Migrating from ESXi to

Nutanix AHV
Nutanix Tech Note

Version 2.2 • October 2018 • TN-2072

 Migrating from ESXi to Nutanix AHV

Copyright
Copyright 2018 Nutanix, Inc.
Nutanix, Inc.
1740 Technology Drive, Suite 150
San Jose, CA 95110
All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual
property laws.
Nutanix is a trademark of Nutanix, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other
marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

Copyright | 2
 Migrating from ESXi to Nutanix AHV

Contents

1. Migration Overview................................................................................. 4

2. AHV Migration Considerations.............................................................. 6

3. Migration Scenario: Third-Party ESXi to Nutanix AHV........................ 8

3.1. Nutanix Image Service.................................................................................................. 8
3.2. Nutanix Xtract for Virtual Machines.............................................................................10
3.3. Third-Party Tools: Sureline..........................................................................................13
3.4. Application-Centric Migration....................................................................................... 13

4. Migration Scenario: Nutanix ESXi to Nutanix AHV............................ 15

4.1. Nutanix VM Mobility.....................................................................................................15
4.2. Cluster Conversion...................................................................................................... 16
4.3. Third-Party Migration Tools: Sureline.......................................................................... 18
4.4. Application-Centric Methods........................................................................................ 18

5. Conclusion............................................................................................. 19

Appendix......................................................................................................................... 20
Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Overview....................................................................................20
About Nutanix......................................................................................................................21

List of Figures................................................................................................................22

List of Tables................................................................................................................. 23

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1. Migration Overview
Methods for performing cross-hypervisor migrations can vary greatly, and administrators should
scope them based on a specific environment’s requirements. Each migration scenario includes
unique technical and business needs. Some factors to consider when planning a migration
include:
• Downtime requirements for specific applications.
• Whether the source and target for a migration are physical operating systems or virtualized
environments.
• Whether the source and target for a migration run on the same infrastructure vendor, where
you can use native replication tools.
• Whether native application-level methods exist, including integrated replication technologies
used for high availability and disaster recovery or backup and restore.
• Whether you need to make changes to an application as a part of the migration, such as
moving to a newer version or modifying the physical layout of a database.
• Whether you need to move the physical location of the environment, which could impact
existing networking configurations and data replication considerations.
• The trade-offs inherent in using third-party technologies that can simplify migrations and limit
downtime but also add to the total cost of the project.
• Ensuring that the team has the skills and experience to perform the migration with minimal
impact to the business.
The list above is certainly not exhaustive, but it outlines some of the complexities involved in
executing a successful migration project. We don’t cover all of these considerations in depth
here; instead, this guide provides high-level guidance on the recommended methods for
performing migrations between ESXi environments and Nutanix AHV. We address native Nutanix
migration methods, from third-party platforms or from Nutanix platforms, as well as third-party
migration software that can help simplify the process.
Nutanix also provides a workload migration offering through Nutanix Services. Learn about the
specific workload migration services at https://www.nutanix.com/support-services/consulting-
services/.

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Table 1: Document Version History

Version
Published Notes
Number
1.0 February 2017 Original publication.
2.0 December 2017 Updated for AOS 5.5 and added product information.
Updated Nutanix overview and the AHV Migration
2.1 May 2018
Considerations section.
2.2 October 2018 Updated product information.

