[RESOLVED] Acronis ESX(i) Appliance (Unable to import into VMWare vSphere/vCenter v5.1 environment)
This is an issue I ran into when trying to deploy the Acronis ESX(i) Appliance into a VMWare vSphere v5.1 environment.
ENVIRONMENT
VMWare Essentials Plus
vCenter 5.1 (Build #: 799731)
vSphere 5.1 (Build #: 786111)
3 ESXi 5.1 Hosts (Build #: 799733)
Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 (Build #: 17440)
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ISSUE:
I would go to deploy an OVF template (Acronis Appliance) and would receive the following error:
The OVF package is invalid and cannot be deployed.
Line 72: Duplicate element 'AddressOnParent'.
So I would be unable to deploy the appliance, therefore, be incapable of performing in virtual machine backups.
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CAUSE(?):
I'm not 100% sure of the issue, but I started thinking perhaps it's related to the new virtual hardware changes in VMWare's products and the failure on Acronis' part to stay up-to-date and update their new appliances.
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RESOLUTION:
Perhaps I took the scenic route to resolve this issue, but it was the only solution I could figure out and it worked for me. So I'm hoping to save someone else a headache and time by posting. If anyone else has come across this issue and knows of a better way to resolve it, please post to help everyone out.
Steps: (NOTE: DO NOT POWER ON VM UNTIL LAST STEP)
1. Create a VM on a host (1 vCPU w/ 2 Cores, and 1GB vRAM)
2. Create 2 vHD’s and make them only 1GB in size each (Using the SCSI Controller)
3. Copy the name of the 1st (Primary) vHD and name the 1st VMDK for the Acronis Appliance the same
4. Copy the name of the 2nd (Secondary) vHD and name the 2nd VMDK for the Acronis Appliance the same
5. Now delete both 1GB vHD’s that were created with the VM from the datastore
6. Upload the new vHD’s in their place
7. With the system still powered off, migrate the VM to a new host and datastore (this will register the newly uploaded VMDKs with the VM)
8. You can now power on the VM and the appliance will boot
*BE SURE TO PERFORM STEP 5. DO NOT JUST UPLOAD RENAMED ACRONIS .VMDK'S. THIS WILL CAUSE OTHER "-FLAT" FILES TO BE CREATED
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I have tested the appliances after deploying through this method. I was able to add them to the Acronis Management Server Console and backups scheduled/completed without errors. The appliances display an error upon start, but it seems to be related to the Virtual Floppy Drive. (Not an issue for me and unsure what you would use it for anyways, so I just ignore it.)
Again, if you have come across this issue and have found another way (maybe better) to resolve the issue, please post and help others out.
Thanks!
See the solution here.
