I am working on a whitepaper about vCenter Server migrations and stumbled upon this great tool which is hidden away on the vCenter install media called “datamigration”. The data migration tool allows you to backup a vCenter Server configuration which is hosted by the MS SQL Express databases that is packaged with vCenter. Now this might seem like a limited scenario but I bet many people start out using the Express database that comes with vCenter using a 32-bit OS and found themselves more or less locked in. If you are still using 4.0 with a 32-bit platform, this is your way out. It is fairly straight forward if I may say so. The beauty of it all is that you can keep your current vCenter config, be it disabled… but you always have a roll back option might it be needed.
- Build a new 64-bit vCenter Server
- Download the vCenter zip or ISO
- Go to the “datamigration” folder and copy/extract the datamigration.zip.
- Copy the extracted content to your “source” vCenter Server
- Stop the vCenter Service, Update Management Service and the vCenter Web Service
- Run “backup.bat” under the datamigration folder from a Command Prompt
- One decision that you need to make is if you want to backup all Host patches as well, I prefer to just download them again
- When the process has completed copy the full “datamigration” folder to your new vCenter server
- Run “install.bat” under the datamigration folder from a Command Prompt
- It will display the name of the vCenter Server you are about to “restore”, validate it and type Y
- Provide the path to the vCenter install files
- Provide the path to the VUM install files (probably same as previous step)
- Now just follow the normal installation process
- You will see an installer popping up, note that in the Command Prompt window the databases will be restored etc.
- Takes roughly 15 minutes depending on the amount of data
- Start the vSphere Client… done,
Is that simple or what? I was kind of amazed by this to be honest, very simple and effective tool to migrate to a new 64-bit vCenter Server while keeping your Events, Tasks, Resource Pools etc… it is all there. Use it to your advantage,
Deeso says
I used this tool to migrate my vCenter, though mine has an oracle 10gR2 database. I had to install the 32bit (for update manager) and 64 bit versions of the oracle client in different oracle homes, but this wasn’t enough. I had to look for a specific version of the oracle client, 11R1. With 11R2 or 10R2 the database upgrade wizard was unable to log into the vCenter Schema.
Massimiliano Mortillaro says
Hi, I tried this and unfortunately the procedure failed. I identified the issue as follows: our existing vCenter Server 4.0 Database was previously upgraded from vCenter Server 2.5 thus causing SQL type mismatch issues. In the end, because our configuration was rather easy to duplicate, I decided to rebuild our vCenter from scratch. The procedure to migrate from x86 to x64 is however nicely done, that needs to be said.
Regards,
Max
Neil says
Duncan,
Also worthy of a mention pre any vCenter 4.1x upgrade is the “AgentUpgradechecker” utility. Can be found in
\vpx\agentupgradecheck of the vCenter install media.
As you know,the tool checks each hosts vpxa agent to ensure compatibility, or suitability to upgrade to a newer vpx version once the new vCenter is brought online.
Having been through the upgrade to VC 4.1x, I can vouch that VMware have spent considerable time & effort behind the tools & processes. Nice job imb!
Thanks.
Duncan says
yes that was my next article, thank for stealing my thunder 😉
Good point indeed a useful tool.
David Vekemans says
Hello,
I used this tool to migrate from a vCenter 2.5 on a Windows 2003 32bit to a vCenter 4.1 U1 on a Windows 2008 64bit. It also included a change of Active Directory, because the new server in member of a new domain.
It worked without any issue.
The only restriction was that vCenter 2.5 must be Update 6 in order to be able to do the upgrade to 4.1.
David
Frank says
The “InventorySnapshot” fling http://labs.vmware.com/flings/inventorysnapshot might also be worth a look …
Jeff S says
We’re not really praising VMware for almost, but not quite, creating an actual migration path for their customers are we?
level380 says
Well its better than what a lot of other vendors offer for 32bit to 64bit upgrades!
Craig D says
does this script only work with MS SQL Express databases , or does it also work with full SQL versions (2005/2008 etc) ?
Lieven says
KB article http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1022137 states:
“The vCenter Data Migration Tool does not automatically migrate databases other than SQL Express 2005 (such as Microsoft SQL 2005 Standard Edition and Oracle 11g) that are contained on the vCenter Server or that are on a remote database server.”
In the video included in teh KB article 1022137 they say: “vCenter database instance is upgraded to be compatible with vCenter Server 4.1”. So I guess this means that the 4.1 database is not identical in structure as the 4.1 database.
So what are the options if you have a SQL database on a remote server? As far as I can remember SQL express is not recommended for larger deployments.
RAMESH GEDDAM says
I want to bring to attention that, These steps are applicable only for SQL Express databases, not for Standard or Enterprise editions.
Erwin says
Not realy a fan of the tool I used it with a client once and it didn’t migrate the entire database. I migrate the manual way so i’m sure everything will be there when I install the new vCenter server.
