The VMware HCX migration interface provides a set of options that can be used to tailor the behaviors and conditions of the virtual machine before or after the migration operation.
HCX has several types of optional settings for use when migrating virtual machines: Switchover, Virtual Machine, and Extended.
Available options depend on the selected migration type.
Switchover Options
Switchover options are applied during the switchover phase of migration. Except for the Force Power-Off VM setting, which can be set on an individual virtual machine (VM) migration, these options are set globally for a group of selected VMs.
- Force Power-Off VM
-
By default, VMware HCX attempts to shut down the virtual machine guest gracefully during the VMware HCX Bulk migration operation. If the OS interrupts the termination process, the migration operation fails. Checking this option causes VMware HCX to force the power-off.
Virtual Machine Options
The virtual machine (VM) options are available only for individual VM migration.
- Enable Seed Checkpoint
-
In the event a migration is unsuccessful or canceled, Seed Checkpoint retains the target disks created at the target site. Without Seed Checkpoint, the HCX roll back process cleans up the target disks created during the migration and all transferred data is lost.
Note:To continue a migration from the latest seed checkpoint, be sure to select Enable Seed Checkpoint again when you restart the migration. If the Seed Checkpoint option is not selected, the migration starts over again with new target disks in the selected datastore location at the target site.
To use this option, select a specific datastore for migration and not a datastore cluster.
Restarting a Seed Checkpoint migration to a new datastore creates additional target disks on that datastore, and saves new checkpoint information related to that datastore with the virtual machine data in HCX.
After the Seed Checkpoint migration has succeeded, HCX reviews the checkpoint information associated with the virtual machine and cleans up any target disk that might have been created in other datastores.
Extended Options
Extended options customize the characteristics of the migrated virtual machine with out having to manually update the settings after migration. Extended options can be set globally for a group of virtual machines migrations or for an individual virtual machine.
- Retain MAC
-
Causes a virtual machine to keep its current MAC address during VMware HCX bulk migration operation, allowing communications to resume gracefully, and honors MAC-based security policies. This option is selected by default for vMotion and Replication Assisted vMotion migration types and cannot be changed.
- Upgrade Virtual Hardware
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Allows VMware HCX to upgrade virtual machine Hardware to the latest supported version as part of the migration operation, making current virtual machine Hardware features immediately available to the migrated virtual machine.
- Upgrade VMware Tools
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Allows VMware HCX to upgrade VMware Tools to the latest supported version as part of the migration operation, making current VMware Tools features immediately available to bulk migrated virtual machine.
- Deactivate Per Virtual Machine EVC
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vSphere Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) ensures that workloads can be live migrated, using vMotion, between ESXi hosts in a cluster that is running different CPU generations. EVC is a cluster level setting that supports virtual machine mobility within a cluster. For virtual machines implementing per-VM EVC, the EVC mode becomes an attribute of the virtual machine rather than the specific processor generation it happens to be booted on in the cluster. If this option is selected then this virtual machine might not be able to vMotion back to the Source Site.
- Domain Name
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Sets the domain name for the virtual machine at the destination site. This option is available only with Linux virtual machines.
- Personalization Script
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Uploads a customization script to a migrated virtual machine. The script runs before and after guest customization. The customization script cannot exceed 1500 characters.
- Generate a new Security Identifier (SID)
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Generates a new Security Identifier (SID) for the migrated virtual machine. This option is only for Windows virtual machines. Please make sure virtual machine has an active "local administrator" present. If the virtual machine is connected to the domain, it is moved to workgroup, and no DNS suffix is set.
- Resize CPU
-
Changes the number of vCPUs for the migrated virtual machine. For more information about VMware virtual machine vCPU limitations, see the VMware vSphere product documentation.
- Resize Memory
-
Changes the memory size for the migrated virtual machine. For more information about VMware virtual machine memory limitations, see the VMware vSphere product documentation.
- Replicate Security Tag
-
Replicates VMware NSX-V and NSX-T security tags associated with a virtual machine undergoing migration. The security tags are replicated from the source site to the destination site.
- Migrate Custom Attributes
-
Migrates VMware Custom Attributes associated with a virtual machine undergoing migration. The Custom Attributes are replicated from the source site to the destination site.
The following table summarizes the options that apply to each migration type.
Option |
Cold Migration |
vMotion Migration |
Bulk Migration |
Replication Assisted vMotion Migration |
OS Assisted Migration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Force Power-off VM |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
N/A |
Remove Snapshots |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Force Unmount ISO Images |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Seed Checkpoint |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Retain MAC |
No |
Yes (default setting; not selectable) |
Yes |
Yes (default setting; not selectable) |
Yes (default setting; not selectable) |
Upgrade Virtual Hardware |
Yes |
Yes (upgrades on reboot) |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Upgrade VMware Tools |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Deactivate Per-VM EVC |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
N/A |
Hostname |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Domain Name |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Personalization Script |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
DNS Customization |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Generate a new Security Identifier (SID) |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Resize CPU |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Resize Memory |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Replicate Security Tags |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Migrate Custom Attributes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |