How to migrate server to a VM instance

Question

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)?

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?

Answer 1

What kind of host OS needs to be installed to run the VHD made from the previous server's hard drive?

Since you want to run that instance as a virtual machine, you can install any hypervisor OS you prefer, be it Windows Server 2022 with Hyper-V role, Hyper-V Server 2019, VMware ESXi, any Linux KVM flavor, Proxmox VE or XCP-NG. Not all of those hypervisors support VHD(X) files as virtual disks, so you may have to use a free V2V tool https://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwind-v2v-converter to convert your VHD(X) file to a supported hypervisor.

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)?

That primarily depends on the license you currently have. In most cases, you license the host, not the OS. That means you must check whether your current license is not bound to the old Dell PowerEdge R250 server and/or if you have transfer rights. Otherwise, you will need to purchase a Windows Server license for the new server as well.

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?

That depends on the host OS you intend to be using. Most of the hypervisors I mentioned above are free and do not require any license.

Answer 2

Hi Zach,

Thanks for your reply. You can use Export VM and Import VM to manually migrate the VM. Export-VM (Hyper-V) | Microsoft Learn

Step to step guide:

Migrate Virtual Machine Manually Between Hyper-V Hosts (petri.com)

'Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.'

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

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