Moving guests between hosts without vMotion

[bghanson]

I am not sure if this should go in the ESXi 6.0 or ESX 4.0 groups,  I have two server running VMware.  One is running VMware 4.1.0 standard and the other is running VMware 6.0.0 standard.  I need to move the guest from the server running 4.1.0 to the server running 6.0.0. I cannot connect the older server to my vCenter server as it no longer supports the older version of VMware.  My question is what is the best way to move the guests form the older server to the newer server.  Since vMotion will not work.  The VM guests are all stored on shared storage an EqualLogic SAN.  Do I need to power them off remove them from inventory on the old server, then add them to inventory on the new server and power them back up?  The other option is to use the standalone converter.  Which would be the better option?  Will the converter move them while powered on or do I need to power them off to use that method also?  Is there another way to move them while powered on?

[rcporto · Accepted solution]

The VM guests are all stored on shared storage an EqualLogic SAN.  Do I need to power them off remove them from inventory on the old server, then add them to inventory on the new server and power them back up?  The other option is to use the standalone converter.  Which would be the better option?  Will the converter move them while powered on or do I need to power them off to use that method also?  Is there another way to move them while powered on?

Since you have shared storage, my recommendation is just power off virtual machine and remove from the inventory on old ESXi host, register the virtual machine on the new ESXi host and power on the virtual machine.

The converter method will work, but it will consume a lot of time and you will still need to power off the old machine and power on the virtual machine. so I don't see advantages on that method.

[a11112f]

Hey I've used the standalone converter before at a branch office, it seems to work OK.

My setup was just the two hosts with direct attached storage and a third server running the standalone converter.

The VMs have to be powered off when using the standalone converter, also some of my Active directory accounts were messed up after converting. I had to remove them and rejoin the domain to get them working again.

But since you have shared storage connected to both hosts I would:

1. Power off VM

2. Remove from inventory Server #1

3. Browse to Datastore on Server #2

4. Add to inventory Server #2

This is definitely the easier and safer option in my opinion.

Good luck on the migration.  Also I would patch up to ESXi 6 Update 2 before you get that server into production, from what I've read many issues are fixed from the original 6 or 6 U1B release.

[LucianoPatrão]

Hi,

Veeam as a free product that can do the trick whiteout the need to stop the VMs.

Check here: https://www.veeam.com/blog/how-to-move-a-vmware-vm-from-one-host-to-another-without-vmware-vmotion.h...