Rolando says
Used the tool to help migrate from 32 bit win 2003 server to 64 bit Win 2008 R2. Migrated configuration with tool. migrated SQL server 2005 standard DB to new server utilizing SQL management tools (back up and restore)
Larus says
I’ve used this tool extensively with my customers with mixed results. I recommend taking a backup of the SQL database before you try this out. Also you will need to change some default SQL 2005 Express settings for this to work. Like the pipe name of the SQL instance can not be the default name of \\.\pipe\MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS\sql\query etc. This is a great tool but I recommend VMware to update it for future use, maybe have a selection what you want to migrate, skip the SQL and get to do that manually before you run the migration (have a chance to move it to a “real” SQL server).
Jorge says
Hi there – We are planning a Migration from vCenter 4.0 to vCenter 4.1 and this post has been very helpful. I have a question for Duncan – Above you mentioned writing a whitepaper about vCenter Server migrations, how can access the Whitepaper?
Claudia Woods says
Would like to know if the vCenter Server 5.0 software itself is a 32 or 64-bit application? My understanding is that prior to vSphere 5.0, vCenter Server and other ‘additional features’ apps such as VUM, Enterprise Converter, etc were still 32-bit applications.
Yes, I understand that the OS platform for management interfaces are now 64-bit, and that vCenter Server 5.0 uses a 64-bit DSN for data access. So I am not asking about that. What I am asking is if, indeed, vCenter Server 5.0, VUM, etc have been recompiled as true, native 64-bit applications?
Duncan, could you confirm (or deny) that, please?
TIA!
Pankaj says
Hi Duncan,
Brilliant post like always, and I have tried the tool after reading this, looks simple, just wanted to ask because i did not succeed may be doing something wrong :
1) Can we use the datamigration tool to migrate only vCenter configuration( including the VUM and Orchestrator). because we have a remote SQL 2K8 database and will migrate the database manually.
2) I get this after run this tool :
“VMware vCenter Server data has been backed up successfully.
Failed to backup data for VMware Update Manager.
VMware vCenter Orchestrator data has been backed up successfully.”
and tried several times but got this on VUM always :
“[WARNING] VMware vSphere Update Manager is not installed or its version cannot b
e determined.
[WARNING] VMware Update Manager does not satisfy migration prerequisite
Do you want to continue backup…? y|n: y”
However we have VUM installed and running. Please advice.
Many thanks in advance.
Cheers
Roji says
Hi Duncan,
We need to update our ESX and vcenter from 4 to 5. Before performing the mentioned upgrade i need to clarify few points from you
Our System Configuration
OS: Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise 64bit
DB: SQL 2005 SP4 32bit
A) In this configuration how can i create a 64bit DSN ?
Tried installing in a test environment with the same configuration mentioned above. But vcenter continuously asking me for 64bit
B) Is it required to take the backup of SSL certificates also ? if so why ?
C) Hardware firewall is present in our network, so i want to disable software firewall of windows 2008. but disabling firewall leads to me to disconnection of ESX hosts. Any solution for this?
Duncan Epping says
A) Don’t have a 32bit database test environment here to be honest. so can’t test this…
B) No it is not required, just a recommendation
C) You can simply reconnect them afterwards can’t you?
Roji says
Hi Duncan,
Thanks for your reply. found solution for all my queries by doing a hardcore googling 🙂
i will post those findings here to help others too. if i am wrong please correct me
A) minimum database requirement is SQL 2005/2008 32bit/64bit. if you are installing a 32 bit SQL,then you need to install ODBC Driver for 64 bit. This will be available in Microsoft website (sqlncli_x64.msi)
Link :http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=15748
B)SSL certificates need to be copied to complete the installaion of vshere 5. copy C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\SSL from the old vcenter to C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\SSL in new VCENTER
C)All the incoming and outgoing made as ALLOW.
Matt says
Anyone know if this will work with the Cisco Nexus 1000v also installed?
Sandy says
Hi Duncan,
Task: Migrate vCenter5.0 to new physical server with same name and IP.
I tried to backup my vCenter5.0 using data manager tool but it gives me an error.
C:\datamigration>backup.bat
[INFO] Starting vSphere configuration backup script…
[INFO] Checking prerequisites…
[INFO] Checking vCenter Server version…
[INFO] vCenter Server installation version 5.0.0.34130
[INFO] vCenter Server installation version 5.0.0.34130
[ERROR] vCenter Server version not supported
[WARNING] VMware vCenter Server does not satisfy migration prerequisite
Do you want to continue backup…? y|n:
If i press Y it errors up again. I tried to follow this article below but still no luck.
http://v-reality.info/2012/01/vcenter-server-5-data-migration-tool-compatibility-issues/
Please help!
Thanks,
S
Neil says
Hi,
I have 32 bit OS vcenter 4.0 and want to upgrade to vcenter 5.0 then 5.1. I would like to use the date mig tool. Is it possible to keep the same name and ip? I’m not sure how this would work?
thX