ESX4i host migration from one virtual center to another

[ccatano2000]

Hi all,

I am preparing to migrate our 23 ESX4i hosts out of our virtual center here and move them into the new datacenter and cluster setup in our production datacenter in chicago....  All the hardware and configurations will remain the same,  we just want to add them to the new production Virtual Center ...

Here is what I am planning on doing,  has anybody had good experience with this that maybe sees a flaw...

I guess what I am wondering is if I migrate all the VM's off the host, put it into maintenance mode, remove it from the current vc infrastructure,  then add it to the new vc,  how do I get the VM's on there ???

So,  can I leave the VM's  on the host,  remove it from the current VC,  then add it to the new VC without interrupting the running virtual machines ?

In this case it would be quite simple....

Please advise,

Thanks a bunch,

chris

[Troy_Clavell]

yes, it could be as easy as disconnecting and removing the host from it's current vCenter, and adding host into the new.  If you mean a virtual move and not a physical relocation, then there really is no need to power down the guests, when you disconnect/remove and add host, all the guests will continue to run.

[ccatano2000]

Hi Troy,

thats perfect,  the hardware is staying the exact same, just want to move it under a new VC for administration,  but all physical elements will remain the same...  I figured all the configs were on the hosts,  storage, networking...etc and all the vm's will be running there regardless of the VC membership,  so I guess that is very good for us !  so will I do a "remove" or a "disconnect" on the hosts to be migrated ?

thanks again,

chris

[Troy_Clavell · Accepted solution]

you have to do a disconnect first, then a remove.  Otherwise if you just try a remove it won't work because the host needs to be in Maintenance Mode. However disconnecting it will allow you to then remove the host without entering MM

[ccatano2000]

got it !  thanks.

Chris