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Virtualize Me -Vmware question

  • 24 March 2021
  • 4 replies
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Userlevel 2
Badge +6

Hi all.

 

I have a question about Virtualize Me - Vmware.

 

I have a physical server, which I want to make a clone of, to our Vmware environment. I do not want the cloned server to be connected to the network in anyway as its a DC server. So my question is, when the Virtualize Me process is running, will the server at any point be connected to the network for the restore process to work or is all done “offline”?

 

Thanks

-Anders

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Best answer by Stuart Painter 24 March 2021, 10:38

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4 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +15

Hi @ApK 

Thanks for the question, there are some options with Virtualize Me you can use when configuring the process.

The provisioning of the VM and restoring data will need to be performed with network access as data is provided to the recovery target VM from the Media Agent.

But, you could reconfigure the network settings to prevent the new VM from communicating on the network.

You haven’t specified in the post, so I’ll give options for both Windows and Linux as examples:

Virtualize Me - Windows - Advanced and specfically, Modifying the Configuration for a Virtual Machine

Modify the Network Configuration

When you convert a client computer into a virtual machine, you can modify its network configuration such as IP address, default gateway, and so on.

  1. From the CommCell Console, navigate to Client Computers.
  2. Right-click the <Client>, point to All Tasks | Virtualize Me, and then click <Agent>.
  3. On the Select Recovery Points dialog box, click Next.
  4. On the Virtual Machine Location dialog box:
    • For VMWare, select a vCenter, ESX Server, and a Data Store. Specify the ISO Path on the ESX server.
    • For Hyper-V, select an Hyper-V instance, Hyper-V Host, and a location for the virtual machine in the Storage box. Select the location for the ISO Path on the Hyper-V server.
  5. Click Next.
  6. On the Review Recovery Options dialog box, click the Configuration tab.
  7. Select the network configuration, and then click Edit.
  8. Modify the IP address or any other network configuration details.

    Click Use DHCP if you want to use a dynamic IP address instead of a static IP address.

  9. Click OK.
  10. Click Next.
  11. Click Finish.

 


 

Virtualize Me for Linux - Advanced and Modifying the Configuration of the Virtual Machine

Modify Network Configuration

When you convert a client computer into a virtual machine, you can modify its network configuration such as NIC name, IP address, default gateway, and so on.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers.
  2. Right-click the appropriate client, point to All Tasks > Virtualize Me > Agent.

    The Virtualize Me wizard is displayed.

  3. In the Select Recovery Points page, click Next.
  4. In the Virtual Machine Location page, complete the following steps:
    1. Perform one of the following:
      • For VMware, select a vCenter, Virtualization Client, ESX Server, and a Data Store. Specify the ISO Path on the ESX server.
      • For Hyper-V, select a Hyper-V instance, Hyper-V Host, and a location for the virtual machine in the Storage box. Select the location for the ISO Path on the Hyper-V server.
    2. Click Next.
  5. In the Review Recovery Options page, in the Configuration tab, complete the following steps:
    1. Select the network configuration, and then click Edit.
    2. Modify the IP address or any other network configuration details.

      Click Use DHCP if you want to use a dynamic IP address instead of a static IP address.

    3. Click OK.
    4. Click Next.
  6. In the Submit Job/Alert page, click Finish.

Note: The modified network configuration is used only during virtualization operation. After the virtualization operation ends and the virtual machine reboots, you must perform the network configuration again.

Those options explain how you can reconfigure the network settings during the restore to avoid the VM conflicting with the physical host.

 

I hope that helps,

Stuart

Userlevel 2
Badge +6

Hi Stuart.

 

Thanks for your reply :-)


Server is indeed a Windows Domain controller, and I have modified the IP address as you mentioned and as described in the documentation (Create a Virtual Clone of the Client Computer (VMware)).

So my understanding is, that If I change the computer name, ip address and keeps the server powered off until I am able to uncheck the network in Vmware, I can then start the server via the Vmware console and the server should not have interfered with the original server or other servers on that network during the P2V process?

 

Thanks

-Anders

Userlevel 7
Badge +23

@ApK that is correct.  The process above ensures that they are not both online at the same time.

Userlevel 6
Badge +15

From my Windows server only VirtualizeMe small experience, I noticed that the Commvault ISO I had to import to my Hypervisor is the Live Boot image used that contains the required binaries to perform the restore of the client, from its backup and from the configuration I set during the VirtualizeMe phase.

It’s interesting to open the hypervisor console of the VM while it’s beeing virtualized, as you would see the detailed phases that are reported in the Commcell Console for the job’s phases.

The VM beeing created then has some temporary random name that will not generate a duplicate VM name. After the restore of the files in the VM, the systemstate is beeing restored and that’s where this temporary VM ends.

Depending on the options you selected, after reboot this would be the VM you wanted. 

If it’s for testing purposes, I recommend you to never connect the VMNics to any network, so if you boot it, it would remain isolated. 

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