vSAN to VMware ESXi and StorMagic SvSAN Migration Guide
The purpose of this document is to provide basic guidance for resellers and partners who are migrating customers from a VMware ESXi/vSAN 2-node architecture to a VMware ESXi and StorMagic SvSAN 2-node architecture.
Target Audience and In-Place Migration
Target Audience
- Resellers – Sales and Technical
- Partners – Sales and Technical
In-Place Migration
SvSAN can present non-mirrored storage that can later convert to mirrored storage, enabling storage high availability after migration.
Due to the restrictions of VMware vSAN, the migration requires a staged workflow, including reinstalling VMware ESXi on each node after workloads have been moved away from that node.
Migration Workflow
- Clear node 2 by migrating all guest VMs to node 1.
- Reboot the cleared node 2 via iLO/iDRAC and reinstall ESXi, additionally scrubbing vSAN partitions.
- Deploy the SvSAN VSA to node 2 and present shared, unmirrored storage to node 2.
- Migrate the compute and storage of all guest VMs from node 1 to the newly provisioned SvSAN node 2.
- Reboot the cleared node 1 via iLO/iDRAC and reinstall ESXi, additionally scrubbing vSAN partitions.
- Deploy the SvSAN VSA to node 1 and mirror the storage with node 2, mounting it to node 1.
- Enable VMware High Availability and any other hypervisor features required.
Clearing Node 2 and Migrating Guest VMs
Place node 2 in Maintenance Mode to migrate VMs to another node in the cluster, or alternatively, live migrate VMs first and then place node 2 in Maintenance Mode.
VMware References
VMware vSphere 7.0
VMware vSphere 7.0 resource management documentation
VMware vSphere 8.0
VMware vSphere 8.0 resource management documentation
Break the Existing VMware ESXi/vSAN Cluster
Remove the host from inventory after it is cleared.
Figure 1 – Place ESXi host, node 2, into Maintenance Mode.
Figure 2 – Disabling vSAN in Maintenance Mode.
Figure 3 – Maintenance Mode VM warning.
Figure 4 – Remove Host, node 2, from Inventory.
Reinstall ESXi on Cleared Node 2
VMware ESXi Installation References
VMware ESXi 7.0.x install
VMware ESXi 7.0.x installation documentation
VMware ESXi 8.0.x install
VMware ESXi 8.0.x installation documentation
Figure 5 – ESXi Installer.
Figure 6 – ESXi Installer VMFS overwrite.
Figure 7 – ESXi Installer reboot on completion.
Clear Old vSAN Partitions
After ESXi has been successfully reinstalled on node 2 and the host is manageable via an IP address, log into the ESXi Host Client, not vCenter, to clear the old partitions on any VMware vSAN cache and capacity disks.
Browse to Storage > Devices, select the disk, then select Clear partition table.
Figure 8 – Clear vSAN cache and capacity drive partitions.
Figure 9 – VSA deploy wizard without vSAN partitions cleared.
Add the redeployed ESXi host to the existing vSAN Datacenter, but not the cluster, because vSAN will be reinstalled if this host is added to the cluster.
Figure 10 – ESXi host added to the Datacenter, not the cluster.
VMware 7.0.x
Host Configuration and SvSAN Deployment on Node 2
With the host added to vCenter, configure virtual switches for the ESXi host based on the organization’s network policies and requirements.
VMware ESXi networking documentation
Deploy the StorMagic vCenter Plugin
Deploy the StorMagic plugin to vCenter if it is not already deployed.
StorMagic vSphere Plugin deployment documentation
Figure 11 – Deploy SvSAN Plugin to vCenter.
Deploy the SvSAN VSA
Deploy a StorMagic VSA to the newly cleared ESXi host, node 2.
StorMagic VSA deployment documentation
Figure 12 – Deploy a SvSAN VSA to the newly cleared ESXi host, node 2.
Figure 13 – VSA deployment wizard summary.
Create a Non-Mirrored Datastore
Select the one StorMagic VSA and create an unmirrored datastore shared to the ESXi hosts in the cluster.
Create datastore using the StorMagic vSphere Plugin
Figure 14 – Datastore creation wizard.
Figure 15 – Non-mirrored storage creation message.
Figure 16 – Optionally enable caching.
Figure 17 – Share the datastore to both, and any additionally desired, ESXi hosts.
Figure 18 – Login to the ESXi hosts with the plugin.
Figure 19 – Ensure the hosts are authenticated.
Figure 20 – Datastore creation wizard summary.
Migrate All VMs from Node 1 to Node 2
Leveraging VMware VM Compute and Storage vMotion, or other tools, migrate the VMs from node 1 to the newly presented SvSAN storage and newly reprovisioned ESXi host, node 2.
Figure 21 – VM Migration of both compute and storage.
Figure 22 – Select the new SvSAN datastore to migrate the guest VMs to.
Clear Node 1 and Reinstall ESXi
Follow the below process for the remaining ESXi host and cluster, node 1.
- On the VMware Cluster, disable DRS if in use.
- On the VMware Cluster, disable HA if in use.
- Under Cluster > vSAN Services, turn off VMware vSAN.
Then repeat the steps outlined earlier in this guide for clearing and reinstalling ESXi, this time on node 1:
- Place the host in Maintenance Mode.
- Remove the host from the vSAN cluster.
- Reinstall ESXi on this host.
- Clear the old VMware vSAN partitions from the cache and capacity drives.
- Add this ESXi host to the Datacenter and provision a new cluster.
Figure 23 – Exit Maintenance Mode.
Drag both ESXi hosts into the new cluster with vSAN disabled.
Configure virtual networking.
Figure 24 – Example networking utilized for this guide.
Deploy VSA to the Remaining Host
Deploy a StorMagic VSA to the remaining host.
StorMagic VSA deployment documentation
Figure 25 – Hosts in a new cluster, running VSAs.
Ensure ESXi or vCenter credentials for all ESXi hosts are entered into each VSA.
Figure 26 – Validate VMware credentials on any/all SvSAN VSAs.
Convert the Non-Mirrored Datastore to Mirrored
Via the VSA1 WebGUI, add the mirror to VSA2 and select the SvSAN witness of choice.
References
- SvSAN Witness Data Sheet
- Convert simple target to mirrored target
- SvSAN plex documentation
- How to convert a simple target to a mirrored target
Figure 27 – Mirror the target.
Mount the datastore to the newly deployed ESXi host, node 1.
Figure 28 – Mount the datastore to the newly deployed host, node 1.
Figure 29 – Selecting any and all additional hosts to mount the volume.
Ensure path availability for all hosts to both VSAs.
Figure 30 – iSCSI software adapter ensuring path availability to both VSAs.
Enable VMware High Availability
With the datastore now mirrored, enable VMware High Availability and any additional hypervisor features required by the organization.
Additional Information
If additional assistance is required in migrating from VMware vSAN to StorMagic SvSAN, contact support@stormagic.com.
- Deploy the StorMagic vSphere Plugin
- Deploy a StorMagic VSA
- Create a SvSAN datastore
- SvSAN and ESXi Credentials
- Convert a simple target to a mirrored target
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