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ctaylor271
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How to move a VM from an old ESXI host to a new different ESXI host on the same network

We have a new ESXI host and want to copy an existing VM from an old ESXI host to the new one, can we just add a usb HD to the old ESXI host and copy that? If so how do we add that to the existing ESXI host?

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e_espinel
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Hello.
I recommend you to use a backup and restore scheme using Veeam Backup & Replication (free).
You only need a computer, even a PC or laptop and disk space (even an external disk will do).

Veeam Backup & Replication Community Edition

link: https://www.veeam.com/virtual-machine-backup-solution-free.html

 

 

 

Enrique Espinel
Senior Technical Support on IBM, Lenovo, Veeam Backup and VMware vSphere.
VSP-SV, VTSP-SV, VTSP-HCI, VTSP
Please mark my comment as Correct Answer or assign Kudos if my answer was helpful to you, Thank you.
Пожалуйста, отметьте мой комментарий как Правильный ответ или поставьте Кудо, если мой ответ был вам полезен, Спасибо.

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a_p_
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You can do this in several ways.

From the GUI by exporting/importing the VM in an OVF format, or simply restoring the VM from your latest backup.

What may also be worth looking at, is https://williamlam.com/2012/06/how-to-copy-vms-directly-between-esxi.html

André

virtume
VMware Employee
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Is the new ESXi in the same vCenter?  How about trying svmotion to the new ESXi ? There are many options available

. vSphere Replication

. Storage vMotion

. Export VM 

. Copy the VM files

Make sure the new ESXi host is in the supported CPU family. Check the VMware compatibility matrix. 

IRIX201110141
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Backup and Restore

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ctaylor271
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The new ESXi is in a separate new vCenter, the part where we are stuck is can we plug a external drive into the old esxi host, copy the vm folder from the old datastore and import into the new esxi host.  How do we add an external HD to vCenter as a datastore? 

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IRIX201110141
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Use a device which provides a NFS share.

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a_p_
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Simply copying the files may work (it's basically the same as downloading the files from the host using e.g. WinSCP), but it may lead to unwanted results, like inflated virtual disk files in case you've been using thin provisioning for the VMs.
Remember that thin provisioning is a VMFS file system feature, that other file system do not understand.

André

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e_espinel
Virtuoso
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Hello.
I recommend you to use a backup and restore scheme using Veeam Backup & Replication (free).
You only need a computer, even a PC or laptop and disk space (even an external disk will do).

Veeam Backup & Replication Community Edition

link: https://www.veeam.com/virtual-machine-backup-solution-free.html

 

 

 

Enrique Espinel
Senior Technical Support on IBM, Lenovo, Veeam Backup and VMware vSphere.
VSP-SV, VTSP-SV, VTSP-HCI, VTSP
Please mark my comment as Correct Answer or assign Kudos if my answer was helpful to you, Thank you.
Пожалуйста, отметьте мой комментарий как Правильный ответ или поставьте Кудо, если мой ответ был вам полезен, Спасибо.
ctaylor271
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Thank you everyone for your suggestions

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