Migration Modes

There are multiple ways you can migrate NSX-V to NSX.

The following standard migration modes are available:

Migrate NSX for vSphere

Fixed Topology
Fixed topology migration is limited to the topologies supported in Fixed Topologies Supported for End-to-End Migration.
User-defined Topology
User-defined topologies allow migrating any topology from NSX-V. You create the layer-3 topology on NSX and maps the NSX-V Edge Services Gateways (ESGs) and Distributed Logical Routers (DLRs) to NSX tier-0 or tier-1 gateways.
The following modes are available when you choose user-defined topology:
- Complete Migration
- Configuration Migration
- (Starting with NSX 4.0.1.1) Configuration and Edge Migration

The folowing screen shows the migration modes that are available when you select NSX for vSphere:

The folowing screen shows the migration modes that are available when you select User-defined Topology:

Available migration modes for user-defined topology

The following table shows the type of migration for each mode:

Mode	Migration Type
Fixed Topology	End-to-end
User-defined Topology + Complete Migration	End-to-end
User-defined Topology + Configuration Migration	Lift-and-shift
User-defined Topology + Configuration and Edge Migration	Lift-and-shift. Supports HCX for workload migration.

An end-to-end migration migrates the whole NSX-V environment. A lift-and-shift migration migrates configurations (and the Edges, if you choose the Configuration and Edge Migration mode). For more information, see "Migrating a User-Defined Topology" below.

In NSX 4.0.0.1, load balancer is not supported in a lift-and-shift migration. You must remove the load balancer configuration from all ESGs before starting the migration.

Starting with NSX 4.0.1.1, load balancer is supported in a lift-and-shift migration for single-site and cross-VC environments. The NSX-V load balancer will be migrated to an NSX load balancer.

Migrate vSphere Networking
In this mode, you migrate vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) 6.5.0 and 6.6.0 to NSX Virtual Distributed Switch (N-VDS). For more information, see Migrating vSphere Networking.
Migrate NSX for vSphere with vRealize Automation
Similar to the "Migrate NSX for vSphere" mode, you can select Fixed Topology or User Defined Topology. Before migrating a user-defined topology, you must check the vRealize Automation documentation to ensure that your version of vRealize Automation supports the migration of a user-defined topology. For more information about this migration mode, see Migrating NSX-V with vRealize Automation - Fixed Topology or Migrating NSX-V with vRealize Automation - User-Defined Topology.

The following advanced migration modes are available:

Migrate Edge Cutover
In this mode, north-south traffic is migrated from NSX-V to NSX. For more information, see Migrating North-South Traffic to NSX Edges Using Edge Cutover.
Migrate Distributed Firewall (DFW)
In this mode, you do a lift-and-shift migration of the distributed firewall. For more information, see Migrating Distributed Firewall Configuration.
Migrate Distributed Firewall, Host and Workload
In this mode, you do an in-place migration of the distributed firewall, hosts, and workload VMs. For more information, see In-Place Migration of Specific Parts of NSX-V.

Note: If ESGs are present in the NSX-V environment, it is recommended that you choose the "Migrate NSX for vSphere" mode (or the "Migrate NSX for vSphere with vRealize Automation" mode if appropriate). This is the optimal way to migrate topologies with ESGs. When you choose the "NSX for vSphere" migration mode, you can still do a lift-and-shift migration if you choose "User-Defined Topology + Configuration Migration" or "User-defined Topology + Configuration and Edge Migration."

Important: If the migration mode involves the migration of ESXi hosts, note the following:

During the migration or before removing NSX-V, do not perform any lifecycle operation, or restart NSX-V Manager or vCenter server. Lifecycle operations include, but are not limited to, upgrading or patching vCenter server, NSX-V Manager or NSX, renewing certificates, or changing passwords.
NSX-V should be removed as soon as possible after the migration has completed successfully.
If you need to perform lifecycle operations, you must do so before the start of the migration.

Important: For all migration modes, you must run the migration from a single NSX Manager node. If you have an NSX Manager cluster, start the migration-coordinator service on only one NSX Manager and always access that NSX Manager's UI using its IP address or host name. Do not use the manager cluster's virtual IP (VIP).

Migrating a User-Defined Topology

In the Migrate NSX for vSphere mode, if you choose User Defined Topology, you have the following options:

Complete Migration - This will migrate everything (configurations, Edge Services Gateways, Distributed Logical Routers, hosts and workloads) in place without the need for additional hosts. The NSX-V load balancer will be migrated to an NSX load balancer.
Configuration Migration - This will migrate configurations only. After the migration, you can create a bridge between NSX-V and NSX, and perform a north-south traffic cutover from NSX-V to NSX. Then you can migrate the workload VMs.
In NSX 4.0.0.1, load balancer is not supported in this migration mode. You must remove the load balancer configuration from all ESGs before starting the migration. Starting with NSX 4.0.1.1, load balancer is supported. The NSX-V load balancer will be migrated to an NSX load balancer.
Configuration and Edge Migration (starting with NSX 4.0.1.1) - This will migrate configurations, bridge the NSX-V logical switches to their corresponding NSX segments, and migrate Edge nodes for north-south traffic cutover. You can migrate workload VMs after the Edge nodes are migrated. This mode supports the HCX V2T Migration Workload Mobility capability.

Migrating a Cross-vCenter Environment to NSX Federation

You can migrate an NSX-V cross-vCenter environment to an NSX Federation environment in NSX. You must perform the migration from the Global Manager, choose the Migrate NSX for vSphere mode and select User Defined Topology. You can then choose either Complete Migration or Configuration Migration. Migrating a cross-vCenter environment to NSX Federation is not supported in any other migration mode.

In the Configuration Migration mode, in NSX 4.0.0.1, load balancer is not supported. You must remove the load balancer configuration from all ESGs before starting the migration. Starting with NSX 4.0.1.1, load balancer is supported. The NSX-V load balancer will be migrated to an NSX load balancer.