[gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Is it correct that vmware-server is out of portage?

I have to migrate and upgrade an old box again and it is running kernel
2.6.25 ... now I have 3.10.25 and realise that it won't compile/run
vmware-server ... *sigh*

So Plan B is migrating the VMs to KVM quickly ...

Thanks for pointers, Stefan

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[J. Roeleveld]

On 17 March 2014 18:27:42 CET, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>
>Is it correct that vmware-server is out of portage?
>
>I have to migrate and upgrade an old box again and it is running kernel
>2.6.25 ... now I have 3.10.25 and realise that it won't compile/run
>vmware-server ... *sigh*
>
>So Plan B is migrating the VMs to KVM quickly ...
>
>Thanks for pointers, Stefan

Not 100% sure, but I think vmware server got deprecated by VMWare themselves?

Got replaced by VMWare ESX.
Alternatives would be Xen or KVM.

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[J. Roeleveld]

On 17 March 2014 18:44:15 CET, "J. Roeleveld" <joost@antarean.org> wrote:
>On 17 March 2014 18:27:42 CET, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at>
>wrote:
>>
>>Is it correct that vmware-server is out of portage?
>>
>>I have to migrate and upgrade an old box again and it is running
>kernel
>>2.6.25 ... now I have 3.10.25 and realise that it won't compile/run
>>vmware-server ... *sigh*
>>
>>So Plan B is migrating the VMs to KVM quickly ...
>>
>>Thanks for pointers, Stefan
>
>Not 100% sure, but I think vmware server got deprecated by VMWare
>themselves?
>
>Got replaced by VMWare ESX.
>Alternatives would be Xen or KVM.
>
>--
>Joost

Yep, just checked wikipedia.
Got deprecated. Last version dates back to 2009.

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 17.03.2014 18:46, schrieb J. Roeleveld:

> Yep, just checked wikipedia.
> Got deprecated. Last version dates back to 2009.

Yes, I also remember somehow ... so the evening will be spent with
installing KVM and migrating 2 VMs ... tmrw morning they expect the
services to run.

How I love mondays ... ;-)

thanks

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[J. Roeleveld]

On 17 March 2014 18:48:56 CET, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>Am 17.03.2014 18:46, schrieb J. Roeleveld:
>
>> Yep, just checked wikipedia.
>> Got deprecated. Last version dates back to 2009.
>
>Yes, I also remember somehow ... so the evening will be spent with
>installing KVM and migrating 2 VMs ... tmrw morning they expect the
>services to run.
>
>How I love mondays ... ;-)
>
>thanks

Good luck.
Mondays are always fun for that.

I always prefer weekends for migrations like this.

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 17.03.2014 18:53, schrieb J. Roeleveld:

> Good luck.
> Mondays are always fun for that.
> 
> I always prefer weekends for migrations like this.

I wasn't asked.
The motherboard and power supply were dead this morning.

And the customer had nothing else at hand ... so I had to plug the disks
into another new PC and get things going.

But new hardware needs a current kernel ... leading to all this.

Thanks, Stefan

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[J. Roeleveld]

On 17 March 2014 19:03:07 CET, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>Am 17.03.2014 18:53, schrieb J. Roeleveld:
>
>> Good luck.
>> Mondays are always fun for that.
>> 
>> I always prefer weekends for migrations like this.
>
>I wasn't asked.
>The motherboard and power supply were dead this morning.
>
>And the customer had nothing else at hand ... so I had to plug the
>disks
>into another new PC and get things going.
>
>But new hardware needs a current kernel ... leading to all this.
>
>Thanks, Stefan

I know.
It usually comes at the least convenient moment.

I do think it's the customers' fault for not keeping up with normal maintenance schedules. Most companies write off hardware after 3-4 years.

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 17.03.2014 19:30, schrieb J. Roeleveld:

> I know. It usually comes at the least convenient moment.
> 
> I do think it's the customers' fault for not keeping up with normal
> maintenance schedules. Most companies write off hardware after 3-4
> years.

The support contract with the supplier ended in 2011 ... you know ...

But OK, I wanted them to "do KVM" anyway. I just have to invest this
evening ... in a way.

I am right before installing Qemu and configuring the network bridge etc
... the vmdks are already converted. Maybe it doesn't take that long.

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[J. Roeleveld]

On Mon, March 17, 2014 19:35, Stefan G. Weichinger wrote:
> Am 17.03.2014 19:30, schrieb J. Roeleveld:
>
>> I know. It usually comes at the least convenient moment.
>>
>> I do think it's the customers' fault for not keeping up with normal
>> maintenance schedules. Most companies write off hardware after 3-4
>> years.
>
> The support contract with the supplier ended in 2011 ... you know ...

