P2V on Hyper-V

So I used the Sysinternals Disk2VHD with some success.  I can boot the DC in Hyper-V in Safe mode only.  When I try to boot in Normal mode the VM just freezes.

I seem to have seen somewhere on the Internet that there is a problem with the NIC's when going from P2V.

Any suggestions?

Prior to running the Disk2VHD process make sure any third party management software is disabled in Services (HP Manage, Dell Open Manage, ETC).

While in Safe Mode:
http://bit.ly/Xo0akx

Use the HIR steps outlined to remove any no longer present hardware components that were previous to the physical server.

You may also be able to install Integration Services while in Safe Mode to further the driver updates along.

Are they both up to date with the latest service pack?

Philip

Philip:

 "Prior to running the Disk2VHD process make sure any third party management software is disabled in Services (HP Manage, Dell Open Manage, ETC). "    - I did not do this before converting the Dell Server.

Hyper-V is up to date but the 2003 Std Server R2 is only at SP1.

I was able to get the NIC's installed-  I had to choose Legacy NIC on the VMM Settings.  I did the HIR unhide and remove lost NIC's-  The server is on the Network and Pingable but I still have to boot into SafeMode w/ Networking for it to boot properly?

I have a side question, how to I get VMM for Windows 8?

You can use the evaluation of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 to do the conversion. It is available as a VHD, so very little setup required aside from joining it to the domain.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=14710

To install the Remote Server Administration Tools under Windows 7/8/8.1, you need to load the correct RSAT package for your client OS, and then you can add the tools under manage features.

RSAT for Windows 8
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=28972

RSAT for Windows 8.1
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39296

I see some other problems in the environment,  namely the fact that they are running an unsupported /insecure version of Exchange on top of a server OS that has only about 1 year of support left on it. Running an insecure/unsupported messaging system or server OS might automatically put them out of HIPPA compliance. I don't deal with HIPPA so I don't know, but your client should be putting their $$ towards getting up to date and secure instead of trying to keep their ancient technology running. They can move email to Office 365 and then replace their file server and terminal server with something modern.

Thanks for the information kevinhsieh......

I am downing RSAT and SC2012 VMM Eval to check it out!

I agree their server software is out dated.  I was entertaining the thought of migrating them to a Virtual Environment and then upgrading to at least 2008R2 Server..... Any thoughts on attempting this???

I generally wouldn't bother with the P2V if you're just going to upgrade them anyway...if the old hardware is still running okay and you have good backups. However if it will take you a while before you can migrate to a new platform, go ahead and do the P2V. If the existing servers have OEM copies of Windows those licenses are not valid after a P2V si you will need to purchase new licenses anyway. The good news is that a single Windows 2012 R2 license has virtualization rights for two Windows Server VMs including downgrade versions. I would not deploy Windows 2008 R2 unless you cannot deploy Windows 2012 R2.

A small office doesn't have economy of scale for hardware or implementation effort. I think that it really makes sense to wholly reconsider the environment. Can everything be done with Office 365 hosted email and OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive). Do you still need a file server, AD,  and a terminal server? What software that you are running can be hosted? What about hosted desktops? These days it is pretty easy to have a router thant uses both cable and DSL or 4G wireless to provide reliable Internet access.

They are slowly moving their medical Apps to the cloud.  I agreed with the hosted solution for them but their DC is failing and I was trying to buy them more time and have them spend too much money.... I think the full migration to the cloud is 6months + out....

Then I would to the P2V and make sure it is still properly licensed.

Check the server's Event Logs to see where the hang-up is.

Make sure you remove RAID, CPUs, and other devices not present in the system.

If RAID, you may also need to reset Boot.INI to allow the server OS to boot properly to the newly configured partition.

Here: http://www.minasi.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31980

See Vic's post on what needs to be done in the registry to allow the server to boot from what is essentially an IDE bus over RAID (Generation 1 VM right?).

Philip

Yes Gen1 VM....  P2V is going from RAID on a Dell PowerEdge server to a IDE SATA drive.  I am still troubling shooting the Boot into Safe Mode only on the new VM.  

I did remove all the devices that aren't being used anymore, NIC's RAID.....

I messed with the Boot.ini and only managed to mess it up.  Had to use Recovery Disk and Bootcfg to straighten out my mess.

I have been following the article  http://www.minasi.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31980 changing what the server boots from without any luck, yet!

That's my Update.......

I took another Image of the server with SysInternals P2V.  I will check it out over the weekend to see if there is any change.
I have not tried SCVMM yet.... but if this doesn't work, then I guess that will have to be the next step.

Thanks

Another method, the one that we use, is to take a backup using StorageCraft's ShadowProtect.

We then use the Hardware Independent Restore process to inject the Integration Services drivers prior to booting the newly restored server OS on a VM.

Perhaps checking into the cost of a 2 Week SP IT Edition subscription (required for HIR) would be a good idea. We keep an annual subscription on the go since we use this product a lot.

Philip

Philip, that's a genius idea!!!!!  Could I use just the SP Server Edition?  Will it put the image in a VHDx format?

Thanks guys for all your help.  You gave good solutions for my P2V dilemma!