8.7 Importing an Amazon virtual machine on a Cloud Server

This can be performed on a Windows machine by following these steps:

• Create an image of the Amazon EC2 virtual machine you want to export
  The VMware vCenter Converter Standalone application provides an option to create and export an image:
  • install VMware vCenter Converter Standalone on the Amazon EC2 virtual machine that you want to export by selecting "Local Installation" in "Setup Type";
    
    
  • launch VMware vCenter Converter Standalone;
  • click on "Convert a Machine" in the application menu to start the conversion procedure;
    
    
  • select "Powered-on-machine" from the "Select source type" menu and click "This local machine";
    
    
  • click "Next" to continue to the "Destination System" page;
  • on the "Specify Destination" page select "VMware Workstation or other VMware virtual machine" from the dropdown menu and select "VMware Workstation 6.5.x" from the list of VMware products;
    
    
  • enter the name of the destination virtual machine and select the volume that will contain it;
  • click on "Next" to continue to the "Options" page;
  • in the "Options" page, select "Data to Copy" from the options available;
    
    
  • uncheck the volume checkbox that will contain the image to exclude it from conversion;
    
    
  • click on "Next" to continue to the "Summary" page;
    
    
  • click on "Finish";
  • wait until conversion is complete;
    
    
  • a .vmx and a .vmdk file will be created during the conversion.
• Export and upload the image on the FTP space provided by Aruba Cloud
  • To manage virtual disk images, Aruba Cloud provides an FTP space free of charge for each account and for each Data Center. This FTP space is only for archiving images of virtual disks to import or to export: images of virtual disks only accepted in .vmdk and .vhd/.vhdx file format.
    
    You can see the disk images found on the FTP space, as follows:
    • go to the Control Panel;
    • select "COMPUTING" from the horizontal menu;
    • select the Data Center;
    • select "Import Disks" under "TEMPLATE" in the left menu;
    • connection details for the FTP space will be displayed, together with a list of the disk images uploaded.
    
    By downloading any TFP client (such as FileZilla, CoreFTP, Cyberduck, etc.) and using your login details, you will have access to the space where you can upload images of virtual disks to be imported, or download virtual disks that have been exported. All files uploaded to the FTP space are monitored by our Cloud system; all images uploaded will be listed.
• Create a Cloud Server with VMware hypervisor with a custom template
  • To create a Cloud Server with VMware hypervisor with a custom template, please see the relevant guide.

This can be performed on a Windows machine, by following these steps:

• Create the image of the Amazon EC2 virtual machine you want to export
  Images of virtual disks can be created using the Disk2VHD tool:
  • download the application;
  • run the application;
    
    
  • select in the header "VHD File name:" the location in which you want to save the .vhd/.vhdx file and, in the "Volumes to include:" section, the disks you want to create images of;
    
    
  • click on "Create";
    
    
  • wait until creation is complete and the "Disk export to VHD completed successfully" message is displayed.
    
    


• Export and upload the image on the FTP space provided by Aruba Cloud
  • To manage virtual disk images, Aruba Cloud provides an FTP space free of charge for each account and for each Data Center. This FTP space is only for archiving images of virtual disks to import or export: images of virtual disks are only accepted in .vmdk and .vhd/.vhdx file format.
    
    You can see the disk images found on the FTP space, as follows:
    • go to the Control Panel;
    • select "COMPUTING" from the horizontal menu;
    • select the Data Center;
    • select "Import Disks" under "TEMPLATE" in the left menu;
    • connection details for the FTP space will be displayed, together with a list of the disk images uploaded.
    
    By downloading any TFP client (such as FileZilla, CoreFTP, Cyberduck, etc.) and using your login details, you will have access to the space where you can upload images of virtual disks to be imported, or download virtual disks that have been exported. All files uploaded to the FTP space are monitored by our Cloud system; all images uploaded will be listed.


• Create a Cloud Server with VMware hypervisor with a custom template
  • To create a Cloud Server with VMware hypervisor with a custom template, please see the relevant guide.

In the case of exporting a disk image from a Linux machine, there is not a generic tool that guarantees the export in a quick and simple way regardless of the Linux distribution; it is advisable to proceed as follows:

• boot from external disk (CD/DVD)
• export an image from the machine or from a command line (e.g. dd command) or from tools (e.g. Clonezilla, Partimage)
• upload the image to the FTP area provided by Aruba
• create a Cloud Server with a custom Template
• upload the image to the main disk
• access the Cloud Server using the Recovery Console to restore the filesystem and reconfigure the machine (operation almost certainly required)