Converting a virtual disk into a Raw Device Mapping (passthrough)

Hi folks,

I need to import a VM into a ESXi server 5.5.

I have all the files, meaning vmx and vmdk files.

One of the requirements is to have the final VM to use passthrough RDM.

Last time I did this was to import the image into the ESXi server and since the VM is a Linux box I launched a live Linux CD system and via rsync I copied the files from the local disks to the passthrough RDMs.

Is there a way to copy the data directly from the images saved to the passthrough RDMs, in the vCentre converter I don't see such option.

The vCentre converter version is 5.5.0-build1362012.

Thanks, Alex