1.2 Supported Configurations

1.2.1 Supported Source Workloads

PlateSpin Migrate supports the following operating system families:

  • Microsoft Windows

  • Linux

The following topics provide more details:

NOTE:Not all workloads are supported on all target VM platforms. For details, see KB Article 7012976.

Supported Microsoft Windows Workloads

For the Windows platform, PlateSpin Migrate supports the following portability features:

  • Workload portability: Peer-to-peer migrations (P2V, V2V, V2P, P2P).

  • Peer-to-peer workload synchronization with Server Sync (P2V, V2V, P2P, V2P).

  • Workload portability: Migrations to Microsoft Azure (P2C, V2C).

Table 1-3 Supported Microsoft Windows Workloads

Operating System

Remarks

Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2

Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2

Including domain controller (DC) systems and Small Business Server (SBS) editions

Migration of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP0 to Hyper-V is not supported because Microsoft no longer supports it. See Microsoft TechNet Website.

  • Windows Server 2003 R2
  • Windows Server 2003 SP 1 and later

 

Windows 2000 Server SP 4 with Update Rollup 1

 
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 Cluster
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Cluster
  • Windows Server 2003 R2 Cluster

You can use the Web Interface or the Migrate Client to migrate supported Windows Server clusters. See Section 5.5, Migrating Windows Clusters.

PlateSpin Migrate does not support migration of Windows Server clusters to the following target infrastructures:

  • Images

  • Microsoft Azure

Windows 8 and 8.1

 

Windows 7

 

Windows Vista SP 1 and later

Supports only the Business/Enterprise and Ultimate versions.

Windows XP SP 1 and later

 

NOTE:Only NTFS files systems are supported.

PlateSpin Migrate supports the following localized versions of source Windows workloads:

  • English

  • French

  • German

  • Japanese

  • Chinese (traditional and simplified)

Workload Firmware (UEFI and BIOS) Support: PlateSpin Migrate mirrors the Microsoft support of UEFI or BIOS-based Windows workloads. It transfers workloads (both File and Block-based transfers are supported) from source to target while enforcing the supported firmware for the respective source and target operating systems. When any migration between UEFI and BIOS systems are initiated, Migrate analyzes the transition and alerts you about its validity.

NOTE:If you are migrating UEFI-based workload onto vSphere target container and you want to continue using the same firmware boot mode, you need to target a vSphere 5.0 container or newer.

The following are examples of Migrate behavior when doing conversion between UEFI and BIOS-based systems:

  • When transferring a UEFI-based workload to a VMware vSphere 4.x container (which does not support UEFI), Migrate transitions the workload’s UEFI firmware to BIOS firmware.

  • When migrating a UEFI-based source on a BIOS-based target, Migrate converts the UEFI system’s boot disks, which were GPT, to MBR disks. When migrating BIOS workload on a UEFI-based target, Migrate converts the BIOS system's boot disks, which are MBR, to GPT disks.

Supported Linux Workloads

For the Linux platform, PlateSpin Migrate the following portability features:

  • Live peer-to-peer and Offline workload portability support (P2P, P2V, V2P, V2V), including workload synchronization with Server Sync.

  • Support for EXT2, EXT3, EXT4, REISERFS, XFS Linux file systems.

IMPORTANT:

  • Workload imaging is not supported in Linux workloads.

  • Migration of UEFI-based Linux workloads to Hyper-V target container is not supported.

  • Conversion between UEFI and BIOS based Linux systems is not supported.

Some of the supported Linux versions require that you compile the PlateSpin blkwatch module for your specific kernel. Those workloads are called out explicitly.

For information about the pre-compiled versions of the blkwatch driver for many non-debug Linux distributions (32-bit and 64-bit) that PlateSpin Migrate includes, see Section A.0, Linux Distributions Supported by Migrate.

Table 1-4 Supported Linux Workloads

Distribution

Remarks

  • CentOS 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, 7 (For ESX)

  • CentOS 5.x, 6.x, 7 (For Hyper-V)

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) AS/ES/WS 4, 5, 5.1-5.11, 6, 6.1- 6.7, 7, 7.1, 7.2

For RHEL 6.7, 7, 7.1, and 7.2: Only BIOS-based workloads are supported.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 9, 10, 11 (SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4)

The SLES 11 SP2 (32-bit) with kernel 3.0.13-0.27-pae is not supported. The kernel for this version of SLES must be upgraded to 3.0.51-0.7.9-pae so that conversion works.

For SLES 11 SP4: Only BIOS-based workloads are supported.

Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL)

  • Same level of support as that for workloads running RHEL.

  • Workloads using the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel are not supported.

Red Hat Linux 8

32-bit systems only

NOTE:

  • Linux-based source workloads must be running a Secure Shell (SSH) server.

  • Live transfer is supported for these Linux workloads:

    • RHEL 4, 5, 6.x, 7.x

    • SLES 9, 10, 11

  • Migration of encrypted volumes is not supported.

Supported Windows and Linux Workloads For Migration to Microsoft Azure

PlateSpin Migrate 12.1 enhances the Web Interface to let you migrate the following Windows and Linux workloads to Microsoft Azure:

Windows:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2

Linux:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.1

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.7

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 SP4

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 SP3

NOTE:Migration of UEFI workloads to Microsoft Azure is not supported.

For information about using the Web Interface to migrate workloads to Microsoft Azure, see Section 4.0, Working with the PlateSpin Migrate Web Interface.

1.2.2 Supported Target Virtualization Platforms

The following is a list of supported virtualization platforms. For more details on supported configurations, as well as the most up-to-date list, see KB Article 7012976.

IMPORTANT:You need an OS license for the migrated target workload. For Azure target workloads, you must provide Azure with the license information or you will be charged for the OS license.

Table 1-5 Supported Target Virtualization Platforms

Platform

Notes

VMware vCenter 4.1, including Updates 1, 2, and 3

For creating the target VM disk using Raw Device Mapping (RDM), use Semi-Automated Workload Virtualization Using the X2P Workflow.

VMware vCenter 5.0, including Updates 1, 2, and 3

VMware vCenter 5.1, including Updates 1 and 2

VMware vCenter 5.5, including Updates 1 and 2

VMware vCenter 6.0

VMware ESX 4.1, including Updates 1, 2, and 3

All ESXi versions must have a paid license; migration is unsupported with these systems if they are operating with a free license.

For creating the target VM disk using Raw Device Mapping (RDM), use Semi-Automated Workload Virtualization Using the X2P Workflow.

VMware ESXi 4.1, including Updates 1, 2, and 3

VMware ESXi 5.0, including Updates 1, 2, and 3

VMware ESXi 5.1, including Updates 1 and 2

VMware ESXi 5.5, including Updates 1 and 2

VMware ESXi 6.0

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V

Migration of UEFI-based Linux workloads to Hyper-V target container is not supported.

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V

Supported through Semi-Automated Workload Virtualization Using the X2P Workflow.

Migration of UEFI-based Linux workloads to Hyper-V target container is not supported.

Citrix XenServer 6, 6.1, 6.2, 6.5

Supported through Semi-Automated Workload Virtualization Using the X2P Workflow.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 SP3 XEN, SLES 11 SP3 KVM

Red hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.4 - 7 KVM

Supported through Semi-Automated Workload Virtualization Using the X2P Workflow.