> Expert > Backup and Restore Agents > Virtualization > Virtual Server Agent > Cross-Hypervisor Restores (Virtual Machine Conversion)

Converting from Amazon EC2 to VMware

When you restore from a backup of an Amazon EC2 instance, you can convert the instance to a VMware VM.

This feature is available from the CommCell Console.

This feature can be used to migrate Amazon EC2 instances to VMware.

You can perform VM conversions from streaming backups, from secondary copies, or from IntelliSnap backup copies. You cannot perform a conversion from a Snap copy.

Note

The conversion process does not restore static IP addresses.

Before You Begin

  • Create a virtualization client for the VMware vCenter.

  • Perform a backup operation for the subclient that includes the Amazon instances.

  • Linux VM /etc/fstab entries should use UUIDs instead of device names, because device names might change on conversion.

Virtual Server Agent Proxy

The VSA proxy must have access to the vCenter.

Guest OS Support

You can convert VMs that run the following operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2022

  • Windows Server 2019

  • Windows Server 2016

  • Windows Server 2012 R2

  • RHEL 7.x

  • Ubuntu 16.04.x

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3 and later

    Before performing the backup operation for a SUSE VM, run the following command to add required drivers:

    dracut --force --add-drivers "vmw_pvscsi scsi_transport libsas mptbase mptspi"

Linux AMI Virtualization Types

For Linux instances, only instances based on hardware virtual machines (HVMs) AMIs can be converted to VMware.

ESXi Version

6.0 or later

Procedure

  1. From the CommCell Console, expand Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > Amazon > backup_set.

  2. Right-click the subclient that contains the backup for the Amazon instance to convert, and then select Browse and Restore.

    The Browse and Restore Options dialog box appears.

  3. Select Full Instance.

  4. From the Restore as list beside Full Instance, select VMware vCenter.

  5. Click View Content.

    The Client tab shows the contents of the most recent backup for the subclient.

  6. Select an instance in the left pane.

    The configuration and volumes for the selected instance are displayed in the right pane.

  7. Click Recover All Selected at the bottom of the window.

    The Restore VM wizard displays the Destination page.

  8. Provide the following information:

    • vCenter Client: Select the virtualization client created for the VMware vCenter.

      The Instance Details area displays the vCenter and user name for the selected virtualization client.

    • Proxy Client: Select a VSA proxy to use for the conversion.

  9. Click Next.

  10. On the Virtual Machines page, provide the following information:

    • VM and Disk: The VM and Disk column displays the name of the virtual machine and lists virtual machine disks.

    • Change VM display name to: To avoid overwriting an existing virtual machine with the same name on the vCenter, click in the first row of the Change VM display name to column and enter a new name.

    • ESX Server: This column displays the ESX server of each destination virtual machine. To select an ESX server, click in the corresponding row; then click ... and select the ESX server where you want to create the virtual machine.

    • Datastore: This column displays the datastore of each disk for the destination VM. To select a datastore for any disk, click in the corresponding row; then select a datastore from the list.

  11. In the vCenter Options column, select one or more VMs and click Configure to display the VMware vCenter Options dialog box. Any changes you make on this dialog box are applied to all of the selected VMs. The following information is displayed:

    • VM Display Name (if a single VM was selected): Displays the name of the destination VM. You cannot change the value on this dialog box.

    • Edit Destination VM Name (if multiple VMs were selected): Select Prefix or Suffix and enter a string that should be appended to all destination VM names.

    • ESX Server: Click ... to select a new destination ESX server for all selected virtual machines.

    • Datastore: Select a destination datastore for all selected virtual machines.

    • Resource Pool: Click ... to select a destination resource pool for all selected virtual machines.

    • VM Folder: Click ... to select a destination folder for all selected virtual machines.

    • Operating System: Match the operating system of the source VM.

      Note

      The Auto Select option is not supported.

      Network Adapter Configuration: For each network adapter on the VM, you can select an adapter from the list.

      If you select Not Connected, virtual machines are restored with network interfaces in disconnected state.

    • Change Host Name for Destination VM: To specify a different host name for the converted VM, select this option and then enter the name in the Host Name for Destination VM box.

  12. Click OK to save VM configuration values for the selected VMs.

  13. Click Next.

  14. On the Restore Options page, provide the following information:

    • Disk Provisioning: Select the disk provisioning type for the destination VM: Original, Thick Lazy Zero, Thin, or Thick Eager Zero.

    • Transport Mode: Use Auto to have the transport mode selected automatically based on the environment, or select a different value from this list: SAN, HotAdd, NBD, NBD SSL, or NAS.

    • Power ON Virtual Machine after Restore: Select this option to power on the virtual machine in the vCenter after uploading disks and completing the conversion. This option is selected by default.

    • Unconditionally overwrite VM with the same name: If a virtual machine with the same name exists on the vCenter, select this option to overwrite the existing virtual machine.

  15. Click Next.

  16. On the Job Options page, choose to run the job immediately or configure a schedule for the restore.

  17. Click Next.

  18. On the Summary page, click Finish.

Flow for Conversion

Conversion includes the following stages:

  1. During initialization, create a dummy VM with a predefined configuration (1 CPU and 512K memory).

  2. Create a VMDK disk, add it to the dummy VM, and connect to the disk.

  3. Based on the guest OS selected for the conversion operation, select the correct SCSI controller.

    SCSI controllers are VirtualLsiLogicSASController, VirtualLsiLogicController, VirtualBusLogicController, and ParaVirtualSCSIController.

  4. Restore data to the VMDK.

  5. Reconfigure the VM with the configuration from the AWS Common Config file.

  6. For Windows VMs, edit the drivers of the restored VMs, because AWS instances have Xen drivers that do not function correctly in VMWare.

  7. Disable Xen drivers and enable VMware drivers by editing the registry hive.

Result

If the wrong operating system was selected, you might not be able to start the converted VM.

The conversion does not install VMware Tools on the converted VM. After conversion, install VMware Tools by logging on to the guest VM and using the VMware Workstation menu, or by using the VMware Host Client. After you install VMware Tools, restart the VM.

By default, Amazon instances redirect all kernel messages to the serial console. To view kernel messages when a converted instance boots, use the edit option on the grub boot menu and remove the following parameter for the Amazon instance:

console=/dev/ttyS0

What to Do Next

You may need to update disk assignments manually for restored virtual machines that have UEFI boot and multiple type of controllers.

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