Converter Standardalone 5 versus Converter Boot CD

The new Converter Standalone 5 lacks the Converter Boot CD. Fortunately you can still use the old version 4.1 Converter Boot CD, which is also compatible with vSphere 5! The Converter Boot CD is available for download on the VMware website, although you will need an Enterprise license.

I thought it would be good idead to create a short feature comparison between Converter Standalone 5 and the Boot CD. Things are summarized in the following table:

	Hot Clone Converter Standalone 5	Cold Clone Boot CD 4.1
Windows	Block/File Level	Block/File Level
- Volume Resize	Yes (File Level Based)	Yes (File Level Based)
- Synchronization	Yes (Block Based)	No
- Install VMware Tools	Yes	Yes
- Customize OS	Yes	Yes
- Configure Services	Yes	No
- Reconfigure VM	Yes	No
Linux	File Level	Block
- Volume Resize	Yes	No
- Synchronization	No	No
- Install VMware Tools	No	No
- Customize OS	No	No
- Configure Services	No	No
- Reconfigure VM	Yes	No

If you choose to resize your disks during the P2V conversion, the conversion will be file level based instead of block based. The new synchronization option will not work in this case, because it needs a block based conversion.

Note: Converter Standalone 5 can perform only Hot Clones P2V migrations!
Note 2: After a Cold Clone you can of course still reconfigure your VM; this will not be part of the actual P2V conversion.