Exported VMDK Files - Converted to QCOW2, Can't Boot VM

[theprez1980]

Hey All -

I have several VMDK files exported from ESXi, and all boot fine.

I wanted to convert these to QCOW2 so I could adjust (shrink) the size at a later time.

I used the following command to convert:

qemu-img convert -O qcow2 -f raw source.vmdk dest.qcow2

I then use the following command to move & associate the QCOW2 file to the VM:

qm importdisk VMID dest.qcow2 DATASTORE-LOCAL

All is well, and then I go to the VM, and detach and delete the default disk image that was created during the VM creation process and then double click the new disk file and associate it with my VM and then set the boot options to boot off the drive.

The OS doesn't boot - no bootable device error and it retries again in a few seconds over and over. Pressing ESC at the SeaBIOS prompt and trying to select the ISCSI drive and booting manually has the same end result.

Any ideas what's going on here?


Thanks

 

[shanreich]

Assuming you are talking about Windows VMs: Are you using VirtIO SCSI as a Bus for your disk? This only works when VirtIO drivers are installed. You could try attaching your disk via IDE and check if it boots.

Nevertheless we recommend using VirtIO for attaching disks. You can convert your disks to VirtIO by adding a new dummy disk using VirtIO to the running VM and then installing the virtio drivers. After that is done you can shut down the VM and change the type of the disk from IDE to VirtIO and then you should be able to successfully boot off of your disk.