Converting mapped raw lun to virtual disk vmware communities. Feb 23, 2009 a raw disk is referred to as raw device mapping and enables a virtual machine vm to have direct access to a logical unit number lun on a storage area network san. One of those 5 disks is mapped via esxi iscsi initiator and has the same capacity as osmounted iscsi volume, so at first sight i thought it is the same iscsi volume, somehow seen by converter. As we discussed in the earlier post, there are two types of rdm disks virtual compatibility rdm and physical compatibility rdm. How to convert rdm to vmdk the ultimate guide vmware arena. I would like to remove this raw lun from the server and make it available to the sans for creating a new virtual disk. Moving an existing rdm from one virtual machine to another some steps are required to avoid data loss and to keep the disk configuration. Virtual disk x is a mapped direct access lun that is not. Edit the settings of the file server virtual machine, and add a new hard disk. How to successfully virtualize ms exchange part 9 raw.
Cleaning up the mapped rdm luns in the guest operating system. Instead, a small disk descriptor file is created for the virtual disk in a. One of the drives on the server is a raw mapped lun. There is a misunderstanding that rdms offer greater performance compared to vmdks. Creatingadding a raw device mapping rdm to a virtual. Convert raw mapped lun from a virtual to physical or vice versa posted on 11. Jan 12, 2014 to identify the correct disk, log onto the vm in question and fire up disk management. Ive added in veeam and 8tb nas to backup the vms and the data on the san. Well, apparently, this case is not unique, so i decided to share my experience in todays. When discussing raw device mappings, it is important to highlight there are two types of rdm modes, virtual compatability mode and physical compatibility mode. This direct connection can boost disk access performance in.
In other words, any vm device is only a storage device. Hi, ive just started using veeam 5 and ive run into an issue with one of our servers. Raw device any scsi device accessed via a mapping file. Create a raw device mapping disk on a virtual machine vsphere 5 training.
Storage vmotion with rdms scotts weblog the weblog of an. Get into the disk management, and make sure that the disk is online. Disk2vhd is a utility that creates vhd virtual hard disk microsofts virtual machine disk format versions of physical disks for use in microsoft virtual pc or microsoft hyperv virtual machines vms. Dynamic disk converter is a professional dynamic disk management wizard to optimize your disk type management, with the main feature to directly convert dynamic disk back to basic disk without losing data, it works sector by sector to convert clone from spanned, striped, mirrored and raid 5. Feb 06, 2012 use migration with storage vmotion to relocate a virtual machines configuration and virtual disks while the virtual machine is powered on. To import a virtual disk into a raw lun for use with an rdm in esxiesx 4. Physical to virtual p2v migrations with the vmware vcenter converter. I was recently working with one of the customers and the task was to convert rdm to vmdk disk. A raw device mapping or rdm allows a vm to access a volume or lun on the physical storage via either fibre channel or iscsi. Apr 20, 2020 why convert a disk image to a virtual disk file. It is possible to present a snapshot of a lun containing a vmfs datastore to esx servers.
Once done, you can now power on the virtual machine. I performed a few storage vmotion operations and everything seemed fine. The vmdk you see moving is the pointer file mapping the vm to the rdm on the array not the actual disk file. Jan 22, 2018 vmware rdm raw device mapping is a mapping file that provides direct access to a lun on an iscsi or fibre channel storage system for a virtual machine. Is there a way to convert it to a regular virtual disk vmdk. Raw device mapping allows you to migrate a virtua l machine with vmotion. By default, rdms and independent disks are not included in intellisnap backup operations. When you add a rdm to a virtual machine, data is stored directly on the storage area network san, as opposed to storing it in a vmdk file on a vmfs datastore. So the more disks you have the more that single resource is over taxed. Configuring the file server rdm in virtual compatibility mode. Also, with direct access, physicalto virtual conversion becomes possible without migrating a massive lun to vmdk. Rather than creating a virtual disk vmdk on a lun, which is generally shared with other vms and virtual disks.
How to present a iscsci raw mapped device lun in emc vnx. This video help you understand the process to convert the rdm to virtual. The rdm allows a virtual machine to directly access and use the storage device and before proceeding with the move, the virtual machine where the rdm is currently attached must be shut down. Rdms can be described in terms such as mapping a raw device into a datastore, mapping a system lun, or mapping a disk file to a physical disk. Adding a raw device mapping rdm to a virtual machine. Then you must reattach the rdm disks to the vm based on the lun serial number provided by the 7mode transition tool 7mtt.
