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Enthusiast

Migrate from Windows vCenter 6.5 to VCSA 6.5

Hi there,


Is there a migration path from a Windows vCenter 6.5 to a VCSA 6.5?

The migration tool said not supported Smiley Sad

10 Replies
daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal

No, not at this time.

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dhallam56
Contributor
Contributor

We also have the same issue, awaiting for a patch or will just have to wait till the next major revision.

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daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal

I wouldn't hold my breath for a patch. It's more than likely only going to be possible in the next release of vSphere. Keep in mind it's still possible to go from Windows to the vCSA, you'll just have to perform a manual migration.

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dhallam56
Contributor
Contributor

Though this might be the case, bit of a shame but we will just have to wait till the next major version.

I did think I saw a coming soon comment to this feature  in one of the release emails but might be mistaken.

Might have a look at manual migration but we have a lot of configuration and this time of year I don't have the timeframe to pull off.

Hopefully would be a lovely feature for the future.

Cheers all

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DukeR
Contributor
Contributor

Hi all

We do have the scenerio where we have a source Windows vCenter 6.5 GA and want to have the linux appliance BUT as you now the most recent one is still 6.5 U1 so no chance at the moment based on the migraiton assistant (not supported message).

1) is there no chance is it?

2) how does the manual migraion look like? Do you have a manual on this topic?

3) Should we rather wait for a new majour release? Do we know when this is going to be releaed?

Cheers and thanks

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daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal

1) is there no chance is it?

Not at this moment, no.

2) how does the manual migraion look like? Do you have a manual on this topic?

You might want to read my article in which I cover this subject here.

3) Should we rather wait for a new majour release? Do we know when this is going to be releaed?

That's up to you, although there may not be an appliance migration path until the next release of vSphere.

DukeR
Contributor
Contributor

Hi

Do you  know if the manual process creates new IDs for the VMs?

We do have a Citrix XenDesktop environment which points to the VMs as well as a Veeam Backup Software.

With Veeam it is a bit of a problem ..... as soon as the ID changes it creates new backup files (which I totally understand due to the ID reference), we know that there is a tool to apply the same IDs again but our experience shows that there are something around 10% of VMs which are not able to change the ID accordingly.....

So maybe creating a new VCSA with 6.5 U1 and configure all settings in advance as well as applay IDs with the Veeam tool and manually is not much more effort than doing the manual migraiton. What do you think?

Cheers and thanks for the really fast answer

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daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal

Do you  know if the manual process creates new IDs for the VMs?

Yes, a swing migration like what I outline generates new IDs (MoRefID) and I point that out in the article. Veeam has a tool as you noted which can re-map these IDs, and I have not seen it work on some but not all VMs. Ultimately it comes down to you and your environment as to your decision to perform a migration. If those things I mention are deal breakers, then you'll probably want to wait for the next version that'll offer the ability for you to perform an upgrade to get to the appliance.

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Sebastian_R
Contributor
Contributor

Now... August 2018... Version 6.7 is available since few month and there is still no chance to migrate a windows based vCenter 6.5 to VCSA?? Terrible... Hopes VMworld will bring some news...

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daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal

There is never going to be a horizontal migration between different platforms so you're waiting for nothing. It is possible to upgrade from Windows 6.5 to vCSA 6.7 and this forward migration/upgrade is how it has worked since the beginning.

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