Mount ESXI failed and files VM deleted

[Marc44]

Hello,

I wanted to migrate VMs from ESXi 6.5 to a proxmox VE 8.2.7.
So, I follow each step for that : upgrading all packets at last (pve-vm-import-tools), try to add storage ESXi from Proxmox interface and then I encounter a big issue.

I've got an error where some file are missing which stop the process of import :

So I check inside the server ESXi and see that the Virtual machines is no longer present inside the server (no .vmx file or other vmware files)

Some VM machines, which were present inside the server have been deleted on the ESXi server but are still declared on the interface ESXi and visible from the Web page.
We always delete a VM machine by the interface so there is no chance it was done before by another way.

So, I'm wondering if the import from Proxmox caused this by any manipulation (or the VM that I'm looking for are stored somewhere in the proxmox server).
I followed exactly what is shown on the tutorial : https://www.proxmox.com/en/services...ydGFudGx5IiwiaW1wb3J0ZXIiLCJ2bSIsInZtJ3MiXQ==

And I was wondering (as it's mention to use "root" user in the video) that the import delete by accident the VM I'm looking for.
I just hope they are not delete and that I can put it back on ESXI or put it on proxmox VE.
Some Vms are copies of other so maybe somehow it has been delete ?
I have around 25 VMs and I can't start half of them since this problem.

I'm new in Proxmox and I hope this is not a big issue as I didn't see other subject about my problem.

Thanks in advance for your answer.

 

[Pifouney]

In directory view of your vmware datastores, did you see yours disk ? which format did they have now ?

Which kind of PVE datastores did you have created ? lvm? zfs ? other think ?

 

[Marc44]

Yes, I see my disk and I can see in the content that some VM are missing. The disk are formatted as VMFS6.
Only one of the disk have all the VMs.

For the datastore, I have this:



So LVM mainly in use with the disk-a. Tell me if you need more info.

But, I don't see how this is relevant to know the datastore as I was just trying to mount the ESXi Server to import after.
I just tried to get the ESXi server on my promox server to import the VMs but I couldn't.

 

[Pifouney]

OK. The first reason for my question is i found the vm import tool so hard to use, with frequents fails like yours.

My solution used in professional environnement (40TBs VMs import from another production site):

Take hand via ssh on your(s) vmware datastore.
Then, use this tool: https://developer.broadcom.com/tools/open-virtualization-format-ovf-tool/4.6.2
Convert yours disk to ovf format. When done, transfert ovf formatted ovf to your proxmox.

Log into CLI at your PVE.

Use qm import tool for convert him to accepted format for PVE ( qcow2, raw,...)

Follow the procedure for attach the disk to a squelettor previously created like a clone of your source vmware VM

 

[Falk R.]

OK. The first reason for my question is i found the vm import tool so hard to use, with frequents fails like yours.

My solution used in professional environnement (40TBs VMs import from another production site):

Take hand via ssh on your(s) vmware datastore.
Then, use this tool: https://developer.broadcom.com/tools/open-virtualization-format-ovf-tool/4.6.2
Convert yours disk to ovf format. When done, transfert ovf formatted ovf to your proxmox.

Log into CLI at your PVE.

Use qm import tool for convert him to accepted format for PVE ( qcow2, raw,...)

Follow the procedure for attach the disk to a squelettor previously created like a clone of your source vmware VM

OVF Export is not usefull for so big VMs, i use this way for Big VMs:
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Migrate_to_Proxmox_VE#Attach_Disk_&_Move_Disk_(minimal_downtime)

 

[Marc44]

Ok, yeah It's more a small pool of VMs that I have so I'll think I'll import manually.

Yeah, I know the ovf conversion and import but I wanted to try the import wizard.
Too bad, that it delete some of my VMs. I'm thinking that was maybe due to the fact there was copy of other VMs but I don't know how it happens.

Fortunately for me, I still have the mainly used VM running.

I saw also the sshfs for downloading the vmdk file from the ESXI server :

https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/n...sxi-based-virtual-machines.144023/post-651269

Thanks for the help !

 

[Falk R.]

Ok, yeah It's more a small pool of VMs that I have so I'll think I'll import manually.

Yeah, I know the ovf conversion and import but I wanted to try the import wizard.
Too bad, that it delete some of my VMs. I'm thinking that was maybe due to the fact there was copy of other VMs but I don't know how it happens.

Fortunately for me, I still have the mainly used VM running.

I saw also the sshfs for downloading the vmdk file from the ESXI server :

https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/n...sxi-based-virtual-machines.144023/post-651269

Thanks for the help !

The migration wizard does not delete anything. It only reads via API and cannot write to the ESXi.
There must be another reason why the VMs have been lost. Has a datastore possibly failed?

 

[Marc44]

The migration wizard does not delete anything. It only reads via API and cannot write to the ESXi.
There must be another reason why the VMs have been lost. Has a datastore possibly failed?

Yeah that was my thought from the beginning. But I needed a confirmation as I thought it was strange.
I'm not the only using this VMs and they told that the VMs were working fine (maybe not all but some of them that they were using recently).

Maybe, something like that. Seems like more a ESXi issue than the proxmox server at the end.
Do you know if there is a way of checking that inside the ESXi server ?
It's maybe out of the purpose of this forum.

I was just confused about what happens but now I have cold feet to reuse the import wizard and crash other working VMs.

 

[Falk R.]

Yeah that was my thought from the beginning. But I needed a confirmation as I thought it was strange.
I'm not the only using this VMs and they told that the VMs were working fine (maybe not all but some of them that they were using recently).

Maybe, something like that. Seems like more a ESXi issue than the proxmox server at the end.
Do you know if there is a way of checking that inside the ESXi server ?
It's maybe out of the purpose of this forum.

You can first look through the task history on the ESXi.
If you don't find anything there, check the event history.

I was just confused about what happens but now I have cold feet to reuse the import wizard and crash other working VMs.

If you follow the rules, nothing will happen to the old VMs. It is best to delete snapshots beforehand and wait until the VM has stopped properly before starting the import.