Step by step instructions needed to convert a mapped raw. I had a need to get the lun id of all of the raw disk mappings for a particular virtual machine running on vmware vsphere. A raw disk mapping rdm can be used to present a lun directly to a virtual machine from a san. How to convert rdm disk raw device mapping to vmdk. Storage vmotion the virtual rdm disk by changing disk format to either thick or thin to convert rdm to vmdk. During the migration you can use the advanced section of the migration wizard and select if you would like to maintain the same format of the files at the destination remain as rdm or convert.
Previously, this was only possible for virtual machines that used virtua l disk files. So heres what ive inherited an hp msa 2000 storage works and 2 vmware servers one running 5. Apr 26, 20 you dont even have to migrate between hosts. Migrating virtual machines with raw device mappings rdms. Instead, a small disk descriptor file is created for the virtual. Find out how in this guide to the basics of vm storage share this item with your network.
Solved mapped raw lun question virtualization spiceworks. Raw luns themselves cannot be moved, as they are raw disks presented from the san. This time, choose virtual competibility mode, and select the same device node value as before. To convert rdm tp vmdk, we will need to perform storage vmotion of the rdm disk from one datastore to another. Removing a raw mapped lun from a vmware vm solutions. All the files have been removed from this drive and it is no longer needed for the server. Virtual disk hard disk 2 is a mapped directaccess lun and larger than 2 tb. Differing from physical hard disk, the virtual hard disk is a file used as storage media for the virtual machine. This will only delete rdm mapping file and will not delete the data in the rdm. I found an article that states we can convert a vmdk file into a raw mapped drive, and this is the process we are looking to follow. Rdm is basically a mapping file acts as a proxy for a raw.
I could see this information within the vsphere client by editing the setting of the virtual machine, selecting each of the raw disk mapping hard disks one at a time and clicking on the manage paths button in the bottom. Accessing a vmfs datastore snaphot and resignaturing. There is a misunderstanding that rdms offer greater performance compared to vmdks on. Reenable all services set to disabled earlier to their. Add raw device mapping in vmware softnas virtual storage. The results of this will produce a vm with vmdk disks on vmfs.
Create a raw device mapping disk on a virtual machine. Storage admins used to match luns to physical servers, but thats all changed. Cleaning up the mapped rdm luns in the guest operating system and esx server. Convert iscsi mapped disk to vmware vmdk solutions experts. In this case, only read write commands are transmitted directly to the virtual rdm. Solved convert raw disk to vmdk virtualization spiceworks. Jun, 2016 once done, you can now power on the virtual machine. On the storage system present the iscsi disk to all esxi hosts.
Next, choose the existing virtual disk option and press next. Take a look at the 11 differences between rdm physical vs virtual compatibility mode. Vmware rdm raw device mapping is a mapping file that provides direct access to a lun on an iscsi or fibre channel storage system for a virtual machine. Rightclick the virtual machine and click edit settings. The field compatibility tells how the rdm is connected, physical or virtual. Changing physical raw mapped lun to virtual for veeam backup. Independent disks are standalone virtual disks that can be attached to a virtual machine, but are not included in virtual machine snapshots. This drive is a raw device mapped drive on an eva 4400 san. By taking advantage of the vmware rdm feature, iointensive applications are given a performance boost because rdm uses commands from the existing san. Its short for raw device mappings, a mechanism by which virtual machines are allowed direct access to sannas storage. You can also use a storage vmotion operation to perform the same migration task. This typically happens when the lun was removed from then added back to the esx host. The migration process will create a new virtual disk and will clone the rdm into the virtual disk.
You will find the entire rdm mapped entry as mapped raw lun for every rdm entry. If you are running the rdm in virtual mode then a storage vmotion would migrate the lun and turn it into a thin provisioned or full fat. Include rdms and independent disks in intellisnap backup. It is method to provide direct access to a lun on an iscsi or fibre channel storage system for a virtual machine. I first tried a simple rightclick migrate storage only, and get this error. As we already discussed many times, vmware rdm raw device mapping is a mapping file that provides direct access to a lun on the fiber channel storage system for a virtual machine. The file gives you some of the advantages of direct access to a physical device while keeping some advantages of a virtual disk in vmfs. One of the drives, the data drive, was setup as a physical raw mapped lun on the server so veeam is unable to back it up. The rdm, not the raw lun, is referenced in the virtual machine configuration. If you leave the rdm as the default of physical mode, as shown on the right, it will only migrate the pointer file to the new datastore and the rdm will remain. However, the pointer files rdms can be relocated if required. Older vmware documentation indicates rdm is not supported by locallyattached devices, which is no longer the case.
