Run VMware Converter with a basic 64bit check Opens VMware Converter 5.5.1, and submits a job Take it and enhance it if you’d like and consider returning here to share what you’ve learned. Most importantly, this is not the final word. This took some time to figure out the process, timing, and interface elements, but it wasn’t super difficult. The script I put together is based on VMware Converter 5.5.1 specifically, and would probably break on other versions. You may do either of these things, as long as the script runs. You’ll also find the executable is also better suited for scheduling in Windows. Autoit works by simply creating a script file that will either launch (with the program installed) or be pre-compiled into an executable from source to run on computers. This scripting environment allows me to load and control the interface of VMware Converter as if I was sitting in front of the computer. You’ll be setting up the defaults and testing to ensure Converter works.Įnter the great free tool Autoit. Before you’re ready to automate, create a job in Converter and run it until completion once. Then, line up a storage location away from that computer. The first thing you’ll need to do is get VMware Converter and install it on the computer that will be imaged. It would be great if someone made a simple precompiled way to submit a job, until that time, here’s what I’ve come up with. Examples of use appear to only be the source code variety, and not exactly what’s needed. Discussions about this online appear to follow the “Can I automate?” question with a familiar and unuseful “Use the SDK” answer. This will automate the process, but force you to manage space in the location you store the output.Įven worse, the lack of a command-line option forces the use of an SDK that may (or may not) provide the required utility. For our purposes, we’ll have to take the lesser of two evils and modify the VM name on the fly. This will either fill your disk space fast creating new copies, or it will stop the process. One of the bigger ways is not allowing you to overwrite an existing VM (that you might have created previously). The key thing to understand is that VMware is doing a number of things to try and stop you from automating this process. In this article, I’m going to go over a means of automating Converter so you can again use it for a backup. This has many confused, who used the tool as something of a “poor man’s disaster recovery tool”. This used to be possible in earlier versions of Converter but was unceremoniously removed from version 5.0 and up. Perhaps a daft move, but VMware Converter (sometimes called P2V or vCenter Converter) no longer allows you to script the creation of a machine image by way of the command line.

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