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Start Migration Plans

Follow this guide to start migration plans in the VM Migration Assistant.

Cold migrations can be started at any time, but require downtime on the source VM. Warm migrations require a cutover date and time to be set, which initiates the final synchronization and cutover process. Refer to each relevant section for detailed instructions.

Start Cold Migration Plans​

Prerequisites​

Start Cold Migration​

  1. Access the VM Migration Assistant service console.

  2. From the left main menu, select Migration plans.

  3. In the top-left corner, use the Namespace drop-down to select your Kubernetes namespace for the migration, or select All Namespaces.

  4. Find your plan in the table and click the plan name to view its details. You can use the table filters to help locate your plan if needed.

  5. On the Details tab, under Plan details: Status, click Start.

  6. Click Start in the pop-up window.

  7. Click on the Virtual Machines tab.

  8. In the table, click the > icon for each VM to view the status of the migration. The Migration progress section displays the stages of the migration and their status.

    You can also click the > icon next to the Migration resources to view the Kubernetes resources created for the migration of that VM.

Validate​

  1. Access the VM Migration Assistant service console.

  2. From the left main menu, select Migration plans.

  3. In the top-left corner, use the Namespace drop-down to select your Kubernetes namespace for the migration, or select All Namespaces.

  4. Find your plan in the table and click the plan name to view its details. You can use the table filters to help locate your plan if needed.

  5. On the Details tab, under Plan details: Status, check that the status displays as Complete.

  6. Click on the Virtual Machines tab.

  7. In the table, check that the Pipeline status column shows Succeeded for each VM.

    Successful VM Migration

  8. Log in to Palette.

  9. From the left main menu, select Clusters. Then, choose the VMO cluster that you migrated your VMs to. The Overview tab appears.

  10. Select the Virtual Machines tab. Then, select your migration namespace from the Namespace drop-down. Your migrated VMs appear.

  11. For each migrated VM, click on the three-dot menu and select Start. Your VMs are now ready to use.

    Start migrated VM

Start Warm Migration Plans​

Prerequisites​

  • The Virtual Machine Migration Assistant pack must be added to your cluster profile. Refer to Create a VM Migration Assistant Cluster Profile for guidance.

    • The VM Migration Assistant service console must be accessible from a web browser.

  • A warm migration plan created and ready to start. Refer to Create Migration Plans for guidance.

  • One or more VMs hosted in VMware vSphere.

  • Changed Block Tracking must be enabled on your VMs.

  • Your VMs must not have any snapshots in vSphere. Delete all snapshots of each VM before you start the migration. You can delete the snapshots while the VM is running. A warm migration of a VM that still has snapshots fails.

Start Warm Migration​

  1. Access the VM Migration Assistant service console.

  2. From the left main menu, select Migration plans.

  3. In the top-left corner, use the Namespace drop-down to select your Kubernetes namespace for the migration, or select All Namespaces.

  4. Find your plan in the table and click the plan name to view its details.

  5. On the Details tab, under Plan details: Status, click Start.

  6. Click Start in the pop-up window.

  7. Click on the Virtual Machines tab.

  8. In the table, click the > icon for each VM to view the status of the migration. The Migration progress section displays the stages of the migration and their status.

    You can also click the > icon next to the Migration resources to view the Kubernetes resources created for the migration of that VM.

  9. Monitor the migration progress until the Pipeline status shows Waiting and the Migration progress section shows Paused. This indicates that the migration is ready for the final cutover to be initiated.

    Ready for Cutover

  10. Click Schedule cutover.

  11. In the modal window, click on the calendar icon and select a cutover date in the calendar. Next, click on the clock icon and select a cutover time from the drop-down.

    warning

    The cutover process will power off the source VM and power on the target VM. Ensure that you have scheduled the cutover for a time that minimizes disruption to users.

  12. Click Set cutover once complete.

When the cutover is initiated, the source VM is powered off, and a final synchronization of remaining disk changes is completed. The target VM is then created and powered on on the destination VMO cluster.

Validate​

  1. Access the VM Migration Assistant service console.

  2. From the left main menu, select Migration plans.

  3. In the top-left corner, use the Namespace drop-down to select your Kubernetes namespace for the migration, or select All Namespaces.

  4. Find your plan in the table and click the plan name to view its details. You can use the table filters to help locate your plan if needed.

  5. On the Details tab, under Plan details: Status, check that the status is Complete.

  6. Click on the Virtual Machines tab.

  7. In the table, check that the Pipeline status column shows Succeeded for each VM.

  8. Log in to Palette.

  9. From the left main menu, select Clusters. Then, choose the VMO cluster that you migrated your VMs to. The Overview tab appears.

  10. Select the Virtual Machines tab. Then, select your migration namespace from the Namespace drop-down. Your migrated VMs appear with a Running status.

    Running VM in VMO

Next Steps​