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hermann_mueller
Contributor
Contributor

Vcenter - New Installation with transfer of Permissions and Folder to new Instance ?

Hi,

i installed a fresh VCenter 5.1 and want to transfer all Hosts from the old 5.0 Installation.

Detaching the hosts and attaching it to the new Instance is only half of the work to be done.

The Folder structure is missing and what is even more important : All permissions to specific VMs / Folders / Clusters are not transfered.

All Users are AD Users, Old and new VCenter are in the same Domain. so there is no change on this side.

Why i am doing this ?

Old Server, upgraded from a 4 to a 4.1 to a 5 ...same with SQL Server.

i want a fresh installation...i think its better....

but i dont want to handle all this users and permissions separetly.

There is a script on flings but this handles only the Datacenters and Folders...

So does anyone has ideas ? scripts ? hints ? how this can be done easy .

Thank you very much 

Hermann

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nielse
Expert
Expert

You could automate it using PowerCLI, if the users are known in a domain you can export & import those. It will become harder when they are OS specific users.

@nielsengelen - http://foonet.be - VCP4/5
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LikeABrandit
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hey Hermann,

Sounds like you're already on the right track with regards to automation, and I agree with nielse, PowerCLI is definitely the way to go for that. Here's a discussion that I believe might help for the folder export/import:

Export/Import VM Folder Structure to new vCenter

As for the AD issue, I'd suggest if you're not already using AD groups (which in MOST cases would make it easy to transfer permissions) to use them. If you are already using them and it's still complex (I know I've seen a few environments that are this way) then PowerCLI may again be your friend. As for a guide on it, a guy compiled info from some discussions that took place here about permissions export and import here:

http://blog.vmote.net/?p=261

Unfortunately, as to your Flings question I don't think there's anything like that currently as far as I'm aware. Not a bad idea for a project request though, a backup/restore program for vCenter would be useful sometimes for time-saving. Thankfully it's all doable other ways, even if they are more work. :grinning_face_with_big_eyes:

~Brandit

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hermann_mueller
Contributor
Contributor


Hi Brandit,

sorry, late reply.

Thank you very much for this useful hints and Links. i Already found the the first link before ( Export/Import Folder Structure) but the Export/Import AD was new to me. Exactly what i was looking for :slightly_smiling_face:

@Nielse: i guessed so that this is a PowerCLI "Job" :slightly_smiling_face:

greetings

Hermann

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LikeABrandit
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

No problem, I'm glad it was what you were looking for. There's definitely some awesome stuff out there with PowerCLI. I admit I'm only intermediate at best in its use but it's helped me out tremendously.

If you do run into any issues with PowerCLI there's a ton of gurus here on the communities. Smiley Happy

~Brandit

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