1. Migration Overview | 5
 Migrating from ESXi to Nutanix AHV

2. AHV Migration Considerations

The most common migration method in virtualized environments involves moving an existing
operating system and the applications therein, without modification. AHV supports a wide
range of operating systems that can be migrated from either physical or virtual environments.
The specific recommended virtual hardware, such as SCSI or PCI bus types, depends on the
operating system. For a current list of supported operating systems and recommended bus
types, please see the Supported Guest VM Types for AHV section of the Acropolis App Mobility
Fabric Guide.
Migrating an existing operating system to AHV entails changing the underlying virtual hardware.
Among other differences, this transition includes a different virtual NIC and virtual SCSI device
when compared to ESXi environments. Thus, it is important to ensure that you have installed the
drivers that support AHV virtual hardware (the VirtIO drivers) within the operating systems to be
migrated.
Nutanix offers a VM Mobility driver package, which includes Nutanix-qualified VirtIO drivers for
Windows VMs. Nutanix-based environments can install the Nutanix Guest Tools (NGT) software,
which already includes the VM Mobility driver package. Check Linux operating systems to ensure
that the VirtIO modules are installed. We provide a link to the steps for validating Linux operating
systems in the Nutanix Image Service section below.
Choosing the best method for moving data onto a Nutanix cluster with AHV is important, as the
method can impact the availability of the applications and operating systems you’re migrating.
For migrations involving non-Nutanix platforms as the source, Nutanix allows NFS, SMB, and
SFTP-based access to the underlying Nutanix storage containers to permit migrating or copying
virtual disk and ISO files. In ESXi environments, you can use NFS access to perform a storage
vMotion that moves the required virtual disks onto the AHV environment nondisruptively. The
AHV cluster’s filesystem whitelist controls access via NFS.
Once you have migrated the virtual disks, the Nutanix Image Service can convert those disks
to the RAW disk format that AHV uses. Once converted, the system stores the virtual disks in
the .Acropolis folder on the specified storage container as an image. The image is then used to
create a VM. For more details on the image service, see the Third-Party ESXi to Nutanix AHV
section.
For migrations involving Nutanix platforms as both the source and target, native replication tools
can help simplify the process. For more details, see the Nutanix ESXi to Nutanix AHV section.
Regardless of source and target platform type, third-party software can perform storage and
platform-agnostic migrations. There are application-specific methods that do not entail migrating
an operating system, but instead move data between existing operating systems and applications

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running on the target system. Some of these third-party and application-centric options are also
outlined in the following sections.

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3. Migration Scenario: Third-Party ESXi to Nutanix

AHV

3.1. Nutanix Image Service

The image service feature enables you to import the images (ISO files, disk images, or any
images supported in ESXi or Hyper-V) directly into AHV for virtualization management. Nutanix
supports the RAW, VHD(X), VMDK, VDI, ISO, and QCOW2 disk formats.
For migration, you can use this feature to convert virtual disks to the RAW format that AHV uses.
As an example, the image service converts the flat virtual disks (*-flat.vmdk) that ESXi uses to
RAW.
To minimize downtime, a storage vMotion can use NFS connectivity to move the ESXi virtual
disks onto the Nutanix cluster. Once the virtual disks are stored on the Acropolis Distributed
Storage Fabric (DSF), the end user can import the disk by pointing the image service to the
migrated files via an NFS source URL and a loopback address, similar to the example in the
following figure.

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Figure 1: Image Creation from a Migrated Virtual Disk

You can also import virtual disks directly from an external HTTP or NFS source URL, or upload
them from your local machine. The import process creates a RAW virtual disk and stores it as an
image. You can then create a new VM set to reference this stored disk image.
The general migration process uses the following steps:
1. Ensure that you’ve met the VM migration prerequisites.
2. Install Nutanix VM Mobility drivers or validate that the VirtIO driver modules are installed.
3. Migrate the VM disks to the DSF.
4. Convert the VM disks by using the image service.
5. Create a new VM and attach the converted disks.

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For details specific to migrating Windows-based VMs from ESXi to AHV using the above steps,
please refer to the relevant section of the Migration Guide.
For details specific to migrating Linux-based VMs from ESXi to AHV using the above steps,
please refer to the relevant section of the Migration Guide.

Nutanix Image Service Pros

The Nutanix Image Service is an excellent tool for testing VM migrations and for performing
small-scale or staged migrations onto Nutanix AHV. The ability to perform a storage vMotion from
ESXi helps eliminate downtime while migrating data. The conversion process from *-flat.vmdk to
RAW is extremely fast (just a few seconds), as it does not require additional copying of the virtual
disk.

Nutanix Image Service Cons

The steps outlined above are manual, which makes using the image service for large-scale
migrations potentially cumbersome. Virtual hardware changes during conversion, so you must
manage network settings such as static IP addresses within VMs after the migration.

