PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Release Notes

June 2019

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 includes new features and enhancements and resolves several previous known issues.

The documentation for this product is available in HTML and PDF formats on the PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Documentation website.

This product contains undocumented utilities that the Technical Support team might use to diagnose or correct problems.

1.0 Documentation Updates

The following changes have been made to this document since the release of PlateSpin Migrate 12.3.

1.1 June 2019

Location

Change

Deprecated Functionality

PlateSpin Migrate discontinues support for migrations of workloads with multipath I/O (MPIO) enabled. We recommend that you perform migration with a single path, and then enable MPIO on the cutover workload.

2.0 What’s New for Migrate Server in Azure Cloud

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 with Patch Update 1 (P1) applied is now available in Microsoft Azure Cloud.

3.0 What’s New for PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Patch Update 1

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Patch Update 1 is mandatory fix that you must apply on a base installation of PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Buid 771 to resolve three known issues for PlateSpin Migrate 12.3. For more information, see the PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Patch Update 1 Release Notes.

4.0 What’s New for PlateSpin Migrate Setup (Build 771)

A new PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Setup file (Build 771, PlateSpinMigrateSetup-12.3.0.771.exe) is available on the PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Download site. This file replaces PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Setup file (Build 687, PlateSpinMigrateSetup-12.3.0.687.exe).

The PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Setup file (Build 771) resolves an issue discovered in PlateSpin Migrate Server (from Build 687) that prevented successful migrations to Amazon Web Services. Ensure that you use the replacement PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Setup file (Build 771) for your PlateSpin Migrate Server installations.

IMPORTANT:If you previously downloaded the PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Setup file (Build 687) and are using Amazon Web Services as a target platform, you must download the replacement PlateSpin Migrate Setup file (Build 771) and use it instead to install PlateSpin Migrate Server.

5.0 What’s New

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 includes several new features and enhancements.

Many of these improvements were made in direct response to suggestions from our customers. We thank you for your time and valuable input. We hope you continue to help us ensure that our products meet all your needs. You can post feedback in the PlateSpin Migrate forum on Micro Focus Forums, our online community that also includes product information, blogs, and links to helpful resources.

5.1 Automated Migrations to Amazon Web Services

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 enhances PlateSpin Migrate Web Interface to support automated migration of source workloads to Amazon Web Services (AWS).

For more information, see the following topics in the User Guide:

5.2 Automated Migrations to VMware Cloud on AWS

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 enhances PlateSpin Migrate Web Interface to support automated migration of source workloads to VMware Cloud (VMC) on Amazon Web Services. See Prerequisites for Migration to VMware Cloud on AWS in the User Guide.

You add a VMware Cloud on AWS target and the target is discovered and handled as a VMware DRS Cluster. See Target Discovery in the Web Interface in the User Guide.

5.3 Automated Cloud-to-Cloud Migrations

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 adds support for the following cloud-to-cloud (C2C) migrations with no VPN required:

  • From AWS to Azure

  • From Azure to AWS

  • From AWS to vCloud

  • From vCloud to AWS

  • From Azure to vCloud

  • From vCloud to Azure

See Prerequisites for Cloud-to-Cloud Migrations in the User Guide.

5.4 VMware vCloud Director 9.1 Support

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 adds support for migration to VMware vCloud Director 9.1.

5.5 VMware Cluster Support as a Cluster or as Hosts

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 adds the ability in Migrate Web Interface to add a target VMware DRS Cluster as VMware DRS Cluster or as VMware DRS Cluster as Hosts. See Discovering Target Platforms.

5.6 Enhanced MPIO Support

See Multipath I/O in the User Guide.

5.7 Security Enhancements for TLS Protocols

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 server uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0, 1.1, or 1.2 protocol, depending on the protocols supported by and enabled on its host OS. See Configuring TLS Protocols for Migrate Hosts in the Installation and Upgrade Guide.

For remote database instances, the following additional requirements must be met:

  • Migrate Server: Install Microsoft SQL Server Native Client on the host server before you install PlateSpin Migrate.

  • External SQL Server: If TLS 1.0 is disabled on the PlateSpin Migrate Server host, then the remote database and the host on which the database resides must support TLS 1.2. See TLS 1.2 Support for Microsoft SQL Server (Microsoft KB Article 3135244) in Microsoft Support.

For information about using TLS 1.2 for source workload connections with PlateSpin Migrate 12.3, see Configuring Source Workloads to Connect Using TLS 1.2 in the User Guide.

