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

Converting from VMware to Nutanix AHV

When restoring virtual machines from a VMware backup, you can restore the VMs as virtual machines that run on the Nutanix AHV hypervisor.

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

If a VMware source VM has IDE or SATA disks, you must use a proxy located outside of an AHV cluster to convert a VMware VM to Nutanix AHV. If you use a proxy VM located inside an AHV cluster, the restore will fail as Nutanix does not support Hotadd of IDE or SATA disks.

You may also use the sConvertControllerTypeTo additional setting to override the source VM disk controller types. If the source VM has IDE or SATA disks, choosing a value such as scsi will restore them as scsi disks.

Before You Begin

Configure a virtualization client for Nutanix AHV.

Procedure

  1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > VMware > backup_set.

  2. Initiate the restore from a subclient or backup set:

    • From a subclient: Right-click the subclient, and then select Browse and Restore.

    • From a backup set: Right-click the backup set, point to All Tasks, and then click Browse and Restore.

    The Browse and Restore Options dialog box appears.

  3. Ensure that Full Virtual Machine is selected.

  4. From the Restore as list beside Full Virtual Machine, select Nutanix AHV.

  5. Click View Content.

  6. From the list of backed-up instances, select one or more virtual machines to be converted, and then click Recover All Selected.

    The Restore VM wizard launches and displays the Destination page.

  7. Specify the destination and the proxy to use for the restore operation.

    By default, VMs are restored in place to the original location for the source VM, and the restore operation is performed using the preferred VSA proxy for the virtualization client.

    • Virtualization Client: Select the virtualization client for the Nutanix AHV cluster from the list, and then select a VSA proxy that is available on the destination cluster.

      To add a new client, click Select New Nutanix AHV Cluster, and then enter the cluster name or the virtual IP address for the Nutanix AHV cluster and the user credentials.

      The Instance Details area displays the IP address or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the Controller VM for the Nutanix cluster and the user account specified for the virtualization client.

    • Proxy Client: Select a proxy that resides on the destination cluster.

  8. Click Next.

    The wizard displays the Virtual Machines page.

  9. Specify parameters for the restore:

    • VM and Disk: This column shows the source virtual machines.

      To view the disks in a virtual machine, expand the virtual machine.

    • Change VM display name to: Enter a new display name for the virtual machine.

    • Container: To specify a different storage location for a disk, click in the row for the disk, and then select a new container from the list.

      If necessary, you can select a different container for each virtual machine disk.

      • To exclude a disk from the restore, select Do Not Attach.

    • To change other settings, select one or more virtual machines, and then click Configure in the last column.

      The Nutanix AHV VM Options dialog box appears.

      Make the following changes:

      • VM Display Name: If you selected a single VM, you can enter a new display name for the restored VM.

      • Edit Destination VM Name: If you selected multiple VMs, you can select Prefix or Suffix, and then enter a string to append to the display names for all selected VMs.

      • Protection Domain: Select a new protection domain.

      • Network Settings: If you selected a single VM, you can select a network adapter that is available at the destination from the VLAN ID list.

        If you do not select a value for VLAN ID, then the VM is restored without a network adapter.

        If the specified network adapter does not exist at the destination location, or if you select a network that has the Nutanix IP Management feature enabled, then the restore operation completes but the VM is restored without that network adapter.

      • Click OK to save and close the Nutanix AHV VM Options dialog box.

  10. Click Next.

    The wizard displays the Restore Options page.

  11. Optional: Select restore options:

    • Power ON Virtual Machine after Restore: To start the virtual machine automatically after the restore operation is complete, select this check box.

    • Unconditionally Overwrite VM with the same name: To overwrite any existing virtual machines that have the same names in the target location, select this check box.

  12. Click Next.

    The wizard displays the Job Options page.

  13. Run the job immediately or configure a schedule for the restore operation.

  14. Click Next.

    The wizard displays a Summary page for the restore operation.

  15. Click Finish to submit the restore job.

Result

After restoring a VM to Nutanix AHV, you might need to perform the following actions:

  1. If the source VM had more than six disks, then the Nutanix AHV VM attaches disk 0 through disk 5 as SATA disks and attaches any additional disks as SCSI disks.

  2. Manually initialize SCSI disks to bring them online.

  3. For Windows source VMs, manually install Nutanix Guest Tools.

    The Virtio network card driver is required.

  4. For UNIX guest instances to launch, select a boot option such as rescue mode.

Some source VMs that have older operating systems, such as Windows 2008, might not be able to boot from SATA disks.

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