Creating a Server Migration Plan

Preparations

• Create a migration project.
• Discover source servers and collect server details. MgC provides three collection methods to meet your requirements in different scenarios. You can choose a method based on your source environment.
  • If your source servers are on a cloud platform, such as Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, AWS, Tencent Cloud, Google Cloud, or Azure, you can collect the data about your servers over the Internet. You can also manually add the server data to MgC.
  • If your source servers are in an on-premises IDC, you can collect the server data over the intranet. MgC enables you to scan server by network or VMware vCenter Server. You can also manually add the server data to MgC.
• Install Edge in the source intranet environment and register an account. For details, see Installing Edge for Windows. Then connect Edge to MgC. For details, see Connecting the Edge Device to MgC.

Notes and Constraints

• Only one migration workflow can be created for a migration plan.
• A server can only be added to one migration plan.
• A maximum of 100 servers can be added to a migration plan.

Procedure

1. Log in to the MgC console. In the upper left corner of the page, select the migration project you created.
2. In the navigation pane, choose Design > Migration Plans.
3. Click Create Migration Plan in the upper right corner of the page.
4. In the Server Migration card, click Configure Migration Plan.

   

5. In the Basic Settings area, set parameters listed in Table 1.

   Table 1 Basic settings

   Parameter	Configuration
   Migration Plan Name	User-defined
   Description (Optional)
   Source Platform	Select the cloud platform where the source servers are located. NOTICE: Servers in a migration plan must be from the same platform.
   Target Region	Select the region you want to migrate to.

6. In the Source Servers area, click Add.

   

7. Select the servers to be migrated together and click Confirm.
   

   • The source servers included in this plan will be migrated using the same migration workflow. The same migration settings, such as the VPC, subnet, and security group settings, will be applied to these source servers.
   • The selected servers must come from the source platform selected in step 4.

8. Click Save and Next to go to the Check Source Servers phase.
9. Configure server credentials. You need to add server credentials to the Edge device. There are two methods for you to choose from.
   • Manual addition: You can choose this method if you configure credentials for a small number of servers. For details about how to add credentials to Edge, see Adding Resource Credentials.
   • Batch addition: You can choose this method if you configure credentials for a large number of servers.
     1. Click Configure Credentials above the list of source servers to download the template for batch configuring credentials. Open the template file, enter the credential information (username and password) of all servers in the current migration plan, and save the file.

        

     2. Import the saved template file to the Edge device you connect to MgC. The system automatically configures the Edge device and credentials for the servers.

        

   You can use Modify in the Operation column to modify parameters, such as Access IP Address, Access Port, Edge Device, and Credential.

10. Select all the servers and click Check Migration Readiness above the list. The system checks if the source servers are ready for migration.

    

    • If the Migration Readiness Check column displays a Completed status, the source server passes the check and is ready for migration.
    • If the Migration Readiness Check column displays a Check failed status and the failure cause is that certain source server information is missing, click Collect in the Deep Collection column to collect the server details.
    • If the Migration Readiness Check column displays a Check failed status and the failure cause is that the source server is unreachable, check whether the access information you provided is correct. If it is correct, check the migration readiness again.

11. After Completed shows up in the Migration Readiness Check column for all the source servers, click Next to go to the optional step Conduct Performance Collection.
12. (Optional) Collect server performance data. The collected data can be used to get target server recommendations in the next step. A collection takes some time because performance data is sampled from source servers once every 5 minutes. You can determine whether to perform performance collection. For more constraints, see Precautions for performance collection. If you do not need to collect server performance data, click Next to go to the Configure Target phase.

    Select the source servers whose performance data needs to be collected and choose Performance Collection > Start above the list. Collecting will be displayed in the Performance Collection column

    After the performance data collection is complete, you can:

    • Click View Performance in the Operation column to view the collected server performance data.
    • Choose Performance Collection > Stop above the list to suspend performance data collection for servers.

13. Configure target servers. You can use the following methods to complete this job:
    • Associating source servers with target servers: If you have cloud servers on Huawei Cloud, you can associate them with the source servers. Then in the migration workflow, these cloud servers will receive data and workloads migrated from the source servers. For requirements about your existing cloud servers (target servers), see Associating Source Servers with Target Servers.
      1. Locate a source server in the list, click Associate in the Target Association column.

         

      2. In the displayed dialog box, select the region and project where the existing cloud servers are located. If the source server's storage disks are overprovisioned, regardless of the quantity or space, you can choose an existing cloud server that precisely fits your needs to optimize resource utilization and save costs.
         

         • Ensure that the target server has an EIP bound.
         • Only Linux disk sizes can be decreased, and decreased sizes must be larger than the used sizes of source disks.
         • In the cross-AZ migration scenario, disk sizes can only be increased. Even if you decrease disk sizes here, the settings will not be applied, and the system will create target disks as large as source disks.
      3. Click Confirm. After the association is complete, Associated shows up in the Target Association column. You can click Details to view the details of the associated target server. The system will automatically check whether the associated target server has downsized disks compared with the source server. If it is, Yes will be displayed in the Disk Downsized column. If it is not, No will be displayed.
    • Generating target server recommendations: You can choose to let the system recommend you rightsized Huawei Cloud servers based on the source server specifications. You can also manually adjust the recommended server specifications. In the subsequent migration workflow, the target servers will be automatically created based on the specifications configured here. Source servers with target servers associated will be skipped during the recommendation process.
      1. In the source server list, select the ones that you want to generate target server recommendations for and click Generate Target Recommendations above the list.
      2. Configure the settings used to compute target recommendations based on Table 2.

