@Danp That would appear to be it, thanks for pointing it out. Should have really spotted it myself of course!

I noticed there were some updates available for both xcp ( xcp-ng-release.x86_64 0:8.2.1-11) & xoa (5.9.1) so I applied those & tried the import again to see if might work but still getting the same error.

vm.importMultipleFromEsxi
{
  "concurrency": 2,
  "host": "vc.tyndall.ie",
  "network": "5b7cfe55-d788-08b3-c70c-ad7e113840a8",
  "password": "* obfuscated *",
  "sr": "98a52525-862f-3bb1-3403-3dc334f2509d",
  "sslVerify": false,
  "stopOnError": true,
  "stopSource": false,
  "user": "john.kissane@x.y",
  "vms": [
    "vm-9656"
  ]
}
{
  "code": 10,
  "data": {
    "errors": [
      {
        "instancePath": "",
        "schemaPath": "#/required",
        "keyword": "required",
        "params": {
          "missingProperty": "template"
        },
        "message": "must have required property 'template'"
      }
    ]
  },
  "message": "invalid parameters",
  "name": "XoError",
  "stack": "XoError: invalid parameters
    at Module.invalidParameters (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/xo-common/src/api-errors.js:21:32)
    at Xo.call (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/src/xo-mixins/api.mjs:90:22)
    at Api.#callApiMethod (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/src/xo-mixins/api.mjs:362:19)"
}

This time I left the source VM running but the error is the same as when I had it powered off. It's not clear to me what the error about a template means or perhaps I'm missing something obvious.

@456Q That button isn't checked as the source VM is already stopped so I didn't change the default.

@456Q No problem I'll try that & report back. Thanks!

Afraid that made no difference, it fails immediately with the same error. When I imported in the past, I didn't need to take a snapshot as the VM was powered off.

This worked in that it imported the VM before I updated to the latest version of xoa, my problem then was the VM didn't boot property but went into the emerency shell due to missing disks. Now the import fails immediately with the error about a required property.

I've just tried the process again with a Windows VM (also powered off) & got the same error message.

Can other people import from VMware succesfully via xoa?

@456Q Apologies, I should have stated the VM is powered off.

@AtaxyaNetwork Not that I know of. I'm just using the "Import" -> "From VMware" option.

Previously I was investigating importing a Centos VM into xcp-ng but each time it didn't boot up due to missing disks. Today I updated xoa to the latest version (5.95) & tried again to see if it worked better. Now the import fails immediately with the following error.

vm.importMultipleFromEsxi
{
  "concurrency": 2,
  "host": "10.x.x.x",
  "network": "c448fd53-503a-0241-7104-0a1b287a7e5a",
  "password": "* obfuscated *",
  "sr": "98a52525-862f-3bb1-3403-3dc334f2509d",
  "sslVerify": false,
  "stopOnError": false,
  "stopSource": false,
  "user": "john.kissane@x.x",
  "vms": [
    "vm-9656"
  ]
}
{
  "code": 10,
  "data": {
    "errors": [
      {
        "instancePath": "",
        "schemaPath": "#/required",
        "keyword": "required",
        "params": {
          "missingProperty": "template"
        },
        "message": "must have required property 'template'"
      }
    ]
  },
  "message": "invalid parameters",
  "name": "XoError",
  "stack": "XoError: invalid parameters
    at Module.invalidParameters (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/xo-common/src/api-errors.js:21:32)
    at Xo.call (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/src/xo-mixins/api.mjs:90:22)
    at Api.#callApiMethod (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/src/xo-mixins/api.mjs:362:19)"
}

The source VM is powered off. Am I missing something obvious here or doing something wrong? I've tried both directly to the ESX server hosting the VM and to VC, same error from both.

We run a bunch of VM's (Linux & Windows) and are evaluating xcp-ng as a potential replacement towards the end of the year.

Thanks!

Just wondering if I'm doing something incorrect here with trying to import VM's from ESX to XCP-ng?

Our ESXi system is running VC 6.7 & ESXi 6.5 on the servers. All the storage for the VM's is external via iSCSI.

