Some best practices using VMware Converter. New video from VMware KB website. This time it's about using VMware converter. To master VMware converter permits you sometimes to save your day too ….. ( had an Error unable to access a file since it is locked” ).
This video provides an overview of the best practices for converting a machine with VMware Converter. This video is based on VMware knowledge base article 1004588. There are some great tips to take into consideration…
Like that it's better to specify the IP address instead of host name as a destination ESX Server, since you could have an issue there. Also you should test the ports necessary to establish a connection. Those are 443 and 902.
You can do it by using telnet:
To initiate a Telnet test to a port from Windows:
Open a command prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
In the command prompt window type “telnet <server> <port>” , where <server> is the hostname or IP address of the server, and “<port>” is the port that you want to connect to.
Press Enter. To exit out of the Telnet application type Ctrl + ] and then type quit .
Run VMware Converter as a local administrator. Using a local administrator account removes any possible permissions issues. If you are performing a remote conversion, be sure to specify the login user as the Administrator account.
So here is the video.
There is much more links and how-tos, in the original KB article there.
VMware converter standalone can also help you to shrink VMDK disk files. A virtual disk provisionned as thin disks grow with the time and so the VMDK files grows as well. No matter if you delete files from within the VM, the file size of VMDK files doesn't get smaller. The only way is to shrink VMDK disk file. One of the easiest way is to use VMware Converter for the job. Read my latest article on How to reduce VMDK size with VMware Converter.
