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ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere 10

Virtual machine migration and cloning considerations for ONTAP tools

Contributors jani netapp-jani
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ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere support all major types of virtual machine migration, including compute-only (vMotion), storage-only (Storage vMotion), and combined compute and storage migration across all datastores. This topic outlines key considerations and best practices to ensure successful migration and cloning of virtual machines, regardless of the underlying datastore type.

Migrate protected virtual machines

You can migrate protected virtual machines to:

  • The same datastore on a different ESXi host

  • A different compatible datastore on the same ESXi host

  • A different compatible datastore on a different ESXi host

If you migrate the virtual machine to a different FlexVol volume, the system updates the metadata file for that volume with the virtual machine information. If a virtual machine is migrated to a different ESXi host but the same storage, the underlying FlexVol volume metadata file will not be modified.

For information on migrating virtual machines, refer to the Broadcom documentation: vSphere Virtual Machines Migration

Clone protected virtual machines

You can clone protected virtual machines to the following:

  • The same container of the same FlexVol volume using a replication group

    The same FlexVol volume's metadata file is updated with the cloned virtual machine details.

  • The same container of a different FlexVol volume using a replication group

    In the FlexVol volume where the cloned virtual machine is placed, the metadata file gets updated with the cloned virtual machine details.

  • A different container or vVols datastore

    In the FlexVol volume where the cloned virtual machine is placed, the metadata file gets updated with the virtual machine details.

VMware presently does not support virtual machines cloned to a VM template.

A clone of a clone of a protected virtual machine is supported.

Refer to the Broadcom documentation: Creating a Virtual Machine for Cloning for more details.

Virtual machine snapshots

ONTAP tools supports virtual machine snapshots through standard VMware workflows. Snapshots are short-term rollback points intended for use cases such as testing and patch preparation. They are not a substitute for backup or replication-based data protection. Running a virtual machine on a snapshot for extended periods can cause instability and data loss.

You can take crash-consistent snapshots (snapshots without memory state, which can be used to restart the virtual machine to a consistent state) on all supported datastore types. Quiesced snapshots, which use VMware Tools to flush in-memory data to disk before capturing, are also supported. For an overview of snapshot types and behavior, refer to Overview of virtual machine snapshots in vSphere.

Note Memory snapshots capture the running memory state and temporarily stun the virtual machine. They are not supported in ONTAP tools workflows. If a virtual machine has a memory snapshot, you must delete it before the virtual machine can be included in a consistency group or host cluster relationship managed by ONTAP tools.

On ASA r2 storage systems, virtual machine snapshot behavior differs from other storage types. Snapshots are read-only. When you power on the virtual machine, VASA Provider creates a LUN from the read-only snapshot and enables IOPS. When you power off the virtual machine, VASA Provider deletes the LUN and disables IOPS.

For information on managing virtual machine snapshots, refer to the Broadcom documentation Manage Virtual Machines With Snapshots.