Issues when migrating Windows VMs

You might run into issues when you attempt to migrate Windows 10 VMs, Windows Server 2016 VMs, or Windows Server 2019 VMs that were created from templates in the Lenovo Cloud Marketplace before ThinkAgile CP, Release 5.1.4 (Windows templates dated before September, 2020).

Symptom

During the migration of a Windows 10 VM (Pro or Enterprise), Windows Server 2016 VM, or Windows Server 2019 VM to a different compute node, you might run into the following issues:

• The instance freezes.

• The instance IP cannot be pinged.

• The instance shows a blue screen (BSOD) or a black screen.

Cause

The templates for Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019 contain extra drivers that can hinder the migration of VM instances created from those drivers. Specifically, the following Red Hat drivers are included in the templates:

• viostor

• vioinput

• viorng

• pvpanic

Solution

The drivers need to be removed from the VM instance. Complete the following steps to remove the drivers from the VM instance:

1. Establish an SSH session with the VM instance.

2. From PowerShell, type the following command to display a list of all drivers containing “Red”

   Get-WindowsDriver -Online -All | where {$_.ProviderName -like "*Red*"}
   

3. Record the Driver name (oemx.inf) for each of these drivers: viostor, vioinput, viorng, and pvpanic. For example:

   
   
   

4. Run the following command for each of the drivers to delete them:

   pnputil.exe /delete-driver oem<em className="ph i"><X></em>.inf /force
   

   where oem<X> corresponds to the driver name you recorded in the previous step. For example:

   
   
   

5. Validate the drivers have been deleted by running the following command again:

   Get-WindowsDriver -Online -All | where {$_.ProviderName -like "*Red*"}
   

   Make sure that the following drivers no longer appear:

   • viostor

   • vioinput

   • viorng

   • pvpanic

6. Shut down the VM instance.

7. Restart the VM instance.