3.2. Nutanix Xtract for Virtual Machines

Nutanix Xtract for Virtual Machines is a free, agentless tool for quickly and easily moving VMs
from ESXi environments to Nutanix AHV. Once you deploy Xtract for VMs as a VM into your AHV
environment, you can manage it via its HTML5-based interface.
To use the tool, register both your source ESXi and target AHV environments with Xtract.
Register the source environment by connecting to your vCenter instance and supplying the name
or IP and the appropriate credentials. Similarly, register the target AHV environment by pointing
Xtract either directly to the AHV cluster or to a Prism Central instance.
Once you have defined your sources and targets, you can create migration plans. Plans enable
migrations to target a subset of VMs within a source vCenter.

Figure 2: Xtract Migration Plans

Xtract performs checks to ensure that the target environment has enough compute and storage
resources to support the VMs added to a migration plan. Xtract can sort VMs by whether or

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not you can migrate them and provides a summary to indicate why certain VMs cannot be
migrated, such as not having VMware tools installed or not meeting virtual hardware version
level minimums, among other requirements. From a virtual guest operating system perspective,
Xtract for VMs supports all of the operating systems that AHV supports. A full list of the operating
systems supported by Xtract is available in the Xtract for VMs documentation.
Xtract uses VMware vSphere Storage APIs: Data Protection (VADP) to manage the replication
process, so you do not need to have agents installed within the VMs or the ESXi hosts. You
have the option to allow Xtract to connect to VMs directly in order to install the VirtIO drivers
compatible with AHV and to capture network settings to carry over to the target environment.
You can specify the credentials to connect to the VMs selected within a plan either for all VMs at
once, or individually as needed.
You can also specify network mappings to match the source and destination networks for the
VMs. By defining a migration schedule, you can set data seeding to start within a predetermined
window.

Figure 3: Xtract Network Mapping

Once you have configured the options described above, the migration can begin, using VADP
to seed the data to the AHV cluster. This process entails creating ESXi-based snapshots for
each VM, then replicating the virtual disks to the specified AHV container. You can pause or
abort migrations in progress at any time. Xtract stores the vmdk files for the migrating VMs in
a temporary folder and incrementally uses changed block tracking (CBT) APIs and continued
snapshot operations to keep them up to date.
When it’s time to cut over and complete the migration, Xtract powers off the source VMs
and disconnects the virtual NICs. Incremental data is then synchronized over to the AHV
cluster. Once all data replication is complete, Xtract uses the AHV image service to convert

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the vmdk files to the native RAW format used by AHV. Because the disk formats are the same,
conversion from vmdk to RAW is extremely fast—each disk is converted in just a few seconds,
limiting downtime. Xtract also provides an estimated cutover time, so you can determine any
maintenance window in advance.

Figure 4: Xtract Cutover Time Estimates

You can choose to cut over VMs within a plan either together or separately. To complete the
migration, Xtract powers the VMs on in the target environment and removes all temporary vmdk
files and converted images within the AHV image service. Although the source VMs are now
powered off and disconnected from their networks, they persist in case you need them for any
reason.
Xtract keeps track of which VMs you’ve migrated and which ones remain to be moved, so if you
create additional migration plans, it’s easy to know what’s left to be done.

Xtract for VMs Pros

Nutanix designed Xtract to be intuitive, simple, and fast while reducing the risk and cost of
migrations. For migrations with a third-party ESXi environment as the source, Xtract is the
preferred method for migrating to Nutanix AHV.

Xtract for VMs Cons

Xtract does not yet support non-ESXi environments as migration sources or non-AHV
environments as targets, so heterogeneous source and target environments currently require
other migration methods.

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3.3. Third-Party Tools: Sureline

Sureline Systems offers a migration solution for heterogeneous environments. Their SUREedge
Migrator supports migrating operating systems and data from any physical or virtual environment
to Nutanix, with the option to use AHV.
To use this solution, install SUREedge Migrator on a node in the Nutanix cluster. Add systems,
including physical hosts and VMs targeted for migration. Create plans to target specific systems
to migrate; these plans also execute migrations.
SUREedge captures system images that you can modify as a part of the migration by changing
the memory, CPU, or network, including IP addresses. SUREedge injects the VirtIO drivers
as required so the migrated operating system can discover the AHV-based virtual hardware.
SUREedge replicates incremental changes that you can apply prior to migration, minimizing
downtime on final cutover. SUREedge also supports testing prior to migration, which helps
minimize risk.

