Migration VMware to OpenStack with vJailbreak

vJailbreak is an open-source tool featuring a user-friendly interface designed to simplify and accelerate the migration of virtual machines (VMs) from VMware vSphere environments to any OpenStack-compliant cloud. It eliminates the complexities of cross-platform VM migration, enabling you to modernize your infrastructure with minimal disruption and a streamlined, visual workflow.

vJailbreak by Platform9

Key Features of vJailbreak by Platform9:

• Intuitive User Interface: Manage the entire migration process through a clear, easy-to-use graphical interface — no command-line expertise required.
• Seamless vCenter Integration: Easily connect to your VMware vCenter to manage and migrate VMs.
• Effortless VM Selection: Select the virtual machines you wish to migrate with just a few clicks.
• Automated Disk Conversion: VM disks are automatically converted from vmdk to qcow2 format.
• Driver and Device Installation: Necessary virtual devices and drivers are installed to ensure smooth operation post-migration.
• Post-Migration Health Checks: Comprehensive health checks are performed to verify the success of the migration and the operational status of the VMs in the new environment.

vJailbreak migration process flow

vJailbreak’s intuitive interface leverages the OpenStack & VMware SDKs to interact directly with both your VMware vSphere environment and your target OpenStack cloud. The UI guides you through these key steps:

1. Connection Setup: Easily configure connections to your source VMware vSphere environment and your target OpenStack cloud.
2. VM Selection: Select the VMs you wish to migrate from your vSphere environment.
3. Migration Planning: Configure migration settings, such as target storage and network configurations, through interactive forms.
4. Migration Execution: Initiate and monitor the migration process with real-time progress updates.
5. Post-Migration Validation: Verify the successful migration and launch of your VMs in OpenStack.

* Prerequisites:

• Existing VMware environment as source migration environment
• Existing OpenStack Cluster as destination migration environment
• Ensure that your vJailbreak VM can communicate with your OpenStack and VMware environments. This includes any setup required for VPNs, etc
• Credential VMware account with the required permissions
• Credential and access to OpenStack API
• Enable Changed Block Tracking (CBT) on virtual machines
• Installed VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) 8.0 for Linux

*Getting Started

Download and install ORAS. Then, download the latest version of the vJailbreak image with the following command:

oras pull quay.io/platform9/vjailbreak:v0.1.8

Download vJailbreak image via ORAS

This will download the vJailbreak qcow2 folder containing the image locally in the current directory named vjailbreak_qcow2/vjailbreak-image.qcow2.

vJailbreak image detail

Upload vjailbreak-image.qcow2 to glance using this command:

openstack image create --os-interface admin --insecure --container-format bare --disk-format qcow2 --file vjailbreak-image.qcow2 vjailbreak-image.qcow2

Deploy a new “vJailbreak” VM from image, choosing proper flavor and a network that can reach your VMware vCenter environment. Give the VM a name, optionally assign an SSH key, assign a network security group that allows inbound and outbound traffic and set a password using cloud-init.

vJailbreak VM running on OpenStack

Access vjailbreak VM, copy the latest version of the VDDK libraries for Linux into /home/ubuntu of the vjailbreak VM. Untar it to a folder named vmware-vix-disklib-distrib in the /home/ubuntu directory.

VDDK libraries

Check vjailbreak components and services

vJailbreak components and services

*Setup vjailbreak

Connect to the vJailbreak UI using the IP address assigned during VM creation, in this case 192.168.1.233

vJailbreak UI Migration menu

vJailbreak Agents menu

Start the migration process by providing the VMware vCenter and OpenStack admin-rc credentials. First, choose Credentials menu and select “Add OpenStack Credentials” to fill OpenStack Credentials then Create Credentials

vJailbreak Credentials menu

Second, choose Credentials menu and select “Add VMware Credentials” to fill VMware Credentials then Create Credentials

vJailbreak Credentials menu

Verify OpenStack and VMware credential already registered

*Running Migration

Select “Start Migration” button

vJailbreak Credentials menu

Select the VMs you wish to migrate and complete the rest of the migration form containing:

1. Source and Destination Environments

2. Select Virtual Machines to Migrate, in this case “vm-winser-2022”. Flavor can be choosen by itself or auto assign

3. Network and Storage Mapping

4. Migration Options (Optional)
By default data copy method is “copy live VMs, then power off”. It means source VM still running during copying data and when cutover source VM will power off.

During the migration process, source VM in VMware is still running.

When review the logs, it will looks like below.

Early log entry

Last log entry

full log can be seen here https://pastebin.com/raw/CNQWWL6D

Notice that VM created successfully with ID 611f9ce1–077b-404d-8e0a-4153c117839b

From vjailbreak UI “vm-winser-2022” VM successfully entered in migration list.

vJailbreak Migration menu

After the cutover process, Source VM on VMware is in powered off state.

VMware vCenter menu

Finally, all migration process is done. “vm-winser-2022” VM from VMware now running on OpenStack. Make sure instance ID matches with the logs.

List VM via CLI

List VM via Horizon

Based on volume information below, vm-winser-2022-Hard disk 1 attached to instance vm-winser-2022 as /dev/vda.

List Volumes via Horizon

Check all functionality of services on VM in new environment, ensure connectivity with surrounding, data gap with source VM, etc.

Display Console VM via Horizon

*Additional Items

An additional component inside the vjailbreak VM is grafana. Users can explore metrics and monitoring there.

Grafana Kubernetes / Compute Resources (1)

Grafana Kubernetes / Compute Resources (2)

Grafana Kubernetes / Compute Resources (3)

If we look at grafana, the metric is raise as the time of migration process start from copying live data at 10:05 until VM running on OpenStack at 10:25.

Aspects to think about

Migrating from VMware to OpenStack can be a complex process, but with the right tools, strategy, and knowledge, it is possible to streamline the transition while minimizing downtime and disruption. To ensure a successful migration, consider the following key factors:

1. Choose the right tools: Selecting the appropriate migration tools is critical to support the process effectively.
2. Migration speed: Evaluate the speed of the migration cycle, from data replication to the final cutover phase, to minimize disruptions.
3. Application complexity: Align the migration strategy with the complexity of the applications being migrated.
4. Downtime and rollback planning: Prepare a detailed plan to handle downtime and ensure rollback procedures are in place in case of issues.
5. Data integrity: Address potential data gaps during the migration process and ensure data consistency.
6. Workload dependencies: Identify dependencies between workloads and their surrounding ecosystem to avoid service interruptions.

See other content

References :

• https://platform9.com/vjailbreak/
• https://www.openstack.org/vmware-migration-to-openstack/

#VMware #Migration #OpenStack #OpenSource #vJailbreak #Platform9 #CloudComputing #PrivateCloud