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Migrating virtual machines from VMware to Scaleway Instances

Migrating virtual machines from one platform to another can be a complex process, especially when moving from a proprietary environment like VMware to a cloud-based infrastructure like Scaleway. However, with the right tools and a step-by-step approach, you can successfully migrate your VMware virtual machines to Scaleway Instances, taking advantage of the scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness of the cloud.

This guide provides instructions for migrating virtual machines (VMs) from VMware to Scaleway Instances. It covers the migration process for Microsoft Windows (2019 and 2022) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9 VMs, each containing a single volume, to Scaleway’s managed Instances. The migration uses an intermediate Scaleway Instance as a converter, using tools such as virt-v2v to transform VMware disk formats (VMDK) to Scaleway-compatible formats (QCOW2).

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

  • A Scaleway account logged into the console with access to Instances, Block Storage, Object Storage, and optionally Private Networks.
  • VMware environment details (e.g., ESXi or vCenter credentials, VM configurations).
  • VMs configured to boot with UEFI (not Legacy BIOS).
  • SSH key configured for accessing Scaleway Instances.
  • Familiarity with command-line tools, including Scaleway CLI, AWS CLI (for Object Storage), and virt-v2v.
  • Sufficient Block Storage (at least twice the size of the VM to be migrated) on the converter Instance.

Refer to Scaleway’s Instance documentation for details on setting up Instances and related services.

If your virtual machine is running Windows, make sure to install the virtiofs drivers before exporting the VM.

Glossary

TermDefinition
Block StorageScaleway’s persistent storage for Instance disks, used for snapshots and volumes.
HypervisorSoftware that manages virtual machines, such as VMware ESXi or Scaleway’s KVM-based system.
OVA/OVFVirtual machine image formats used by VMware for exporting VMs.
QCOW2Disk image format used by Scaleway’s KVM-based hypervisor, optimized for cloud environments.
QEMU Guest AgentA service enabling communication between the guest OS and Scaleway’s hypervisor for tasks like shutdown or status reporting.
VMDKVMware’s virtual disk image format, which must be converted to QCOW2 for Scaleway.
VMXVMware configuration file specifying VM characteristics (e.g., CPU, RAM, disks, network interfaces).
VirtIO DriversDrivers allowing the guest OS to interact with Scaleway’s block storage and network devices.
virt-v2vA tool from the Libguestfs project for converting VMs between hypervisors, including VMDK to QCOW2 conversion.

Validating VMs to migrate

Review your VMware VMs to ensure compatibility with Scaleway Instances.

  1. Identify VMs:
    • List VMs in your VMware environment via vCenter or ESXi console.
    • Note the operating system (Windows 2019/2022 or RHEL 9).
  2. Check the disk configuration:
    • Record the number, size, and type of disks (e.g., 1x 100 GB VMDK).
    Tip

    For VMs with multiple disks, create individual snapshots and combine them into a single Scaleway image. Refer to the documentation on how to create an image from a snapshot for furher information.

  3. Verify the network configuration:
    • Note the number and type of network interfaces (NICs).
    Tip

    Scaleway supports multiple NICs via Private Networks, configurable post-migration. See Private Networks Quickstart.

  4. Confirm the boot type of the VM:
    • Ensure VMs use UEFI boot (check VMware settings under "Boot Options").
    Important

    Legacy BIOS is not compatible with Scaleway Instances. Convert legacy BIOS VMs to UEFI in VMware if needed (refer to the official VMware documentation for more information).

  5. Match resources to the new Scaleway Instance:

Migration process

Windows VM migration (single volume)

This section outlines the migration of a Windows 2019 or 2022 VM with a single volume to a Scaleway POP2-WIN Instance.

Preparing the converter instance

  1. Create a Scaleway Instance:

    • Image: Ubuntu 24.04 Noble Numbat.
    • Block Storage: At least twice the storage size of the VM to be migrated.
    • SSH Key: Configure an SSH key for access.

