Move Data from ESXi 5.5 to ESXI 6.7 on different boxes

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pc-tecky

Active Member
May 1, 2013
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While I could run the older ESXi 5.5 box with the cover off, I can't do that so well witth the ESXi 6.7 box (it's the Intel P4216 - the one with 16x 2.5" and virtually zero means for running 3.5" HDDs). Looking for other means, if possible, to transfer data.
 

marcoi

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2013
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Gotha Florida
Can you have both boxes up at the same time and use network to move the data? Not sure if vcenter would let you connect an old and new box together? If not, maybe do a SFTP from thr old host I've to new one?

If not maybe do export of vms from old box then import it into new box
 

whitey

Moderator
Jun 30, 2014
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Could always place on NFS storage, make this NFS export visable to both releases of ESXi, shutdown VM's on source ESXi 5.5, remove from inventory, browse on dest ESXi 6.7 to NFS export, add back to inventory and boot.

Done deal, many ways to skin this cat for sure though, scp/sftp w/ VM's off, ova/ovf export/import as @marcoi suggested, sVMotion if you have proper licensing or VMUG eval, zfs send/recv if you are a ZFS zealot, etc.
 

pc-tecky

Active Member
May 1, 2013
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hmm, foggy brain and my indecision is hampering me, sorry. :( I'm used to the client for 5.5, so 6.7 is very new to me and a fresh install. any method will work. Ideally, a 10Gb connections would be very nice just for this - but I don't have it. Anything more direct is better than indirect. OVA - napp-it? or FreeNAS? I should have both available. Just need to get running.

p.s. - biting the bullet and going to try the All-in-one Napp-it OVA with OmniOS CE

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OK, dumb question, how to get the various NICs as inbound and outbound.. The NIC naming is all over the place. The two onboard NICs are at extremes in the naming.. I have [whitey's] 6-port LAN card installed as well.

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edited the Napp-It configuration, bumped up the CPUs from 1 to 4, the RAM from 3GB up to 32GB, then down to 16GB, 8GB, 4GB, and 3GB... fails due to memory allocation error? or it doesn't like passing through the HBAs?!?

OK, got to have reserved memory for pass-through to work.. VM still not powering on.

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ok, this is not going well... using the LSI 2008 9210-8i HBA cards thaat I got from Whitey.. do I need to update the firmware? tried 6.7 and 6.5U2, VM boots fine without HBA passthrough.. as soon as it's enabled and added, the VM fails to boot, fail to even power up.. one error suggests the PCIPassthoughID is not properly set, another suggestion is that the memory reservation is improperly configured, or locked.. ??
 
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whitey

Moderator
Jun 30, 2014
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Yep, if not on shared storage already and local VMFS datastore get a FreeNAS setup (could even be virtual), move VM's there, easy if sVMotion is available, lil harder if you are essentials. If no licensing for sVMotion then shutdown VM's and move via SCP/SFTP or datastore browser copy/move option to NFS datastore maybe.

To do vt-D passthru you just need to reserve all memory, LSI HBA should have proper enough IT mode firmware already on it, could probably take an update but not a showstopper I'd imagine. Send a screenshot of your passthru ESXi options screen please and we'll take it from there.
 

Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
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And you are sure you can't leave the new box open for an hour or two to attach the 3.5 drives and just add the old datatstore to the new box and then copy locally?
Or how many drives full of VMs are we talking about?
 

pc-tecky

Active Member
May 1, 2013
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Strange stuff.. Can I only pass through one LSI HBA card per VM at a time? Stepped down from 6.7 to 6.5 (all are free/essential). I suppose I could fire up a trail version of vCenter, right? One LSI HBA card is now fully populated with 8x 4TB (shucked Seagates) Z3 (I think? 14.2TB formatted 15.8T raw) using Napp-It. The other card is unpopulated at the moment. About 10 minutes later I edited the VM and removed the second unpopulated LSI HBA card and the VM fired right up.

@Rand_ -- Yeah, the whole idea of having the old ESXi drives sitting haphazardly on metal in the open optical bays, is unsettling and this Intel P4000M chassis just doesn't afford much cable slack in any direction. And with the cover off? haha, yeah right! been there and done that with the cover on - jet engine, full tilt - I cringed! my ears rang! yep, the Natex S2600CP2J special combo deal - took a BIOS and FRU updates to regain the sanity. I just barely have the SSD connected and sitting on the floor of the optical bays (5.25") because the included SATA cables are just that tight.

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Now I do have the each of the Intel expanders, both the 240 and the 360. Are these like the HP expanders so that I dual port (8x vs 4x) into the expander? Christmas wish list would be the 16i or 24i IT mode HBA card. And I really like this $220 24-bay Supermicro 216 chassis and the $550, oh reduced to $525 for a front 24-bay + rear 2-bay Supermicro 216 chassis, BPN-SAS3-216EL1, X10SLL-F, 1x Intel Xeon QC E3-1241 v3, and 32GB (4x 8GB) PC3L-12800E is not bad either.

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A few more questions now.. I have a an Intel 510 120GB SSD, an unopened SanDisk Ultra 512GB Ultra 3D SSD, a SanDisk 480GB Ultra SSD (primary VMFS data storage for Napp-It VM, atm), and a Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD... any of them a good fit ZIL and/or L2ARC? How would you configure them?

Does the VMware ESXi have 10GB/port virtual switch? How do I configure that? how do I know it is running at 10GB/port?

How can I set up a NFS share? or is the SAMBA/CIFS good enough?
 
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