Conversion of vmdk to qcow2. Is this correct?

[Nikole]

Hello,

I am trying to convert a vmdk disk file from vmware to proxmox
I used the details on this link (https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Migration_of_servers_to_Proxmox_VE#VMware_to_Proxmox_VE_.28KVM.29 ) however I am not sure if the conversion was correct.
I used the command: qemu-img convert -f vmdk original.vmdk -O qcow2 vm-108-disk-1.qcow2

After the conversion was done I run: qemu-img info and it shows:

image: vm-108-disk-1.qcow2
file format: qcow2
virtual size: 20G (21474836480 bytes)
disk size: 3.3G
cluster_size: 65536
Format specific information:
compat: 1.1
lazy refcounts: false


Also the command file gives:
qcow2 vm-108-disk-1.qcow2: QEMU QCOW Image (unknown version)


Do those seem to be OK or not?

Any help is welcome!

 

[m.ardito]

Hello,
I am trying to convert a vmdk disk file from vmware to proxmox
Do those seem to be OK or not?
Any help is welcome!

hi, it seems ok but why you ask? is it not working?

if your vm in pve already runs with the vmdk disk, you can also use the "move disk" option, after selecting that vmdk in vm hardware list. move disk allows you to convert it to other formats without special knowledge. just a few clicks.

see http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Storage_Migration

Marco

 

[Nikole]

I did not use the original vmdk disk at all. What I did was:

-Downloaded the vmware image (from an opensource project)
-Created a KVM inside proxmox with a qcow2 disk without starting it. Then I deleted the qcow2 disk that was created by proxmox
-I converted the vmdk disk (that I had downloaded from the project) using the qemu-img covert –f command. Then I placed it inside the KVM directory using the same name as the disk I deleted in the previous step.

First boot was slow (as expected) but after a few reboots it’s stable and running. However, when I compare the boot speed (via the console) with the same VM running at my VMPLAYER at home (lower hardware specs!) is much slower.

I never tested the KVM using the original vmdk disk on the proxmox server. I am worried that I did not follow a correct process.

 

[m.ardito]

if it is working, it's ok.
you could also use the original vmdk, in proxmox.
create an empty vmdk disk from pve web gui (eg: 1GB)
then replace that vmdk with your vmdk, with the same name
eg vm-108-disk-1.vmdk

the different speed could be related to many other factors:
- virtual hardware,
- real hardware (node),
- other vm running there sharing ram/cpu/net/disks,
- different storage
- different network
- and you could also try different disk types
(eg: virtio is the fastest, but you have to install virtio drivers into your vm (recent linux already have them, windows need special drivers, see http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Windows_VirtIO_Drivers)

have you run some benchmark (and which) to compare speeds?

Marco

 

[spirit]

you can also convert your vmdk to qcow2,

with "move disk" option in gui.

(if the vmdk is attached to the vm)