Unable to select Datastore cluster while performing vmotion using VMware webclient

[gajananm]

Hi,

I am using VMware webclient 5.1  and trying to perform a vmotion using host and datastore together. Doing so I am unable to select destination as datastore cluster in the webclient. It only gives option to select a datastore unlike in the vmware client where I can select the destination as datastore cluster.

But in a vmware client i wont be able to perform vmotion for both host and datastore together.

Is this a limitation in webclient? or am i missing something here...

Gajanan

[RubyIvy]

Hi,

Did you try the same in the vSphere Client and also can you attach the screenshots of steps you took for storage vmotion from web client

[vThinkBeyondVM]

As per the current design.

If VM is powered Off, you can select both host and datastore cluster from VI client as well as web client. It should work fine as well.

When VM is powered ON, you can not select the option "host & datastore" for migration from VI client.

However, if the VM is powered on, from web client, you are allowed to select, "host & datastore" option but you can not select "datastore cluster".  You can just select the datastore.

I just tested the same on VC550c.

[gajananm]

Hello Ruby,

Vikas has correctly pointed my concern. Do you still need screenshot for this? if yes I can still provide one.

Hello Vikas

Do you have any supporting document on this? is there any reason why webclient would behave differently than the VI client?

Thanks

Gajanan

[vThinkBeyondVM]

Hi Gajanan,

I will query to Dev team on the same & will come back to you with reason.

[gajananm]

Thanks Vikas for your help

[RubyIvy]

Hi Gajananm,

I would not require the screenshot anymore understanding that your question has been answered .

[vThinkBeyondVM]

Hi Gajanan,

I got the input from Engineering team. This is a known feature request. We can expect selection of "datastore cluster" as storage destination in future release (in "change host & datastore UI workflow). However, I can not comment on when & which release.

At the moment, there is no impact &  simple workaround available in order to leverage SDRS for initial placement is as follows:

1. First migrate VM to other storage by using "change datastore" ie by selecting datastore cluster.

2.  Then migrate VM to other host using "change host" option.

[gajananm]

Hello Vikas,

Thanks for your update.

Just that this will work when we are doing it individually some scenarios it will not happen.

If we have to perform vmotion from one cluster to another cluster there is a possibility that the destination datastore are not seen in that source cluster. In such a scenario we need to move the host and datastore together.

During this time we cannot select datastore cluster from a webclient.

Thanks

Gajanan

[vThinkBeyondVM]

Hi Gajanan,

In this case:::Below feature can help you out.

Migration with vMotion in Environments Without Shared Storage

You can use vMotion to migrate virtual machines to a different host and datastore simultaneously. In addition, unlike Storage vMotion, which requires a single host to have access to both the source and destination datastore, you can migrate virtual machines across storage accessibility boundaries.

In vSphere 5.1 and later, vMotion does not require environments with shared storage. This is useful for performing cross-cluster migrations, when the target cluster machines might not have access to the source cluster's storage. Processes that are working on the virtual machine continue to run during the migration with vMotion.

You can place the virtual machine and all of its disks in a single location or select separate locations for the virtual machine configuration file and each virtual disk. In addition, you can change virtual disks from thick-provisioned to thin-provisioned or from thin-provisioned to thick-provisioned. For virtual compatibility mode RDMs, you can migrate the mapping file or convert from RDM to VMDK.

vMotion without shared storage is useful for virtual infrastructure administration tasks similar to vMotion with shared storage or Storage vMotion tasks.

■	Host maintenance. You can move virtual machines off of a host to allow maintenance of the host.
■	Storage maintenance and reconfiguration. You can move virtual machines off of a storage device to allow maintenance or reconfiguration of the storage device without virtual machine downtime.
■	Storage load redistribution. You can manually redistribute virtual machines or virtual disks to different storage volumes to balance capacity or improve performance. Refer:http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-51/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.vcenterhost.doc%2FGUID-56168... For requirements & limitation of the Stroage vMotion without shared storage: Refer:http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-51/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.vcenterhost.doc%2FGUID-9F1D4...