P2V + Dell PERC RAID

[Michael]

Hi all,

 

Hope you're keeping safe in these unpredictable times!

 

I'm attempting to virtualise a Dell server with a PERC RAID controller running 2008 R2. Using P2V works, but when creating the VM in Hyper-V 2016 it fails to boot. I've also tried the Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) but this errors saying it can't find a valid BCD.

 

I've tried adding the 2 x volumes to both IDE and SCSI controllers in Hyper-V with the same results. I've also tried Gen 1 and Gen 2 configurations, however given its age, it without question is a Gen 1.

 

This clearly has something to do with the Dell RAID controller, but struggling to find anything concrete online, although others have written about similar problems which has led me to this conclusion.

 

Any pointers would be much appreciated!

[3s-gtech]

Have you tried the dirtier method of using disk2vhd? That's how I did a lot of my earliest conversions.

[Michael]

Sorry my bad, I've used Disk2VHD, not VMWare's P2V. Do you think P2V's better?

[3s-gtech]

Yes, in honesty, though it's also a good while since I last used it. Worth a shot.

[Michael]

I've resolved this using these steps

 

The scenario is a Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 installation with EFI and GPT partitions

 

1. Cloned GPT partitioned server using Disk2VHD. The final product was two VHDX files, one for each array.

 

2. Mount the two VHDX's in Windows. Use MiniTool disk management to delete all boot partitions, leaving only data and OS intact. Convert both VHDX's to MBR partitions.

 

3. Create a VM and attach both disks (Gen 1)

 

4. Boot the VM using a Server 2008 R2 SP1 disc, then made my way to "Repair your computer". Opened up Command Prompt and re-assigned my boot drive by running the following commands:

 

- DISKPART

 

- LIST DISK

 

- SELECT DISK (Followed by the number of your boot disk)

 

- LIST PARTITION

 

- SELECT PARTITION (Followed by the number of your boot disk)

 

- ACTIVE

 

- EXIT

 

5. Now I ran these commands:

 

- bootrec /fixmbr

 

- bootrec /fixboot

 

- bootrec /rebuildbcd

 

6. Now power off the VM and reboot it with a Windows 7 Pro x64 disc. This is necessary because Startup Recovery is not available on the Server 2008 R2 SP1 disc.

 

7. Run through Startup Recovery. This should only take a few minutes, then reboot your VM.

 

8. My VM came up with the error BOOTMGR is missing. Boot from the Server 2008 R2 SP1 disc, open a command prompt and run x:\sources\recovery\StartRep.exe Wait for this process to complete then reboot. The VM now works as expected.

[Michael]

I've had the same issue with a HP server running 2012 R2. Here are the commands I had to run:

 

The scenario is a Windows Server 2012 R2 installation with EFI and GPT partitions

 

1. Cloned GPT partitioned server using Disk2VHD. The final product was two VHDX files, one for each array.

 

2. Mount the two VHDX's in Windows. Use MiniTool disk management to delete all boot partitions, leaving only data and OS intact. Convert both VHDX's to MBR partitions.

 

3. Create a VM and attach both disks (Gen 1)

 

4. Boot the VM using a Server 2012 R2 disc, then made my way to "Repair your computer". Opened up Command Prompt and re-assigned my boot drive by running the following commands:

 

- DISKPART

 

- LIST DISK

 

- SELECT DISK (Followed by the number of your boot disk)

 

- LIST PARTITION

 

- SELECT PARTITION (Followed by the number of your boot disk)

 

- ACTIVE

 

- EXIT

 

5. Now I ran these commands:

 

- bootrec /fixmbr

 

- bootrec /fixboot

 

- bootrec /rebuildbcd

 

6. Now exit and reboot the VM.

 

7. The VM now boots normally and re-detects hardware, similarly to Sysprep.