VMware migration tool: we need your feedback!
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@florent Hi there, and thank you for your reply. I did a file compare of the .VMX and .VMSD files and found only one difference between when the VM was configured for Native Snapshots and not configured for Native Snapshots. Note that snapshot.alwaysAllowNative = "FALSE" is the default afaik, so a .VMX file without this line in it has Native Snapshots disabled.
C:\Downloads>fc stem2p19_files-snap-false\stem2p19.vmx stem2p19_files-snap-true\stem2p19.vmx
Comparing files STEM2P19_FILES-SNAP-FALSE\stem2p19.vmx and STEM2P19_FILES-SNAP-TRUE\STEM2P19.VMX
***** STEM2P19_FILES-SNAP-FALSE\stem2p19.vmx
usb_xhci:4.parent = "-1"
snapshot.alwaysAllowNative = "FALSE"
***** STEM2P19_FILES-SNAP-TRUE\STEM2P19.VMX
usb_xhci:4.parent = "-1"
snapshot.alwaysAllowNative = "TRUE"
C:\Downloads>fc stem2p19_files-snap-false\stem2p19.vmsd stem2p19_files-snap-true\stem2p19.vmsd
Comparing files STEM2P19_FILES-SNAP-FALSE\stem2p19.vmsd and STEM2P19_FILES-SNAP-TRUE\STEM2P19.VMSD
FC: no differences encounteredI tested several scenarios for fun:
Windows VM with Native Snapshots enabled:
With VM powered down and no snapshot taken, can I still import it successfully?
Yes.
What about powered down and with a (native) snapshot taken?
Yes, with or without "Stop the Source VM" enabled.
What about with VM powered on, snapshot taken, and Stop the Source VM enabled, can I import VM successfully?
No, at the end of the import, both imported disks and the imported VM disappear.
What about with VM powered on, native snapshot enabled, no snapshot taken, and Stop the Source VM enabled, can I import VM successfully?
Yes.Windows VM with Native Snapshots not enabled (just one single test scenario):
What about with VM powered on, snapshot taken, and Stop the Source VM enabled, can I import VM successfully?
YesSo the problem seems to be when the VM is powered on and there's a native snapshot present.
The warm migration capability is very cool. I likely won't use it because a reboot would be required to remove VMware Tools anyway. Also, my VMs are not huge and should migrate fast.
I see what you mean by Fast Clone. That is very fast.. I'll try to get that to work with Citrix MCS. I think it may only be useful for our single-sessions hosts, not our RDSH-type hosts, but that would still be helpful.
One last thing: NetApp offers a very good ONTAP simulator for free. Now that ESXi is also free once again (LOL), you may be able to test the above scenario on your end if you like.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Cheers!
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Hey everyone..maybe I've overlooked it in some of the documentation, but I'm not seeing a way to migrate a VMW VM over to an XCP-NG host WITHOUT XO. I can do this with XO no probs (have done a handful so far to test; not too bad, btw). But, I need to do this task from ESXi or vCenter > XCP-NG (no XO in between). Reason no XO? My XO VM is the one I want to migrate
I created my XO VM in my VMW infrastructure initially. I've been playing around with XO/XCP a few wks now off/on. I now want to get everything on the XCP side just on XO/XCP and to do that I need to migrate my XO VM to one of my XCP-NG hosts. Is there a way to do so? I didn't see an option in XO Lite. I thought there was a cmd line way, but the only one I've seen is the XO cmd line (xo-cli vm.import##... ).
If there is no way, is my only option to create a new XO VM on one of my XCP hosts and just import the config from my original XO VM? That would stink if so.
Thanks! -
@coolsport00
You can try to setup a replication job -
@coolsport00 Export the VM as an OVA file, then import this on the XCP-ng side.
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@Danp Hey Dan...thanks for the response. Care to share how to import it on XCP? I can for sure create the OVA...no prob there. I just haven't seen in any docs about importing an OVA into XCP directly; only in XO? Is it in the "xenserver" documentation maybe?
Appreciate it. -
@coolsport00 I think you're "overthinking" this:
why don't you deploy XOA as a trial, use this to a) import the OVA or better b) create a new Linux VM and create the XO with the available on-liner scripts? SO much easier.
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@manilx am I overthinking? Maybe...but again, I am new to xenserver in general (not virtualization tho).
I guess I could. To deploy a temp XO I'd have to remove 1 of my XCP Hosts from my pool in my current XO to be able to add it to the temp XO; import my orig XO VM then remove that XCP Host from the temp; power on my imported (old) XO VM on the now standalone XCP Host then re-add the XCP Host back to the original XO Pool. I had mentioned initially if there was no way to do what I'm wanting..I asked if creating a new XO and importing the configs of my orig XO was the way to go. Maybe do that?
