How to migrate server to a VM instance

[zach12255]

We purchased a new Dell PowerEdge R250 server for one of our business customers. In that new server is a 1TB SSD with no OS installed. They currently own a 10+ year old Dell PowerEdge T320 with Windows Server 2019 Essentials installed and activated. We have created a Virtual Hard Disk using Disk2vhd and ultimately want to spin up that VM on the hard drive in the new server.

 

1. What kind of host OS needs to be installed to run the VHD made from the previous server's hard drive?
2. Can it be activated with the same license key as the guest OS (the one activated in the VHD that was created from the previous server's hard drive)?

3. If not, and we only get to migrate the activation key from the previous server's hard drive to be used in the guest OS on the new hard drive, does that mean we have to pay for another activation key for the host OS on the new hard drive?

[WhitetailAni]

Are you not able to physically move the drive from the T320 to the R250?

[Dujith]

I can only answer nr 1.

If you use a type 1 hypervisor then it will not matter. The hypervisor just needs to be able to run the VM you want.

You will need to setup the correct VM and correct settings for Windows Server 2019. There a tons of guides for any hypervisor you want to use.

(Just do not use ESXI )

[zach12255]

@WhitetailAni I'm switching them from a HDD to an SSD and want to run the old Backup as a VM in hyper-V.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1. Pretty much anyhypervisor will do this. Hyper-v, esxi, proxmox, and more.

 

2. Probably gonna complain its moving, so try the key again if it complains.

 

You could also get a server 2022 license for the new server, use hyper-v for this old vm. server 2022 comes with 2 licenses for vms, so use one of those for 2019 and upgrade it to standard. Gonna need cals though.

 

 

Might wanna plan this out before buying hardware, seems like pretty basic questions for a server migration to me.

[Jarsky]

What hypervisor are you considering using? 

 

Each vendor that has its own type of disk, typically has a migration tool. 

If you're converting to VHD, are you looking to use Windows Server 2022 with Hyper-V? 

 

If you're looking to something running QEMU / KVM (Proxmox , Ubuntu, etc...); then you want to create a QCOW2 or RAW virtual disk. 

If you're looking at TrueNAS Scale then you want to P2V it, then write that image to ZVOL. 

 

There are plenty of tools out there by the likes of Clonezilla, Starwind, etc...that can clone disks to virtual images

You need to decide what hypervisor you're using, and then convert accordingly. 

Since you already have the VHD, you can also convert between Virtual Disk formats. 

 

As you're just creating the VHD, you also need to create the Virtual Machine config and then use your new VHD's as the virtual disks in the config. 

VMware Converter does this automatically when using VMware; but I assume you wont use them because of the new pricing structure? 

 

*This assumes Windows for everything*

I cant remember if the HWID changes as part of the process of P2V, it may trigger for a reactivation.

Your licensing though for the host will depend on what your existing licence includes. Some CAL's are e.g 5 computers so can't answer this for you. 

You could of course run the host unlicensed and it will run just fine; you will just get notifications, lose some personalization and not receive optional updates.