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Migrating Windows VM from Parallels 8 (Mac) to KVM
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1clue
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 4:25 am    Post subject: Migrating Windows VM from Parallels 8 (Mac) to KVM Reply with quote

Hi,

I've got a few VMs on Mac OS X using Parallels 8. A couple of them are Windows.

I'm looking for a way to convert them to KVM without trashing the license keys.

The Linux VMs are mostly simple enough I can just reinstall them, unless there's an easy conversion path.

Oh yeah, sorry for the edit:

I've tried kvm-img from parallels to qcow2, and then to raw. Both failed in exactly the same way, the disk is not bootable.

The only file that kvm-img understands is the actual data file for the drive.

I've set up kvm/qemu and successfully installed a couple Linux distros I've been meaning to tinker with, and have bridged networking going correctly.
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1clue
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 8:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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_______0
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

which format uses parallels?

mm.. for m$$ vm you'd want to use ntfsclone. It's awsome!!
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1clue
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Parallels is a virtualization scheme with a Mac OS X host.

So far I've managed to convert a couple Linux images by this process:

  1. Shut down guest to be copied.
  2. Attach the guest disk to a Linux image (called "converter" from this point forward) in Parallels which is not being converted.
  3. Attach a large storage area to the converter, as a place to put the converted image. Could be NFS onto the KVM host, or a file server, or a local virtual disk which may be removed later.
  4. Start the linux converter VM
  5. Use kvm-img using 'raw' source format on /dev/hdb or whatever the target disk winds up being. Output format should be whatever you want, on the large storage area.
  6. Copy/move the converted image to the KVM host.
  7. Create a KVM virtual machine and attach the image.
  8. Start it up.


So far, I've been having good luck with converting Linux images but not successful with a Windows image. I get a bootable disk, but I wind up in that screen that allows you to boot in safe mode or try a normal boot. When I try a normal boot, it fails and goes back to that screen. It does not correct itself after an hour or so of trying.

I've built the new guests based on the specs of the old vm, it does not help.
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salahx
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 5:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

1clue wrote:

So far, I've been having good luck with converting Linux images but not successful with a Windows image. I get a bootable disk, but I wind up in that screen that allows you to boot in safe mode or try a normal boot. When I try a normal boot, it fails and goes back to that screen. It does not correct itself after an hour or so of trying.

I've built the new guests based on the specs of the old vm, it does not help.


Unlike Linux, Windows can't handle being booted from a different drive controller (You'll likely get a STOP 0x0000007B). To move Windows you need to install a qemu compatible driver controller BEFORE moving Windows over. Just install the drivers might not be enough, as Windows may not set the driver to start at boot - may require a registry hack - see MS KB 103000.

If the machine is running windows XP (and maybe later versions), set the IDE controller to Intel PIIX and follow MS KB 314082.

Note that even given the above moving to a different VM system is like changing motherboards on phyical machine - so the Windows licensing service may complain. While that can be worked around too, putting an existing Windows install into a new machine (virtual or not) may be more trouble that its worth, it might be better just to do a fresh install....
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 2:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

why don't u use LVM for the guests? In which sort of media are you installing your guests?

for Bill Gate$$ O$$ it needs special preparation steps prior to migration but are well documented in sites like proxmox or virtualbox. Virtualbox is able to boot m$$ disks out of the box, and dd images for that matter.

One eff up shit about qemu is lack of AHCI!!! It's unbelievable why wasn't there from the beginning.

There's a fellow user around the forums that figured out the steps to succesfully migrate m$$$$$$$$$ vms accross partitions and systems.

It involves in deleting ALL entries about disks in the registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > MountedDevices (except the entry "ab(Default)"

Reset disks drivers the START entry to 0:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > services > {iaStorV,msahci,pciide}

Those three entries set START key to 0.

Lastly download MergeIDE.zip and run it.

I suggest shrinking the ntfs volume the max for fast copying. For this purpose ntfsclone does a brilliant job.

How's a Parallels image? Is it plain like can you dd into something else? Like copying the mbr and that?

hope this helps.

mm... last thing, prior to migrating I'd install at least virtio block driver in your m$$ image.

oh last thing, why are you running XP? Because of low mem usage or something? m$$$ 7 (with some tweaking) with virtio balloon and 32bit can start as low as 300MB of ram.

tbh, I am not to sure about the point of virtualizing entire OS as its ends. Ok it's fun but what's the point of virtualizing a bloated OS to use some functionality? So you buy hardware to emulate hardware to put an OS??? And then the GPU passthrough code is viewed as the highest technical achievment and ultimate solution. dunno ...
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1clue
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK so I don't really have time right now for all the answers or to try this stuff, but thanks for sending it, I'll look at it closely when I get a chance.

@_________O,
I DO use LVM for the guests. I want to remove that as a complication right now, but all my fresh installs are on LVM and when i figure this whole thing out I want to put the Windows disks on LVM too. It rocks!

Parallels seems to be something like qcow2, you can take snapshots, it's configured with a max size and grows to fit, that sort of thing. So it's not raw.

I'm using XP because some of my customers still use it in an enterprise setting, and I need to make sure my software works with an XP client. Exactly the same story for every other M$ image I have. I personally have no use for any of it. Worse yet, TechNet is going to be canceled in August and I'm not sure I can swing the MSDN developer edition license.

@salahx,
I'm trying not to use words my parents used to spank me for.

Parallels doesn't seem to have different hardware options like that.

I guess I could try to reinstall and then tell them I'm migrating the system to KVM. It's a test license after all, and it was on a VM and going to a different VM. It's certainly not easy so far, I can see why people might want to just start fresh.
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