How it works…

When a physical server is converted using vCenter Converter Standalone, the physical server is cloned into the virtual environment. This creates a copy of the physical server as a virtual machine containing a duplicate of the operating system, applications, and data from the physical server.

When the physical server is converted, new virtual hardware is presented to the virtual machine. The physical hardware that was associated with the virtual machines is no longer present, and references to it should be removed. In Windows, this is done by using the Device Manager.

During the physical-to-virtual conversion, the physical hardware is replaced with virtual hardware. During the conversion, references to the physical hardware and the associated drivers are not removed from the operating system. To remove non-present hardware from a Windows Server, set the environment variable devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices to 1. This will enable non-present devices to be visible in the Device Manager.

An old but useful tool to help clean up the effects of Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) conversions, such as non-present devices, is called the VM Advanced ISO, by Kendrick Coleman. The ISO itself is a compilation of tools, but one in particular should be used to clean up a P2V conversion. You'll find it in the P2v Clean-Up directory of the ISO. It's a script called remove non-present devices. You can download the VM Advanced ISO from http://kendrickcoleman.com/index.php/Tech-Blog/vm-advanced-iso-free-tools-for-advanced-tasks.html.

The conversion can be verified by booting the new virtual machine while it is disconnected from the virtual switch and checking that the operating system and applications were converted correctly. Once verified, the physical server can be powered off or removed from the network, and the newly converted virtual machine can be connected to the network.

The migration of servers and applications can be time-consuming, and vCenter Converter Standalone provides a way to quickly convert physical servers into virtual machines.

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How it works…