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How to clone a Linux x86 system into a VMware virtual machine (SBAdmin v7) Print Email
Storix SBAdmin allows for cloning a system to dissimilar hardware using Adaptable System Recovery (ASR). One advantage to this is being able to take a system installed on physical hardware and migrate it into a VMware virtual machine.

Prerequisites

  • A VMware server or ESX server
  • SBAdmin installed
  • A Linux x86 system with Storix installed as a client
  • General knowlege of VMware and Linux kernel modules

Cloning a Linux x86 system from real hardware to VMware

Backing up the original client

1. To begin the backup, you must first have a Storix server and client configured. If this is not yet done.

Select Configure > clients and add the hostname for the client that is to be cloned. Then
use Configure > servers.

For further information on this, please see page one of the SBAdmin QuickStart Guide.

2.  To clone a system with Storix, you must perform a backup of type FULL_SYSTEM of the client to be cloned.

3. Now, select Configure > Backup Jobs  and create a new backup job of type FULL_SYSTEM for the client that is to be backed up. For more information on creating a backup job please see page 61 of the SBAdmin User Guide.

3. Run the backup job for this client.

Creating Boot Media

The next step is to create Storix boot media. A VMware virtual machine can be booted to Storix boot media using PXE boot, CDROM, ISO image or hard drive. For this how-to we will be creating an ISO image and burning it to cdrom.

(For further information about creating Storix boot media please see page 10 of the SBAdmin Linux Recovery Guide.

When cloning to different hardware it is necessary to know what kernel modules need to be loaded in order to access system hard disks, and network adapters. VMware virtual machines typically use either the BusLogic or LSI modules for SCSI disks, and the pcnet32 module for network adapters.

1. From the SBAdmin GUI select Utilities > Create/Manage Boot Media .

2. For the Boot Server Name field, use the drop down arrow to the right to select the name of the server you would like the .iso image stored on. You may also choose "Store on Client" if you would like the .iso to remain on the client.

3. In the CDROM Boot Image Name field, enter a unique name for the iso that will be created.

4. Use the drop down to the right of the Client Name field to select the client that the boot media will be created from. The Kernel Release Level and Platform Type fields will automatically populate with the appropriate information. You may optionally fill in the User Description field with additional details about the boot media.



5. Choose the Select Network Modules button, and you will be presented with a list of all modules for the running kernel. Find the pcnet32 module and check the button to the left. This will ensure the module is loaded on boot.

6. Next, Choose Select SCSI Modules and check either the BusLogic or mptspi module depending on what type of disks your virtual machine will use.

7. Select the Create/Update button to create the ISO image.

8. At this point the ISO image can be burned to a disc or directly transfered to the VMware host. To burn this image on a linux machine the following syntax is typical, just change the device "/dev/sr0" and /storix/netboot/ubuntu.iso entries to the approperate device and ISO image.

# cdrecord --eject dev='/dev/sr0' /storix/netboot/ubuntu.iso

 (Please note if you are using a graphical tool to burn the image, make sure to burn the disk as an ISO, and not to simply copy the ISO file to the disc and create a data type disc)

Booting the Virtual Machine

1. Using the VMware software, create a virtual machine that has equal or greater the disk space of the client that was backed up.

Although Storix does support moving to different hard disk configurations, it will not be covered in this how-to. Please see page 48 of the SBAdmin Linux Recovery Guide.

2. Place the CDROM into the physical hardware for the VMware virtual machine, and configure the virtual machine to boot from the CDROM device, or point the virtual machine to the Storix ISO image.

3. Once the virtual machine has booted you will be presented with the Storix installation menus.

 Restoring the backup

1. To restore the backup over the network, choose Change Install Server or Device then Set or Change Network Configuration. Enter the appropriate information for your network environment. For more information on network configuration see page 42 in the SBAdmin Linux Recovery Guide.

2. Use ESC or F3 to return to the Change Install Server or Device menu, then choose Select Remote Disk Backup File.

3. Choose the backup that you would like to restore and use ESC/F3 to return to the main menu. Choose Install the System with Current Settings. You will be prompted that any information on the disks to be used will be over written. Press Y, and the install process will begin.

4. Upon reboot of the virtual machine, the restored operating system will take the ip and hostname specified during install. This is to prevent conflicting IP addresses and hostnames on the network. 

Conclusion

Using SBAdmin provides the ability to easily move installs from real hardware to virtual machines. This can add flexibility to an established environment, providing an easy upgrade path from older hardware into virtual machines. It also adds a new options for disaster planning.
 

References
 
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