Doesn't surprise me, to be honest...

> But OK, I wanted them to "do KVM" anyway. I just have to invest this
> evening ... in a way.

I've been planning to try KVM as well, but am wondering how snapshots work
with KVM. Not been able to find anything about that apart from
disk-snapshots. No info if it's possible to take a copy of the memory as
well.

> I am right before installing Qemu and configuring the network bridge etc
> ... the vmdks are already converted. Maybe it doesn't take that long.

I don't think it should take very long. :)
But, do check that the vmware tools get uninstalled from the guests and
replaced by KVM equivalents.

--
Joost

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 17.03.2014 20:30, schrieb J. Roeleveld:

> I've been planning to try KVM as well, but am wondering how snapshots work
> with KVM. Not been able to find anything about that apart from
> disk-snapshots. No info if it's possible to take a copy of the memory as
> well.

I run KVM in combo with LVM snapshots for backups. RAM snapshots? Not
sure ...

>> I am right before installing Qemu and configuring the network bridge etc
>> ... the vmdks are already converted. Maybe it doesn't take that long.
> 
> I don't think it should take very long. :)
> But, do check that the vmware tools get uninstalled from the guests and
> replaced by KVM equivalents.

I have the VMs now, but both are XP guests and therefore crashing
because the weren't prepared with something like MergeIDE ... :-(

*sigh*

Does anyone know if there is a trick applying these drivers *without*
having a running VMware-Server?

S

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 17.03.2014 20:52, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:

> Does anyone know if there is a trick applying these drivers *without*
> having a running VMware-Server?

This link:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM/FAQ#How_to_convert_VMware_machines_to_virt-manager.3F

says it should be possible to repair the VM by booting from the XP-iso
and chose "Install" .... (yes, windows after all).

Can anyone confirm?

I don't have such an iso at hand and it's late here so I am gonna try
that at the customer tomorrow ....

Thanks, sorry for being off topic here.

Stefan

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[J. Roeleveld]

On 17 March 2014 20:52:29 CET, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>Am 17.03.2014 20:30, schrieb J. Roeleveld:
>
>> I've been planning to try KVM as well, but am wondering how snapshots
>work
>> with KVM. Not been able to find anything about that apart from
>> disk-snapshots. No info if it's possible to take a copy of the memory
>as
>> well.
>
>I run KVM in combo with LVM snapshots for backups. RAM snapshots? Not
>sure ...
>
>>> I am right before installing Qemu and configuring the network bridge
>etc
>>> ... the vmdks are already converted. Maybe it doesn't take that
>long.
>> 
>> I don't think it should take very long. :)
>> But, do check that the vmware tools get uninstalled from the guests
>and
>> replaced by KVM equivalents.
>
>I have the VMs now, but both are XP guests and therefore crashing
>because the weren't prepared with something like MergeIDE ... :-(
>
>*sigh*
>
>Does anyone know if there is a trick applying these drivers *without*
>having a running VMware-Server?
>
>S

Try vmware player or vmware workstation    on your own machine?

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 17.03.2014 21:15, schrieb J. Roeleveld:

>> Does anyone know if there is a trick applying these drivers *without*
>> having a running VMware-Server?
> 
> Try vmware player or vmware workstation    on your own machine?

... vmware-player and/or modules don't compile here on my latest kernel
3.13.x .... I would have to downgrade etc etc etc ....

enough for today, that's ~13hrs for this stuff already.

I will try that "boot from XP cd" trick tomorrow at the customer.

Thanks, Stefan

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[J. Roeleveld]

On 17 March 2014 21:18:37 CET, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>Am 17.03.2014 21:15, schrieb J. Roeleveld:
>
>>> Does anyone know if there is a trick applying these drivers
>*without*
>>> having a running VMware-Server?
>> 
>> Try vmware player or vmware workstation    on your own machine?
>
>... vmware-player and/or modules don't compile here on my latest kernel
>3.13.x .... I would have to downgrade etc etc etc ....
>
>enough for today, that's ~13hrs for this stuff already.
>
>I will try that "boot from XP cd" trick tomorrow at the customer.
>
>Thanks, Stefan

It's been a while since I used VMWare myself. Last time was on a MS Windows laptop.

Goid luck tomorrow. Might want to prepare migration of the software from XP to something newer. MS is cancelling support. 

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Poison BL.]

