3 Ways to Convert VMware to Hyper-V
FFHere you will find out:
- how to convert VMware VM to Hyper-V
- what you need to do at first
- when DiskInternals can help you
Are you ready? Let's read!
About conversion from VMware to Hyper-V
The need to convert VMware to Hyper-V is not as rare as you might think.
For example, this procedure is required when you have a multi-hypervisor environment. Also, converting VMware 1 to Hyper-V is appropriate for application testing, and many more. These two visualization platforms have quite large differences, so you need to know the nuances of converting VMware off to Hyper-V. This article was created specifically for such clarifications. Discover the difference between Hyper-V and VMware!
3 ways of converting VMware to Hyper-V
So, here are three completely different ways to convert VMware to Hyper-V:
- 1. Free GUI application for converting VMware ESXi virtual machines to Hyper-V virtual machines: Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter(MVMC). Using MVMC you can convert VM to Azure or Hyper-V.
- 2. PowerShell for converting VMware Workstation and VMware ESXi virtual machines: it can be used when you have virtual disk files, but not all virtual machine files.
- 3. Paid System Center Virtual Machine Manager: it provides centralized management of Hyper-V and VMware environments with additional functionality.
Note! You need to do that before the migration
You need to know the following information before converting VMware to Hyper-V.
- All optional virtual devices and virtual CD must be removed beforehand. You can re-add them later, but now they can provoke additional failures.
- Free up extra space by deleting all unnecessary information, including rarely used programs. This action will give you more free time.
- If you have unnecessary snapshots, be sure to delete them. The likelihood of errors will be significantly reduced.
- Get rid of VMware Tools before online conversion. This will provide a clean way to migrate VMware-based virtual machines to Hyper-V. This is not done offline; it must be done manually.
MVMC takes a snapshot of the converted virtual machine before uninstalling VMware Tools.
Then the source computer is turned on. The computer may be turned on during the conversion. Yet, the Virtual Machine is restored to its previous state after the original disks have been successfully copied to the machine where the conversion is in progress.
Detailed information about VMware to Hyper-V conversion
Here are some good enough methods:
- 1. Using the MS converter.
First, you need to download the MVMC converter from the Microsoft website and install it using the Wizard (to download, you will need the .msi installation file and the .doc file describing the Windows PowerShell cmdlets).
Now, open the application, and you will notice the Before You Begin section - read it and click Next. Trust the Wizard and follow his recommendations to convert VMware to Hyper-V.
- 2. Using PowerShell.
If you only have VMware VM virtual disks, or if you have VM for VMware Workstation, the previous method and its GUI cannot be used.
In this case, you can simply add the converter module (in the directory where Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter is installed) to the current PowerShell session. In PowerShell, enter:
Import module "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter\MvmcCmdlet.psd1"
If the converter is installed in a different directory, then change the path accordingly.
- 3.1 Using ESXi.
To do this, copy the virtual disk files from the ESXi host datastore to the computer with the Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter installed using the VMware vSphere client or any SCP client.
- 3.2 How to do this using the VMware vSphere client:
Using the vSphere client, log into your vCenter and go to the Storage tab. Here, select the datastore, virtual machine directory, and virtual disk to convert. Then click "Download" and save the zip archive with the .vmdk and -flat.vmdk files on the computer with MVMC installed. If you look in the VMware vSphere client and VMware Host client web interface, you will see only one VMDK file. There are actually two files in the datastore (.vmdk and -flat.vmdk).
If VMware VMDK files are lost or deleted
DiskInternals VMFS Recovery professionally and automatically recovers VMDK files that have been damaged or deleted for any reason. Within a few minutes, the application checks the current state of VMFS datastores, disks, and volumes. Next, all possible files are restored, and the subsequent integrity check of the recovered data is completely free for customers. Then a decision is made to purchase a data export license.
Check out how the application works:
After downloading and installing the DiskInternals VMFS Recovery application on your computer, you can start recovering VMDK files.
First, connect via SSH or skip this step.
The next step is to open the drive (it could be SSH or a local drive).
Then finish scanning and find the files.
Mount them.
Left-click on this mounted VMDK file and browse the files (free).
Purchasing a license agreement and exporting files will be the final step. Good luck!