VMWare Converter 6.1.1 Headaches

VMWare Converter 6.1.1 Headaches

Ever have one of those moments when everything should be easy and just nothing goes your way?  That was my experience with Converter 6.1.1.  I have used this tool many times before in other environments but at my current post, this tool would not run at all.

My plan was to convert a powered on Remote Windows Machine. So things I tried.

>IP or name - never really an issue
>Username - domain\user; local\localadmin;

Either account gave me the dreaded permissions to the ADMIN$ share.  So went to the VMWare KB on the tool for common troubleshooting and tried all suggestions.  None of these worked.

Found the log files at C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone\logs - it was here I finally was given a clue to how to solve my issue.

During my first attempt I had advised the tool to automatically remove the agent afterwards. The logs confirmed the install and gave an exit code of 0.  All attempts afterwards were failing as the tool was already recognized the agent was present but it could not communicate with it.

Checked the firewall on the Windows client and no issue there.  So then I manually installed the agent to confirm it was present.  Tested again, and same issue.  Did a reboot of the machine - now it works like a charm using the domain account or the local user.

This puts a bit of a kink in my environment so now I am going to install the client on multiple hosts and reboot at scheduled times.  At least now I can live clone the machines now and schedule a switch over with the tool for after hours.