Newbie help needed to migrate VMware Windows vm to Proxmox

[epicurean]

Please be patient with me, and I only just install Promox an hour ago.
I have 3 windows 10 VMs with Nvidia GPUs and PCI USBs passed through, so they all function as individual workstations.
I wish to migrate them from an esxi 6.0 hypervisor to proxmox(latest one).

I am quite confused about how to even get started, and would like advise on best practice to move 3 vms over smoothly.
A guide, help, pointers are all very much appreciated.

PS - Assume I am an idiot.

 

[Dominic]

Hi, there should be an option to export your VMs as .ovf in ESXi. You then have to move these files to a place that is accessible by Proxmox VE: Network drive, external disk or just upload via scp to Proxmox VE. You can then use qm importovf to import your VMs to Proxmox VE.
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Migration_of_servers_to_Proxmox_VE#VMware

PCI(e) passthrough is then a separate step: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Pci_passthrough

 

[epicurean]

Thank you for your reply Dominic.
Going to the link you sent, how do I actually install ovftool on the proxmox server? Is there a particular version I should look for to work with the windows vm in esxi 6?

thank you

 

[Dominic]

If you find the Export function in the GUI then you don't need the ovftool.

If you really want to go the CLI route then you need to do something like the following:

chmod +x VMware-ovftool-4.4.0-15722219-lin.x86_64.bundle
./VMware-ovftool-4.4.0-15722219-lin.x86_64.bundle

I don't think that the OS inside the VM matters for the tool. Do you mean exactly 6.0 by ESXi 6?

 

[epicurean]

Thank you Dominic. Yes, 6.0 means my hypervisor is currently esxi 6 as that is the least troublesome version for passing through GPUs to windows VMs

 

[Dominic]

ovftool 4.4 seems to not work with ESXi 6.0 https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/u...sxi-6-0-0-to-proxmox-6-3-2.82301/#post-362781

 

[epicurean]

I have successfully used ovftool 4.4(win64 version), to export 1 windows 10 VM to my pc(win 8.1).
So , I transfer it to a directory in proxmox, and import it?

 

[Dominic]

So , I transfer it to a directory in proxmox, and import it?

Yes, you can use for example scp (winscp) and the home directory.

 

[epicurean]

I have imported the ovf . Do I still need to upload virtio drivers as suggested in Windows 10 guest best practice?
How do I upload the the ISO I download? - also use scp to send it to the proxmox server/?

 

[Dunuin]

I have imported the ovf . Do I still need to upload virtio drivers as suggested in Windows 10 guest best practice?

Yes. And best performance you get by using virtio SCSI as the virtual storage controller and virtio as NIC. That will require the virtio win drivers. And the qemu guest agent service is recommended too, so Proxmox can communicate with the VM.

How do I upload the the ISO I download? - also use scp to send it to the proxmox server/?

You can upload them using scp or through the WebGUI (Datacenter -> YourNode -> select a storage that is allowed to store ISOs -> ISO Images -> Upload-Button)

 

[epicurean]

I realise i need to enable the vmxnet network driver first, to get any network access before installing the virtio NIC.
Can I remove the vmxnet network adapter after successful virtio NIC installation?

 

[Dunuin]

First install the drivers, then go to your VM -> HArdware -> Network Device (netX) -> switch model from E1000 to virtio (paravirtualized)

 

[epicurean]

Oh no. I made some changes to the bios to enable IOMMU and now I getting these errors during boot up

ACPI Bios Error (bug) could not resolve symbol [\_sb.PCIO.sat1.spt1._gtf.dssp]...
No root device specified. Boot arguments must include a root= parameter
I set the bios back to default settings and still no difference.

I cannot access the proxmox webpage. How do I fix this?

 

[twservices]

Hi! Also a newbie here. I was able to copy the VM from Esxi.6.7 using ovftool and create a VM using the importovf. I can see the VM now in the GUI with the correct VMID. Now my issue is starting the VM, it cannot find the bootable device. Please see screenshot for your reference. Thanks for the help!!!