VMware
 

Knowledge Base

Search the Knowledge Base:

Products:
Search In:
 

Enabling the Use of Non-root User for Hot Cloning of Linux Source Machines

Details

By default, VMware vCenter Converter Standalone requires a root login to the source machine for Linux conversion tasks. However, you can also use non-root credentials after enabling the use of sudo and modifying the source machine to allow the sudo command to be executed.


Solution

1. Enable the use of sudo during conversion of Linux source machines.

  1. Browse for the converter-agent.xml file in the following locations:
    • If Converter Standalone runs on a Windows system, go to %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone\.
    • If Converter Standalone is running on a Linux system, go to /etc/vmware-converter/.
  2. Open the converter-agent.xml file in a text editor and change the useSudo flag from false to true.
  3. Restart Converter Standalone agent.
    • If Converter Standalone agent runs on a Windows system, open the Services section in the Microsoft Management Console, find the VMware Converter Agent service and restart it.
    • If Converter Standalone agent runs on a Linux system, find the Converter Agent process by running ps -axu|grep "converter-agent.xml" and terminate it. The Converter Standalone agent starts automatically the next time you initiate a conversion task.

Alternatively, instead of restarting Converter Standalone agent, you can reboot the system to make the changes to converter-agent.xml take effect.

2. Set up the source machine to allow the sudo command to be executed without prompting for a password, and without requiring a real tty, for example:

  1. Add the following entry to /etc/sudoers to replace username with the non-root user's name:

usernameALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

  1. Make sure the following entry is not present in the /etc/sudoers file:

Defaults requiretty

In case the file contains this entry, comment it out.

Note: The sudoers configuration might vary by system.

Keywords

Linux p2v; Linux hot clone; Linux source; Linux user; non-root login; non-root user;

Feedback

Rating: 1 - Lowest 2 3 4 5 - Highest (5 Ratings)   

Did this article help you?
This article resolved my issue.
This article did not resolve my issue.
This article helped but additional information was required to resolve my issue.
What can we do to improve this information? (2000 or fewer characters)
Submit
Rating: 1 - Lowest 2 3 4 5 - Highest (5 Ratings)   
Actions