SUREedge Migrator Pros

Sureline Systems is a Nutanix Technology Alliance partner. SUREedge Migrator is a Nutanix
Ready solution that supports migrations from any platform onto Nutanix, including the option to
use AHV. Nutanix Services has validated the use of SUREedge for migrating to AHV. SUREedge
is a scalable solution that helps simplify the migration of large environments onto AHV. Migration
orchestration, including the ability to modify system images and network addresses, eliminates
additional steps that you would otherwise need to complete manually after migration.

SUREedge Migrator Cons

SUREedge is a third-party product that requires its own licensing outside of Nutanix. Although it
is simple to use, administrators would need to learn how to use the product and master its best
practices.

3.4. Application-Centric Migration

Many migration methods focus on moving an operating system or VM between environments.
There are also application-specific methods that can move data without moving the operating
system itself. The general process for this data migration entails installing a VM on Nutanix
AHV along with a new installation of the application to be migrated. You can then use native
application-based migration, backup and restore, or disaster recovery methods to move data
from the source system to the AHV target.
In some cases, it’s possible to migrate to a newer version of the application running on an
updated operating system. Examples of such upgrades include:

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• Microsoft Exchange Server: Install newer versions in parallel with existing production
environments, then move user mailboxes from the old system to the new one.
• Microsoft SQL Server: Back up databases and restore them between systems, including
between older and newer SQL Server versions. Always On Availability Groups can also
replicate databases between SQL Server instances, not only to migrate data but also to
implement a high-availability solution at the same time.
• File shares: Copy files between a source and a target with a tool such as Robocopy to
execute a migration. In environments that use Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS), you
can add new servers to a DFS namespace and use them to host new copies of DFS replicas.
After DFS performs the replication, you can remove the replicas from the old systems.

Application-Centric Migration Pros

Application-centric migration options enable movement between heterogeneous environments.
Differences between environments could include the underlying hardware, virtualization layer,
operating system versions, and application versions. You can generally stage, test, and execute
migrations for specific users, files, and databases as required. Many migration options are free or
included as a part of the base licensing of the application.

Application-Centric Migration Cons

Application-centric migrations can add complexity to the overall migration process. Each
application has different migration requirements and execution processes, including networking
configuration and user or application connectivity. In some cases, existing application licensing
levels may not include the feature you want to use for the migration. If you don’t need a newer
operating system or application version, migrating operating systems or VMs instead may
ultimately be a simpler process.

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4. Migration Scenario: Nutanix ESXi to Nutanix

AHV

4.1. Nutanix VM Mobility

Nutanix VM Mobility provides a simplified method for replicating Windows and Linux-based VMs
bidirectionally between a Nutanix ESXi cluster and a Nutanix AHV cluster. Nutanix VM Mobility
uses native Nutanix snapshots to replicate data between clusters. Acropolis provides Nutanix
Guest Tools (NGT) to install the appropriate drivers and communicate with the Nutanix cluster to
confirm mobility support. The mobility process is straightforward and includes the following high-
level steps:
1. Enable and install NGT for the VMs you want to replicate.
2. Create a remote site in each Nutanix cluster. This step includes network mapping between the
AHV and ESXi networks.
3. Create an asynchronous protection domain and schedule it to replicate the required VMs.
4. Move or create VMs using one of several workflow options:
a. For planned mobility, move all VMs within a protection domain using the “migrate” option.
This option unregisters the VMs from the source cluster, replicates any incremental
changes since the last snapshot, and registers the VMs in the target cluster.
b. For unplanned mobility, where a source cluster is offline, the “activate” option moves all
VMs within a protection domain. This option registers the VMs within a protection domain
in the target cluster using the most recently available local snapshot.
c. The snapshot “restore” option clones individual VMs. A snapshot restore to a new location
operates as a clone and registers the VM in the target cluster. This option enables test and
development scenarios and allows you to target individual VMs within a protection domain.
Requirements and limitations:
• Install NGT so that the appropriate drivers are available within the VM. This one-time
operation allows for communication between the Controller VM (CVM) and Nutanix cluster to
validate driver installation.
• ESXi delta disks are not supported.
• VMs with SATA or PCI devices are not supported.
Prism sends an alert if VM Mobility cannot convert specific VMs because of delta disks or virtual
hardware. In Prism, you can find these recovery details under the VM Recovery column of a

