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Dissolve is a VirtaMove CLI utility that lets you remove VirtaMove encapsulation from the migration container and transfer the migrated application to the underlying operating system of the destination machine so that the application will behave as if natively installed.

There is no limit to the number of times that you can run the virtadissolve command on an appliance. If your VirtaMove license key does not include Dissolve, contact your VirtaMove Sales Representative to inquire about evaluating the Dissolve function.

The Dissolve Process

The following diagrams illustrate the Dissolve process. Example 1 illustrates Dissolving in a basic scenario, where you migrate an application from Machine A to Machine B and Dissolve the container application on Machine B. Example 2 illustrates Dissolve in a scenario where you migrate an application to Machine A, compress the container application and move it to Machine B, and then uncompress the container application and Dissolve it on the final destination machine (Machine B).

Open

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Application-Specific User and Group Accounts

Your application may require user and group account information in order to run correctly. If you selected user and group accounts during the container creation process, this information is stored in the following directory:

The Dissolve process begins by adding these user and group accounts to the system.

Dissolve and Drive Letters

VirtaMove does not provide the ability to remap drive letters during migrations. Therefore, VirtaMove requires that drive letters that are present on the source machine also be present on the destination server before you begin migration. The Windows system drive (that is, the drive that contains %WINDIR%) MUST also be the same on the source and destination machines.

If you require specific drive assignations as part of your IT policy requirements, you can change drive letters using standard Windows operating system methods after you dissolve your container. Note that you may have to manually change the configuration of specific applications to get them to work after you perform this drive letter change.

To view your drive letter assignments, perform the following:

Note:

You cannot reassign the drive letter for the system drive.

On Windows 2008 R2:

1. Open Computer Management (Local).

2. In the console tree, click Computer Management (Local), click Storage, and then click Disk Management.

3. Right-click a partition, logical drive, or volume, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.

4. Do one of the following:

   • To assign a drive letter, click Add, click the drive letter you want to use, and then click OK.

   • To modify a drive letter, click it, click Change, click the drive letter you want to use, and then click OK.

   • To remove a drive letter, click it, and then click Remove.

Dissolve and vdrives

To dissolve a container that contains additional vdrives (e.g., cstore_D, cstore_E) to a destination computer, the destination computer must include matching drives.

If a matching drive does not exist, a message displays which virtual drives are not available as physical drives on the destination computer.

If a matching physical drive is not available, you can create a substitute drive mapping on the destination operating system. The virtadissolve command will treat the substitute drive as a physical drive and dissolve the container successfully.

To display a list of current virtual drives, type the following with no parameters:

For more information about SUBST, see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491006.aspx

Using Config-on-the-fly with Dissolve

Your container may contain configuration information from another system; this information may not be compatible with the current system. You can use a Config-on-the-fly file to update the configuration information so that it works with the current system. You may need to update the settings in the configuration file with information from the current system.

You specify the Config-on-the-fly file using the following property:

To Enable Config-on-the-fly Using the Administrative Console

1. In the Administrative Console, select the container, and then click the Appliance Settings tab.

2. In the Config file path field, click the browse button to find the location of the Config-on-the-fly file.

Alternatively, you can use the virtapedit command-line utility to enable Config-on-the-fly. For information about virtapedit, see the CLI Guide.

For information about the Config-on-the-fly file, see the CLI Guide.

Config-on-the-fly on Demand and Dissolve

You can execute Config-on-the-fly on demand after you dissolve a container, using the Administrative Console or the command line utility virtacotf.

Dissolving IIS Applications

Before you run Dissolve for an IIS application, you must use the Windows Service Control Manager on the destination machine to stop all IIS services.

VirtaMove recommends that you use the virtadissolve /F flag if you are using a clean destination machine (one that did not have IIS applications before the Tether operation).

Enabling Dissolve for an Existing Installation

You can enable Dissolve for an existing VirtaMove installation that is not currently licensed for Dissolve.

To Enable Dissolve for an Existing VirtaMove Installation

1. Contact support@virtamove.com to obtain a license key that enables Dissolve.

2. In the Administrative Console, choose Help>Update License Key.

3. Enter your company name in the Company Name field.

4. Enter the license key in the License Key field.

5. Click Save.

6. Exit the Administrative Console.