Real to Virtual Machine with SystemRescueCD

These instructions describe how to backup a real machine and restore it on a VMWare virtual machine using SystemRescueCD and partimage.

First, download the SystemRescueCD ISO from www.sysresccd.org and burn it onto a CD. These instructions are based on version 0.4.2.

Before you start the backup process, you need to decide where you will backup.

In my case, I plan to install VMWare on the same hardware, then restore the “old machine” as a VM on that hardware. This will allow me to continue using my old system, until I've converted everything to the new system. So, I used parted to re-size my current partition, and create a new one where I'll store the backup (and the VM when I'm done).

Now, we need to backup the real machine.