Importing an OVF File from an Avance System

Exporting a VM from the Avance unit exports the VM's configuration in an OVF file along with a copy of the selected volumes on your management PC.

To prepare for exporting a VM from the Avance unit (Windows-based VMs only)

1. Log on to the Avance unit with the Avance Management Console.

2. On the Virtual Machines page, select the VM to export.
3. Click Console to open the console of the VM and log on to the Windows guest operating system.
4. Ensure that all volumes are labeled accurately, as summarized in Managing Windows Drive Labels.
5. Run the Windows System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) to prepare the guest operating system for redeployment.
6. Install the VirtIO drivers in the Windows guest operating system:

   1. Download the VirtIO.exe driver installation utility from the Drivers and Tools section of the Downloads page at http://www.stratus.com/go/support/everrun to the guest operating system.

      If you want to verify the integrity of the VirtIO.exe file, also download the associated fciv (Windows) or md5sum (Linux) checksum file and execute similar commands to those described in Obtaining everRun Software.

   2. Right-click the installation utility and click Run as administrator.
   3. Click OK to install the VirtIO drivers, and monitor the progress in the command prompt window.

   4. Click Restart Later when Windows prompts you to restart the guest operating system.

      Note: Windows prompts you to restart while the installation utility is still working. Do not restart the VM until you complete the following steps; otherwise, the driver installation fails and your imported VM will not boot on the everRun system.
   5. Wait until the command prompt window indicates that the VirtIO driver installation is finished and prompts you to Press any key to continue.
   6. Click the command prompt window to make it the active window, then press any key and wait for command prompt window and WinZip window to close.
   7. Restart the guest operating system to load the new drivers.

   Installing the VirtIO drivers also installs the XenConvert utility required for exports from everRun MX systems; however, this utility is not used on Avance units. You can optionally uninstall the VirtIO drivers and the XenConvert utility after a successful import, as described later in this topic.

To export a VM from the Avance unit

The following procedure describes how to export a VM from Avance, but you can also create a snapshot and export the snapshot to reduce downtime for the source VM. To create a snapshot, see the Avance online help.

1. Log on to the Avance unit with the Avance Management Console.
2. On the Virtual Machines page, select the VM to export.
3. With the VM selected, click Shutdown and wait for the VM to power off.
4. Click Export to display the export wizard.
5. If prompted, allow the required Java™ plugins to load in your web browser.
6. Click Export VM. (Click Export Snapshot if you created a snapshot.)
7. Click Browse. Select a location for the export on your management PC running the Avance Management Console and click Save.
8. Select the volumes you want capture, or click VM Configuration Only to include only the configuration details of each volume in the export file, but not the data.
9. Click Export.

Importing a VM to the everRun system imports the VM's configuration and any associated volumes that you select from the OVF export on your management PC.

To import a VM to the everRun system

1. Log on to the everRun system with the everRun Availability Console.
2. On the Physical Machines page (see The Physical Machines Page), verify that both PMs are in the running state and that neither PM is in maintenance mode or in the process of synchronizing.
3. On the Virtual Machines page (see The Virtual Machines Page), click Import/Restore to open the import wizard.
4. If prompted, allow the required Java plugins to load in your web browser. For information about enabling Java for the everRun Availability Console, see Compatible Internet Browsers.
5. Click Browse. In the file browser, select the .ovf file that you want to import from your management PC and click Import.
6. Select Import or Restore. Import creates a new instance of the VM with unique hardware IDs. Restore creates an identical VM with the same hardware IDs that are provided in the OVF file.

7. Review the information and make any desired edits, if necessary:

   • Name, CPU, and Memory

     Change the name of the virtual machine, edit the number of vCPUs, or allocate the total memory it can use.

   • Storage

     Shows all of the volumes. Select the Create box for a volume to allocate a storage container for the volume on the everRun system (the boot volume is required). Select the Restore Data box to import data for a volume from the OVF file.