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@coolsport00 Remove a host to deploy XOA? You're getting this wrong.
Deply XOA on one host. Fire it up, add your pool, create new VM or import the old one. Done.
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@manilx Yes...remove a Host. This is a test environment. Both of the 2 XCP Hosts I have are already in a Pool within my orig XO VM. So yes...I would need to remove 1 Host (slave) from the Pool in there to be able to add some Host to the new XO VM, right? I can't have a XCP host in a Pool within 1 XO and add it to a 2nd XO can I?
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@coolsport00 You DON'T have to remove any host from a pool just to deploy XO(A). You can have as many as you want. Obviously only one can have backups and one or the other plugin running. But they can run all at the same time.
In our deployment we have the main XOA running (with backups etc) and then a XO on another host to be able to manage the pool (or/and XOA) if there is an issue with the official XOA.
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@coolsport00 P.S: Forget what you're used from VMware! This is another beast.
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@coolsport00 P.P.S You could even install an additional (temp or not) XO in Vmware Fusion, Virtual Box on your Mac/PC.
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@manilx ha...ok "manilx"...will give it a go. Thanks for chiming in. Really appreciate it
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@manilx Also...I just thought there would be conflicts with the current XO Pool if I don't disconnect/remove 1 of my XCP Hosts from it. I do understand I can create a XO VM on it while in a Pool, but I would need to add some Host to this new XO. And, when doing so, the Host I add has its own Pool in XO, so I thought there would be confict with this added XCP Host having 2 Pool configs in 2 XO instances - 1 in the orig XO and now in a new XO. There is no clear-cut info (details) on this.....that was my only concern.
I had to step away for a bit..so let me give this a go.
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Ok...so this is what I ended up doing:
I powered down my orig XO VM, then exported it as an OVA from VMW. I then powered my orig XO VM back on and imported the XO OVA file through it and powered it on. As I did with other Linux VMs, I had to make a few changes on it - I had to change the BIOS setting from BIOS (legacy) to UEFI so it could then boot up; I also had to change the NIC name in Netplan so it could pick up an IP. I discussed these issues in another post I had
https://xcp-ng.org/forum/topic/10736/import-vm-from-vmware-a-few-issues-lnx-boot-issue-no-ip-in-lnx-cd-rom-eject-error/4After the imported OVA XO VM was able to then boot ok and hit the network, I powered down my orig XO VM and logged into XO-Lite on the Host the imported XO VM was on and did the rest of what I needed -> change the NIC name in Netplan and install Guest Tools. After doing those things and a reboot, I was good to go.
Even though I was able to do this, it is a bit klunky. It would be highly beneficial if there was a way to do an Import of a VM onto a XCP Host directly in XO-Lite. Would that be something that's possible? I'm sure it would be rare to have to need to do this (lab env, or like me...I needed to import my XO VM), but I think this would still be a worthwhile feature.
Thanks for all the responses and assists!
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@coolsport00 In the end it was easier then you imagined!!
Just being able to migrate from VMbadWare to this is a gift sent from heaven...
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@manilx Well...kinda yes, kinda no. The "easiest" woulda been the ability to import a VM onto a XCP Host directly. Done. My main concern was running the same XO at the same time and losing some configs. Key is don't do any configs/changes in original when doing this. I don't see this task as a common one though. This is a rare process imo. General XO V2V and OVA Import processes are decent....not sure how they were early on..maybe a few kinks needed worked out? Actually, some residual kinks still need worked out. For example, when importing non-legacy OSes, it appears XO defaults the migrated/imported VM to legacy BIOS. This is a problem as it causes the VM to not boot. Easy fix of course in the VM's Advanced tab, but this should be an option during the migration process. Not sure why it happens, but detaching an ISO to a newly migrated/imported VM doesn't work until you power down the VM completely, then power it on. Subsequent attach/detach attempts are then fine. Anyway...things like that should be addressed if/where possible.
@manilx - really appreciate all the responses/assist though. I will no doubt have more questions/feature requests as I move forward. Regardless, I do like this product as a VMW alternative. I never needed and don't need all the "bells & whistles" of VMW (Distributed Switches, vSAN, NSX, etc). Just the "basics" are all I need -> stable hypervisor, live migration & load balancing, ease of updating, HA, ease of storage procurement, and ease of Pool (Cluster) mgmt, and the main one...good backup mgmt (i.e. Veeam support!). Again..testing I've done so far...XCP/XO is doing ok
Best! -
On vmware u would need als vcenter for this kind of features. And as u can easy deploy an empty xoa, why would this be an issue?