  2. Connect to the Instance via SSH.

  3. Install the required migration tools:

    # Update package lists
apt update
apt -y install python3-pip virt-v2v libguestfs-tools unzip
# Download VirtIO drivers for Windows
wget https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/stable-virtio/virtio-win.iso
mkdir -p /usr/share/virtio-win
mount virtio-win.iso /usr/share/virtio-win
# You will see the following message: mount: /usr/share/virtio-win: WARNING: source write-protected, mounted read-only.
curl -L -o - "https://github.com/vmware/govmomi/releases/latest/download/govc_$(uname -s)_$(uname -m).tar.gz" | tar -C /usr/local/bin -xvzf - govc
# Tool used to convert rpm packages:
apt install -y rpm2cpio
# Tool to run applications as Windows service
wget -nd -O srvany.rpm https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org//packages/mingw-srvany/1.1/4.fc38/noarch/mingw32-srvany-1.1-4.fc38.noarch.rpm
rpm2cpio srvany.rpm | cpio -idmv \
   && mkdir /usr/share/virt-tools \
   && mv ./usr/i686-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/bin/*exe /usr/share/virt-tools/
# Scaleway CLI :
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/scaleway/scaleway-cli/master/scripts/get.sh | sh
# AWS CLI for uploading to S3 :
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip
sudo ./aws/install
rm -rf aws awscliv2.zip

  4. Configure credentials:

    • Scaleway CLI: Run scw init and follow the prompts.
    • AWS CLI for Object Storage: Refer to Using Object Storage with the AWS-CLI.
    • Adjust the multipart_chunksize in ~/.aws/config for large file uploads (e.g., VM images).

  5. Optional: Configure govc for VMware (if downloading images directly):

    export GOVC_PASSWORD=<VMware_password>
export GOVC_USERNAME=root
export GOVC_INSECURE=1
export GOVC_URL=<VMware_host>

    Example:

    export GOVC_PASSWORD=<my_secret_password>
export GOVC_USERNAME=root
export GOVC_INSECURE=1
export GOVC_URL=195.154.xxx.yyy #A public IP of a VMWare ESXI server

  6. Create an Object Storage bucket to store the converted images.

Preparing the Windows VM in VMware

  1. Optional: Configure serial console output (for viewing boot sequences in Scaleway’s console):

    In PowerShell (on the Windows VM):

    bcdedit /ems '{current}' on
bcdedit /emssettings EMSPORT:1 EMSBAUDRATE:115200

    In the Adminstrator command prompt:

    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} timeout 10
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} bootems yes
shutdown -r -t 0

    Refer to Microsoft’s serial console documentation.

  2. Apply the required modifications (if possible in VMware):

    In PowerShell (on the Windows VM):

    Install-Module -Force powershell-yaml
schtasks /create /SC ONSTART /RU System /RP "" /TN set_static_ip /TR "powershell c:\Scaleway\set_if.ps1"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" -Name "fDenyTSConnections" -Value 0
Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Remote Desktop"
Register-PSRepository -Name NuGet -SourceLocation https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json -PublishLocation https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json -InstallationPolicy Trusted
Register-PSRepository -Name NuGetv2 -SourceLocation https://www.nuget.org/api/v2 -PublishLocation https://www.nuget.org/api/v2 -InstallationPolicy Trusted
Install-Module -Force ScalewayEcosystem
    Tip

    If it is not possible to modify the VM using VMware, you can do this setup at a later stage of the procedure.

    Download and place the set_if.ps1 script in C:\Scaleway\ on the VM. This script configures static IP addresses to address DHCP limitations in Windows with /32 subnets. The script is available in Scaleway’s migration repository.

Converting the VM on the converter Instance

  1. Export or upload the VM image:

    • Export from VMware:

      govc export.ovf -vm <VM_NAME> .

    • Or manually upload the .ova or .vmdk file to the converter Instance (e.g., using scp).

