Published ProxmoxVirtualizationVMwareMigration
In short: before moving from VMware to Proxmox VE, inventory every virtual machine (VM), finish the network and storage design on the Proxmox side, prepare drivers for each operating system, test with non-critical VMs first, and always have a backup and rollback plan.
Why many organizations are considering Proxmox VE
After Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware at the end of 2023, licensing moved to bundled subscriptions and perpetual licenses were discontinued. Many organizations are now reviewing the long-term cost of their virtualization platform.
Proxmox VE is an open-source virtualization platform from Austria. It uses KVM for virtual machines and LXC for containers, offers a web-based management interface, and supports clustering, high availability and built-in Ceph or ZFS storage. It works with Proxmox Backup Server for backups.
1. Inventory your current environment
- List every VM with its operating system, CPU, RAM and disk size
- Rank each VM by importance and note when it can be taken offline
- Map dependencies, such as applications that must move together with their databases
- Identify software licensed to hardware or MAC addresses, which may need new licenses
2. Design networking and storage on Proxmox
- Map existing vSwitches and port groups to Linux bridges, VLANs or Proxmox SDN
- Choose storage to fit the workload, such as Ceph for resilient clusters, or ZFS, NFS or iSCSI depending on your infrastructure
- Plan high availability and enough nodes to tolerate a host failure
3. Prepare virtual machines before moving
- Windows: install the VirtIO drivers and the QEMU Guest Agent
- Linux: confirm VirtIO modules are available (most modern distributions include them)
- Back up every VM before you start and verify that restores actually work
Since version 8.2, Proxmox VE includes a web-based import tool for ESXi virtual machines, which greatly simplifies disk conversion.
4. Test before the real migration
Start with non-critical VMs. Check that they boot, that networking is correct and that applications work normally. Record the actual time taken to plan the migration of critical systems.
5. Migrate and follow up
- Move systems in groups, following their dependencies, at the least disruptive time
- Keep the old environment for a while as a rollback option
- Set up backups with Proxmox Backup Server and configure alerts
How GIST can help
GIST is a Proxmox Authorized Reseller offering end-to-end services: licenses for Proxmox VE, Backup Server and Mail Gateway; virtualization consulting and design; installation, implementation and migration; and after-sales care and support.
Frequently asked questions on this topic
Do I need to pay for a Proxmox VE license?
Proxmox VE is open-source software and all features are available without a license. The subscriptions Proxmox sells provide access to the Enterprise Repository (tested updates) and vendor support, which production environments should have.
How much downtime does a migration require?
Each virtual machine usually needs a short outage while it is moved. The length depends on disk size and the method used. Migrating in planned groups and testing in advance keeps downtime short and scheduled at the least disruptive time.
Do Windows virtual machines need special preparation?
Install the VirtIO drivers and the QEMU Guest Agent so disks and network adapters run at full performance, and remove VMware Tools after the migration.