5.8 Enhancements for PlateSpin Configuration

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 adds the following PlateSpin Configuration parameters: See Configuring Advanced PlateSpin Settings for AWS.

Parameter

Description

AwsInstanceTypeForReplicationEnvironment

Specifies the AWS instance type to be used for the AWS PlateSpin Replication Environment VM. The default value is t2.micro.

Set the value of this parameter to the AWS instance type you want to use for the Replication Environment VM.

AWSPriceListRegion

Specifies the AWS region whose AWS price list endpoint is used for discovering the AWS supported instance types. The default value is us-east-1.

However, if the instance type that you want to use is not listed in the price list endpoint of the configured region, set the value of this parameter to the name of region that has a price list endpoint listing your desired instance type.

AWSEnableSourceCredentialsForLinuxWithKeypair

Sets whether you can use the source credentials to log in to an AWS Linux target instance or not. The default value is False because of which you can log in to the target instance only by using the key pair configured in the migration job.

To enable logging into AWS Linux target instance either by using the key pair configured in the migration job or the source credentials, set the value of this parameter to True.

UseOnlyPublicIPForAWS

By default, PlateSpin Migrate Server is preconfigured to allow private IP addresses for communications during migrations to AWS. If the source workload cannot connect to the private IP address of the AWS target, then you require a public IP address for communications during migrations to AWS.

To ensure that only public IP is used during migration, set the value of this parameter as True. Also, you must change the SourceListensForConnection parameter setting from True to False to enable the source workload to connect to the target workload.

PartitionAlignmentSizeInKB

Sets the disk alignment offset for workloads with MBR partitions. The value of this parameter is the number of kilobytes (KB) from the beginning of the disk to the closest alignment boundary. See Disk Not Properly Aligned on the Target VM in the User Guide.

VCloudAppTemplateName

Specifies the name of the vApp template to be used for the Replication Environment during vCloud replications. By default, the value of this parameter is PlateSpin Replication Environment.

If you edit the name of the vApp Template to which you upload the OVF PlateSpin package, then you must set the value of this parameter to the new name of the vApp Template.

5.9 Supported Configurations

For detailed information and caveats about supported source workloads and target platforms for PlateSpin Migrate 12.3, see Supported Configurations in the User Guide.

6.0 Deprecated Functionality

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 no longer supports the following:

  • Semi-automated migration to your Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment by using the PlateSpin Migrate Client.

    Configure workloads for automated migration to AWS by using Migrate Web Interface.

  • Multipath I/O (MPIO) support

    For migrations of workloads with multipath I/O (MPIO) enabled, we recommend that you perform migration with a single path, and then enable MPIO on the cutover workload.

7.0 Known Issues

Micro Focus strives to ensure our products provide quality solutions for your enterprise software needs. The following issues are currently being researched. If you need further assistance with any issue, please contact Micro Focus Support and Services.

For information about known issues in previous releases, see Previous Releases.

7.1 Known Issues for Upgrade

Information Is Missing for Workloads Registered with Migrate Agent After Upgrade or Any Export/Import Process

Issue: Information for workloads registered using Migrate Agent will be lost during the upgrade from version 12.2.2 to version 12.3, or after any export/import process using the ImportExportAll.bat utility running on version 12.2.2. (Bug 1089919)

Workaround: After the upgrade or export/import process is completed, you can re-register the workloads by using Migrate Agent.

7.2 Known Issues for Migration to Azure

Error When Preparing Replication Environment in Azure

Issue: When you prepare the replication environment in Azure, a 403 Forbidden error displays if the date and time on the Migrate server is not correctly configured. (Bug 1077308)

Workaround: Ensure that the date and time is correctly configured on the Migrate server and then prepare replication again.

7.3 Known Issues for Migration to AWS

Preparing Test Cutover of a Windows Domain Controller Workload to AWS Stalls

Issue: The test cutover of a Windows Domain Controller workload to AWS stalls with the following recoverable error: (Bug 1099182)

The Configuration service in the target machine does not seem to have started.

Workaround: None.

Migration of a Workload With Disks Having More Than 15 File System Volumes Fails

Issue: When you migrate a source workload with disks that have more than 15 file system volumes, the migration fails at the Creating and Partitioning Volumes step (Bug 1020176)

Workaround: None. AWS permits 15 volumes or less per disk. You can deselect volumes that will not be migrated to reduce the volume count for the disk to 15 or less.

