Move VMs from ESX 3.5 to 6.0

[capeadmin]

I have an older vSphere 3.5 I need to migrate machines to our 6.0 vCenter and 6.0 hosts.

If I just shut down the VMs, copy the files to a datastore available to my vCenter 6 hosts, and add to inventory - will that work? Does that update the Virtual Machine version when doing this, or do I have to use VM Converter to copy the machines to get the VM Machine Version updated?

Or is there some other recommended method to migrate these machines from 3.5 to 6.0?

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond, I do appreciate it.

[a_p_]

It should work to copy the files, and update the virtual machine's HW version, VMware Tools, etc later. However, the copy method will inflate all thin provisioned virtual disks to their full provisioned size.

Other option which should work are backup/restore, export/import (OVF). If you want you may also try http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2012/06/how-to-copy-vms-directly-between-esxi.html

André

[SureshKumarMuth · Accepted solution]

Following options are available

1. Export the VM as OVA and deploy on new ESXi host.

2. Use vCenter server converter to move the VM

3. Mount an NFS volume to both the hosts and do a storage vmotion.

All of these options will work.

It is recommended to update the vmware tools and virtual machine hardware version before you bring the machine in production on 6.x host.

Regards,

Suresh

[capeadmin]

Thanks, to be safe we decided to use VM Converter to move the machines. I appreciate the responses.