Quickly Migrating Virtual Machines from ESXi to Proxmox VE 8

Before the release of Proxmox VE 8, migrating virtual machines from ESXi to Proxmox VE (using version 7.X as an example) generally involved the following steps:

1. Backup the Virtual Machine on ESXi: Typically, this involves creating a backup of the virtual machine disk file (VMDK).

2. Transfer the Backup Files: Copy or transfer the backup files to the target Proxmox VE host system directory.

3. Create a New Virtual Machine on Proxmox VE: Set up a new virtual machine on Proxmox VE, matching the hardware resources of the source VM, and note down the VM ID.

4. Format Conversion: Execute the command `qm disk import vmid *.vmdk storage –format qcow2` in the command line of the target Proxmox VE system to convert the format.

5. Assign the Converted Disk Image: Assign the converted disk image file to the pre-created virtual machine on Proxmox VE.

6. Start the Recovered Virtual Machine: Boot up the recovered virtual machine.

With the release of Proxmox VE 8.2, a new feature under the storage menu called “ESXi” significantly simplifies the process of migrating virtual machines from ESXi. This new feature saves considerable time by eliminating the need for the time-consuming steps of backing up the ESXi virtual machine and copying the backup files.

Steps for Migration in Proxmox VE 8.2:

1. Obtain Permissions: Before adding ESXi as remote storage in Proxmox VE, you need to obtain the necessary credentials (username and password) from the source ESXi system.

2. Add ESXi in Proxmox VE 8.2 Web Interface: In the Proxmox VE 8.2 web management interface, click on the “ESXi” submenu, enter the required information, and select “Skip Verification.”

3. Verify Remote Storage: If the “ESXi” storage is correctly added, an ESXi icon will appear under a physical node branch in Proxmox VE 8.2.

4. Select the Virtual Machine for Migration: Click on the newly added “ESXi” storage under the physical node branch. The main area of the page will display all the virtual machine images under ESXi. Unlike Proxmox VE, which identifies VMs by ID, ESXi identifies them by file name, so select the virtual machine you wish to migrate and click the “Import” button in the top menu.

5. Configure Import Settings: The import dialog will have some fields that may need to be configured or filled out, such as CPU type and the default storage location for the migrated/restored virtual machine. There are also advanced features available for configuration.

6. Start the Import Process: Once everything is ready, click the button to start the import. The import process is similar to restoring from Proxmox Backup Server (PBS), with progress displayed. Once completed, the virtual machine migrated from ESXi can be started.

Limitations:

Although you can see all virtual machine images under ESXi in the Proxmox VE 8.2 management interface, multi-selection is not supported, meaning you can only import one virtual machine at a time.

Another anticipated feature is incremental migration, where a complete restore is performed at one point in time, followed by an incremental synchronization at a later time, allowing for nearly seamless online migration of virtual machines. This feature may be added in future versions.