VMware to HPE VM Essentials migration
Moov migrates virtual machines to HPE VM Essentials using Veeam Backup & Replication V13 restore points as the source. VMs land on MVM nodes and the Morpheus agent is installed in the guest after the pivot, so the VM ends up registered in the platform with no manual steps. The source vSphere environment takes no part at any point.
Download the appliance
- Proxmox VE8.x / 9.x
- oVirt / OLVM4.5+
- HPE VM EssentialsMorpheus 8.1.x · 9.0.x
Prerequisites
Both branches are supported. The version is reported by the VM Essentials console itself and is worth confirming before registering the target, because the API changes between major branches.
Migrated VMs are placed on MVM nodes. The chosen node needs space for the wave disks, plus the helper resources (8 vCPU, 16 GB of RAM and 50 GB of disk with the defaults).
The target wizard bootstraps credentials automatically. The account you use must be able to create instances and attach disks in the corresponding MVM cloud.
The Morpheus agent is installed post-pivot through the QEMU Guest Agent guest-exec. The migrated VM needs to reach the Morpheus appliance to complete registration.
Migration steps
The full run, from a freshly deployed appliance to the first VM running on HPE VM Essentials.
- 01Connect the Veeam server
Under Connections → Veeam, add your Veeam Backup & Replication V13 server. Moov uses the REST API to inventory and the Data Integration API to publish disks without modifying the backup.
- 02Add HPE VM Essentials as a target
Under Connections → Targets, pick HPE VM Essentials and enter the manager address and credentials. The wizard validates access and discovers the available MVM nodes.
- 03Deploy a helper on an MVM node
The helper runs as a VM inside HPE VM Essentials itself and registers with the Core over mutual TLS using a single-use token. It is disposable: it is removed when the wave finishes.
- 04Run preflight
The Pre-flight Inspector classifies each VM in the Veeam catalog by operating system, disks and VirtIO readiness, and estimates the capacity needed on the target node.
- 05Pick a mode and plan the wave
HPE VM Essentials supports both modes. Instant VM Migration boots the VM from the backup in under 60 seconds and pivots to node storage. Cold Migration copies the disks and leaves the VM powered off for your own window.
- 06Launch, verify and register
You follow per-disk progress in the console. Once the pivot completes, Moov installs the Morpheus agent inside the guest through guest-exec, so the VM ends up managed by the platform with no manual intervention.
What happens to the guest operating system
The customize stage runs offline against the mounted disk before boot and adapts the guest to KVM. On this target there is an additional step after the pivot, which is the agent installation.
- VirtIO drivers (vioscsi and viostor) are injected into Windows and Linux guests, which enables the virtio-scsi bus.
- VMware Tools are uninstalled so they do not compete with the KVM drivers and agent.
- The QEMU Guest Agent is prepared, which beyond confirming the VM is alive is the channel through which the Morpheus agent gets installed.
- Static IPs are reapplied according to each NIC PCI slot, including Windows guests with several interfaces.
- The Morpheus agent is installed after the pivot, not before, so it registers the VM already running on its final storage.
Known limits
- The source must be a VM image backup in Veeam B&R V13. Agent and application backups are out of scope.
- Agent installation depends on the QEMU Guest Agent. A guest where QGA does not respond ends up migrated and running, but not registered in Morpheus.
- Core and helpers must be on the same version: since v1.0.38 the Core refuses work from older helpers.
- Concurrent capacity per helper is set by its CPU and RAM, roughly 1 vCPU and 2 GiB per in-flight VM.