Migrating ESXi 5.5 VMs to KVM


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Now that unRAID v6 seems pretty stable, I am going to jump in with both feet.  Currently my base OS is ESXi 5.5.  I have 8 VMs...one of them being unRAID 5.05.

 

What is my best strategy?  Is there a competent migration tool that I can use to take my VMs from ESXi to KVM?  Am I better off just starting from scratch and rebuilding each VM?

 

Also, as far a "use cases", which of the VMs listed below would be better suited for Docker and which for KVM:

 

unRAID - moving to host OS

Leecher - Ubuntu 14.04 Server - Sickbeard, uTorrent Server

HTPC Family Room - Windows 8.1 - XBMC Gotham 3.2

HTPC Living Room - Windows 8.1 - XBMC Gotham 3.2

HTPC Bedroom - Windows 8.1 - XBMC Gotham 3.2

TVPVR - Windows 7 - ServerWMC (testing Media Browser Server)

Webserver - Ubuntu 14.04 Server - Apache

XBMC Shared Library - Ubuntu 14.04 Server

 

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated!

 

John

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Should be. Linux VMs are easier to migrate than windows just by the sheer nature of the openness of Linux.  That said, Windows should work too.  What I would recommend is this:

 

For any headless Linux applications like media servers, content managers, or the like, search for their docker equivalents first.  Everything else belongs in a VM.  In addition, before running through the process to convert your VMs, back them up.  V2V (virtual to virtual) conversions should work just fine, but I'll confess I've never done this with VMware to KVM before...

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First, a technical nit ...

Currently my base OS is ESXi 5.5.

... ESXi is not an operating system => it's a hypervisor that provides a virtualization host for operating systems.

 

Now, just out of curiosity, what is the motivation for switching away from ESXi as a virtualization host?  I agree v6 seems like an excellent platform to host VMs, but the old "if it ain't broke, don't fit it" adage comes to mind ... are there things that are "broke" in the ESXi VM's you're using?

 

I guess my view is that if you have everything working well in a Type 1 hypervisor (ESXi), why would you want to move to a Type 2 (hosted) hypervisor like KVM?    There is one clear advantage -- the KVM host is also running UnRAID natively, which allows more flexibility in the UnRAID configuration.  But all of your other VM's aren't likely to benefit from moving from a type 1 to a type 2 hypervisor.

 

On the other hand, you have a VERY robust hardware configuration, so any minor overhead added by using a type 2 hypervisor isn't likely to be noticeable in actual daily use.    I'm more interested in whether you're doing this "just because" or if there are issues with the VM's in ESXi that you're trying to resolve.

 

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I really have numerous reasons for wanting to migrate to KVM...

 

#1 is probably the roadblocks I have run into when trying to passthrough a Radeon card to Ubuntu desktop or server.  This is the reason I am running XBMC on top of Windows 8.1 and HATE it.  I very much prefer more of an appliance experience when it comes to my HTPCs.  From what Jonp is saying, OpenELEC will be an option in the unRAID/KVM world.

 

Secondly, I could then retire the dedicated WIN2K8 (vCenter) box that I have to have to manage patching ESXi.  What a PITA.

 

Next...I love the strides that Tom/Jon have made with giving VMs direct access to the host HW (virtio, etc.).  I think how nice would it be to cut out the middle man (NFS/SMB) on my HTPCs.

 

At the end of the day I really like the idea of unRAID sitting below everything else.  It just makes sense to me.  Add on the fact that I can now retire an extra box and move away from Windows platforms to Linux will just help save on resources.

 

John

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Good rationale => especially the video pass-through issue.    From your initial description it simply seemed like you had everything "tweaked" the way you liked it ... clearly that's not the case.

 

I agree that v6 running on that very robust hardware platform should easily let you do everything on a single box.      Dual Xeons with 48GB of buffered RAM has to be one of the more robust UnRAID systems out there !!

 

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Good rationale => especially the video pass-through issue.    From your initial description it simply seemed like you had everything "tweaked" the way you liked it ... clearly that's not the case.

 

I agree that v6 running on that very robust hardware platform should easily let you do everything on a single box.      Dual Xeons with 48GB of buffered RAM has to be one of the more robust UnRAID systems out there !!

I thought my over clocked system with 32gb was going to be a contender but he's already got me beat!

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  • 11 months later...

... Is this the same link.

 

:) :)  An interesting question -- requires a bit of psychic power to answer, since the old link isn't working !!

 

HOWEVER ... I can safely say Yes, I'm sure it is  8)

 

Not due to any psychic power -- but because (a) it's the same subject; and (b) the author of the link you posted is Paul Czarkowski ... and if you look at the dead link, it's to a blog by "paulcz" => a coincidence I think is VERY unlikely unless it's the same article  :)

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... Is this the same link.

 

:) :)  An interesting question -- requires a bit of psychic power to answer, since the old link isn't working !!

 

HOWEVER ... I can safely say Yes, I'm sure it is  8)

 

Not due to any psychic power -- but because (a) it's the same subject; and (b) the author of the link you posted is Paul Czarkowski ... and if you look at the dead link, it's to a blog by "paulcz" => a coincidence I think is VERY unlikely unless it's the same article  :)

 

 

heh, I 'guessed' the same.

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