Where to download VMware Cold Clone Converter ISO? This is something users were wondering as VMware no longer provides the product in direct link download or if yes, it's buried somewhere on the VMware site.
Update: You can find this tool on my VMware Free Tools page. I've added a direct download link from my Dropbox folder there. I'm not sure that the original link when this article was written still works. I hope you will find it useful.
On the Free tools page, there are not only VMware utilities, but also Microsoft or other freeware which admins uses on they day to day routine. We're trying to maintain that page in order to provide high value for virtualization and IT community.
Why Would You Need VMware Cold Clone ISO?
You cannot do a hot conversion every time. Sometimes you need to perform a cold clone to convert your physical servers in order to capture a “dead” state of the server, with all services, software, DBs shut down. It's sometimes difficult to VSS an application running on a physical server if that particular application was written ages ago.
Then you're asking, where to get the converter cold clone boot CD?
So, there exists the cold-clone disc. This is a bootable CD-ROM disc that you actually boot the physical server from. The disc contains a pre-installed Windows 2003 image that runs a built-in version of Converter. Since you boot from the CD, none of the server’s processes start-up so you can get a good clone of the hard drive.
In case you want to download the cold clone converter you must go to my free tools page.
VMware does not provide a link to the download any longer and I believe this tool is no longer supported.
Sometimes a conversion of a system just does not work. You can try using the vCenter Converter bootable CD to do the conversion because that would bypass for example a Linux OS by booting off the CD and doing the conversion from there.
More from ESX Virtualization:
- Ditch Your HDDs For ACloudA Gateway
- VMware API Explorer Is a Free Built-in Utility in VCSA
- What is VMware VMFS Locking Mechanism?
- What is VMware Instant Clone Technology?
- VMware vCenter Server Standard vs Foundation – Differences
- Free Tools
Stay tuned through RSS, and social media channels (Twitter, FB, YouTube)
The enterprise edition of Converter is not free and is only available to customers who own vCenter Server. Also the cold clone OS is not Win2003 but is a special version of Windows called Windows PE that is based on Vista. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766093(WS.10).aspx
Thanks for your article, it was very useful.
Hi Vladan, i can’t open the download link for most recent version of Converter Boot CD.
https://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=VC250U4
Can you give some info about this link download ?
Thanks
Regards,
Haikal
Thanks for letting me know that the link does not work. I’ll update the post. Check back later.
Hi Vladan,
The link doesn’t work anymore. I’d appreciate if you could update it.
Thanks
Yes it does. Follow the link to the “Free Tools” page, then there is a link to the cold clone ISO file located in my Dropbox.
Where can i get the petool.exe to inject drivers to the coldclone.iso?
The link to your dropbox doens’t work. Do you still have a copy of the cold clone iso?
The link from the Free Tools page works. Just checked. -:) ++