Is there a way to clone exact copy (migrate) vm from ESXi to Proxmox

[nwongrat]

I am using ESXi at the moment. I would like to migrate 3 of the VMs from ESXi5.0 to PVE 7.3. However, they need to be cloned with exact copy because some software Licenses are tided to the hardware id or serial.

I have tried normal migration process using OVF files, it did not work. When deploy to new vm (no matter esxi or pve). I need to re-install license, which is impossible for me. The software company has gone bankrupt.

My first attempt (long time ago) did cloned from bare metal to esxi by using software ( I can't remember the name). That time it worked. Now, I do like Proxmox more than esxi. That is why, I am trying to switch.

Is there anyway to clone really exact copy vm from ESXi to PVE?
Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[bbgeek17]

Speaking generally, without knowing what exactly your software is tied to, I dont think it is possible to achieve full hardware parity between ESXi and PVE/QEMU.
Too many things are different. If you want to free up ESXi hardware, then the only choice might be to run ESXi as nested hypervisor.

---

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox

 

[alexskysilk]

I am using ESXi at the moment. I would like to migrate 3 of the VMs from ESXi5.0 to PVE 7.3. However, they need to be cloned with exact copy because some software Licenses are tided to the hardware id or serial.

quick question- when you cloned the machine, did you ensure the MAC address remained the same?

 

[nwongrat]

Speaking generally, without knowing what exactly your software is tied to, I dont think it is possible to achieve full hardware parity between ESXi and PVE/QEMU.
Too many things are different. If you want to free up ESXi hardware, then the only choice might be to run ESXi as nested hypervisor.

---

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox

I know one of the software tied to Disk Serial Number but the other software I have no idea. At least, if there is a way to clone disk serial number from esxi to pve. That would work.

 

[nwongrat]

quick question- when you cloned the machine, did you ensure the MAC address remained the same?

No, The MAC address was different. There are 2 software license that I concern about. One was tied to disk serial number but the other I have no idea.

 

[_gabriel]

have you checked/compared disk serial number, from Windows cmd ?

wmic diskdrive get model,serialnumber

edit, too fast, i don't think hdd hw serial number is used.
most times is "volume" serial number, can be checked with "dir c:" or "vol c:" from Windows cmd.

 

[nwongrat]

i don't think hdd hw serial number is used.
most times is "volume" serial number

Nope. It is using hdd serial number not the "volume serial number" I am sure because when installing software I need to enter hdd serial number which indicate in the label of physical hdd into the system.

 

[_gabriel]

you can specify hw disk serial number manually from shell editing vm .conf
example : https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/setting-hard-drive-serial-number.20954/post-139919

 

[nwongrat]

Thanks a lot.