   • Network

     Displays all of the available networks. You can remove a network or add one that is not already allocated. A minimum of one network is required. If you will continue running the source VM on the Avance unit, ensure that the MAC address for each network interface in the new VM is different from the source VM.

8. Optionally, clear the check box for Auto start Virtual Machine after import if you need to reprovision the VM before starting it for the first time on the everRun system.

9. Click Import to begin importing the VM. When the transfer is complete, click Done to close the import wizard.

   Note: Imported volumes begin to appear on the Volumes page of the everRun Availability Console while the import is still in progress. Do not attach or remove any of these imported volumes until the import window reports that the process is complete; otherwise, the import fails.

10. If applicable, use the Reprovision Virtual Machine wizard to allocate additional resources to the VM, as described in Reprovisioning Virtual Machine Resources.

    When you are finished reprovisioning the VM, click Start to boot the VM.

11. Click Console to open the console of the VM and log on to the guest operating system.
12. For Windows-based VMs, allow the guest operating system to automatically install the VirtIO drivers and other required drivers, which may take several minutes. When a notification icon indicates that Your device is ready to use and you are prompted to restart, restart the guest operating system to load the drivers.
13. If necessary, update the network settings in the guest operating system.

After you verify that the new VM is functioning properly, the import process is complete; however, the everRun system may continue to synchronize data between PMs to enable High Availability (HA) or Fault Tolerant (FT) operation.

To optionally uninstall the VirtIO drivers from the source VM on the Avance unit (Windows-based VMs only)

After you successfully import the new VM to the everRun system, you can uninstall the VirtIO drivers and the XenConvert utility from the Windows-based source VM on the Avance unit. However, uninstalling this software is optional, as it does not interfere with the operation or continuous uptime of the Avance unit.

1. In the console of the source Windows-based VM, locate the VirtIO.exe installation utility. (This same utility is used to uninstall the VirtIO drivers if they are present.)

2. Right-click the installation utility and click Run as administrator.

3. Click OK to uninstall the VirtIO drivers, and monitor the progress in the command prompt session.
4. When prompted, press any key to close the utility. No restart is necessary.

If necessary, use the following information to resolve problems with the export or import process.

To clean up after a canceled or failed export from the Avance unit

On your management PC, remove all of the files from the export folder or create a new folder for a subsequent export.

To clean up after a canceled or failed import on the everRun system

In the everRun Availability Console, remove the imported VM and any volumes associated with the imported VM.

To recover from a failed import to the everRun system

The imported VM crashes if the VirtIO drivers are not present in a Windows-based VM. Before running the export again, ensure that you install the VirtIO drivers in the VM on the Avance unit.

To recover when the new VM's console hangs on the everRun system

For Ubuntu-based VMs, the VM console hangs in everRun Availability Console if you do not properly set the gfxmode parameter before the import process (as described in Notes). If the VM console hangs, keep restarting the VM until the console opens properly in everRun Availability Console and then modify the gfxmode parameter to prevent subsequent issues.

For additional VM console troubleshooting, see Opening a Virtual Machine Console Session.

To recover missing data volumes in the VM on the everRun system

If your data volumes do not appear in the VM on the everRun system after the import, you may need to manually restore the volumes, as follows:

• Shut down the VM, run the Reprovision Virtual Machine wizard, and verify that you have included the volumes on the Volumes page.
• For Windows-based VMs, use Disk Management to bring data volumes online.
• For Linux-based VMs, edit the /etc/fstab file to reflect the new device names for the storage devices, from Avance (/dev/xvda through /dev/xvdh) to everRun (/dev/vda through /dev/vdh). Device names also may have shifted, for example, if volumes were not included in the import.

To recover missing network devices in the VM on the everRun system

If your network devices do not appear in the VM on the everRun system after the import , you may need to manually restore them, as follows:

• Shut down the VM, run the Reprovision Virtual Machine wizard, and verify that you have included the networks on the Networks page.
• For Linux-based VMs, reconfigure the network startup script to reflect the new device names for the network interfaces.