Notes from migrating to Proxmox from ESXi

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Note this article is not intended to be a comprehensive guide but a collection of notes on commands used to aid in migrating ESXi systems to Proxmox.

Before you do anything make sure that you take a note of all configuration settings for each VM being migrated from ESXi; pay special attention to:

  • Attached storage devices.
  • Boot type: UEFI or Legacy.
  • Network adaptor MAC addresses (if required).

Exporting VM images from ESXi

Exporting directly from ESXi

If you decided to export VM’s from ESXi directly using an external USB drive for example you will need to prepare the file system using vmkfstools:

  1. Create a GPT (GUID Partition Table) label on the specified disc:
    partedUtil mklabel /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0 gpt
  2. Retrieve the partition table information for the disc:
    partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
  3. Output from getptbl command indicates the disc geometry:
    486397 255 63 7813969920 (Cylinders: 486397, Heads: 255, Sectors per track: 63, Total sectors: 7813969920)
  4. Perform a calculation to determine the last usable sector:
    486397 * 255 * 63 - 1 = 7813967804
  5. Set a new partition table with one partition:
    partedUtil setptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0 gpt "1 2048 7813967804 AA31E0AC01246547FE3425AD102221B8 0"
    • Partition number: 1
    • Start sector: 2048
    • End sector: 7813967804
    • Partition type GUID: AA31E0AC01246547FE3425AD102221B8 (VMware VMFS partition)
    • Flags: 0 (none)
  6. Create a VMFS6 filesystem on the newly created partition:
    vmkfstools -C vmfs6 -S vmi-backup /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba33:C0\:T0\:L0:1
    • -C vmfs6: Create a VMFS6 filesystem
    • -S vmi-backup: Set the volume label to “vmi-backup”
    • /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba33:C0\:T0\:L0:1: The device path for the new partition

Short version

partedUtil mklabel /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0 gpt

partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0

486397 255 63 7813969920

486397 * 255 * 63 - 1

7813967804

partedUtil setptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0 gpt "1 2048 7813967804 AA31E0AC01246547FE3425AD102221B8 0"
vmkfstools -C vmfs6 -S vmi-backup /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba33:C0\:T0\:L0:1

Exporting using the ovftool

The ovftool is straight forward to use:

./ovftool --noSSLVerify "vi://<username>:<password>@<hostname>/<vm_name>" "/some/export/path/<vm_name>.ovf";

Below is a a very simple bash script that uses an array containing VM names and iterates over them running the ovftool to create an export at another location; update the username, password and host to utilise this script for your own exports:

#!/bin/bash

esx=""
esxuser=""
esxpass=""

declare -a arr=("VM Name 1" "VM Name 2" "VM Name 3")

for vm in "${arr[@]}"
do
  echo "Exporting $vm..."
  ./ovftool --noSSLVerify "vi://$esxuser:$esxpass@$esx/$vm" "/some/export/path/$vm.ovf";
done

echo "Finished"
export_helper.shView rawView file on GitLab

Download the ovftool from Broadcom

You may need libxcrypt install it with:

# Fedora
sudo dnf install libxcrypt-compat

# Ubuntu
sudo apt install libxcrypt

Importing ovf images to Proxmox

If you exported VM’s using the ovftool to an external devices you can use the followings notes to aid in importing them; note the mount point used is just an example customise to suit your needs.

Mount the external drive

For NTFS use

mkdir /mnt/ntfstemp
# Set the type to NTFS
mount -t ntfs /dev/sdg1 /mnt/ntfstemp

For EXT4 use

mkdir /mnt/exttemp
# No type needs to be defined
mount /dev/sdg1 /mnt/exttemp

Importing ovf images to Proxmox

# qm importovf <id> <iamge-name> <pool> -format raw
qm importovf 100 ./TEST01.ovf nebula -format raw

VMFS support

If you have used a external drive connected to the ESXi system and exported VM’s to the external drive. You may require VMFS tools :

# Install with
apt install vmfs6-tools
# Create a mount location
mkdir /mnt/vmfstemp
# Mount the drive to the location
vmfs6-fuse /dev/sdg1 /mnt/vmfstemp

Miscellaneous notes

Drives not detected under Proxmox

If during the configuration of a new server; the drives do not appear. It may be that you have used (or re-used) existing drives that may have a configuration already present on them.

Determine the drive/s that needs to be wiped use the following:

# Views connected devices
lsblk
# Using the drive identifier for example: /dev/sda 
wipefs --all /dev/sda