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vSphere Import

Contents
  1. Before you begin
  2. Manage connections
  3. Run an import
  4. Monitor jobs
  5. Validate the imported VM
  6. Troubleshooting
  7. Reference

The screenshots illustrate the English user interface. Names and addresses shown are examples; use the values defined for your environment.

1. Before you begin

Requirements

  • Administrator access to eEVOS.
  • Network connectivity from eEVOS to vCenter Server or ESXi over HTTPS.
  • Valid VMware credentials with inventory, power-management, and export privileges.
  • Sufficient free capacity on the target eEVOS drive.
  • A maintenance window for VM shutdown and export.
  • A defined destination eEVOS network for each source port group that should remain connected.
: imports are offline. Power off the source VM manually before starting whenever possible. The automatic shutdown waits 150 seconds and then records a failure.

Open the feature

In the eEVOS GUI, open VM Tools → vSphere Import. The overview contains Start vSphere Import, Manage connections, VM Management, and Refresh.

2. Manage connections

Saved vSphere connections with a successful connection test
Manage connections: test saved ESXi and vCenter connections before starting an import.
  1. Select Manage connections.
  2. Review saved sources. The type is shown as VCENTER or ESXI.
  3. Select Test to validate a source. A successful test displays only Connection successful.
  4. Select Delete to remove a source. Confirm the prompt.
Figure 1 — Saved connections can be tested or deleted without starting an import.

Choose the correct connection type

Type Enter VM and host discovery Use when
vCenter Server vCenter address, datacenter, user name, and password VMs are discovered across the datacenter. The owning ESXi host is resolved automatically for each VM. Do not enter an ESXi address. The hosts are managed by vCenter, especially when the datacenter contains multiple hosts.
Standalone ESXi Host ESXi host address, user name, and password Only VMs registered on that host are discovered. The connection address is shown as the host in job status. The host is not managed through vCenter, or the import should be limited to that host.
Multiple vCenter hosts: eEVOS reads each VM's runtime.host relationship from vCenter. VMs from different ESXi hosts can be selected in one batch; each VM retains its own resolved host in the import command and Jobs table.

Add a connection

  1. From the connection manager, select Add connection.
  2. Enter a unique friendly connection name.
  3. Select vCenter Server or Standalone ESXi Host.
  4. Enter the source IP address: the vCenter address for a vCenter connection, or the ESXi address for a standalone-host connection.
  5. For vCenter, enter the datacenter. The ESXi host is discovered automatically and is not requested.
  6. Enter the VMware user name and password.
  7. Select Save connection.

Saving returns to the connection list and does not start an import. Spaces are preserved in the friendly name; the internal source ID uses a normalized hyphenated form.

Figure 2 — A saved connection appears immediately in the connection manager.

3. Run an import

vCenter network mapping during VM import
Map every vCenter network to the intended eEVOS network before continuing.

Step 1 — Choose how to connect

  1. Select Start vSphere Import.
  2. Select Use saved connection or Connect new source.
  3. If using a saved source, choose it and select Next.
  4. If connecting temporarily, choose the source type and enter the required address and credentials. Optionally save it for later use.
  5. For vCenter, enter the vCenter address and datacenter; do not enter an ESXi host. For standalone ESXi, enter the ESXi address as the source.

Step 2 — Select VMs and target storage

The wizard lists discovered VMs and their power states. With vCenter, the list may contain VMs from several managed hosts; eEVOS resolves the current host independently for each VM. For every VM, choose one of:

  • Do not import
  • A target eEVOS drive
  • Overwrite existing VM when a VM with the same name already exists
Overwrite warning: choosing overwrite can replace the current destination VM and disk content. Confirm that a suitable backup exists.

Step 3 — Map networks

Map each VMware source network to an eEVOS network. Select Do not connect to omit only the adapters attached to a particular source network, or select Import without network adapters to omit every NIC from all selected VMs. A VM imported without adapters has no network connectivity until an adapter is added in VM Management. If VMware reports no source networks, the wizard permits the import only after the administrator explicitly confirms a networkless import.

