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andvm
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Migrate ESXi’s to another vCenter

Hi,

Currently these ESXi are running on 6.0 Update 1 and managed by a Windows server vCenter.

They are using a Standard Switch

A possible option to move away from windows vCenter and to cosolidate management is to migrate them to a VCSA 6.7U3


Yes these ESXi are old but look to be still supported by VCSA 6.7U3 and then maybe I can look to upgrade them to 6.5

Assuming the traffic from the VCSA to these ESXi is open would this just be a matter of:

1) Remove the ESXi from current vCenter Inventory

2) Add these hosts to VCSA 6.7

As I understand this can be achieved without VM downtime/impact

Any thoughts or suggestions about the above process?

Thanks

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NathanosBlightc
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Why do you insist to remove before adding?! No need to do this. Just set up the new vCenter (whatever type that you want), create new virtual datacenters and new clusters (if require), then add the ESXi hosts to this newly deployed vCenter server.

Note: All of these operations will be done simply if you don't deploy any distributed vSwitches.VDS can cause this procedure a little complex ...

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NathanosBlightc
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Each option you consider to do: upgrade the Windows-based vCenter to the VCSA or install a new one, there is no need to stop virtual machines operation, even in the ESXi migration from vc1 to vc2. And also no need to remove them from the vc1 before adding to the vc2, even if they are part of a cluster.

If you want to migrate from the Windows-based vCenter to the VCSA, you can choose it from the VCSA deployment console.

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scott28tt
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Moderator: Thread moved to the vSphere Upgrade & Install area.


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IRIX201110141
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Please dont remove Hosts/VM from your Inventory unless you knew what you're doing. Your 3rd. Party stuff like every VM Backup Software will break.

As mentioned above..... please consider a migration rather than a re-/new install of vCenter.  Migration is a normal way and moving from Windows vCenter 6.x to VCSA 6.x is not so different as a migration from VCSA 5->6 or 6.7.  In both cases its a installation in parallel with temporary Network but at the end the complete Identity (Certs,FQHN,IP and Inventory) of the old vCenter is transferd to the new one and the old one is shutdown automatically.

When finished you will see your old ESXi 6.0 Hosts within the new vCenter. No downtime for existing VMs needed.

Regards,
Joerg

andvm
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The thing is that I already have a VCSA 6.7U3 that manages other clusters so I might as well remove the hosts from the Windows vCenter and add them to the VCSA so as to keep ESXi management consolidation from one VCSA. So in this case it's not going to be a migration.

Does this change the process or we are still saying that hosts will need to be removed from current Windows vCenter (assume a right click/remove) and added to the VCSA?

Let me know other considerations I should take.

Thanks

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andvm
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no its not going to be a migration (apologies for the misleading title) but a removal and adding to VCSA.

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NathanosBlightc
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Why do you insist to remove before adding?! No need to do this. Just set up the new vCenter (whatever type that you want), create new virtual datacenters and new clusters (if require), then add the ESXi hosts to this newly deployed vCenter server.

Note: All of these operations will be done simply if you don't deploy any distributed vSwitches.VDS can cause this procedure a little complex ...

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andvm
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Interesting for some reason I had the idea that it needs to be removed first rather than just adding to the new (which presumably removes it from the old)

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NathanosBlightc
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No problem is there to set up the new vCenter server and add the hosts from zero-step! but consider it's a good way if you don't have any connection from other solutions like Monitoring or Backup (as Joerg mentioned) to the virtualization environment. So if you destroy the old infrastructure, you need to reset/repair the old connections (import new information) again from that 3rd party application.

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rwilliam
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Have you given the xVmotion Fling any thought? If you have sufficient resources in your 6.7 environment, that would eliminate the need to cause any service disruption.

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andvm
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Got it, no there are no 3rd party software interacting with the current Windows vCenter server coupled with the fact the ESXi hosts are using Standard Switches should make this much easier and straightforward without impact.

Thanks

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andvm
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Thank you,  I do not see any reason however since I am not expecting any downtime anyway (as this is one of the reasons why I raised it here to discuss impact) unless you can expand what you mean by downtime please?

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