Renaming, migrating and attaching big VMDK to new VM question ?

[AlbertWT]

Hi All,

I'm planning to migrate the file server from the below old Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 VM into 2012 R2 VM:

  Old File Server VM - PRODFS01-VM:

  Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

  C:\ - 40 GB

  D:\ - 1.99 TB (VMFS - [NAS-D01] PRODFS01-VM/PRODFS01-VM.vmdk)

  E:\ - 900 GB (VMFS - [NAS-D05F] PRODFS01-VM/PRODFS01-VM.vmdk)

  New File Server VM - PRODFS05-VM:

  Windows Server 2012 R2

  C:\ - 40 GB

  D:\ - 1.99 TB (Will be attached from [NAS-D01] PRODFS01-VM/PRODFS01-VM.vmdk)

  E:\ - 900 GB (Will be attached from [NAS-D05F] PRODFS01-VM/PRODFS01-VM.vmdk)

My questions / concerns are as follows:

  1. How do I migrate (svMotion) the only the big two VMDK above from the old VM PRODFS01-VM to the new VM PRODFS05-VM safely before attaching it with new name ?

  Because when I'm deleting the old VM (PRODFS01-VM) which has been turned off, I don't want to delete the two disks that is now attached to the new VM (PRODFS05-VM).

  2. Regarding renaming the VMDK, can I just rename it from the vSphere Console Data Store Browser after turning it off and then attaching it to the new VM ?

  From:

  D:\ - 1.99 TB (VMFS - [NAS-D01] PRODFS01-VM/PRODFS01-VM.vmdk)

  E:\ - 900 GB (VMFS - [NAS-D05F] PRODFS01-VM/PRODFS01-VM.vmdk)

  Into:

  D:\ - 1.99 TB (VMFS - [NAS-D01] PRODFS05-VM/PRODFS05-VM.vmdk)

  E:\ - 900 GB (VMFS - [NAS-D05F] PRODFS05-VM/PRODFS05-VM.vmdk)

3. The problem / challenge that I can see here is that I cannot find free VMFS data store with the amount of 2 TB and 0.9 TB respectively hence I can only Remove those two D & E disks from the old VM into the new VM.

What steps do I need to know and which step is not possible ?

Thank you in advance.

[a_p_]

From what you write I assume that the VM's base folder is separate from the data disks?

In this case the following steps should work:

1. remove the two disks from the old VM's settings. Ensure that you do NOT select remove from disk.
2. rename the folders for the two virtual disks (e.g. using the Datastore Browser)
3. rename the virtual disks using the vmkfstools command line utility
   e.g. vmkfstools -E PRODFS01-VM.vmdk PRODFS05-VM.vmdk
   (please note the upper-case "-E")
4. attach the renamed disks to the new VM
5. delete the old VM

Regarding the target .vmdk file names you mentioned, I'd actually use different names for the two disks.

André

[AlbertWT]

Yes Andre,

The VMFS datastore name is different hence the location for the D drive and E Drive VMDK is on separate LUN on the HP EVA storage.

Regarding Step #1, do you mean the Remove from VM only not the second option which will Delete the disk ?

[a_p_]

The VMFS datastore name is different hence the location for the D drive and E Drive VMDK is on separate LUN on the HP EVA storage.

The good old EVA is still alive 😉

Regarding Step #1, do you mean the Remove from VM only not the second option which will Delete the disk ?

Yes.

André