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given local or remote snapshot. Also, because a VM targeted for conversion must have VM
Mobility drivers installed, Prism gives a warning if the installation status is unknown.
For additional details, including instructions on how to use Nutanix VM Mobility, see the Nutanix
Portal.

Nutanix VM Mobility Pros

Nutanix VM Mobility offers a VM-centric method for migrating from ESXi to AHV. If your existing
ESXi environment is Nutanix-based, VM Mobility is a good option for performing migrations to
AHV at any deployment size.
The ability to test the conversion process without impacting production also makes VM Mobility a
strong option. You can discover any potential issues ahead of time and address them during the
final cutover process.
Using integrated orchestration to perform testing or final migration cutover helps simplify
the process and minimize risk. You can stage migrations by grouping a subset of the total
environment into a protection domain that you can replicate and subsequently migrate as
needed.
VM Mobility maintains data replication between clusters incrementally, which helps limit
downtime on final cutover. VM conversion, including converting virtual disks, is a very fast
process, measured in a few seconds per VM. VM Mobility converts VMs in batches of 10 during
the cutover process.

Nutanix VM Mobility Cons

Virtual hardware changes during conversion, so you must manage network settings such as
static IP addresses within VMs after the migration.

4.2. Cluster Conversion

Nutanix offers a native method for performing an in-place conversion of an existing Nutanix
cluster from ESXi to AHV. You can also convert a cluster from AHV to ESXi, if it was previously
converted from ESXi. This cluster conversion process preserves existing data, hypervisor
networking settings, and VM settings.
Requirements and limitations:
• As with Nutanix VM Mobility, install and enable NGT to ensure the proper drivers are
available.
• ESXi HA and DRS are enabled.
• An ESXi cluster supports only one external virtual switch.

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• All uplinks must be homogenous (that is, they must have the same adapter speed—all 10 Gb
or all 1 Gb).
• LACP-based virtual switch load balancing is not supported.
• You can’t convert VMs with delta disks from ESXi to AHV.
The general conversion process is as follows:
1. Select Convert Cluster from Prism Element.
2. Select the target hypervisor and VM boot options.
a. You can choose to keep the original power state of the VMs post conversion, or power off
VMs before conversion.
3. Cluster validation determines if requirements are met or if limitations exist.
4. If there are no blocking limitations, the conversion process may proceed. Prism displays
warnings when applicable, including:
a. If an existing active-active network team would become active-passive on conversion.
b. If specific VMs do not have NGT enabled, preventing confirmation of VM Mobility driver
installation.
5. Once the conversion begins, the following high-level steps occur:
a. The Acropolis conversion process collects and saves hypervisor information. The cluster
remains manageable during the conversion process.
b. User VMs live migrate from the node targeted for conversion to other nodes in the cluster.
c. Acropolis converts the node evacuated in the previous step to the targeted hypervisor.
d. The process restores user VMs to the newly converted node one by one. Each VM is then
also converted. Running VMs experience downtime similar to the duration of one power-off
and one power-on cycle.
e. Once the targeted node and all original VMs have been converted, the process moves on
to the next node.
f. When all nodes are using the targeted hypervisor, the conversion is complete.
For additional details, including instructions for using cluster conversion, see the Nutanix Portal.

Cluster Conversion Pros

Cluster conversion is a good choice for repurposing existing Nutanix-qualified hardware that is
currently running ESXi to run AHV. Benefits include not needing to replicate data or have another
Nutanix cluster available.

Cluster Conversion Cons

While safeguards are in place to ensure a successful conversion, there is no test option today for
validating the process before proceeding. Conversion currently targets the entire cluster; working
with the whole cluster impacts the ability to apply a phased approach to the migration.