Migration of a Windows Server 2008 R2 Workload to AWS Gets Stuck During Cutover If the Cloud Instance Size is Configured as i3.16xlarge

Issue: If you choose to migrate a Windows Server 2008 R2 workload to an AWS target and configure the migration job to use the i3.16xlarge cloud instance size, the migration job gets stuck at AWS(PV)tools Installation step (Bug 1095580)

Workaround: Configure the migration job to use a supported cloud instance size other than i3.16xlarge.

PlateSpin Migrate Client Incorrectly Lists the AWS Targets Discovered Using the PlateSpin Migrate Web Interface and Does Not Block Image Migrations to AWS

Issue: When you use the PlateSpin Migrate Client to capture or deploy an image, the Target panel incorrectly lists all the AWS targets discovered using the Web Interface. Even though, the PlateSpin Migrate Client does not support migration of Images to AWS cloud, the Client interface lets you select an AWS target to configure the image migration job. (Bug 1099822)

Workaround: PlateSpin Migrate Client does not support migration of any workload to AWS target. To deploy or capture the image, select a target platform that PlateSpin Migrate Client supports.

7.4 Known Issues for Migration to VMware

After VMware Maintenance or Update, VMware Target No Longer Appear in the Web Interface and Its Associated Workloads Go into an Unsupported State

Issue: If PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 refreshes a VMware target’s information during a VMware maintenance window or update, the VMware target can disappear from the Migrate Web Interface and its associated workloads go into an unsupported state. (Bug 1117364)

Workaround: The latest patches for PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 ensure that the VMware target does not get removed if a target refresh occurs during VMware maintenance or update. After the maintenance or update completes, you must refresh the target in Migrate before you resume migrations. Ensure that you download and apply the latest patches to your Migrate server.

Before you perform maintenance or updates for the VMware environment, see Best Practices for Maintaining or Updating VMware Environments That Are Configured as Migration Targets in the User Guide.

If the VMware target does get removed, you must do one of the following:

  • Restore your migration database by importing the database backup file that you exported before you began the VMware maintenance or update.

    -OR-

  • Re-add the VMware target, then re-create all contracts associated with that target.

7.5 General Issues

PlateSpin Migrate Client: Unable to Configure X2P Migrations for a Workload Discovered Using Migrate Agent

Issue: When you use PlateSpin Migrate Client to perform X2P Sync migration of a workload that is discovered using Migrate Agent, the PlateSpin Migrate Client interface displays an error and does not allow the migration to proceed. (Bug 1103168)

Workaround: Use the PlateSpin Migrate Client to discover the source workload and then migrate the workload. You can alternatively use a different replication method for the migration.

Target VM Name Includes the Under PlateSpin Control String Post Server Sync Operation

Issue: When you use the Migrate Client to perform Server Sync operation to synchronize the source changes to the target workload on a ESX server, the target VM name includes the (under PlateSpin control) string even after the Server Sync operation is successfully completed. (Bug 1102407)

Workaround: After the Server Sync operation is completed, manually edit the target VM name to remove the (under PlateSpin control) string.

[CLI] Execution of Commands Using the PlateSpin Migrate Client Interface Fails

Issue: Commands executed using the PlateSpin Migrate Client Command Line Interface fails with the error: missing parameter value/address.

This error occurs because the configuration file containing the Migrate server details cannot be read. (Bug 1086232)

Workaround: None.

[MPIO] X2P Migration of a Linux Source Workload Having LVM Partitions to a Linux Target Having Disks With Non-LVM Partitions Fails

Issue: When you use the X2P workflow to perform a full migration of a Linux workload that has LVM partitions to a Linux target that has disks with non-LVM partitions, the migration fails at Creating and Partitioning Volumes step. (Bug 1096119)

Workaround: Before you migrate the workload, you must manually remove the existing partitions on the target workload.

[MPIO] Swap Partition Is Not Properly Activated on the Target Machine for P2P Linux Migration Using Server Sync

Issue: For P2P migration of Linux workloads using Server Sync, the /etc/fstab file on the target machine uses the /dev/sdx# path to activate the swap partition instead of using a persistent device name. The swap partition is not properly activated on the target machine. (Bug 1096796)

Workaround: Modify the swap entry in the /etc/fstab file to use a persistent name for the device in the /dev/disk/by-id directory, which refers to the storage device by a unique identifier in the following format: /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-<WWID>-part<partition number>

  1. Log in as the root user to the target Linux machine, then launch a command console.

  2. Determine the WWID and partition number needed for the persistent device name:

    1. At the command prompt, enter cat /etc/fstab to view the device entries for the target machine

    2. View the current entry that activates the swap partition. Note the disk and partition number.

      In the following example output, the entry /dev/sdg2 indicates the sdg disk and partition number 2.

