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vSphereNewbie
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Contributor

Copy VM files from ESXi 5.5 to ESXi 6.0

HI ,

We have two data-center (DC1 and DC2), in which DC1 is marked for closure. We need to move the VMs that are running on ESXi 5.5 on DC1 to ESXi 6.0.

Below is the plan

1) Initiate storage level replication.

2) Build ESXi 6.0 setup at DC2

3) After storage replication completes at DC2, mount the volumes on ESXi 6.0 hosts

4) Browse the inventory and add each VMs to ESXi 6.0 vCenter.

Will the above approach work? is there any constrains to add VM copied from 5.5 to be added on ESXi 6.0 vCenter?

Thanks,

Praveen P

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5 Replies
a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Assuming that the VM's have been powered off/removed from the old DC's inventory prior to adding them to the new inventory, the approach should work just fine.

André

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vSphereNewbie
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Contributor

Thanks André

Data copy will happen when VMs are in powered ON state. Will there be any issues with the VM lock files when they are added to the new ESXi 6.0 vCenter?

Regards,

Praveen P

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virtualg_uk
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Leadership

Replication is effectively  copy of the VM in a different location (DC in your case) so there will be no lock on the replicated copy of the VM.

I would check with your storage team that a replicated copy is suitable for production use as those LUNS that you are replicating to could be on slower storage etc and there will probably be a procedure to run on the DR storage SAN to make those replicated copies / LUNs good for production.


Graham | User Moderator | https://virtualg.uk
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a_p_
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Leadership

The storage replication itself will most likely work fine, and there should also be no issues with presenting the datastores to the new hosts (if your storage system allows to present the mirrors!?). However, the VMs should only be added to one inventory at a time. Changes made to a VM on the old environment might not be properly recognized on the new environment. I recommend you power off the VMs on the old environment, wait for the storage system to compete the sync, disable the mirror, and add the VMs to the new vCenter 6 environment as the last step.

André

chris122686
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi vSpherNewbie

based on your plan if DC1 is for closure. You may want to consider having an intact data by having the VM's powered off during the replication or at least a planned downtime. Once the replication is completed or sync you can check and mount the volumes to the other ESXI host then add the VM to the inventory then upgrade the VMware tools or the Virtual Hardware. But if your business perhaps doesn't allow longer downtime I may suggest to have the vCenter Converter. you may try to convert from one DC to another DC with the VMware tools installed on it already to the latest version.

Christopher Sibug