Conversion Limitations for Powered On Machines

When you convert a powered on machine, some conversion features might not be available for certain source operating systems.

Table 1. Limitations for Powered On Machine Conversion

Source Operating System	Limitations
Windows	When you convert UEFI sources, Converter Standalone does not copy any UEFI variables to the destination. Synchronization is supported only for volume-based cloning at the block level. If the file system is ReFS, changing the cluster size during a conversion operation is not supported.
Linux	Only volume-based cloning at the file level is supported. Only managed destinations are supported. Converting powered on Linux machines is supported only if the source operating system uses GRUB boot loader. Alternative boot loaders, such as LILO and LOADLIN, and additional software that alters the GRUB configuration or boot process, such as Trusted Boot, are not supported. When you convert UEFI sources, Converter Standalone copies only the current UEFI boot entry option to the destination. Simultaneous cloning of multiple disks and volumes is supported only when converting a virtual Linux source. Installing VMware Tools on Linux guest operating systems is not supported. Converting volumes that are formatted with ext4 file system, where the Linux machine is running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 and later minor versions or Ubuntu Linux 14.04 operating systems, does not preserve the file system. The volumes of the destination machine are formatted with ext3 file system. When converting powered on Linux machines that are running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 and later minor versions or CentOS 6.0 and later minor versions, key based authentication is not supported. Instead, you can use password-based authentication.