VM migration from ESX to ESXi

[Sudharshanam]

Hi All,

Is there any way to migrate VMs between ESX to ESXi or vice versa. I knew that this doesnt happen as the architecture is different .. but want to know if this is possib;e with any patch or fix or third party tool.

Thanks

[aravinds3107]

If you want to move the VM from ESX to ESXi then

1) If you can share the LUN between both host you could power OFF from ESX and add it on ESXi host

2) Use VMware Converter to move the VM

[a_p_]

Although ESX uses a Service Console and ESXi doesn't, you can still use all features you are licensed to like vMotion, ... to migrate the VM's from host to host. The hardware (EVC) has to meet the requirements though (as usual).

André

[TomHowarth]

if the ESX servers are part of the same dataCenter and share Storage,  the you should be able to use vMotion to move the machine from the ESX to the ESXi evironment.

Obviously ChipSet considerations not withstanding.  if  there are Chipset issues then do a cold Migrate.

If there is no Shared Storage between the two hosts or they are managed by different vCenters, then you could do a V2V conversion with Converter.

Finally you could just use something like Veeams fast SCP to simply copy the files (VM Powered off) to move the VM files from environment to environment.

[Sudharshanam]

But in my scenario i got ESX and ESXi servers in different vCenters and i have tried to use Vmconverter to move machines from ESX to ESXi but it didnt work.

[zXi_Gamer]

3. Simple solutions can be helpful.

1. Power off the VM, [if you can afford downtime]

2. Scp the VM directory the ESXi server.

3. Register the VM and power on and answer "I copied when prompted during power on"

or.

1. Export the VM as a virtual appliance from ESX

2. Import the same in ESxi

or.

1. Add a NAS to both servers and power off the VM and do a vmkfstools to the NAS volume

2. from esxi, create a new VM and provide this existing disk.

[a_p_]

To see what can be done, you need to provide some more details about your environment.

• which vCenter version(s) do you use?
• which ESX/ESXi host version do you use?
• Which licenses (vCenter Server and ESX/ESXi hosts) are in use?
• are all hosts able to access the same storage?

In the best case you could simply add the hosts to the same vCenter Server and migrate the VMs online (or offline) without the need for Converter, which btw. would result in the need of network reconfiguration for the VMs due to UUID/MAC address changes.

André

[aravinds3107]

i have tried to use Vmconverter to move machines from ESX to ESXi but it didnt work.

Did you had any error message while performing the conversion?

[Sudharshanam]

No error is dispalyed. When i try to move a machine using converter. Source machine is ESX and target machie is ESXi. After entering the target machine details the converter hangs.

[ch1ta]

If your ESX host is 3.5 version or even newer you might want to use Veeam B&R with its Quick Migration functionality, available also in a free version of this product.

All you need to do is:

• Install VB&R.
  
  
• Add both of your hosts to VB&R console.
  
  
• Perform “Quick Migration”.
  
  

That’s all.

Should any additional information be needed, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

[TomHowarth]

No the source machine is the actually guest that needs to be migrated, the target is the vCenter or Host that you wish the machine to reside on.

[vTagion]

There are several different ways of fixing this for you so you should do what you are most comfortable with.

One way would be to disconnect the ESX host from vCenter Server (a) and connect it to vCenter Server (b), Use vMotion, then reconnect ot vCenter (a).

another would be using FastSCP (from Veeam) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfPwsXt_pFA