We're covered for the VMware setup 'til next Dec so I'm looking at possible alternaitives hence these tests.

@olivierlambert For the Windows VM, if I change the boot mode to UEFI then it doesn't boot at all, rather drops me into the UEFI shell. With BIOS I get a brief glimp of the Windows progress bar, the console resizes & then it stays at a black screen with zero CPU usage as far I can see.

@AtaxyaNetwork

No I hadn't installed any extra drivers but having installed them using the command suggested & re-imported it made no difference as once again I'm back to the same screen as earlier.

This is a Centos 8 VM with a flat disk, no snapshots etc & very low CPU/memory requirements.

@Danp After upgrading to the latest version of xoa (rather than stable) I was able to import both a Linux & Windows VM (both powered down) from ESXi.

The Windows VM gives me a blank screen when powered on under XCP-ng while the Linux VM has dropped to an emergency shell warning that a disk it expects doesn't exit.

Unsure where to go from here if I'm honest.

@Danp A snapshot of a powered off VM?

@Danp Nope no snapshots. I've updated xoa to the latest rather than stable version so going to try again with that.

I tried another other option of cloning a running Windows VM & then trying to import the powered off clone. This didn't work either but a different error this time. Does importing from ESXi to xcp actually work as I can't see at this moment how it would be possible for us to migrate to xcp? I'm pretty certain it worked at least once with a powered down Linux but I'm starting to doubt myself now

vm.importMultipleFromEsxi
{
  "concurrency": 1,
  "host": "vc.XXXXX",
  "network": "c448fd53-503a-0241-7104-0a1b287a7e5a",
  "password": "* obfuscated *",
  "sr": "98a52525-862f-3bb1-3403-3dc334f2509d",
  "sslVerify": false,
  "stopOnError": true,
  "stopSource": false,
  "user": "john.kissane@XXXXX",
  "vms": [
    "vm-19874"
  ]
}
{
  "cause": {
    "size": 0
  },
  "succeeded": {},
  "message": "404 Not Found https://vc.XXXXX/folder/nmrc3-clone/emptyBackingString?dcPath=ITS&dsName=Unity_vm_vol01",
  "name": "Error",
  "stack": "Error: 404 Not Found https://vc.XXXXXX/folder/nmrc3-clone/emptyBackingString?dcPath=ITS&dsName=Unity_vm_vol01
    at Esxi.#download (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/@xen-orchestra/vmware-explorer/esxi.mjs:95:21)
    at Esxi.download (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/@xen-orchestra/vmware-explorer/esxi.mjs:113:21)
    at Esxi.#inspectVmdk (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/@xen-orchestra/vmware-explorer/esxi.mjs:221:21)
    at Esxi.getTransferableVmMetadata (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/@xen-orchestra/vmware-explorer/esxi.mjs:307:17)
    at Task.runInside (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/@vates/task/index.js:158:22)
    at Task.run (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/@vates/task/index.js:141:20)
    at MigrateVm.migrationfromEsxi (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/src/xo-mixins/migrate-vm.mjs:178:28)
    at file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/src/api/vm.mjs:1432:30
    at Task.runInside (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/@vates/task/index.js:158:22)
    at Task.run (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/node_modules/@vates/task/index.js:141:20)
    at asyncEach.concurrency.concurrency (file:///usr/local/lib/node_modules/xo-server/src/api/vm.mjs:1430:11)"
}

@DustinB The version of ESXi is 6.5 & the iSCSI datastores are VMFS 5.

@DustinB I tried both, same error each time & the source VM gets powered off.

@DustinB We use live vMotion regularly on the ESX side, think the last time was when we were upgrading the servers. It's not vMotion if the VM is powered off, you're just starting it on a different host.

@DustinB That would appear to be vMotion from reading on the VMware site. I thought the XCP method worked by taking a snapshot of a running VM & then copying that.

@DustinB What licenses do we need I wonder? We have VC standard which means we can both vmotion & storage vmotion on the VMware platform.

We're licensed with VMware 'til the end of the year so exploring options at the moment.