VMware Station Migration to Proxmox PVE Notes

necessary conditions

  1. There is VMS in VMware Station
  2. The VMware Station host and Proxmox server have sufficient disk space
  3. Some basic Linux command knowledge

Current software version

VMware Station： VMware® Workstation 17 Pro 17.0.0 build-20800274

Proxmox : Proxmox Virtual Environment 8.3.0

Operation steps

  1. Export VMS from VMware Station, the file is *.ovf
  2. Download the *.ovf exported by VMware Station to the Proxmox node
  3. Execute import command
  4. Add a new network device and copy the MAC address

Step by Step

Export VMS from VMware Station

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Click the export button

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Export files to directory

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Waiting for export to directory

Download ovf and vmdk files mf through Shell

  • Establish the HFS service in the host server and add the exported ovf file and vmdk file to the HFS service
  • Download files in Proxmox server
wget http://10.253.253.100/Windwos10_wechat.ovf

#依次將其下載到proxmox服務器中

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Ubuntu ID: 100

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Windows 10

Import into Proxmox

   root@pve:qm importovf <vmid> <manifest> <storage> [OPTIONS]
   
   #Create a new VM using parameters read from an OVF manifest
   #https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/qm.1.html

Parameter description:

  • “vmid:” The ID of the virtual machine in PVE. The initial ID of the first VM in Proxmox is 100. This 100 is the VMID.
  • “manifest:” ovf format file, virtual machine file exported from VMware Station
  • “storage:” PVE storage pool, for example ’local-lvm’
  • “[OPTOPNS]:” —format qcow2 | raw | vmdk Target format

For details, please refer to: https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/qm.1.html

Example:

   qm importovf 101 'Windows10_wechat.ovf' local-lvm --format vmdk

After executing this command, wait for data transfer. After completion, you will automatically return to the command execution interface, as shown below

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After the conversion is completed, you can see the VM in the Proxmox console

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Add new network device

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Note: Remember to copy the original MAC address to the new network device

Others

  • If it is a Windows operating system and is stuck at “booting from Hard Disk” and cannot be started, please stop the VM first and then change the BIOS to “UEFI”.
  • Check Proxmox’s time zone and time synchronization
  • Basic security settings

Summary

I have been using VMWare Station and ESXi before, but I hesitated to switch to Lenovo Staiton S30 this time, so I started using Proxmox. When using VMWare Station on Windows and ESXi on a separate server, even with M2 and SSD, the efficiency and startup speed are not as good as Proxmox; The operation of remote virtual host (windows) is smoother than VMWare, and it can already meet the needs of daily office use. In terms of ease of use, ESXi and Sation are better than Proxmox (for people without Linux foundation);

Renfrence

Tutorial on migrating vmware-VM to Proxmox VE https://foxi.buduanwang.vip/virtualization/375.html/

pve document
https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/qm.1.html