Migration software
System Center Virtual Machine Manager
Suggested in 2 of our migration playbooks, mainly for Servers and cloud. Here is what it handles, how it treats key settings, and other tools for the same jobs.
What does System Center Virtual Machine Manager handle?
The limits of the built-in tools that System Center Virtual Machine Manager gets around, as covered in our playbooks.
VMware alternatives after Broadcom
- Windows Admin Center VM Conversion is a previewSupported Microsoft product. Converts powered-off VMware VMs to Hyper-V, up to 100 in parallel across different source and destination pairs (Microsoft advises no more than 10 per ESXi host and Hyper-V host pair). Does not convert VMs on vSAN.
- Windows Admin Center VM Conversion is an unsupported preview, moves up to 10 VMs at a time and pauses if the browser session closes.Supported Microsoft product. Converts powered-off VMware VMs to Hyper-V in parallel. Does not convert VMs on vSAN.
VMware to Hyper-V migration
- Treat Windows Admin Center VM Conversion as a previewSupported Microsoft product. Converts powered-off VMware VMs to Hyper-V, up to 100 in parallel across different source and destination pairs (Microsoft advises no more than 10 per ESXi host and Hyper-V host pair). Does not convert VMs on vSAN.
- VM Conversion is a preview with no Microsoft support obligation.Supported Microsoft product. Converts powered-off VMware VMs, up to 10 per ESXi and Hyper-V host pair. Does not convert VMs on vSAN.
How does System Center Virtual Machine Manager handle key settings?
From the settings checklists in our playbooks: what System Center Virtual Machine Manager carries across.
| Setting | How it handles it | Playbook |
|---|---|---|
| VMs on vSAN | Cannot convert VMs on vSAN storage to Hyper-V. | VMware alternatives after Broadcom |
| Snapshots on the source VMs | The VM must have no snapshots and be stopped before conversion. | VMware alternatives after Broadcom |
| Boot type: BIOS or UEFI | You choose Generation 1 for BIOS or Generation 2 for UEFI in the wizard. | VMware alternatives after Broadcom |
| Virtual TPM and BitLocker | Not stated in Microsoft's documentation: test it in your pilot. | VMware alternatives after Broadcom |
| VMware Tools | VMware Tools must be uninstalled before conversion. | VMware alternatives after Broadcom |
| Network, MAC and IP addresses | You choose the logical network, VM network and VLAN. Whether static IPs are kept: not stated in Microsoft's documentation: test it in your pilot. | VMware alternatives after Broadcom |
| Disk format and storage | New-SCV2V -VhdType chooses dynamically expanding or fixed size disks. | VMware alternatives after Broadcom |
| Downtime and how many VMs at once | Online conversion is not supported, so the VM is off for the whole copy. | VMware alternatives after Broadcom |
Which tools do the same jobs as System Center Virtual Machine Manager?
Other tools our playbooks suggest for the same migrations.
We write these notes from the vendor documentation cited in each playbook. Tools cannot pay to be included or to change them. Check the vendor's current documentation and terms before you buy.