    3. At the command prompt, enter multipath -l to list the multipath devices.

      In the following example output, locate sdg, then note the WWID for its parent mpathb as 360002ac0000000000000004d00006312.

    4. Modify the path used for the swap partition in the /etc/fstab file.

      1. Open the /etc/fstab file in a text editor.

      2. In the entry for the swap partition, change the /dev path to the /dev/disk/by-id path in the following format:

        /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-<WWID>-part<partition number>

        For example, change /dev/sdg2 to the following persistent name:

        /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-360002ac0000000000000004d00006312-part2

      3. Save the modified /etc/fstab file.

    5. Reboot the target machine.

8.0 Resolved Issues

The following is a list of issues that were resolved for this release:

8.1 Migration of a Windows Server 2003 Workload Might Get Stuck at Configuring Operating System Step

Issue: When you migrate a Windows Server 2003 workload, the migration job might stall or go into a recoverable error at the Configuring Operating System step and restarting the target workload resumes the conversion. (Bug 1069833)

Fix: The migration job completes successfully without the need to restart the target workload.

8.2 After Uninstalling PlateSpin Server, the Reinstall Stalls at ‘Installing OFX: Enabling STOMP Protocol’

Issue: After an uninstall of PlateSpin Server, if you reinstall without rebooting, the installation might stall with the following message:

Status: Installing OFX
        Enabling STOMP protocol

The Migrate Event Messaging function uses RabbitMQ software, Erlang programming language, and STOMP. The uninstall removes the installed files, but does not automatically stop the related processes. If the processes are still running when you attempt to reinstall PlateSpin Server, the installation stalls. (Bug 999112)

Fix: After the uninstall of PlateSpin Server, the RabbitMQ services are automatically stopped and reinstalling PlateSpin Server no longer stalls.

8.3 File-Based Transfer Conversion Gets Stuck at Starting Virtual Machine for RHEL 6.3 UEFI Workloads

Issue: In the Migrate Client, file-based transfer conversions gets stuck at Starting Virtual Machine for RHEL 6.3 UEFI workloads. Diagnostics for the migration job shows the following error:

Configure Target Machine Running Controller > Starting Virtual Machine Running
		  Information:32:Task PowerOnVM_Task completed successfully
  Information:32:ChangeVMState: failed to change state to poweredOn, current state is poweredOff 

This error has been observed only for RHEL 6.3 UEFI workload migrations using file-based data transfer. (Bug 1087728)

Fix: You can now use file-based transfer to migrate RHEL 6.3 UEFI workloads.

8.4 No Network Connectivity on a Target VM That Is Shut Down Post Cutover to a VMware Cluster

Issue: When you migrate a workload to a VMware Cluster with a migration job that is configured to shut down the target post cutover, the migration job shuts down the target after successful migration. However, the target VM does not have any network connectivity when it is powered on. (Bug 1089454)

Fix: The target VM is correctly mapped to a VMware network adapter and has network connectivity when it is powered on.

8.5 Conversion of Source Workload Having Volume Labels With Special Characters to AWS Fails

Issue: When you migrate a source workload that has volume labels with special characters to AWS target, the conversion fails. (Bug 1017270)

Fix: You can now migrate source workloads having special characters in its volume labels to AWS target.

8.6 Discovery Fails for Windows Workloads in AWS for Private IP Address or WMI Method

Issue: Discovery of a Windows workload in AWS fails if you use a private IP address or if you use the WMI discovery method. Possible error messages include:

Cannot connect to named pipe

Workload authentication failed

(Bug 1012001)

Fix: You can now use the workload’s private IP address or the WMI discovery method for discovering Windows workloads in AWS.

8.7 Incremental Replication of a Linux Workload Having Multiple NICs to a VMware Cluster Target Gets Stuck During Copying Data Step

Issue: If you choose to perform incremental replication of a Linux Workload that has multiple NICs to a VMware Cluster target and configure the Replication Networks for Source setting of the migration job to use only one NIC on the source workload for replication traffic, the job gets stuck at Copy Data step. (Bug 1089593)

Fix: The incremental replication now completes successfully even when a IP address is pinned for replication.

