Migrating VMware virtual machines to Scaleway Instances

Migrating virtual machines from one platform to another can be a complex process, especially when moving from a proprietary environment like VMware to a cloud-based infrastructure like Scaleway. However, with the right tools and a step-by-step approach, you can successfully migrate your VMware virtual machines to Scaleway Instances, taking advantage of the scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness of the cloud.

This guide will walk you through the process of migrating your VMware virtual machines to Scaleway Instances, covering everything from preparing your Scaleway Instance to managing the migration, converting VMDK files to QCOW2, uploading the QCOW2 image to Scaleway Object Storage, and finally, creating an image from the imported volume and booting an instance with the image. By following these steps, you’ll be able to seamlessly migrate your VMware virtual machines to Scaleway Instances, ensuring minimal downtime and optimal performance.

Validating the inventory of machines to migrateLink to this anchor

Identify the virtual machines (VMs) to migrate on your VMware platform:

• Disk configuration (number, size, type)
  Tip

  If multiple disks are present, follow the same steps to create individual snapshots and then combine them into a single Scaleway image. For more detailed instructions on creating an image from multiple volumes, refer to documentation on

  how to create an image from a snapshot.

• Network configuration (number of NICs, type)
  Tip

  If multiple NICs are needed, several Private Networks can be added to the Instance later.

• Boot type (BIOS or UEFI)
  Important

  Only UEFI boot is compatible with Scaleway Instances

Preparing a Scaleway Instance to manage the migrationLink to this anchor

1. Create a new Instance (running Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 12) to handle the migration and log into itusing SSH.

2. Install the following CLI tools, required for the migration of your virtual machine:

   • qemu-img — for converting VMDK to QCOW2

     apt install qemu-utils
     

   • scw — for Scaleway operations

     curl -s https://raw.usercontent.com/scaleway/scaleway-cli/master/scripts/get.sh | sh
     

   • aws — for uploading to S3

     curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
     unzip awscliv2.zip
     sudo ./aws/install
     

   • govmomi — for interacting with vCenter

     curl -L -o - "https://.com/vmware/govmomi/releases/latest/download/govc_$(uname -s)_$(uname -m).tar.gz" | tar -C /usr/local/bin -xvzf - govc
     

3. Configure credentials for the tools:

   • For Scaleway: scw init
   • For AWS/S3: Refer toUsing Object Storage with the AWS-CLI
   • For vCenter: credentials and VPN (if needed):

     export GOVC_PASSWORD=<VMware password>
     export GOVC_USERNAME=root
     export GOVC_INSECURE=1
     export GOVC_URL=<VMware host>
     

Downloading VMDK files using govmomiLink to this anchor

Download the VMDK file from vCenter:

govc export.ovf -vm <vm_name> /path/to/image

Converting the VMDK file to QCOW2Link to this anchor

Convert the downloaded VMDK file to QCOW2 using qemu-img:

qemu-img convert -O qcow2 <vm_name>.vmdk <vm_name>.qcow2

(Optional): Mounting the QCOW2 file and system configurationLink to this anchor

1. Mount the QCOW2 image on your Instance:

modprobe nbd
qemu-nbd -c /dev/nbd0 <vm_name>.qcow2

Make any changes (e.g., install cloud-init, scaleway-ecosystem, add VirtIO drivers, remove VMware tools).

2. Unmount the file:

qemu-nbd -d /dev/nbd0

Uploading the QCOW2 image to Scaleway Object StorageLink to this anchor

Upload the converted disk:

aws s3 cp <vm_name>.qcow2 s3://<bucket_name>/

Importing the QCOW2 image from Object Storage into Scaleway as a SBS snaphotLink to this anchor

1. Import the image into a new snapshot:

scw block snapshot import-from-object-storage bucket=<my_bucket> key=<my-qcow2-file-name.qcow2> name=<my-imported-snapshot> size=<size-in-GB>

2 . Create a Scaleway image from the snapshot:

scw instance image create snapshot-id=<snapshot-uuid> arch=x86_64

scw instance image create snapshot-id="$SCW_VOLUME_ID_1" additional-volumes.0.id="$SCW_VOLUME_ID_2" arch="x86_64"

3. Create the server from the image:

scw instance server create image=<image-uuid> type=<commercial-type>

Adding private NICs to the Instance (otional)Link to this anchor

Create a private NIC for the Instance, allowing it to connect to an

scw instance private-nic create server-id=<server-uuid> private-network-id=<private-network-uuid> ipam-ip-ids.{0}=<ipam-ip-uuid>