Dimension on Proxmox ?
Hello, we used Vmware esxi for 10 years, around 35 VM in our datacenter.
In last 2 months we converted all our servers to Proxmox VE without any major problem: we succesfully converted 34 VM, Win server 12,16,19, rockylinux, debian, ubuntu, with any kind of services. Everything works except one server: Watchguard Dimension.
Or, to be fair, it works, but as you know, I can't install anything on the SO and without Virtio drivers (the vmware tools of Proxmox) I can't shutdown, reboot and unleash full power from VM.
Everytime I need to reboot the host, I have to remember that Dimension need be poweroff manually or the host won't reboot.
I already opened a Case on wgsupport and they said watchguard has no plan to create a Dimension VM with virtio drivers included.
1- I think it's a shame that a brand like Watchguard does not support alternative to virtualization standard, considering it's almost free and safe just to add virtio drivers to Dimension
2- Am I the only one with this problem? Does anyone have a solution?
Thanks for any idea or suggestion.
Comments
Hi @markpcom
We don't have any plans to add support for that hypervisor at this time. Customers that wish to run Dimension on other systems are welcome to, but we do not support it.
-James Carson
WatchGuard Customer Support
Hello, I accepted your reply months ago, I just want to bring watchguard attention on the topic, considering the HUGE improvement of market share proxmox is getting in last months because of new vmware's policy.
Once again: watchguard can solve this in 5 minutes by adding virtio driver to dimension and lot of customers would benefit.
Hope to read some good news soon.
Thanks
+1 here
Proxmox will be the next "de facto" hypervisor for SMBs arround the world. It´s imperative that Watchguard add support for this. Not only for Dimension, but also for FireboxV
Hi @markpcom and @roblop
There is an existing feature request (FBX-4284) at this time. If you'd like to follow that request, please create a support case and mention FBX-4284 in the case.
Dimension does not specifically stop you from installing it on non-supported platforms -- if you wish to do this, you're welcome to. If an issue occurs with Dimension, and it's running on a non-supported hypervisor, support will be unable to help fix your virtual server.
-James Carson
WatchGuard Customer Support
Hi @markpcom,
Hope all is well.
I am on the same boat that we need to phase out the VMWare server and needs to migrate it to Proxmox. I had imported the OVA into Proxmox and when I tried to start it up, it said there is no boot disk.
Is that the same issue you were talking about adding the virtio driver to Dimension?
Thanks.
There is an old post here which shows how the user got it to work.
Perhaps it will work for you too.
https://marcuseaton.me/blog/index.php/2020/02/17/installing-watchguard-dimension-on-proxmox-ve/
+1 to VMWare and Hyper-V alternatives. I'm also dumping VMWare due to the new ownership, but KVM is running into the same no boot disk issue. Thanks for the link @Bruce_Briggs, I'll check that out!
Done!
I didn't create a CT as the link suggest, I still use a normal VM exactly like it was in vmware. It works perfecly fine except shutdown and reboot because I don't have QEMU guest agent installed (and maybe performance are not optimized, i don't know).
This is the procedure i used:
1- in vmware, right click on powered off dimension VM -> template --> export ovf template (remove all the blank space in the name, proxmox don't like it)
2- you download 4 files: .mf / .vmdk / .ovf / .nvram
3- upload those files on proxmox into directory /tmp/
4- import command from the proxmox shell:
qm importovf 121 /tmp/Watchguard-Dimension.ovf local-zfs
(121 is the id number of my dimension vm, local-zfs is my datastore)
And these are my VM settings, only hidden the mac address
Vm works fine, the only problem is when I need to reboot or shutdown the host server, i have to manually force a stop because dimension won't shutdown. But I'm sure watchguard will help us very soon
+1
i would try the Dimension for your clients, but without official support this is a showstopper.
Proxmox Support would be great.
+1
Proxmox support is a must have in these days.
This is the new standard hypervisor for SMBs since VmWare fall down into Broadcom´s hands.
Guys, you should open a case with WatchGuard mentioning FBX-4284 as I did in June. Maybe it will be more effective than a post on the forum.
Anyway, my update:
In August, Proxmox released an update; I don’t remember exactly which one, but it completely broke my WatchGuard Dimension VM. I was unable to boot it anymore.
So I tried again to rebuild from scratch, downloading the official updated .ova and converting it using this guide: https://ryanburnette.com/blog/proxmox-import-ova/. It worked, and now I can start, stop, and reboot the VM with the host.
The official support would be great, but it’s already possible to run it perfectly fine.