Aug 25, 20 if you want to do faster p2vs you can just convert the c. Sure, the datastore browser shows the vmdk pointer file for the rdm to be the same size as the backing lun 50gb, in my case, but i couldnt seem. Cleaning up the mapped rdm luns in the guest operating. Migrating virtual machines with raw device mappings.
After adding the controller either shutdown or restart the vm. Basically i require it to convert because, i was not going to use microsoft clustering anymore, also i was planning to change backend storage due to end of life. Locate the drive in question, for this example we are using the k. The trick here is to put the rdm in virtual mode and use storage vmotion to migrate it to another lun. If you select this option for an rdm disk in virtual compatibility mode, the rdm is converted to a virtual disk. For vms attached to raw device mapped rdm luns to function after transition, you must remove the rdm disks hosting the lun from the vm. Iscsi lun becomes as raw unallocated file system qnap. Creatingadding a raw device mapping rdm to a virtual machine. Migrate the operating system on the physical machine to a virtual machine when creating a new virtual machine.
Now it needs mapped to the file server virtual machine so it can be picked up by the veeam backup. Connecting rdm volumes on equallogic ps6100 to virtual machines. How to fix virtual hard disk is a mapped directaccess lun. See the following article for a detailed breakdown of the difference between physical compatibility. Any nonrdm virtual disks are physically moved to the destination. Aug 14, 2014 the field compatibility tells how the rdm is connected, physical or virtual. As far as i know you do not support raw disk, so i tried to exclude the raw disk scsi 1.
Jan 16, 20 rightclick the virtual machine and click edit settings. Todays blog post covers the methods used to open vmdk files. Raw device mapping rdm is a method of disk virtualization in vmware that allows virtual machines to use a storage logical unit number lun device to be directly connected to a virtual machine in a storage area network san. In my previous article i shown adding and sharing rdm disk to multiple vms in vmware step by step, i received one related task to convert virtual machine rdm raw device mapping hard disk to vmdk disk. Expand new scsi controller settings, on scsi bus sharing choose physical, by doing this virtual disks can be shared by virtual machines on any esxi server. This means that a vms disk data file does not reside on a virtual machine file system vmfs volume. Vmware raw device mapping and file recovery diskinternals. In the removal options, select remove from virtual machine and delete files from disk. I could see this information within the vsphere client by editing the setting of the virtual machine, selecting each of the raw disk mapping hard disks one at a time and clicking on the manage paths button in the bottom right hand corner. Write down the drive letter of the disk in the guest os. Before that we need to convert the physical rdm to a virtual rdm. Rdms provide access to raw luns in physical or virtual compatibility mode. Even if you have a ntfs partition being contained in a file on a ext3 partition, the ntfs file will be mostly stored as one or more contiguous chunks, so accessing the data off the physical hard disk wont take longer than accessing it directly.
Log in as administrator or as the owner of the virtual machine to which the mapped disk belongs. Remove the raw device mapped disks from the virtual machine. There are two types of rdm disks virtual compatibility rdm and physical compatibility rdm. When you use raw device mapping, the mapping file acts as a proxy to allow virtualcenter to migrate the virtual machine using the same mechanism that exists for virtual disk files.
How to convert rdm disk raw device mapping to vmdk vgeek. Vmware virtualization rdm to vmdk migration house of. The mapped device appears to the guest operating system exactly the same as a virtual disk file in a vmfs volume. All storage is presented to the guest as mapped raw luns in virtual compatibility mode. I have no data on this, but im pretty sure that with iscsi you wont notice much of a difference between a file image vs a disk image. Raw disks a raw disk is referred to as raw device mapping and enables a virtual machine vm to have direct access to a logical unit number lun on a storage area network san. Make note of the raw device mapped disks which are attached to the virtual machine. Once hard disk remove is pressed, check the box delete files from datastore, note, this device will be removed. A physical connected rdm cannot be converted online to a vmdk. Confirm the settings for new hard disk in the virtual machine inventory as mapped raw lun.