8.8 Unable to Migrate a Linux Workload to a Hyper-V Target VM Using a Semi-automated (X2P) Migration If the Migration Job Has Compression Enabled

Issue: When you use the semi-automated (X2P) workflow to migrate a Linux workload to a Hyper-V target VM, the migration job fails with the following error if the job network configuration has the Enable Compression option selected to allow compression of data during data transfer. (Bug 1089276)

Message Exception happened in Compressor Decompressor: Compressor::RunDecompressor().

Fix: You can now use the semi-automated (X2P) workflow to migrate a Linux workload to a Hyper-V target VM even if the Enable Compression option in the Network section of the Job Configuration window is selected.

8.9 Replication Cannot Complete If an Anti-Virus Update Is Pending a Restart on the Source

Issue: Automatic updates for anti-virus software on Windows source workloads sometimes have pending system changes that require a restart. While the required restart is pending, any replication seems to get stuck and cannot complete. (Bug 1091267)

Fix: Follow the steps documented in Replication Cannot Complete If an Anti-Virus Update Is Pending a Restart on the Source troubleshooting scenario in the User Guide.

8.10 Target Cloud Containers and Associated Workloads Are Not Imported

Issue: If your user password for a target Cloud container changes or expires after you export the database and before you import the data after upgrade, the container is not imported and its associated workload configurations are corrupted in the imported database. The container and workloads are not displayed in the Web Interface. The workloads are visible in the Migrate Client, but cannot be managed. Manually re-adding the container and workloads in the Web Interface fails because their objects are already present in the database. (Bug 1033680)

Fix: To use the same Migrate server for migrations to the target Cloud container, you must re-install PlateSpin Server, which resets the database. You must re-configure all target containers and workloads.

To avoid the issue, ensure that credentials in the Migrate database are valid and unchanged for target Cloud containers at export and import. See Ensuring Valid Credentials for Target Cloud Containers in the Installation and Upgrade Guide.

8.11 OL 7.3 UEFI Running RHCK: Preparing Test Cutover Fails

Issue: For Oracle Linux 7.3 UEFI running RHCK kernel, Preparing Test Cutover fails as follows:

  • For Azure: Displays error: Configuration service in the target machine does not seem to have started.

  • For vCloud: The status displays as running but the target VM displays the grub> prompt.

This issue is not observed on OL 7.3 with RHCK for BIOS, nor for OL 7.3 with UEK for UEFI or BIOS. (Bug 1067023)

Fix: For information about how to modify the default kernel used for Oracle Linux UEFI machines, see KB Article 7023252.

9.0 Installing or Updating PlateSpin Migrate

PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 provides the Install PlateSpin Migrate Prerequisites PowerShell script to check for and install prerequisite software and apply the appropriate configuration: ASP.NET, IIS, and .NET Framework. See Installing Prerequisite Software in the Installation and Upgrade Guide.

To install PlateSpin Migrate 12.3, see Installing PlateSpin Migrate in the Installation and Upgrade Guide.

To apply PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 to your PlateSpin Server, you must have an existing installation of PlateSpin Migrate 12.2.2 on a supported Windows platform, with or without interim patches and hotfixes applied. See Upgrading Migrate in the Installation and Upgrade Guide.

NOTE:To upgrade from an existing installation of PlateSpin Migrate 12.2.2 Server to a supported new host platform, see Upgrading to a New Host Platform in the PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Installation and Upgrade Guide.

10.0 Licensing Information

For information about activating a new license, see PlateSpin Migrate Product Licensing in the User Guide.

11.0 Previous Releases

For documentation that accompanied earlier releases, visit the PlateSpin Migrate 12.3 Documentation website and scroll to Previous Releases.

12.0 Contacting Micro Focus

If you have suggestions for documentation improvements, click comment on this topic at the bottom of any of its HTML pages, or email Documentation-Feedback@netiq.com.

For specific product issues, contact Micro Focus Support at https://www.microfocus.com/support-and-services/.

Additional technical information or advice is available from several sources:

13.0 Legal Notice

For information about legal notices, trademarks, disclaimers, warranties, export and other use restrictions, U.S. Government rights, patent policy, and FIPS compliance, see https://www.microfocus.com/about/legal/.

Copyright © 2018 NetIQ Corporation, a Micro Focus company. All rights reserved.