8.1.3 Creating a disk image Cloud Server Pro service guide

If you wish to create disk images for Hyper-V Hypervisors (.vhd files) starting from the physical disks of your PC or Server you can use the Disk2VHD utility (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/disk2vhd). To emphasise the fact that after importing and during the first use of the virtual disk there may be errors attributable to the hardware going from a physical disk to a virtual disk. This can be particularly problematic on both Windows and Linux systems if it is a boot disk.
Another method for the converting disks and/or an entire machine is the use of a tool present in SCVMM and installed in the local server. This tool (which can be trialled free of charge for 365 days) will create a .vhd file for each disk present in the local server. A guide can be found at the address https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/dd380687.aspx. This procedure in the case of virtual boot disks attempts to reconfigure the disk so as not to encounter any of the problems described in the previous method.
If you have a Server or a Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 PC or any successors of these, managing virtual disks is very simple: go to Computer Management and by right clicking the mouse button on Disk Management you can opt for "Create VHD" and "Connect VHD". With these two options it becomes immediately possible to create, edit and/or set up VHD directly in your own local server.

To convert disks in a VMware environment and therefore to be able to create .VMDK files the tool provided by VMware is VMware Converter (you can even perform image conversions for different hypervisors with this tool). Other simpler tools still provided by VMware for the same purpose are "VMware Workstation", "VMware Server" and "VMware Fusion". VMDK files can also be managed by the free tool "VMware Player".
 
 The operations described are examples: the improper use or use without due care and skill, can cause the partial and total loss of data, and in some cases may jeopardize the correct operation of the virtual server. Using this guide without the appropriate skills is not recommended. Aruba S.p.A. does not accept any responsibility for any problems or damage caused by using these guides