Figure 3 — Source network mapping when importing through vCenter.
Figure 4 — Source network mapping from a standalone ESXi host.

Step 4 — Start

Review the choices and start the import. The GUI returns a Job ID. Multiple selected VMs are processed sequentially; pending VMs are marked Queued. For vCenter jobs, the Host column identifies the automatically resolved ESXi host for each VM.

4. Monitor jobs

Successfully completed vSphere import jobs
Confirm that completed jobs report Successful before validating the imported VM.
vSphere import jobs with progress and queue status
Monitor active and queued imports in the Jobs list.

The overview refreshes automatically. Each row includes Job ID, VM, target drive, source, datacenter, host, start/end time, and status.

Status Meaning
Preparing import for VM Checking state or waiting for a graceful shutdown.
Exporting VM from source OVF configuration and virtual disks are being downloaded.
Converting VM to eEVOS format Disk conversion is running; a percentage is shown where available.
Queued The VM is waiting for the current VM in the batch.
Successful The VM was registered and all disk conversions completed.
Failure in red The row contains a persistent error reason.
Figure 5 — Illustrative progress view with an active download, queued VMs on other ESXi hosts, and a recently completed import.

Cancel running jobs terminates the active batch. Delete Job History removes historical records and should be used only after required audit information has been retained.

5. Validate the imported VM

  1. Open VM Management.
  2. Confirm the VM name, CPU count, memory, firmware mode, and guest OS type.
  3. Confirm all expected disks and their sizes.
  4. Confirm each included NIC is connected to the intended eEVOS network. For a networkless import, confirm that no NIC is present and add one later if required.
  5. Start the VM and watch the console for boot or driver errors.
  6. Verify IP addressing, guest tools/agents, time synchronization, application services, and external connectivity when networking is enabled.
  7. Obtain application-owner approval before retiring the VMware source.

6. Troubleshooting

Symptom Checks and resolution
Unable to connect Verify source IP, routing/firewall, HTTPS access, credentials, and whether the selected type is vCenter or ESXi.
No VMs found Read the detailed connection/discovery error. For vCenter, verify the datacenter and confirm that the account can browse VM and host inventory. The ESXi host is resolved automatically and is not a connection field.
Unexpected host in Jobs For vCenter, the Host column is the ESXi host reported by vCenter for that VM during discovery. Refresh the wizard inventory after a vMotion operation before starting the import.
Shutdown timeout The VM did not power off within 150 seconds. Shut it down from the guest or VMware console, confirm Powered Off, then retry.
Export fails Verify OVF Tool connectivity and privileges, target free space, and that the VM inventory path still exists.
Conversion stalls Check target capacity and system load. Review /tmp/debug_qemu-img_conversion_<VM> and system logs.
Wrong network after boot Power off the imported VM, correct its eEVOS network assignment, then restart.
Figure 6 — Illustrative job history showing successful imports from multiple ESXi hosts managed by one vCenter Server.

Logs

Filter /var/log/nas.log for the tag vcenter_import. Important events include vm_discovered (including the resolved host), vm_shutdown_started, vm_export_started, vm_export_complete, disk_conversion_started, disk_conversion_complete, and vm_import_complete.

7. Reference

Item Location
Management page /cgi-bin/migration5/ts_vcenter_import_management.cgi
Import wizard /cgi-bin/migration5/ts_vcenter_import.cgi
Saved source definitions /nasprivate/settings/vcenter_import_sources/sources
Credentials key /nasprivate/settings/vcenter_import_sources/source_credentials.key
Persistent job history /nasprivate/system/vcenter_import
Primary log tag vcenter_import
Operational best practice: migrate in small waves, retain source VMs until validation completes, and record the source, target, network mapping, maintenance window, and application owner for every workload.
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