         Table 2 Settings used for computing target recommendations

         Parameter	Description
         Priority	High performance MgC recommends target servers with optimal performance. Low cost MgC recommends the most cost-effective target servers that meet your demands.
         Preferences	Configure your preferences for target servers. Your preferences will be the first attempted to be matched during the recommendation. For details about how the system recommends appropriate target servers for you, see How Does MgC Recommend Appropriate Target Resources for Me? VM Types Select the ECS types you prefer. System Disk Select the system disk type you prefer. Data Disk Select the data disk type you prefer. Sizing Criteria Select the criteria that the system will follow for generating server recommendations. If you select As-in on source, the system will recommend target servers with the same or as close CPU and memory capacity as the source servers. If you select Performance-based, you need to complete performance data collection first, and then set assessment parameters. The system will then recommend target servers based on the actual CPU and memory usage of the source servers. NOTICE: The more performance data is collected, the more accurate the recommendations are. The collection of server performance data should take no less than seven days.

      3. Click Confirm. If Succeeded shows up in the Target Configuration column, the target recommendation is generated. You can check the recommended configuration in the next column

         

      4. (Optional) Modify target server specifications recommended by the system if needed.
         1. Locate a source server and click Modify Target Specifications in the Operation column.
         2. Modify the specifications and image for the target server.

            

         3. In the disk area, locate a disk and click Modify in the Target Specifications column to modify the disk type and capacity. Only disks on Linux target servers can be downsized if the paired source server is over provisioned with storage resources. If you downsize a disk, the system will set Disk Downsized to Yes. The reverse also applies.
            

            • The system disk capacity ranges from 40 GB to 1,024 GB.
            • The data disk capacity ranges from 10 GB to 32,768 GB.
            • When downsizing disks, keep in mind that this option is available only for Linux target servers. Additionally, the decreased sizes must be larger than the used sizes of the source disks.
            • In the cross-AZ migration scenario, disks on target servers can only be upsized. Even if you try to downsize disks here, the settings will not be applied, and the system will create target disks as large as source disks.

            

    • Configuring target server specifications: You can manually configure the same target server specifications for the source servers all at once.
      

      When selecting server specifications, it is crucial to ensure they meet your requirements. The system does not check whether they match the source servers. MgC does not assume responsibility for any issues arising from inappropriate server specifications.

      1. In the server list, select the source servers and click Configure Target Specifications above the list.
      2. Select the target server specifications and click OK. Then you can see Target Configuration changes to a Manual status.

         

    • Configuring an image for target servers: You can select an image to be applied on all the target servers.
      

      When selecting an image, it is crucial to ensure it meets your requirements. The system does not check whether it matches the source servers. MgC does not assume responsibility for any issues arising from inappropriate images.

      1. In the server list, select the source servers and click Configure Image above the list.
      2. On the displayed page, choose an image type, an OS, and an OS version and click Confirm. If a target server has a system disk smaller than what defined in the image you choose, configuring the image will fail for that server.
    • Exporting and them importing target server configurations: You can export the target server configurations, modify or configure the server, disk, and image settings, and then import the updated configurations back. Some technical expertise is needed for this process.
      1. In the list of source servers, choose Export/Import Target Configuration > Export Target Configuration to download the server information to the local PC as an Excel file.

         

      2. Open the exported file. On the first sheet named servers, the blue columns (columns A to G) indicate the source server information, which does not need to be modified. The yellow columns (columns H to K) indicate the target server information, which needs to be configured.

         

      3. Configure the target server information (in columns H to K) according to Table 3.

         Table 3 Parameters in columns H to K

         Parameter	Configuration
         flavor	Enter the flavor name for the target server. The second sheet flavors lists the flavors of S- (general-purpose) and C- (computing-plus) series on sale in the target region. Choose a proper flavor and copy the flavor name to this cell. NOTE: If a source server has been assessed, the recommended flavor is included in the exported file. If a source server has not been assessed, its flavor field is empty.
         disks(name,osDisk,type,capacity;)	Enter the information about all disks. Separate multiple disks with semicolons (;). You must specify the name, function (system or not), type, and size for each disk. Separate these items with commas (,). Please keep in mind that the disk size is a number without unit. The default unit is GiB. Example: /dev/sda,true,SAS,1024;/dev/sdb,false,SAS,2046 NOTE: If a source server has been assessed, the recommended disk specifications show up in the exported file. If a source server has not been assessed, the source disk specifications are used, except the disk type. The target disk type default to SAS.
         image_type	Enter the image type. The options are: public: public image private: private image shared: shared image
         image	Enter the image name. You can view all available images in the target region on the third sheet images.

      4. After configuring the target server information of all source servers, save the Excel file. Return to the MgC console. Choose Export/Import Target Configuration > Import Target Configuration above the list of source servers.

         

      5. In the displayed dialog box, click Access OBS to go to the OBS bucket list page.

         

      6. Select a bucket and upload the Excel file to the bucket.
      7. After the upload is successful, return to the MgC console. In the Import Target Configuration dialog box, select the file stored in the OBS bucket from the drop-down list.
      8. Click Confirm to import the target server configurations.
         

         • If the flavor parameter is empty in a row, this row will be ignored during the import.
         • If the disk or image parameter is left empty in a row, the source server's disk and image information is used during the import.
         • If the number in the disk field of a row is inconsistent with what the source server actually has, an error message is reported, indicating that the disk numbers are inconsistent.
         • If in a row, the disk type conflicts with the flavor, an error message is displayed, indicating that the disk type is incorrect.

14. Perform subsequent operations as needed.
    • Create a server migration workflow.

      Click Create Workflow to create a migration workflow. For more information, see 5.

    • Only save the migration plan.
      Click Confirm to save the migration plan. Then you can:

      • Click Design in the Operation column to modify the migration plan.
      • Click Create Workflow in the Operation column to create a server migration workflow to migrate the source servers included in the migration plan. For more information, see 5.