VMware: FAILED: Unable to obtain the IP address of the helper virtual machine

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After migrating the last Linux Suse Enterprise 32-bit physical machine with VMware Converter Standalone 4.3 I received a error:

FAILED: Unable to obtain the IP address of the helper virtual machine

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Solution:

The solution is simple, by converting the physical machine to a virtual machine the VM will start directly. By starting the VM the mounted Converter ISO will boot with a VM HelperNetwork. In case you’re VLAN doesn’t have DHCP functionality you need to configure a static IP for the VM HelperNetwork.

To  assign a static IP address to the Helper virtual machine, select Use the following IP address: and specify the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway. Be sure the IP address you specify for the Helper virtual machine is not already in use on the network. 
     
(Optional) To configure the DNS server address manually, select Use the following DNS server address: and type the preferred DNS server address. Optionally, type and alternate DNS server address. 
    
Select another option to set or click Next to view a summary of the conversion task. Converter Standalone uses the IP address and DNS server you specified to copy data from the source Linux machine to the destination virtual machine during conversion.

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The VM will boot with the configured network settings:

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P2V status:

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40 thoughts on “VMware: FAILED: Unable to obtain the IP address of the helper virtual machine

  1. Pingback: VMware: FAILED: Unable to obtain the IP address of the helper … |
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  3. Followed your instructions but I receive the following entries on the ESX Server:

    Setting uo interface eth0: DONE
    Setting default route: route: ioctl 0x890b failed: Network is unreachable: FAILED

    Any ideas how to troubleshoot this problem?

    Thanks

  4. @Franco Sch

    Problem solved as I double checked the settings and there was an error in the Gateway.

    STILL, after this the the VM Converter stops on – Connecting to the Converter helper on the destination VM @ 1% … without showing any signs of progress …

    Thanks

  5. Hi!

    Very good, but due to security constraints in my network, I need to know the MAC address to give it a static IP.

    Do you know if there is some way to configure (or know) the MAC address that this helper VM uses? I looked in google or VMware documentation and I haven’t found any answer.

    P.S: how do you open the console you are showing above (when you write “The VM will boot with the configured network settings:”)? Maybe could be a solution to my problem if I can open a console with this machine (I also will see in the ESXi logs).

    In advance, thank you very much and best regards

  6. I had this problem too, and this article was helpful!!! When I was trying to convert, my network hardware was in a different VLAN to the Helper VM IP. When I change nexus Vlan to the same network range, works succesfully!! Thank you for your post

  7. Hi,
    We had problem on oracle linux p2v vmware issue

    Issue : unable to connect to the converter helper server on the destination virtual machine.

    We traied many times – 1% completed its getting error

    Failed : Cannot communicate with the remote host, either due to remote error or becuease host is not responding?

    Please do the needful.

  8. Hi,
    We had problem on oracle linux p2v vmware issue

    Issue : unable to connect to the converter helper server on the destination virtual machine.

    We traied many times – 1% completed its getting error

    Failed : Cannot communicate with the remote host, either due to remote error or becuease host is not responding?

    Please do the needful.

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