On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 3:52 PM, Stefan G. Weichinger <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
> Am 17.03.2014 20:30, schrieb J. Roeleveld:
>
>> I've been planning to try KVM as well, but am wondering how snapshots work
>> with KVM. Not been able to find anything about that apart from
>> disk-snapshots. No info if it's possible to take a copy of the memory as
>> well.
>
> I run KVM in combo with LVM snapshots for backups. RAM snapshots? Not
> sure ...
>
>>> I am right before installing Qemu and configuring the network bridge etc
>>> ... the vmdks are already converted. Maybe it doesn't take that long.
>>
>> I don't think it should take very long. :)
>> But, do check that the vmware tools get uninstalled from the guests and
>> replaced by KVM equivalents.
>
> I have the VMs now, but both are XP guests and therefore crashing
> because the weren't prepared with something like MergeIDE ... :-(
>
> *sigh*
>
> Does anyone know if there is a trick applying these drivers *without*
> having a running VMware-Server?
>
> S

I suspect you don't have a WinPE bootable handy (UBCD in particular
has the tools handy for this, Hiren's as well), but if you happened to
magic one up, there's a quick script called "Fix IDE" (or "Fix HDC"
which does similar) that reverts to the generic catch-all driver that
usually works to get XP booting on new 'hardware' (whether real or
otherwise).

One thing I absolutely love about AHCI, while Windows 7 still binds to
hardware specific drivers in the long run, only having to change 2
registry values (start values in iastorv and msahci) is far, far,
easier than the mess XP had for hardware migrations ;)

-- 
Poison [BLX]
Joshua M. Murphy

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 17.03.2014 22:02, schrieb Poison BL.:

> I suspect you don't have a WinPE bootable handy (UBCD in particular
> has the tools handy for this, Hiren's as well), but if you happened to
> magic one up, there's a quick script called "Fix IDE" (or "Fix HDC"
> which does similar) that reverts to the generic catch-all driver that
> usually works to get XP booting on new 'hardware' (whether real or
> otherwise).

I wget ubcd right now to that specific server.

To understand that correctly:

I can boot the VM from the ubcd.iso and run that script ... and somehow
apply these fixes to the attached virtual hdd ?

That sounds great ... :-)

Thanks for the hint and any additional details,

Stefan

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 17.03.2014 22:42, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
> Am 17.03.2014 22:02, schrieb Poison BL.:
> 
>> I suspect you don't have a WinPE bootable handy (UBCD in particular
>> has the tools handy for this, Hiren's as well), but if you happened to
>> magic one up, there's a quick script called "Fix IDE" (or "Fix HDC"
>> which does similar) that reverts to the generic catch-all driver that
>> usually works to get XP booting on new 'hardware' (whether real or
>> otherwise).
> 
> I wget ubcd right now to that specific server.
> 
> To understand that correctly:
> 
> I can boot the VM from the ubcd.iso and run that script ... and somehow
> apply these fixes to the attached virtual hdd ?

I booted from the ubcd.iso but the choices are too much right now, I
couldn't find the mentioned "Fix IDE" or similar.

I think you meant

http://www.ubcd4win.com/contents.htm

and not

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com

?

... next download ahead

Re: [gentoo-user] vmware-server is gone?

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 17.03.2014 23:04, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
> Am 17.03.2014 22:42, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
>> Am 17.03.2014 22:02, schrieb Poison BL.:
>>
>>> I suspect you don't have a WinPE bootable handy (UBCD in particular
>>> has the tools handy for this, Hiren's as well), but if you happened to
>>> magic one up, there's a quick script called "Fix IDE" (or "Fix HDC"
>>> which does similar) that reverts to the generic catch-all driver that
>>> usually works to get XP booting on new 'hardware' (whether real or
>>> otherwise).
>>
>> I wget ubcd right now to that specific server.
>>
>> To understand that correctly:
>>
>> I can boot the VM from the ubcd.iso and run that script ... and somehow
>> apply these fixes to the attached virtual hdd ?
> 
> I booted from the ubcd.iso but the choices are too much right now, I
> couldn't find the mentioned "Fix IDE" or similar.
> 
> I think you meant
> 
> http://www.ubcd4win.com/contents.htm
> 
> and not
> 
> http://www.ultimatebootcd.com
> 
> ?
> 
> ... next download ahead

To close this topic: we installed a new VM, attached the old virtual
disks and migrated data ... plus restoring some stuff from tape.

No "fix ide" for me now.
I will try that for test purposes as soon as I find the time.

Thanks, Stefan