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VirtualNewbie1
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

ESXi Migration from old ESXi

Hello,

we are going to purchase new ESXi for our existing ESXi Hardware. Existing ESXi has 5.5 Version without VCenter and running 30 VMs on 3 ESXi Hosts , all are stored in same storage on Netapp. 

The new hardware is a better one and will have ESXi Version 8.0. 

First thing first, is it possible to simply attach the netapp storage to new ESXi 8.0 and start the VMs there? Life is not that simple i know. but still would like to know the limitations/problems. 

Or is there a definite migration plan listed somewhere? I could not find one. 

Installing VCenter on older hardware first, will be advisable? But the hardware supports only Version upto 5.5. 

Kindly give us some pointers.

 

Thanx in advance.

 

Regards,

admin

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4 Replies
hadjer1
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hello,

I actually did that when upgrading from vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 7. We dettached the datastore from old ESXI and then attached it to the new servers, added the VMs to the inventory and then upgrade vmware tools and it worked just fine.

if the datastore is an old VMFS version, it will be upgraded automatically when attached to the new hosts.

Just make sure to backup all you VMs before doing that just in case.

Alternatively, you can use VMware Converter to move you VMs from the old to the new environement.

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fabio1975
Commander
Commander

Ciao

first of all, you have to check if the version of the netapp you are using is compatible with the version of ESXi 8 and you can see it from this link (or check with Netapp directly)

VMware Compatibility Guide - Storage/SAN Search


For the migration normally (without vCenter) it can be assumed to shut down and remove from the inventory (not delete it) of the old ESXi and invent it on the new one. (Obviously give it a try...) Then you'll have to update vmware tools and virtual HW...etc.
Consider checking the guest OSes you have on the VMs..... some are no longer in support (usually VMware follows Microsoft or linux brand directions for this... sometimes from a few more years of support)


Otherwise if you have space on the netapp you can create a new volume, hook it to ESXi 8.0 and use a tool like veeam, the converter or OVF tool for the migration

Solved: Re: Cold migration from ESXi 5.5 to new 8.0 - VMware Technology Network VMTN

Fabio

Fabio

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alt_n
Contributor
Contributor

you can try exporting the ovf template of the old ESXi VMs and then importing them to the new ESXi host. It's simple but there might be compatibility issue.

You can also try migrating ESXi VM with Vinchin Backup & Recovery which is good at fixing the compatibility issue.

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virtualinca
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi @VirtualNewbie1 

  1. check the NetApp compatibility with your new hardware.
  2. Install vCenter and ESXi on a new hardware
  3. Move the VMs to new hardware.

Options to migrate:

A. use VMware vCenter Converter Standalone - VMware Customer Connect , it can migrate VMs from old ESXi to a newer one and also upgrade virtual hardware to an actual version

B. Configure vMotion and move VMs to new hardware. Check which virtual hardware is supported by your OS and plan to upgrade it with LCM accordingly.

C. Configure shared storage between old and new hardware, shutdown and disconnect VMs on old hardware. Register those VMs on new hardware.

 

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