System and method for converting a physical disk to a virtual disk
First Claim
1. A method for converting a physical disk into a virtual disk file for use by a virtual machine comprising:
- receiving user inputs specifying a file name and a path for the virtual disk file;
copying contents of the physical disk including files of an operating system and network parameters into the virtual disk file;
modifying the network parameters that have been copied into the virtual disk file; and
booting the virtual machine from the virtual disk file,wherein, upon receiving a command to convert the physical disk into the virtual disk file, the contents of the physical disk are not modified prior to said copying.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for converting a disk of a physical computer into a virtual disk for use by a virtual machine is described. Contents of the disk of the physical computer are copied into an image file, wherein the image file has a different sector-by-sector organization of the contents than the disk but a logically equivalent file system organization. Hardware configuration information from the image file is then extracted, wherein the hardware configuration information relates to hardware of the physical computer and, based on a comparison of the extracted hardware configuration information and a virtual hardware configuration of the virtual machine, hardware dependent files in the image file are replaced with substitute files that are compatible with the virtual hardware configuration of the virtual machine.
46 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for converting a physical disk into a virtual disk file for use by a virtual machine comprising:
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receiving user inputs specifying a file name and a path for the virtual disk file; copying contents of the physical disk including files of an operating system and network parameters into the virtual disk file; modifying the network parameters that have been copied into the virtual disk file; and booting the virtual machine from the virtual disk file, wherein, upon receiving a command to convert the physical disk into the virtual disk file, the contents of the physical disk are not modified prior to said copying. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that are executed in a computer system to cause the computer system to carry out a method for converting a physical disk into a virtual disk file for use by a virtual machine, said method comprising:
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receiving user inputs specifying a file name and a path for the virtual disk file; shutting down applications that place locks on files stored in the physical disk prior to copying contents of the physical disk, and then copying the contents of the physical disk including files of an operating system and network parameters into the virtual disk file; modifying the network parameters that have been copied into the virtual disk file; and booting the virtual machine from the virtual disk file. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer system for converting a physical disk into a virtual disk file for use by a virtual machine, comprising:
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a storage device; and a processor programmed to; store user inputs specifying a file name and a path for the virtual disk file, shut down applications that place locks on files stored in the storage device prior to copying contents of the storage device, and then copy the contents of the storage device including files of an operating system and network parameters into the virtual disk file, modify the network parameters that have been copied into the virtual disk file, and boot the virtual machine from the virtual disk file. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification