I know this is REALLY an odd question, but my boss is insisting that I move my VM's from Proxmox to ESXi.... luckily I have created most of them with ide and .vmdk... sooooo, is there a good way to do this? Would I just scp the .vmdk to the datastore and import it? (I just tried that with my graylog server... it starts, but I don't connect via console on ESXi).
Thanks!!
Alan
I don't know what the underlying OS is in the VM but you mentioned IDE so I am presuming Windows based envronment. Directions work for both.
This is the way that I would do the whole process. I would copy the the vmdk file to a local PC. Use VMware workstation to open up the image and make sure that all device drivers are available and loaded and its still functioning correctly. Always answer you copied it. The ability to fix a malfunctioning VM is a whole lot simpler with Workstation then when its on the esxi platfrom. Plus if there are boot issues, you can recover the data.
Typically I use the vmware tools from the Workstation--depending upon version-- since its more current than what can be with esxi.
Then use the either vwmare converter standalone or the converter that is built in to Workstation and push the image up. The vmware converter is nice since it will do multiple conversions and moves at once. I have done upwards of 8 at a time and go home. Either one will work. You either can reforce the install of the tools or just leave it with what was provided by Workstation. I typically do not force this since I dont want to have to go through the assoicated with driver changes and reregistration. I do not select the the auotstart option. I want to manually start it so as to watch the boot process from the console. If its a bad convert or it hangs, a hung vm can cause esxi to go to 100 percent cpu use.
By using the vmware converter you are making sure that the new vm is fully and propertly registered with the system and all needed support files are there.
Doing it this way, especially with windows platforms, you really need to get the tools running to get acceptable performance. Without it even from within vsphere you can barely use the mouse or navigate or get the console to respond. There are ways to get the tools to install in esxi, its just more time consuming.
I work with both environments and really like what I see with Proxmox. Enough so that I am committing to paid support for Proxmox. I am moving away from ESX with their most recent licening, ever increaseing fees and I can't see paying per core. Its just plain greedy. The Proxmox forum and their people are really supportive and they are constantly evolving the product.
Good Luck.
