Symptoms
- Cannot take snapshot of source physical or virtual machine.
- Unable to establish communication with the source system.
- Converter Agent may not install or installs partially.
- You may receive one or more of these errors:
- Failed to take snapshot of the source volume
- stcbasic.sys not installed or snapshot creation failed. err=2
- vsnap does not have admin rights
Resolution
VMware vCenter Converter relies on the Converter Agent to transfer information from the source server to the designated target, whether it be an ESX/ESXi host, vCenter Server, or an image file. VMware vCenter Converter relies on the Agent for communication, so if the Converter Agent is not installed, conversions are not possible. There are numerous reasons why the Converter Agent may have issues installing.
Minimum requirements
To ensure that you meet the minimum requirements:
- If the source is a physical or virtual server that is powered-on and running Windows NT or 2000, verify that the server was restarted after the Converter Agent is installed during the connection and preparation phase of the Conversion wizard.
- Install the Agent using an account that has local Administrator rights. If you are unsure of the rights, use the local Administrator account built-in to the server.
- If the source is Windows NT server, ensure that you have Service Pack 6 or 6a installed.
- If the source is Windows 2000 servers, ensure that Service Pack 4 and Security Rollup Package, Version 2 (Sep 13, 2005) or higher are installed. To determine the which package is installed, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 922979. For more information, the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 904374.
- If the source is a Windows 2003 server, have Service Pack 1 or higher installed.
- If the server has been converted previously with a different version of VMware vCenter Converter or a mix of VMware vCenter Converter and VMware vCenter Converter Plug-in, remove the previous Converter agent before attempting again.
- Ensure that VMware vCenter Converter is not already installed on the source. To verify, see Troubleshooting the Converter Agent in this article.
Troubleshooting the Converter Agent
To troubleshoot VMware vCenter Converter installation and functionality:
- Log on the source server as an Administrator or use a the local Administrator account.
- Click Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.
- Check for multiple copies of VMware vCenter Converter and VMware vCenter Converter Enterprise. Remove any and all installations of VMware vCenter Converter.
Note: The agents, managers, and plug-ins for Converter Enterprise cannot be used with VMware vCenter Converter (standalone), and vice-versa. - Attempt a conversion again. This process reinstalls the Converter Agent.
Note: If the source is running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you must restart the server before completing conversion. This will require downtime of the source system. - If the automated installation fails, use VMware vCenter Converter Standalone and manually install the Agent software:
- Install VMware vCenter Converter (standalone) on the server assigned to perform conversion.
- Copy and install the VMware vCenter Converter installation package on the source server.
- During installation, select Custom. Deselect all components, except Converter Agent.
- Restart the server if prompted.
- Attempt a conversion again.
- If the process fails, continue to manually start the dependent services:
- Open a command prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
- The commands to start the services differ for versions of VMware Converter.
- On VMware vCenter Converter 4.x:
- For Windows NT and 2000, run:
net start vstor2-converter
net start vmware-converter
net start "tcp/ip netbios helper service"
net start stcp2v30 - For Windows XP and 2003, run:
net start vstor2-converter
net start vmware-converter
net start "tcp/ip netbios helper"
net start swprv
net start vss
- For Windows NT and 2000, run:
- On VMware Converter 3.x:
- For Windows NT and 2000, run:
net start vstor2-p2v30
net start ufad-p2v
net start "tcp/ip netbios helper service"
net start stcp2v30 - For Windows XP and 2003, run:
net start vstor2-p2v30
net start ufad-p2v
net start "tcp/ip netbios helper"
net start swprv
net start vss
- For Windows NT and 2000, run:
- Verify that the service startup process completed successfully from the system Event Log:
- Click Start > Run, type eventvwr, and press Enter.
- Check for errors from these sources, where applicable: rpcss, com, dcom, scm, vstor2-p2v30, vstor2-converter, ufad-p2v, vmware-converter, VSS, COM, DCOM, or Service Control Manager (SCM), VMware Converter.
- Check for errors during the time period when you attempted to start the services in Step 5 above, or when you restarted the server.Based on VMware KB 1006603