Manage to solve the problem from a working colleague. One of its disks was initially set up a mapped raw lun physical compatibility mode. Find answers to step by step instructions needed to convert a mapped raw lun to a normal. As you will see later in the lab demonstration, when adding an rdm to a virtual machine, a pointer file is also created in the vm folder that points to the raw device lun. Raw device mapping rdm is one way to pass a raw disk device directly through from the disk controller to the softnas cloud vm in vmware. Signifies that this is physically compatible rdm lun. Connecting rdm volumes on equallogic ps6100 to virtual. Now we have an rdm disk which can be converted to a vmdk file.
Done this for some very low downtime migrations of dbs and file servers with a ton of data. If you want to do faster p2vs you can just convert the c. Power on the vm, verify the rdm mounted and apps andor data is present. The reasons for doing this should purley be for functional and management reasons, not performance. I need to extend the disk capacity because it is almost full. Converting rdms to vmfs envision technology advisors blog. The reason i want to do this to be able to snapshot the vm when necessary. How to create vmware rdm physical compatibility disk.
The original mapped lun is left alone after the migration completes, and can be removed as necessary to reclaim space. If a virtualized environments data access is achieved by using a virtual machine file system the more common method, it can translate to. Raw device mapping in a virtual environment is used to create a direct connection to virtual machines. Convert physical rdm to virtual rdm syed salman ali. Delete the physical rdm disk from virtual machine delete from disk option. Adding and sharing rdm disk to multiple vms in vmware step. An rdm is a mapping file in a separate vmfs volume that acts as a proxy for a raw physical storage device. Rescan your hbas and check under storage adapters to ensure the cluster can see the lun. The mapping makes luns appear as files in a vmfs volume. Nov 27, 2011 i had a need to get the lun id of all of the raw disk mappings for a particular virtual machine running on vmware vsphere. Get lun id of raw disk mappings with powercli pelicano. Here i am adding raw device mapping disk luns to separate scsi controller.
In the virtual compatibility mode, the rdm acts like a virtual disk file. As a result, it merges vmfs manageability with raw device access. The rdm allows a virtual machine to directly access and use the storage device. Aug 18, 2010 i used a vm with a 20gb vmdk and a 50gb mapped raw lun, using a virtual mode rdm. Add an rdm virtual mode disk to the vm and pointing it to the newly host mounted iscsi disk. To enable your vms to talk directly to lun, you need a raw device mapping file. When you only have one virtual scsi adapter, you are limited to 15 disks, but more importantly one controller can only talk to one vmdk or rdm at one time. Click add to readd the previously removed raw devices.
This let the guest os think the disk is the same as before. Refer vmware article for more information readd the rdm lun as virtual rdm disk. Apr 11, 2018 here i have one with physical rdm, to convert it to virtual, go to vm edit settings, and expand the hard disk information. Vmware vexpert lauren malhoit outlines the basics on how to convert a virtual machine disk format to a raw device mapping. The rdm contains metadata for managing and redirecting disk access to the physical device. We have explained the detailed 11 differences between rdm physical vs virtual compatibility mode. Vmware shared raw device mapped disk the tech l33t.
It looks misleading in the vsphere client, but thats whats happening. When you download a virtual disk from the esxi datastore with. This configuration is not supported on the datastore vsandatastore. Raw disk a disk volume accessed by a virtual mach ine as an alternative to a virtual disk file. Actually, it was my mistake reading the converter output. Then, add a new rdm disk to the vm using the same lun you removed before. A rdm is a raw mapped disk to your guest, it doesnt move during a vmotion since its not part of the vmfs data store.
Now we will use the same rdm disk and readd it in the virtual compatibility mode. At this point, weve now created a lun and created a raw mapping to the sql virtual machine. In my previous article i shown adding and sharing rdm disk to multiple vms in vmware step by step, i received one related task to convert. In turn, modern linux recognizes windows file systems such as ntfs and.
As we already discussed many times, vmware rdm raw device mapping is a mapping file that provides direct access to a lun on the fiber. Hi all, i need to understand what is the best practice to exnted a secondary drive on a windows 2008 server vmware virtual machine. Problem was resolved by adding a new scsi controller to the vm. Dynamic disk converter is a professional dynamic disk management wizard to optimize your disk type management, with the main feature to directly convert dynamic disk back to basic disk without losing data, it works sector by sector to convert clone from spanned, striped, mirrored and raid 5 volume to a basic partition. You can add total 4 virtual scsi controllers and each controller can have 15 disks attached. Browse to the location where the rdm pointer is stored.