VMware restore fails with failed with error P2VError UNKNOWN_METHOD_FAULT(sysimage.fault.ClonePre (4042466)

Date: Mar 2010
Product & Version: VMware 1.1
OS Version: window 2003, 2003 R2
Application version: ESX 3.5


Symptoms:

VMware image restore fails while running p2vTool.exe to convert the backup files in the VMware temp directory to the Virtual system on the ESX server.

p2vTool.exe reports the following error “failed with error P2VError UNKNOWN_METHOD_FAULT(sysimage.fault.ClonePreparationFault)� as seen below in the subtext of binary log.


Cause:

VMware p2vTool is unable to convert the files

To restore these images we need to use the VMware standalone converter on the files created in the VMware temp directory during the first part of the backup. The problem is p2vTool runs a cleanup script on failure and these files get deleted.
If the backup was taken using VMware plugin 1.1 or earlier the option to restore to files is not available even if you are now running a later version of the plugin were it is available, because the options for restores are stored in the VMware backup and these options will be for the version the backup was created with.
To work around this we need to interrupt the restore before p2vTool runs or just as it starts to run. This will stop p2vTool from deleting the files required to convert to the virtual system. How to do this follows:

1. Bring up …/netvault/bin/nvpview
2. Run restore
3. Locate the VMware process running the restore
4. In job manager, right click the VMware restore, select view log and filter selecting all warning levels.
5. When the restore starts the write to the temp space on local disk, we see the following entry in the Job log:

Job Message < DATE> ...<DEVICE NAME> ...assigned to job ready for data transfer

6. Watch for the next entry in the logs after that message. Select the VMware process in Nvpview. As soon as the next entry appears in the log, the data transfer to the working directory has been completed. Select 'Hard Kill' to terminate the VMware process before the failure happens and p2vTool performs the cleanup and deletes the files. This gives us the files we require to restore using the Stand Alone Converter.

7. Copy the files away and restored using converter. This may generate the error "Can't determine guest OS or unable to obtain hardware information for the selected machine". If it does, apply solution (VMware converter reports “unable to obtain hardware information for the selected machine" OR "Can't determine guest OS" when converting VMware restore to files backup)





Prepared by:
Richard Downes