Migrating from VMware
Agentless V2V migration with incremental sync and a short, controlled cutover.
The platform migrates virtual machines directly from VMware vCenter or standalone ESXi hosts. Migration is agentless — nothing is installed inside your guests — and uses incremental synchronization so the final cutover window is minutes, not hours.
How It Works
Connect your VMware environment
Data Protection → Migration → Add Source. Enter vCenter/ESXi address and read-only credentials. The platform inventories your VMs, disks, and networks.
Initial full sync
Select VMs to migrate. Their disks are copied to platform storage while the source VMs keep running — zero impact beyond snapshot I/O on the source.
Incremental syncs
After the full copy, only changed blocks are transferred on each subsequent sync. Run syncs until the delta per cycle is small (minutes of changes).
Cutover
At your chosen moment: the source VM is shut down, one final incremental sync captures the last changes, and the VM starts on DAAKYI Cloud. Downtime equals shutdown + final delta + boot — typically minutes.
Validate and decommission
The source VM is left intact but powered off. Validate the migrated workload, keep the source as a rollback option for an agreed period, then decommission.
What Is Converted Automatically
- Disk format — VMDK disks are converted to platform format during transfer
- Virtual hardware — NICs and disk controllers are re-mapped to platform equivalents; guest drivers are injected where the OS needs them
- Network mapping — you map each VMware port group to a platform subnet before cutover; MAC addresses can be preserved for license-sensitive software
Practical Guidance
- Migrate in dependency groups (database + app together) and cut them over in one window
- Take a platform-side backup immediately after each successful cutover
- Static IPs inside guests carry over if you replicate the same subnet layout — plan addressing before the first wave
- Very high-churn VMs (busy databases) benefit from scheduling cutover in their quietest hour to minimize the final delta
A typical enterprise moves in waves: a pilot group first, then production tiers in scheduled windows. See Migration Planning for the full wave methodology.