Q. How can I perform a virtual to virtual (V2V) migration with System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008?

 The answer to this question is also available as a video.

 A. In this answer, I’ll walk you through migrating from a Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 virtual machine (VM) to a Hyper-V VM. You don’t perform the same type of migration as you do with a physical to virtual (P2V) migration, although you can actually use SCVMM’s P2V function to migrate from a Virtual Server 2005 R2. To do so, you specify the IP address of the running Virtual Server 2005 R2 VM and the normal P2V process is performed.

 Though it’s possible to use the P2V function, typically to migrate a Virtual Server 2005 R2 VM you turn off the VM and copy the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) and virtual machine configuration (VMC) files from the VM to the SCVMM 2008 library. You then deploy the new VM from the library. Follow these steps:

1. Create a share on the folder that holds the Virtual Server 2005 R2 VMC and VHD. You should make sure you’ve removed the VM Additions from the Virtual Server 2005 R2 VHD.

2. Add that share to the SCVMM library using the Add Library Shares action.

3. Select the share that you added in the displayed dialog box and click the Add button.

4. Refresh the library so it will show the VMC for your imported VM. View the VM’s properties and make sure it maps to the correct VHD.

5. Right-click the VM from the library and select Deploy.

6. Select the virtualization server that will host the VM.

7. Select the folder where you’ll deploy the VM.

8. Select the network where you’ll map the VM’s network.

9. Finally, click Deploy. The Deploy job starts and the details are displayed, as the following screen shows.



10. After the deployment is finished, the source VHD is removed from the library.

Another option for migrating is to add the Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 server to the SCVMM 2008 console, stop the VM, and select the Migrate action, as the next screen shows. You can then select the target virtual server and other settings, and the rest of the process is the same as deployment from the SCVMM library.



If you’re migrating from VMware ESX to Virtual Server 2005 R2 or Hyper-V, you can perform a true, live V2V migration directly from the ESX server. You can also import the .vmx and .vmdk files into the SCVMM library and convert them using the Convert Virtual Machine Wizard. Your third choice is to convert a VMware VM directly using the New-V2V cmdlet.