> Software > Protect > Virtual machines > Information for All Virtualized Platforms > Restores and VM Conversion > Cross-Hypervisor Restores (Virtual Machine Conversion)

Converting to VMware Cloud Director

When you restore a virtual machine (VM) from a backup, you can restore the VM as a VMware Cloud Director VM.

Source Hypervisors

You can convert VMs to VMware Cloud Director from the following hypervisors:

  • Azure Resource Manager streaming backups

  • Oracle Cloud infrastructure (OCI) streaming backups or secondary copies.

  • VMware streaming backups

Note

  • You cannot perform conversions from IntelliSnap snap copies.

  • You cannot convert encrypted Azure disks to VMware Cloud Director.

Before You Begin

  • Make the following changes on source VMs before performing backups that you use for conversions:

    • For Linux VMs, add required SCSI drivers and recompile the initrd file.

      If you do not perform this step for Linux VMs, the converted VMs fail to power on. To enable the VMs to power on, use a live recovery image of the Linux operating system to access the terminal, and then perform this step on the converted VMs.

    • Configure source VMs to use DHCP instead of using static IP addresses. The conversion process does not restore static IP addresses.

  • Configure a VMware Cloud Director hypervisor. For more information, see Configuring Backups for a VMware Cloud Director Hypervisor.

  • Prepare UNIX VMS for conversion. For more information, see Preparing UNIX VMs for Conversion to VMware Cloud Director.

  • As a best practice, configure the backup plan that is used for backups to create a backup copy using on-premises storage, and use the backup copy as the source for conversion.

  • When restoring an Azure virtual machine, do the following:

    • For Windows computers: enable the pagefile on the C: drive of the source VM. This will prevent you from receiving an error message when you reboot the destination VM.

    • For Linux computers : Verify that the fstab entry of the source disk should be based on disk UUID and not disk name. If it is not based on disk UUID, then the restored VM will not boot up.

Go to the VM Group

  1. From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > Virtual machines.

    The Overview page appears.

  2. On the VM groups tab, click the VM group.

    The VM group page appears.

Start the Wizard

  1. On the Overview tab, in the Recovery points section, click a date in the calendar that you want to restore for, and then click Restore.

    The Select restore type page appears.

  2. Click Full virtual machine.

    The Full virtual machine page appears.

  3. To select a different MediaAgent or source copy for the restore, do the following:

    1. In the upper-right corner of the page, click the Settings icon.

      The Settings dialog box appears.

    2. For MediaAgent, decide whether to have the system automatically select the MediaAgent or to specify a MediaAgent:

      • Automatic: By default, Commvault selects the MediaAgent for the restore operation based on availability and environment.

      • To restore data using a specific MediaAgent, from the list, select a MediaAgent.

    3. For Source, decide whether to have the system automatically select the copy of backup data or to specify the copy:

      • Automatic: By default, the restore operation searches for the requested data in the primary copy and selects a different copy if the data is not found in the primary copy.

      • To restore from a specific copy of backup data, from the list, select a backup copy.

    4. Click OK.

  4. In the left pane, select the VMs you want to restore.

  5. Click Restore.

    The Destination page appears.

Destination: Restoring Out of Place

  1. For Type, select Out of place, which restores the VM to a location other than its original location.

  2. For Restore as, select VMware Cloud Director.

  3. For Destination, select the hypervisor to restore the VM to (the destination).

  4. For Access node, select one of the following:

    • Select an access node or access node group. If you select an access node group, the system distributes the workload (VMs) in the restore job across the access nodes (also called proxies) that are available in the access node group.

    • Select Automatic. If you are restoring multiple VMs, select this option to distribute the VMs in the restore job across the access nodes that are assigned for the destination hypervisor. Note the following:

      • VMs are assigned to access nodes using the round-robin method.

      • The Automatic option is available for full VM restores from streaming backups.

  5. Click Next.

    The Virtual Machines page appears.

Specify the Virtual Machines and Settings

  1. Select the virtual machines to restore, and then click Edit.

  2. If you selected only one VM to restore, the Configure restore options dialog box appears. Edit the options as follows:

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

    • Organization: Displays the name of the organization for the source VM. You cannot change this value.

    • Org vDC: Select the organization virtual datacenter (vDC) for the restored VM.

    • Restore vApp configuration: Move the toggle key to the right to restore the vApp network configuration, lease configuration, and virtual machine startup order of the source VM to the new vApp.

    • Restore as standalone VM: Move the toggle key to the right to restore as a standalone VM in the Org vDC. You do not have to specify the vApp name for the restored VM.

    • vApp name: Enter the name of the new vApp you want to create.

    • VM storage policy: Select the storage policy for the restored VM.

    • Operating system: Select the VM operating system. The operating system you choose determines the type of SCSI controller that the conversion process selects for the converted VM.

    • Owner: Select or enter the name of the user who owns the destination vApp.

    • Network settings. Configure the setings for the selected VM. To add a new network interface, click Add. To modify the existing network interfaces for the restored VM, click Edit or Delete.

      • Source network: Select the source network, or select Any Network to map all network connections for the source VM to a different network for the restored VM.

      • Destination network: Select a network connection for the restored VM, or select No Connection to restore without a network connection.

  3. If you selected two or more VMs to restore, the Configure restore options for multiple VMs dialog box appears. Edit the options as follows:

    Note

    If you want to modify network settings for two or more VMs, you must go back and select each VM separately (as in Step 2, above) and then modify their network settings. Then you can proceed with the sub-steps, below.

    • Add a prefix to the VM name: Move the toggle key to the right and then enter a prefix for the VM display names.

    • Add a suffix to the VM name: Move the toggle key to the right and then enter a suffix for the VM display names.

    • Organization: Displays the name of the organization for the source VM. You cannot change this value.

    • Org vDC: Select the organization virtual datacenter (vDC) for the restored VM.

    • Restore vApp configuration: Move the toggle key to the right to restore the vApp network configuration, lease configuration, and virtual machine startup order of the source VM to the new vApp.

    • Restore as standalone VM: Move the toggle key to the right to restore as a standalone VM in the Org vDC. You do not have to specify the vApp name for the restored VM.

    • vApp name: Enter the name of the new vApp you want to create.

    • VM storage policy: Select the storage policy for the restored VM.

    • Owner: Select or enter the name of the user who owns the destination vApp.

Restore Options

  1. Specify the following options:

    • Power on VMs after restore: Automatically restart VMs after they are restored. The power state of the VM does not affect subsequent backups. If the VM is powered on during backups, by default, the VM is powered on again after the restore completes (unless you clear this check box).

    • Unconditionally overwrite if it already exists: Delete the existing VM and replace it with the restored VM.

    • Reuse existing VM client: Reuse the existing VM client and map its information, such as client name, host name, and client ID to the source VM.

  2. Click Next.

    The Summary page appears.

Summary

When the Summary page appears, click Submit.

Result

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

  • For converted Windows VMs, disks might be offline. You can bring the disks online manually.

  • VMware tools are not installed on the converted VM, and are required to access some services (such as the VMCI driver, which enables high-speed communication between VMs on the same host and reduces latency). Use the vSphere client to install VMware tools on the converted VM.

  • The conversion process does not restore static IP addresses.

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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