Moving VM's from ESX to Storage device

[kjoshi2486]

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to make sure that I'm doing this the right way.

We have couple of vm's running on ESX4.0 stored locally on the Server's hard-disk. We have now purchased an external SAN and would like to move those vm's from the Server to the SAN box. Is it correct to just copy all the files of the vm's present in the Datastore, onto the SAN? or is there any other optimum/efficinet method that 'am missing.

Kindly explain.

Thanks in Advance.

Keyur

[nava_thulasi39]

Hi,

Are you managing ESX through vCenter?

If yes, I prefer the storage vmotion. ( Hope You have the license for it - Enterprise/plus)

[kjoshi2486]

Hi nava_thulasi,

Thanks for the reply, but no, i donot have the enterprise plus license just the standard. Any more conventional ways of doing so?

Regards,

Keyur.

[nava_thulasi39 · Accepted solution]

then use the vmkfstools -i <source> <destination>

For more information please have a look on

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100093...

[kjoshi2486]

Thanks! This seems pretty simple,

Copying virtual disk files using the the vSphere/VI Client datastore browser for ESX and ESXi

The datastore Browser allows you to manage the contents of datastores in the vSphere/VI Client inventory. You can use the Datastore Browser to do these tasks:

• View or search the contents of a datastore.
  
• Add a virtual machine or template stored on a datastore to the vSphere/VI Client inventory.
  
• Copy or move files from one location to another, including to another datastore.
  
• Upload a file from the client computer to a datastore.
  
• Download a file from a datastore to the client computer.
  
• Delete or rename files on a datastore.
  

The Datastore Browser operates in a manner similar to file system applications like Windows Explorer. It supports many common file system operations, including copying, cutting, and pasting files. The Datastore Browser does not support drag-and-drop operations. For detailed instructions on using the Datastore Browser, see the vSphere/VI Client online help.