  2. Extract and convert the image:

    • If using an .ova file:

      mkdir vmware-to-migrate
cd vmware-to-migrate
tar xf <VM_NAME>.ova
mv <VM_NAME>-disk1.vmdk vmware-to-migrate-1.vmdk
cd ..

    • Convert the .vmdk to .qcow2:

      # Convert VMDK to QCOW2 format for Scaleway compatibility
qemu-img convert -p -Oqcow2 vmware-to-migrate/vmware-to-migrate-1.vmdk vmware-to-migrate/vmware-to-migrate.qcow2
# Create output directory
mkdir out
# Run virt-v2v to install VirtIO drivers and prepare the image
virt-v2v -i disk vmware-to-migrate/vmware-to-migrate.qcow2 -block-driver virtio-scsi -o qemu -os ./out

  3. Upload and apply the static IP script:

    • Upload set_if.ps1 to the converter Instance (e.g., via scp).

    • Copy the script to the VM image:

      guestfish -a out/vmware-to-migrate-sda -i << EOF
mkdir /Scaleway
upload set_if.ps1 /Scaleway/set_if.ps1
EOF

  4. Apply additional configurations:

    • Create a script-init.ps1 file on the converter Instance:

      Install-Module -Force powershell-yaml
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" -Name "fDenyTSConnections" -Value 0
Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Remote Desktop"
Register-PSRepository -Name NuGet -SourceLocation https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json -PublishLocation https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json -InstallationPolicy Trusted
Register-PSRepository -Name NuGetv2 -SourceLocation https://www.nuget.org/api/v2 -PublishLocation https://www.nuget.org/api/v2 -InstallationPolicy Trusted
Install-Module -Force ScalewayEcosystem
schtasks /create /SC ONSTART /RU System /RP "" /TN set_static_ip /TR "powershell c:\Scaleway\set_if.ps1"

    • Upload it to the VM image:

      guestfish -a out/vmware-to-migrate-sda -i << EOF
upload script-init.ps1 /Scaleway/script-init.ps1
EOF

  5. Optional: Verify the QEMU Guest Agent and remove VMware Tools:

    • Launch the VM locally on the converter Instance using noVNC:

      git clone https://github.com/novnc/noVNC.git && cd noVNC
pip3 install websockify --break-system-packages
utils/novnc_proxy --vnc localhost:5901 --listen 6080 &

    • Edit out/vmware-to-migrate.sh, replacing -display gtk with:

      -vnc :1,websocket=5700,password=off

    • Add CPU and RAM:

      -m 16384 -smp 8
      Important

      Ensure that the RAM and CPU values you choose do not exceed the available resources of the converter instance.

    • Start the VM:

      ./out/vmware-to-migrate.sh

    • With the internet browser of your computer, access the VM at http://<converter_instance_public_ip>:6080/vnc.html.

    • Verify the QEMU Guest Agent is installed (check C:\ for the package). If missing, install it manually.

    • Remove VMware Tools if not already done.

Tip
  • Sometimes, the migration script fails to install the QEMU Guest agent. Verify if the agent is correctly installed :
  • If the QEMU guest agent does not appear in the list, install it manually. The package is present at the top of the C:\ drive

Creating snapshot, Block Volume, and Instance

Important

If you could not run the the powershell script (script-init.ps1) before, you must run it now.

  1. Convert and Upload the image:

    # Convert final image to QCOW2
qemu-img convert -p -Oqcow2 out/vmware-to-migrate-sda out/vmware-to-migrate.qcow2
# Upload to Object Storage
aws s3 cp out/vmware-to-migrate.qcow2 s3://<bucket_name>/vmware-to-migrate.qcow2

  2. Import as a snapshot:

    scw block snapshot import-from-object-storage bucket=<bucket_name> key=vmware-to-migrate.qcow2 name=vmware-to-migrate

  3. Create a POP2-WIN Instance:

    scw instance server create name=windows-vm image=none root-volume=sbs:<snapshot_uuid> type=POP2-8C-32G-WIN admin-password-encryption-ssh-key-id=<ssh_key_uuid>

  4. Generate RDP credentials:

    scw instance server get-rdp-password <server_uuid> key=~/.ssh/<private_key_path>
Troubleshooting
  • If the RDP connection fails, configure a Private Network with a Public Gateway (NAT on port 3389).
  • Enable DHCP in Windows for Private Network connectivity.
  • Reconfigure Windows users if necessary.

