Making a P2V conversion: Driver cleansing

Alan Wright  |   Sep 2, 2008  5:13 PM (GMT)

You can also Install the linux Dell/HP management Agents into the service console as to continue the resilience of the Host Hardware. Additionly install thew linux version of the APC Business/Network edition onto the console.
A good tip is to double the service console size from 5000 to 10000mb in order accomodate these new services beforehand.

Jonathan  |   Sep 2, 2008  9:41 PM (GMT)

Before a P2V, I like to stop (not disable) the services related to agents or unnecessary software components. After a successful P2V, then I uninstall all the software you mentioned, RAID, NIC, other hardware monitoring. But to really do a “cleanse”, I also remove all the hidden hardware devices that won’t be used anymore.

To see all that hidden stuff, I add a system variable “devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices” and set it to “1″, then reboot. See the KB article for more detail:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/241257

I go into Computer Management | Devices Manager | View and check Show Hidden Devices. I drill down the tree and every object that is dimmed I delete. You don’t have to worry, if the device is dimmed it’s not needed and even if it was it will be re-detected on reboot.

By doing this I know the system is clean and free from any legacy hardware it won’t be using in it’s new virtualized environment.

jonatj