtualisation to allow Windows 7 to easily run applications designed for Windows XP, is available to download at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/default.aspx

Patrick Lownds