move esxi hosts and VMs from one vCenter to another

[ginger8990]

I built a new vCenter (Windows vCenter) , I am planning to move ESXi hosts from the old vCenter (Virtual appliance  vCenter) to the new vCenter. I am not sure whether it is doable  it, Please advise my step are correct or not:: 1) build a new vcenter 2) create a new cluster with two esxi hosts first 3) mount datastores (NetApp Filer Storage)to the new vCenter 4) add an empty host to the new vCenter 5) download VMs then upload to the host in new vcenter

[vThinkBeyondVM · Accepted solution]

HI Friend,

Its doable with no any issues.

   Please follow below steps.

  1. Build a new vCenter (Your first step is correct)

  2. Create a cluster (as this is new vCenter there will not be any host already available. Hence cluster creation wizard will not get host to be added into new cluster). So initially empty cluster would be created.

  3. Once the cluster is created, straightway right click on cluster and add your  all hosts one by one. No need to unregister and VM. VMs will be automatically added which were there on datastore available with all hosts.

Remember,

1.  we do not mount any datastore on vCenter, we mount datastore on host.

2. If you mount new datastore (which was not there earlier), you can mount once new hosts are added to new cluster. (Your SAN admin would help you out)

3. If you want to move your VMs from earlier datastore to newly added/mounted datastore, please SVMotion these VMs (by right clicking on VM >>migrate>>to datastore>>select datastore which is new)..Plz follow the same process for all the VMs.

4. You no need to add empty hosts to the new cluster, just straightway add all the hosts without registering VMs. Later you can migrate to other datastore as per requirement. NO need to upload or download any VM.

5. Please make sure your ESXi hosts are going to be compatible with new vCenter. Old version of ESXi always compatible with new version of vCenter. Just check if you have all valid licenses.

Please let me know if you need any clarification

[bayupw]

Agree with vickyvision

To check if the old ESXi are compatible with the new vCenter, you can check it here: VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes

e.g. vCenter 5.5 does not compatible with ESX 3.5 & 3.0

There is a documented steps in VMware KB Article here

VMware KB:    Moving a managed ESXi/ESX host from one VirtualCenter Server/vCenter Server to another...

To move an ESXi/ESX host from one VirtualCenter Server/vCenter Server to another, remove the host from VirtualCenter Server/vCenter Server, then add the host to a new VirtualCenter Server/vCenter Server. This operation will not affect the state of any virtual machines running on the ESXi/ESX, the historical performance data of both the ESXi/ESX and its virtual machines will however be purged.

Removing the ESXi/ESX host from VirtualCenter Server/vCenter Server

To remove the ESXi/ESX host from VirtualCenter Server/vCenter Server:

1. If the managed host is in a cluster, right-click the cluster. Set the Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) mode to manual and disable VMware High Availability by deselecting Configure HA.
2. Click OK and wait for the reconfiguration to complete.
3. Click Inventory in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and click the appropriate managed host.
4. Right-click the managed host icon in the inventory panel and choose Disconnect (wait for the task to complete).
5. Right-click the managed host icon in the inventory panel and choose Remove.
6. Click Yes to confirm that you want to remove the managed host and all its associated virtual machines.

Adding the ESXi/ESX host to a new VirtualCenter Server/vCenter Server

To add the ESXi/ESX host to a new VirtualCenter Server/vCenter Server:

1. Connect VMware Infrastructure Client/vSphere Client/vSphere Web Client to the new VirtualCenter Server/vCenter Server.
2. Click Inventory in the navigation bar.
3. Expand the inventory as needed, and click the appropriate datacenter or cluster.
4. Click File > New > Add Host.
5. In the first page of the Add Host wizard, enter the name or IP address of the managed host in the Host name field.
6. Enter the username and password for a user account that has administrative privileges on the selected managed host.
7. Click Next.

Thanks,

Bayu

[ginger8990]

Thank you all your answers, you are great.