hyper2kvm

Migration Recipes

Quick, practical recipes for common VM migration scenarios. Copy, customize, and run.

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• Common Scenarios - 10+ real-world migration patterns

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By Source Platform:

• VMware ESXi
• Hyper-V
• AWS/Azure/Cloud

By Guest OS:

• Windows
• Linux
• Database Servers

By Complexity:

• Simple Migrations
• Advanced Migrations

---

Recipe Format

Each recipe follows this structure:

# Recipe Name
# Use Case: Brief description
# Time: Estimated completion time
# Difficulty: ⭐ Easy | ⭐⭐ Moderate | ⭐⭐⭐ Advanced

command: <command-type>
# ... configuration ...

---

Quick Recipes

Recipe 1: Basic VMware to KVM

Use Case: Migrate a single Linux VM from VMware
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: ⭐ Easy

command: local
vmdk: /vmware/centos9-web.vmdk
output_dir: /kvm/vms
to_output: centos9-web.qcow2
out_format: qcow2

# Automatic fixes
fstab_mode: stabilize-all
regen_initramfs: true
update_grub: true
compress: true

Run it:

sudo hyper2kvm --config recipe1.yaml

---

Recipe 2: Windows Server Migration

Use Case: Migrate Windows Server with VirtIO drivers
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: ⭐⭐ Moderate

command: local
vmdk: /vmware/windows-server-2019.vmdk
output_dir: /kvm/vms
to_output: windows-server-2019.qcow2
out_format: qcow2

# Windows-specific settings
windows_drivers: true
fstab_mode: stabilize-all
update_grub: true
compress: true
report: /kvm/vms/migration-report.md

Run it:

sudo hyper2kvm --config recipe2.yaml

---

Recipe 3: Remote Fetch from ESXi

Use Case: Fetch VM directly from ESXi host
Time: 20-30 minutes
Difficulty: ⭐⭐ Moderate

command: fetch-and-fix
host: 192.168.1.100
user: root
identity: ~/.ssh/id_rsa
remote: /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vm/vm.vmdk
output_dir: /kvm/vms
to_output: migrated-vm.qcow2

# Fixes
fstab_mode: stabilize-all
regen_initramfs: true
update_grub: true

Prerequisites:

# Set up SSH key authentication
ssh-copy-id root@192.168.1.100

Run it:

sudo hyper2kvm --config recipe3.yaml

---

Recipe 4: Batch Migration (Multiple VMs)

Use Case: Migrate 10 VMs in parallel
Time: 1-2 hours
Difficulty: ⭐⭐ Moderate

Create batch.yaml:

command: local
batch_manifest: migrations.json
batch_parallel: 3
batch_continue_on_error: true
output_dir: /kvm/batch

Create migrations.json:

{
  "migrations": [
    {"vmdk": "/vmware/vm1.vmdk", "to_output": "vm1.qcow2"},
    {"vmdk": "/vmware/vm2.vmdk", "to_output": "vm2.qcow2"},
    {"vmdk": "/vmware/vm3.vmdk", "to_output": "vm3.qcow2"},
    {"vmdk": "/vmware/vm4.vmdk", "to_output": "vm4.qcow2"},
    {"vmdk": "/vmware/vm5.vmdk", "to_output": "vm5.qcow2"}
  ]
}

Run it:

sudo hyper2kvm --config batch.yaml

---

Recipe 5: OVA Import

Use Case: Import VMware OVA file
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: ⭐ Easy

command: ova
ova: /downloads/exported-vm.ova
output_dir: /kvm/vms
to_output: imported-vm.qcow2
out_format: qcow2

# Fixes
fstab_mode: stabilize-all
regen_initramfs: true
update_grub: true
compress: true

Run it:

sudo hyper2kvm --config recipe5.yaml

---

Recipe 6: Database Server Migration

Use Case: Migrate PostgreSQL/MySQL server
Time: 30-60 minutes
Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ Advanced

command: local
vmdk: /vmware/postgres-server.vmdk
output_dir: /kvm/vms
to_output: postgres-server.qcow2
out_format: qcow2

# Database-safe fixes
fstab_mode: stabilize-all
regen_initramfs: true
update_grub: true

# Performance settings
compress: false  # Don't compress for database VMs
preallocate: true  # Pre-allocate disk for performance

Additional steps:

# 1. Run migration
sudo hyper2kvm --config recipe6.yaml

# 2. Before starting DB, verify data
virsh start postgres-server --paused
# Mount and check database files
virsh resume postgres-server

---

Recipe 7: Windows 10/11 Desktop

Use Case: Migrate Windows desktop VM
Time: 15-20 minutes
Difficulty: ⭐⭐ Moderate

command: local
vmdk: /vmware/windows11-dev.vmdk
output_dir: /kvm/vms
to_output: windows11-dev.qcow2
out_format: qcow2

# Windows desktop settings
windows_drivers: true
fstab_mode: stabilize-all
compress: true

# Keep snapshots if needed
keep_sparse: true

Run it:

sudo hyper2kvm --config recipe7.yaml

---

Recipe 8: Live Fix (No Downtime)

Use Case: Fix bootloader without migration
Time: 5-10 minutes
Difficulty: ⭐⭐ Moderate

command: live-fix
host: 192.168.1.100
user: root
identity: ~/.ssh/id_rsa

# Fixes to apply
fstab_mode: stabilize-all
regen_initramfs: true
update_grub: true

Run it:

sudo hyper2kvm --config recipe8.yaml

---

Recipe 9: RHEL/CentOS with XFS UUID Fix

Use Case: Fix cloned VMware VM with duplicate XFS UUIDs
Time: 10-15 minutes
Difficulty: ⭐⭐ Moderate

command: local
vmdk: /vmware/rhel9-clone.vmdk
output_dir: /kvm/vms
to_output: rhel9-fixed.qcow2
out_format: qcow2

# XFS fixes
xfs_regenerate_uuid: true
fstab_mode: stabilize-all
regen_initramfs: true
update_grub: true
compress: true

Run it:

sudo hyper2kvm --config recipe9.yaml

---

Recipe 10: Multi-Disk VM

Use Case: VM with multiple disks
Time: 20-30 minutes per disk
Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ Advanced

```bash

Migrate each disk separately

sudo hyper2kvm –config « EOF command: local vmdk: /vmware/web-server-disk1.vmdk output_dir: /kvm/vms to_output: web-server-disk1.qcow2 fstab_mode: stabilize-all regen_initramfs: true update_grub: true

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