[SOLVED] Copying VM-Data via OVFTool

[Denny32]

Hi, i have still a lot to learn about ProxMox and Linux. Here is my question.

I have successfully migrated a handful of VM's from VMWare to ProxMox now. I always followed Guide's online.

On the ProxMox Server i used to go into /root/vmware and executed: "/usr/bin/ovftool vi://{VMWARE-IP}/{VM-Name} ." After installing the OVFTool of course.
I now have the Problem, that this copy's the VM Data into my "local" partition on the ProxMox Server, which is too small for the VM in question. I have a larger Partition with the Name "local-lvm-storage", this is where the VM should also run after migration.

In what directory do I have to Copy my VM so it lands in my Large Partition? Under my ProxMox Host -> Disks I can see that this Partition is under "/dev/sdb" but that is a File not a directory.

I'm also open to Tips and Suggestions for better practice

Thanks in advance

 

[LnxBil]

Hi, i have still a lot to learn about ProxMox and Linux. [..] VMWare to ProxMox now. I

Sorry, I coudn't resist: for example how to write the correct product names: VMware und Proxmox VE / PVE.

I have a larger Partition with the Name "local-lvm-storage"

Hopefully not a partition and you said /dev/sdb, so no partition :-D

LVM is a volume manager and is block storage by default. Whereare everything file related is a file storage and needs a file system. Long story short, you cannot storage an ova file on an LVM volume directly. You need a filesystem in between and before that create a logical volume for the filesystem. You may read this and this.

 

[Denny32]

Thanks for the Reply. I still haven't wrapped my head around Filesystems. Especially in Linux.

PVE creates a "local" storage from typ "Directory" when installed. That is where my .ovf File from the VMware Migration gets copyied into after executing the ovftool Command mentioned above in /root/vmware . Thereafter I import the Disk into PVE with the "qm importdisk..." command. I have done this a number of times without issue, because the VM's were quite small. The current VM is around 2TB in Size.

After executing the command the .ovf file gets migrated from VMware to PVE until the "local" storage is full. After that i get an Error.
You say after creating a Volume Group i can use my larger 6TB LVM Storage to Store my .ovf File before importing it into PVE?
In which Directory on my PVE would i need to execute the OVFtool to make that happen?

Thanks for being Patient an helping me learn.

 

[LnxBil]

After executing the command the .ovf file gets migrated from VMware to PVE until the "local" storage is full. After that i get an Error.
You say after creating a Volume Group i can use my larger 6TB LVM Storage to Store my .ovf File before importing it into PVE?
In which Directory on my PVE would i need to execute the OVFtool to make that happen?

You already have a volume group, you need to

• create a volume
• make a filesystem (that is exactly what mkfs, the program stands for)
• mount it somewhere
• start your ovftool again on the mountpoint

In order to get you step-by-step instructions, we need to know the output of the following commands (please post as text in CODE tags):

• pvs
• vgs
• lvs
• df -PHT

 

[Denny32]

Thank you for your reply and sorry for the my late reply.

root@ProxMox:~# pvs
  PV         VG                Fmt  Attr PSize    PFree
  /dev/sda3  pve               lvm2 a--  <557.88g 16.00g
  /dev/sdb   local-lvm-storage lvm2 a--    <5.46t <5.46t
root@ProxMox:~# vgs
  VG                #PV #LV #SN Attr   VSize    VFree
  local-lvm-storage   1   0   0 wz--n-   <5.46t <5.46t
  pve                 1   4   0 wz--n- <557.88g 16.00g
root@ProxMox:~# lvs
  LV            VG  Attr       LSize   Pool Origin Data%  Meta%  Move Log Cpy%Sync Convert
  data          pve twi-aotz-- 429.12g             0.00   0.40                           
  root          pve -wi-ao----  96.00g                                                   
  swap          pve -wi-ao----   8.00g                                                   
  vm-101-disk-0 pve Vwi-a-tz--  33.00g data        0.00                                   
root@ProxMox:~# df -dht
df: invalid option -- 'd'
Try 'df --help' for more information.
root@ProxMox:~# df -PHT
Filesystem           Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev                 devtmpfs   17G     0   17G   0% /dev
tmpfs                tmpfs     3.4G  1.5M  3.4G   1% /run
/dev/mapper/pve-root ext4      101G  5.9G   90G   7% /
tmpfs                tmpfs      17G   48M   17G   1% /dev/shm
tmpfs                tmpfs     5.3M     0  5.3M   0% /run/lock
efivarfs             efivarfs  181k   64k  112k  37% /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
/dev/sda2            vfat      1.1G   13M  1.1G   2% /boot/efi
/dev/fuse            fuse      135M   17k  135M   1% /etc/pve
tmpfs                tmpfs     3.4G     0  3.4G   0% /run/user/0

I can see, that my 5.4 TB Disk is not yet mounted. Im gonna do some research to try and complete your steps above. That should not be too hard. But i am always thankful for tips and guides.

 

[Denny32]

Had to use ZFS instead of LVM...
That fixed all my Problems. Thanks for the help nontheless.