Convert SV2I to VMDK

A recovery point stored as Symantec or Veritas backup files must be turned into a VMware virtual disk before it can boot in Workstation, Fusion, ESXi, or vSphere. The conversion is also useful when an old physical system must be tested or restored inside a virtual machine.

What the SV2I format is

SV2I is a recovery-point index created by Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery, Symantec System Recovery, and later Veritas System Recovery. It lists available recovery points, dates, volumes, and the relationships between the index and the associated .V2I full-image files and .IV2I incremental files.

An SV2I file is not a virtual disk or a sector-by-sector image. It normally resides in a recovery-point folder with the complete V2I and IV2I chain. Renaming .sv2i to .vmdk, or copying only the index, cannot create a usable VMware disk.

What the VMDK format provides

VMDK is VMware's virtual disk format. VMware Workstation, VMware Fusion, ESXi, and vSphere can attach VMDK files to virtual machines. A VMDK can represent an entire boot disk, an individual volume, or a sparse disk whose content is stored in one or more extent files.

VMDK is the appropriate output when the recovered system must run under VMware or be attached to an existing VMware virtual machine. VMware products support options such as thin-provisioned and split virtual disks, but the output size and layout depend on the recovery software and conversion settings.

Convert with System Recovery

1. Collect the original .sv2i file and every .v2i and .iv2i file required by the selected recovery point. Preserve the original filenames and folder structure.
2. Install a compatible release of Symantec System Recovery or Veritas System Recovery. If the installed release cannot read the backup, use the matching System Recovery boot environment or recovery media.
3. Open the recovery-point or virtual-disk conversion wizard. Depending on the release, it may appear as Tasks → Convert to Virtual Disk, Recover My Computer, or a similarly named command. Menu names and available output formats differ between releases.
4. Select the .sv2i index, choose the required recovery-point date, and select the volumes to restore. The recovery software reads the referenced V2I and IV2I files; the index itself is not selected as a disk image.
5. Choose VMDK when the wizard offers VMware as an output type. Select a destination with enough free space and choose the provisioning or disk-layout options provided by that release. Select all required system and boot volumes if the result must be bootable.
6. Create a new VMware virtual machine and attach the generated VMDK as an existing disk. Set the VM firmware to match the source system's BIOS or UEFI mode and select a storage controller supported by the guest operating system, such as LSI Logic SAS or VMware Paravirtual.
7. Boot the VM with its network disconnected for the first test. Install VMware Tools, remove or disable obsolete physical-hardware drivers if required, and reactivate the operating system if its license detects the virtual hardware as a new computer.

Use an intermediate disk format when necessary

Some System Recovery releases cannot export VMDK directly but can restore or convert a recovery point to VHD. After creating a complete VHD, convert that disk with a desktop utility such as QEMU qemu-img or StarWind V2V Converter. With QEMU, a VHD uses the vpc format identifier:

qemu-img info source.vhd
qemu-img convert -f vpc -O vmdk source.vhd destination.vmdk

QEMU and StarWind convert disk images; they do not interpret .sv2i, .v2i, or .iv2i files. VMware vCenter Converter Standalone likewise is not an SV2I reader. It can convert supported physical or virtual systems, but it cannot use an SV2I catalog as a backup source.

No reputable online converter is suitable for this operation. The source is a multi-file, potentially encrypted or password-protected backup set containing an operating-system disk, and uploading it would also create a serious data-exposure risk.

Compatibility and recovery limitations

The VMDK represents the selected recovery point, not automatically the newest state of the original computer. Check the recovery-point timestamp and verify that every required incremental file is available before starting the conversion. Encrypted, compressed, or damaged backup files must be processed by System Recovery before a generic disk-image utility can be used.

A converted disk can fail to boot because of a BIOS/UEFI mismatch, missing storage-controller drivers, BitLocker or other volume encryption, dynamic-disk dependencies, RAID drivers, or boot-loader assumptions tied to the original hardware. Test the VM before deleting the source recovery files, and keep the original backup chain unchanged until the guest has been verified.