Converting an Avance Unit to an everRun 7.x System

1. Plan for converting your Avance unit by reviewing the following information:

   • Planning to Migrate from an Avance Unit

     Describes some items to consider when migrating or converting from an Avance unit to an everRun system.

   • Software Installation

     Summarizes the steps for installing the everRun software.

   • Migrating a Physical Machine or Virtual Machine to a System

     Describes how to use the P2V client to migrate a VM from one system to another. Also describes some steps you may need to complete in your guest operating systems before migrating the VMs to ensure that the VMs will function properly on the everRun system.

2. Back up your Avance unit and VMs.
3. Download the everRun ISO file from the Downloads page at https://www.stratus.com/services-support/downloads/?tab=everrun.
4. Download the P2V client ISO file from the Drivers and Tools section of the same support page.
5. Burn the everRun ISO file to a physical DVD that you will use to install the everRun software on each PM in your system.
6. In the Avance Management Console, use the P2V client ISO file to create a VCD that you will boot in each Avance VM to transfer the VMs to the everRun system.

7. Contact your network administrator to request at least one static IP address to use as the system-wide IP address for your converted everRun system. Request an additional static IP address for each of the two nodes if you do not have a DHCP server to automatically assign these addresses or if you prefer to use only static addresses.

   Note: You must maintain unique system IP addresses for the Avance unit and the everRun system while both systems are online; however, if you want to reuse the original Avance unit IP address for the everRun system, you can change the network settings of the everRun system after the conversion is complete.

Starting with both nodes running the Avance software, do the following:

1. In Avance Management Console, verify that your Avance unit is running properly and that both PMs are online.

2. Enable maintenance mode on node0 of the Avance unit.

   Note: Start with node0 of the Avance unit for consistency, because this first node that you convert will become node0 of the everRun system.
3. Verify that the VMs migrate from node0 to node1.
4. Shut down node0.

5. Follow the instructions in Installing Software on the First PM to install the everRun software on node0. Power on the node, update the necessary settings in the firmware (BIOS or UEFI) setup utility, and boot the node from the everRun DVD to run the installation program.

   When configuring the management network, select a DHCP-assigned address for now and record the IP address as described in Recording the Management IP Address. (You can optionally specify a static IP address for each node later, after converting the second node.)

   Caution: Do not convert the remaining node of the Avance unit at this point; otherwise, all Avance data and VMs will be lost.
6. When you finish installing the everRun software on node0, verify that you can connect to the everRun Availability Console at the IP address of the newly-installed node.

7. Log on to the everRun Availability Console on node0 as described in Logging On to the everRun Availability Console for the First Time.

   When prompted for the initial configuration settings, type the static IP address you obtained from your network administrator as the System IP address. Also, if you want to fully enable the features of your everRun system for testing, upload and activate your product license on the LICENSE INFORMATION page.

   Notes:  

   • When specifying the System IP address, type the system-wide IP address, and not the node0 or node1 address.
   • If you want to verify that your VMs work on node0 before you install the everRun software on the remaining node, activate your product license now. You can use the P2V client to migrate your VMs to the everRun system without a product license, but you cannot start and test your VMs on the everRun system unless you activate a valid license.

With node0 running the everRun software and node1 running the Avance software, do the following:

1. If applicable, prepare your VMs for migration as described in Migrating a Physical Machine or Virtual Machine to a System.

   In some cases, you need to perform steps in the guest operating system before migrating a VM to ensure that the VM will function properly on the everRun system.

2. In the Avance Management Console, shut down a VM that you want to migrate.
3. Boot the VM from the P2V client VCD and migrate the VM by following the steps in Migrating a Physical Machine or Virtual Machine to a System.
4. After the migration completes, power off the VM and close the VM console window.
5. In the everRun Availability Console connected to the everRun node, verify that the VM appears on the Virtual Machines page.

6. Start the migrated VM and verify that it is functioning properly. Follow the instructions in Migrating a Physical Machine or Virtual Machine to a System to complete any migration steps in the VM. For example, you may need to install drivers or disable certain services.

   Caution: The original VM on the Avance system must remain shut down when you use the VM on the everRun system; otherwise, the VMs will have network and software licensing conflicts.
   Note: You can start a VM on the everRun system only if you have activated your product license. Upload and activate your license as described in Managing the Product License.

7. If necessary, configure and manage your VM as described in Managing Virtual Machines. For guest-specific settings, see:

   • Configuring Windows-based Virtual Machines
   • Configuring Linux-based Virtual Machines
8. Follow steps 1-7 to migrate additional VMs.
9. Verify that all of your VMs are functioning properly, and that you have recorded any additional settings you that need from the remaining Avance node (node1), which you will overwrite in the next procedure.

1. Shut down the Avance unit to power off the remaining Avance node (node1). In the Avance Management Console, on the Unit page, click Shutdown .

2. Follow the instructions in Installing Software on the Second PM to install the everRun software on node1. Power on the node, update the necessary settings in the firmware (BIOS or UEFI) setup utility, and boot the node from the everRun DVD to run the installation program.

   When configuring the management network, select a DHCP-assigned address for now. (You can specify a static IP address after the software installation.)

3. When the installation finishes, connect to the everRun Availability Console at the system IP address of the everRun system.

4. On the Physical Machines page, wait until both PMs reach the running state, and then assign logical disks to storage groups on the everRun 7.x system, as described in Assigning a Logical Disk to a Storage Group.

   Notes:  

   • When the second PM joins the everRun system, the system automatically adds the secondary everRun system disk to the Initial Storage Group; however, the system does not assign any other logical disks from the second PM to existing storage groups.
   • If you assigned logical disks to the Initial Storage Group or other storage groups on the first PM, you must manually add matching logical disks from the second PM to the same storage groups; otherwise, the everRun system cannot fully synchronize.
5. Verify that both PMs reach the running state and that the PMs finish synchronizing. The initial synchronization may take minutes or hours depending on your configuration, including the amount of storage and the number of VMs.

6. Optionally, update the network settings for the everRun system:

   • If you want to reuse the static IP address of the Avance unit as the system IP address of the everRun system, open the Preferences page and click IP Configuration. On the System IP tab, enter the static IP settings that were used by the Avance unit and click Save.
   • If you want to specify a static IP address for each node, click each Noden IP tab, enter the new settings, and click Save.

   If necessary, the everRun Availability Console reloads to reflect the new addresses.

7. Configure the everRun settings summarized in Post-Installation Tasks.

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

To resolve network connectivity problems with the everRun system

If you have trouble connecting to the everRun Availability Console, especially after installing the first node (node0), you may have used the same IP address for node0 and for the system IP address. To correct the problem, reinstall the everRun software on node0 and ensure that the IP addresses you type for node0 and the system IP address are unique.