Migrating esxi disks to proxmox

T

townie

New Member
Mar 6, 2025
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Hey,
I'm trying to migrate esxi to proxmox.
I did backup the esxi vms but not sure if they are accessible anymore.
The main reason for this post is I have a server storage drive formatted with vmfs6 with important data.
I can't run esxi and proxmox at the sametime.
I have esxi bare metal and a ubuntu vm at the moment.
I had proxmox installed but couldn't access the drives.
I tried installing a esxi vm but passthrough wouldn't work.
I've been trying to use chatgpt to help me but I haven't really got anywhere. Going in circles to be honest. That's the reason I think I've lost access to the vm backups. :(

Thanks for reading my post
 
bbgeek17 said:
The easiest approach is to buy a new disk and experiment there. Given the absence of good backup and presence of important data, I would not be experimenting on trying to fit everything into a single disk.

Good luck

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
Click to expand...
Hey
Thanks for getting back to me
I have one disk for proxmox and the VMs.
Then I have another disk with data I want in vfms6.
I have another disk same model already installed I can use but not sure how to go about it.
 
townie said:
I have one disk for proxmox and the VMs.
Then I have another disk with data I want in vfms6.
I have another disk same model already installed I can use but not sure how to go about it.
Click to expand...
Your question is more related to basic OS management than to "PVE installation and configuration".

That said, you can:
- Install ESXi as VM on PVE. Pass-through the existing vmfs6 disk. Ensure the virtual ESX sees the disk. Use PVE-to-ESXi import wizard to transfer the data
- Follow one of many guides on making VMFS disk available in Linux (PVE) and transfer/import the data.

Probably few other approaches that I can't think of at the moment.

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
 
bbgeek17 said:
Your question is more related to basic OS management than to "PVE installation and configuration".

That said, you can:
- Install ESXi as VM on PVE. Pass-through the existing vmfs6 disk. Ensure the virtual ESX sees the disk. Use PVE-to-ESXi import wizard to transfer the data
- Follow one of many guides on making VMFS disk available in Linux (PVE) and transfer/import the data.

Probably few other approaches that I can't think of at the moment.

Blockbridge : Ultra low latency all-NVME shared storage for Proxmox - https://www.blockbridge.com/proxmox
Click to expand...
I tried that already. Unfortunately the drives don't support RDM.
 
townie said:
support RDM
Click to expand...
You need to work within the confines of ESXi to find a way to transpose your data into a format suitable for PVE import. PVE can work with various formats, most common being QCOW. PVE can also understand VMDK.
Figure out how to get your data into one of these formats.

You can also try to deploy a cross-platform backup solution, i.e. Veeam, to see if you can backup your ESXi VMs and restore them in PVE.

There is no easy, one-click, solution here.

Best of luck in your pursuit.


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