VMware migration to ProxMox

[aagarcia]

Hello,

New to ProxMox here and I have quick question.

Would it not be ideal to attach the existing datastore used by VMware to Proxmox for easy storage migration, would simply need to import the VM into the ProxMox cluster for processing.

Example:

SAN----VMware
|
ProxMox

 

[alexskysilk]

It is ideal.

and how the new migration tool works

https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/n...ng-vmware-esxi-based-virtual-machines.144023/

 

[aagarcia]

Good info, thank you.

 

[aagarcia]

Found this in their Documentation:

Import Disk​

Here, the idea is to import the disk images directly with the qm disk import command. Proxmox VE needs to be able to access the *.vmdk and *-flat.vmdk files:

• The easiest way to set this up is a network share which can be accessed by both the source VMware cluster and the target Proxmox VE cluster. If the network share type is supported by Proxmox VE, you can directly add it as a storage.
• Alternatively, you can copy the files to a location accessible for Proxmox VE.

The qm disk import command will convert the disk image to the correct target format on the fly. We assume that the source VM is called "Server".

• Run through the preparation steps of the source VM.
• Create a new VM on the Proxmox VE host with the configuration needed.
• In the "Disk" tab, remove the default disk.
• On the Proxmox VE host, open a shell, either via the web GUI or SSH.
• Go to the directory where the vmdk files are located. For example, if you configured a storage for the network share: cd /mnt/pve/{storage name}/{VM name}. Use the ls command to list the directory contents to verify that the needed files are present.
• The parameters for the command are: qm disk import {target VMID} {vmdk file} {target storage}. For example: qm disk import 104 Server.vmdk local-zfs

If the source VM is accessible by both the VMware and Proxmox VE clusters (ideally via a network share), Proxmox VE can use the *.vmdk disk image to start the VM right away. Then, the disk image can be moved to the final target storage in the Proxmox VE cluster while the VM is running. The resulting downtime will be minimal. This method is more involved than the other methods, but the very short downtime can be worth it.

We assume that the source VM is called "Server".

• On the Proxmox VE cluster, create a new storage pointing to the network share. The content type "Disk Image" needs to be enabled. Proxmox VE will mount the share under /mnt/pve/{storage name}. Check that the *.vmdk and *-flat.vmdk files from VMware are available under that path.
• Create a target VM that matches the source VM as closely as possible.
  • EFI disks (visible in the UI when selecting Microsoft Windows as OS or OVMF/UEFI as BIOS) and TPM devices should be stored in the final target storage.
  • For the OS disk, select the network share as storage and as format vmdk. With this setting, Proxmox VE will create a new *.vmdk file under /mnt/pve/{storage name}/images/{vmid}/.
  • Keep in mind that for a Windows VM, only IDE or SATA will work out of the box. After the migration, additional steps are necessary to switch to VirtIO.
• Copy the source *.vmdk file and overwrite the one that was created by Proxmox VE. Leave the source *-flat.vmdk as it is. Verify the name of the disk image in the hardware panel of the VM. For example, for a VM with the VMID 103, navigate to /mnt/pve/{storage name} and run: cp Server/Server.vmdk images/103/vm-103-disk-0.vmdk
• Edit the copied file, for example: nano images/103/vm-103-disk-0.vmdk. It will look similar to the following: