Importing an OVF File from an everRun MX System

Exporting a VM from the everRun MX system 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 everRun MX system

1. Log on to the everRun Availability Center with the hostname or IP address of your everRun MX master node at:

   http://everRunMX-system:8080
2. In the left-hand navigation panel, click Virtual Machines.
3. Right-click a VM that you want to export and click Unprotect.
4. When the VM is unprotected and automatically shut down, open Citrix XenCenter.
5. In the left-hand navigation panel of XenCenter, locate and expand the entry for the everRun MX system. Click the VM that you want to export, and click Start.
6. Click the Console tab to open the console of the VM and log on to the Windows guest operating system.
7. Ensure that all volumes are labeled accurately, as summarized in Managing Windows Drive Labels.
8. Run the Windows System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) to prepare the guest operating system for redeployment.
9. Install the VirtIO drivers and the XenConvert utility 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 https://www.stratus.com/services-support/downloads/?tab=everrun to the guest operating system. This installation utility installs the VirtIO drivers and also the XenConvert utility required for an export from the everRun MX system.

   2. Right-click the installation utility and click Run as administrator.
   3. Click OK to install the software, 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 7.x system.
   5. Wait until the command prompt window indicates that the 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.

   You can optionally uninstall the VirtIO drivers and the XenConvert utility after a successful import, as described later in this topic.

To export the VM and boot volume from the everRun MX system

1. In the Windows guest operating system on the everRun MX system, map a network share to which you will export the VM. For example, you can access a network share on your management PC that runs the everRun Availability Console.

2. Start Citrix XenConvert in the source VM.
3. Verify that From: This machine is selected.
4. Select To: Open Virtualization Format (OVF) Package. Click Next.

5. Select only the (Boot) volume to export. Explicitly deselect other volumes by clicking the Source Volume pulldown menu and selecting None. Do not change any other settings on this page. Click Next.

   Note: You can export only one volume at a time; otherwise, the export fails. See the next procedure to export additional volumes.
6. Specify a path in the Please choose a folder to store the Open Virtualization (OVF) package text area. Click Browse and select a new, empty folder on the network share that you mounted for the export.
7. Ensure that the following XenConvert options are disabled. These options are not supported, and they can prevent a successful import:
   • Include a EULA in the OVF package
   • Create Open Virtual Appliance (OVA)
   • Compress Open Virtual Appliance (OVA)
   • Encrypt
   • Sign with Certificate
8. Click Next.
9. Optionally modify the name of the target OVF file. Click Next.
10. Click Convert.

To export each additional volume from the VM on the everRun MX system

1. Restart Citrix XenConvert on the source VM.
2. Verify that From: This machine is selected.
3. Select To: XenServer Virtual Hard Disk (VHD). Click Next.

4. Select only one volume to export. Explicitly deselect other volumes by clicking the Source Volume pulldown menu and selecting None.

   Do not change any other settings on this page. Click Next

5. Specify a path in the Please choose a folder to store the Open Virtualization (OVF) package text area. Click Browse and select a new, empty folder on the network share that you mounted for the export. Click Next.

   Note: XenConvert does not give the option of specifying VHD file names, so each VHD export must initially be stored in a different folder to avoid overwriting the previous files.
6. Click Convert. This creates a VHD file and a PVP file.
7. After the VHD export, rename the new VHD file to give it a new, unique name and move it to the folder with the boot volume OVF and VHD. The PVP file is not used.
8. Repeat this procedure for each additional volume.

Importing a VM to the everRun 7.x system imports the VM's configuration and any associated volumes that you select from your exported files.

To import a VM to the everRun 7.x system

1. If applicable, on your management PC, map the network share containing the exported OVF and VHD files.
2. Log on to the everRun 7.x system with the everRun Availability Console.
3. 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.
4. On the Virtual Machines page (see The Virtual Machines Page), click Import/Restore to open the import wizard.
5. Click Browse. In the file browser, select the .ovf file that you want to import from your management PC and click Import.
6. Click Import to create a new instance of the VM with unique hardware IDs.
7. When prompted, click Browse and select a .vhd file to include for each volume associated with the VM.

8. 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 7.x 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.

9. 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 7.x system.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Click Console to open the console of the VM and log on to the guest operating system.
13. Update the VirtIO drivers to the latest supported versions, as described in Updating the VirtIO Drivers (Windows-based VMs).
14. 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 7.x system continues 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 everRun MX system (Windows-based VMs only)

After you successfully import the new VM to the everRun 7.x system, you can uninstall the VirtIO drivers and the XenConvert utility from the Windows-based source VM on the everRun MX system. However, uninstalling this software is optional, as it does not interfere with the operation of the VM.

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 everRun MX system

In the Windows guest operating system, consider saving log file information from XenConvert, then close the utility. Remove all of the files from the export folder on your network share, or create a new folder for a subsequent export. You must select an empty folder for each new export.

To clean up after a canceled or failed import on the everRun 7.x system

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

To recover from a failed export from the everRun MX system

The export fails if you export more than one volume at a time. Run XenConvert again and be careful to explicitly deselect all but one volume for the export. Also, ensure that you use an empty folder for each new export.

To recover from a failed import to the everRun 7.x system

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

To recover missing data volumes in the VM on the everRun 7.x system

If your data volumes do not appear in the VM on the everRun 7.x 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.
• Use Disk Management to bring data volumes online.

To recover missing network devices in the VM on the everRun 7.x system

Shut down the VM, run the Reprovision Virtual Machine wizard, and verify that you have included the networks on the Networks page.