Optional: Private Network configuration

To connect the Instance to a Private Network:

scw instance private-nic create server-id=<server_uuid> private-network-id=<private_network_uuid> ipam-ip-ids.0=<ipam_ip_uuid>

Refer to Scaleway Private Networks quickstart.

RHEL 9 VM Migration (single volume)

This section outlines the migration of an RHEL 9 VM with a single volume to a Scaleway Instance.

Preparing the converter Instance

  1. Create a Scaleway Instance:

    • Image: CentOS 9.
    • Block Storage: At least twice the storage size of the VM to be migrated.
    • SSH Key: Configure an SSH key for access.

  2. Connect to the Instance via SSH.

  3. Install migration tools:

    # Install unzip, Scaleway CLI and AWS CLI
yum install unzip
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/scaleway/scaleway-cli/master/scripts/get.sh | sh
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip
sudo ./aws/install
rm -rf aws awscliv2.zip
# Install conversion tools
yum install python3-libguestfs virt-v2v

  4. Configure credentials:

  5. Download migration scripts from Scaleway's public GitHub repository:

    git clone https://github.com/scaleway/migration-tools

  6. Create an Object Storage bucket.

Converting the VM on the converter Instance

  1. Upload or export the VM image:

    • Use govc (as shown in the Windows section) or upload the .ova/.vmdk file manually.

  2. Extract the .ova file (if applicable):

    tar xf <VM_NAME>.ova

  3. Run migration scripts:

    cd migration-scw-rhel
chmod +x create_bases.sh migrate_centos.sh
./create_bases.sh
./migrate_centos.sh <source_vmdk_or_qcow2> <output_qcow2>

    Example:

    ./migrate_centos.sh ../povrhel9_scaleway-disk1.vmdk povrhel9_scaleway.qcow2

Creating snapshot, Block Volume, and Instance

  1. Upload the image:

    aws s3 cp povrhel9_scaleway.qcow2 s3://<bucket_name>/povrhel9_scaleway.qcow2

  2. Import as a snapshot:

    scw block snapshot import-from-object-storage bucket=<bucket_name> key=povrhel9_scaleway.qcow2 name=rhel9-vm

  3. Create an Instance:

    scw instance server create name=rhel9-vm image=none root-volume=sbs:<snapshot_uuid> type=POP2-8C-32G admin-password-encryption-ssh-key-id=<ssh_key_uuid>

Handling multiple snapshots

If the VM has multiple snapshots:

  1. Check the VMware .vmx file for the scsi0:0.fileName line to identify the root volume and boot order.

  2. Create an image with multiple volumes:

    scw instance image create snapshot-id=<root_snapshot_uuid> additional-volumes.0.id=<additional_snapshot_uuid> arch=x86_64

  3. Create the Instance:

    scw instance server create image=<image_uuid> type=<commercial_type>

Refer to Scaleway CLI Documentation.

Additional tips

  • Uploading an OVA to ESXi:

    govc import.ova <image_name>.ova

  • ESXi Console: If you do not succeed to enable copy-paste on the ESXI console, use RDP or SSH for easier interaction.

  • Verifying migration: After migration, verify that the QEMU Guest Agent is installed and VMware Tools are removed. Re-run migration scripts or manual steps if necessary.

  • Private Network configuration: For enhanced security, configure Private Networks and use a Public Gateway for external access.

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