VM Conversion Using the Import Method

Configuring Source VMs for Import

• When converting a VM to a nitro instance type, nitro drivers must be pre-installed on the guest. For more information, see Importing a VM as an image using VM Import/Export.

• When replicating a VM to a nitro instance type, nitro drivers must be pre-installed on the guest. For more information, see Importing a VM as an image using VM Import/Export.

Import Process

If the prerequisites for HotAdd restores are not met, conversion or replication to Amazon uses the import method:

1. Upload the virtual machine disks to S3 as pages.

   The naming convention for the temporary S3 bucket that is used to hold VHD files is gx-restore-region_name-account_id. You can override the default naming convention for S3 buckets by adding the AmazonBucketForImport additional setting to the VSA access node.

   For instructions about adding the additional setting from the CommCell Console, see Add or Modify an Additional Setting.

2. The S3 pages are retained as integrity snapshots for the next incremental replication.

3. Merge the S3 pages uploaded for each disk to form a single VHD.

4. Import the OS disk as an AMI and additional disks as snapshots.

5. Launch an Amazon instance from the imported AMI and attach the additional disks (volumes) from the imported snapshots.

6. Delete the AMI and snapshots from AWS and the merged VHDs from the S3 bucket.