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4.3. Third-Party Migration Tools: Sureline

You can use Sureline when migrating between Nutanix-based ESXi and Nutanix AHV. As the
process is very similar to that outlined in the Third-Party ESXi to Nutanix AHV section above,
please see the earlier section for details.

4.4. Application-Centric Methods

You can use application-centric methods when migrating between Nutanix-based ESXi and
Nutanix AHV. As the process is very similar to that outlined in the Third-Party ESXi to Nutanix
AHV section above, please see the earlier section for details.

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5. Conclusion
Migrations are necessary to ensure that organizations can replace aging systems while taking
advantage of stronger technologies that can add business value. A robust migration methodology
lowers risk and ensures minimal disruption. The processes we outlined in this document
represent an array of supported migration options, each with advantages for specific use cases.
Consult with Nutanix Support and Services to help you select the best migration method for your
environment. We plan to add more techniques to this document over time, including Nutanix
offerings for automating migration at both the application and VM layers.

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Appendix

Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Overview

Nutanix delivers a web-scale, hyperconverged infrastructure solution purpose-built for
virtualization and cloud environments. This solution brings the scale, resilience, and economic
benefits of web-scale architecture to the enterprise through the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud
Platform, which combines three product families—Nutanix Acropolis, Nutanix Prism, and Nutanix
Calm.
Attributes of this Enterprise Cloud OS include:
• Optimized for storage and compute resources.
• Machine learning to plan for and adapt to changing conditions automatically.
• Self-healing to tolerate and adjust to component failures.
• API-based automation and rich analytics.
• Simplified one-click upgrade.
• Native file services for user and application data.
• Native backup and disaster recovery solutions.
• Powerful and feature-rich virtualization.
• Flexible software-defined networking for visualization, automation, and security.
• Cloud automation and life cycle management.
Nutanix Acropolis provides data services and can be broken down into three foundational
components: the Distributed Storage Fabric (DSF), the App Mobility Fabric (AMF), and AHV.
Prism furnishes one-click infrastructure management for virtual environments running on
Acropolis. Acropolis is hypervisor agnostic, supporting three third-party hypervisors—ESXi,
Hyper-V, and XenServer—in addition to the native Nutanix hypervisor, AHV.

Appendix | 20
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Figure 5: Nutanix Enterprise Cloud

Nutanix Acropolis Architecture

Acropolis does not rely on traditional SAN or NAS storage or expensive storage network
interconnects. It combines highly dense storage and server compute (CPU and RAM) into a
single platform building block. Each building block delivers a unified, scale-out, shared-nothing
architecture with no single points of failure.
The Nutanix solution requires no SAN constructs, such as LUNs, RAID groups, or expensive
storage switches. All storage management is VM-centric, and I/O is optimized at the VM virtual
disk level. The software solution runs on nodes from a variety of manufacturers that are either
all-flash for optimal performance, or a hybrid combination of SSD and HDD that provides a
combination of performance and additional capacity. The DSF automatically tiers data across the
cluster to different classes of storage devices using intelligent data placement algorithms. For
best performance, algorithms make sure the most frequently used data is available in memory or
in flash on the node local to the VM.
To learn more about the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, please visit the Nutanix Bible and
Nutanix.com.

About Nutanix
Nutanix makes infrastructure invisible, elevating IT to focus on the applications and services that
power their business. The Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS leverages web-scale engineering and
consumer-grade design to natively converge compute, virtualization, and storage into a resilient,
software-defined solution with rich machine intelligence. The result is predictable performance,
cloud-like infrastructure consumption, robust security, and seamless application mobility for a
broad range of enterprise applications. Learn more at www.nutanix.com or follow us on Twitter
@nutanix.

Appendix | 21
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Image Creation from a Migrated Virtual Disk.....................................................9

Figure 2: Xtract Migration Plans......................................................................................10

Figure 3: Xtract Network Mapping...................................................................................11

Figure 4: Xtract Cutover Time Estimates........................................................................ 12

Figure 5: Nutanix Enterprise Cloud................................................................................. 21

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List of Tables
Table 1: Document Version History.................................................................................. 5

23