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Recently two VM's were accidentally converted to Version 10 requiring the vSphere web client but I would like to use the vSphere client. I would like to use VMware converter to convert them back to version 9. I am wondering if it is possible to do so to the same data store as I have enough space to do one at a time? Is this feasible and possible?

I just found this link on creating new folders on a data store for copying VM's. So my plan is the following:

  1. Create a new folder on the datastore for the version 9 VM's
  2. Power off the VM's
  3. Use VMware Converter to convert a VM to version 9 and select the same data store but the new folder (Is this possible?)
  4. Once the VM is converted, remove the old one from the inventory.
  5. Add to inventory the converted version 9 VM, power it on and test that it is working.
  6. Delete the old version 10 VM.
  7. Repeat stems 3-5 for the next VM.

Can anyone comment on if this is possible and seems correct?

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Matt
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  • The latest vsphere client 5.5 update 2 works fine with vmx10, give it a try: VMware-viclient-all-5.5.0-1993072.exe Release Date: 2014-09-09, Build Number: 1993072 – Muhammad Nov 07 '14 at 02:14
  • @Muhammad It says "You are about to edit a virtual machine of version 10 or higher. Only version 8 features will be available for Edit using this client." However this looks like it may allow me to now change hardware settings such as CPU and RAM. Will test when I can bring the servers down. Thanks. – Matt Nov 07 '14 at 15:50
  • yeah, it will the warning, but most of the settings of vmx10 can be edited using the new vsphere client, not like the old one that totally blocks it. – Muhammad Nov 10 '14 at 02:58

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I don't know if this is possible but it seems correct. Just give it a try. If you remove the original VMs instead of deleting them, you can re-register them if it doesn't work. Personally, I would deploy a test VM with HW version 10 and give a try first.

Oh, there's something else you can try: Downgrading the virtual machine hardware version in ESX/ESXi states that you can

Create a new virtual machine with required hardware version and attach the existing disk from the virtual machine

However, since this is a new VM it will also have new MAC addresses.

Mario Lenz
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  • It is usually much easier to create a new VM and attach the disks to the new virtual machine. If you need to keep the MAC address, you can manually set the MAC address after removing the old. – Rex Nov 06 '14 at 22:09
  • @Rex You can also reconfigure your OS to work with the new MAC address. Just wanted to mention that there is a difference... although, I think if you use P2V there's a new MAC address, too. – Mario Lenz Nov 06 '14 at 22:25
  • I don't know if the mac address would be an issue. I do know I need to keep the same IP and server name. I guess this would entail creating a new (Custom) blank VM and adding the .vmdk file? – Matt Nov 06 '14 at 22:40
  • @Matt Yes, just create a new VM but don't create a new disk. Just add the old one. You might have to reconfigure your networking, i.e. assign the old IP address to the new (new because of the changed MAC address) NIC. (A local OS account would help there.) This shouldn't be a problem and the server name shouldn't change, either. Again: VMs are cheap...deploy one to test with. – Mario Lenz Nov 06 '14 at 23:04
  • @MarioLenz I created a VM using windows 7, installed the OS. Shut down the VM after installation complete. I removed the VM from inventory. Created another VM, then selected Use an existing virtual disk. Browsed the datastore and selected the existing .vmdk file. It booted properly, so hopefully all goes well doing the same for the servers. – Matt Nov 07 '14 at 15:03