Azure Migrate – Cross-Tenant VM Migration and Mobility Agent Registration Issue

Question

Azure Migrate – Cross-Tenant VM Migration and Mobility Agent Registration Issue

Pasupathi M 60

Hi Team,

I am planning to migrate multiple virtual machines from Azure Tenant A to Tenant B and I am looking for a supported approach that minimizes downtime.

Current Scenario:

Source machines are already running as Azure VMs in Tenant A.

Target environment is a different Azure tenant (Tenant B).

I want to avoid the snapshot export/import method because the VM count is high and downtime needs to be minimized.

What I Tried:

Created an Azure Migrate project.

Completed discovery and assessment successfully.

Deployed the migration appliance using the modernized method.

Attempted to treat the Azure VMs as physical machines and enable replication across tenants using the Mobility Agent.

Issue Faced:

During Mobility Agent installation and registration, the process fails because the agent automatically detects that the machine is running in Azure.

As a result, registration with the migration appliance cannot be completed.

I am also unable to find the Mobility Service configuration details section in the appliance configuration manager as referenced in the documentation.

Request:

Is Azure Migrate supported for Azure VM to Azure VM migration across tenants?

If not, what is the recommended method to migrate multiple Azure VMs between tenants with minimal downtime?

Is Azure Site Recovery cross-tenant replication the correct approach in this case, or is there any better supported alternative?

Looking for guidance on the correct and supported migration path.

Thank you

Bharath Y P 4,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-02T22:04:45.86+00:00
Hello Pasupathi M,

It sounds like you're tackling quite a complex migration issue with moving multiple Azure VMs from Tenant A to Tenant B while aiming to minimize downtime. Here's what you can consider:

Azure Migrate's Cross-Tenant Support: Unfortunately, Azure Migrate does not support cross-tenant VM to VM migrations directly due to the complications with the Mobility Agent detecting the Azure environment.

Recommended Method - Azure Storage Explorer:

Since you've already completed the discovery and assessment, you can use Azure Storage Explorer to migrate your VMs. Here’s a simplified guide:

Prepare the Source Environment: Ensure that all VMs in Tenant A are properly shut down.

Copy VM Disks: Access the storage account in Tenant A through Azure Storage Explorer and copy the VM disks you want to migrate.

Transfer Disks to Target Tenant: Connect to the storage account in Tenant B and paste the copied disks there.

Create New VMs in Target Tenant: Use these copied disks to create new VMs in Tenant B, making sure the configurations match your original VMs to avoid discrepancies.

Verify Migration Success: Start the new VMs and check that all services and applications are functioning correctly.

Azure Site Recovery (ASR): Although ASR is mainly used for disaster recovery, it does support cross-tenant replication. If you choose to go this route, ensure that:

The Mobility Service is correctly installed on the VMs you are trying to replicate.

All necessary networking, ports, and configurations are correctly set up as detailed in the troubleshooting documents related to ASR.

Given your attempts with the Mobility Agent registration failing, it sounds like a configuration issue. You might want to ensure that firewall rules allow the requisite ports and that your network configuration is correct for both tenants.

Follow-Up Questions:

Are there any specific error messages being logged during the Mobility Agent installation?

Have you confirmed that all necessary ports for Azure Migrate and ASR are open in both tenants?

Do you have any existing restrictions or configurations in your network that might impact connectivity between the source and target tenants?

Have you already enabled the replication settings in the Azure Site Recovery portal for Tenant B?

References:

Comprehensive Guide to Migrating Virtual Machines Across Tenants

Troubleshooting Migration of On-Premises and Virtual Servers to Azure

Azure Site Recovery Documentation

I hope this helps! If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask. If the provided answer was helpful, please click Accept the Answer and upvote if the above was helpful.

Thanks
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3 answers

Your answer

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Answer 1

Hello Pasupathi M, Thanks for the update, As per the logs the Mobility agent is detecting the VM as Azure

In the log:

platform in DRScout config is set to : VmWare
Platform is set to : VmWare

Even though it says VmWare, the underlying mechanism is checking for an Azure VM environment, and the agent refuses to register for “in-Azure” migration. This matches Microsoft’s known behavior: you cannot use the InMage Mobility Service to replicate an Azure VM from Azure to Azure via Azure Migrate.

Mobility agent registration fails: The agent is trying to register with your migration appliance but cannot proceed because it sees it’s already an Azure VM.

Configuration options missing: Your note about not seeing “Mobility Service configuration details” in the appliance is consistent: the appliance assumes this path is only needed for on-prem or non-Azure VMs.

This confirms Azure Migrate is not supported for Azure VM > Azure VM cross-tenant migration. The log is exactly the symptom described in Microsoft documentation.

Correct cross‑tenant ASR setup

Recovery Services Vault must exist in Tenant B
Choose Physical Servers > not Azure / VMware
Download ASR agent from the vault (NOT Azure Migrate)
Register agent directly to the vault
Replication proceeds normally
Failover creates VM natively in Tenant B

Bharath Y P 4,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-04T22:02:11.6066667+00:00

Hello Pasupathi M, I just wanted to kindly follow up to check, If the provided answer is helpful, it would be great if you could accept the answer and up-vote. This not only helps us but also makes it easier for other community members who might face the same issue. Thanks
Bharath Y P 4,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-05T22:33:12.74+00:00

Hello Pasupathi M, I just wanted to kindly follow up to check, If the provided answer is helpful, it would be great if you could accept the answer and up-vote. This not only helps us but also makes it easier for other community members who might face the same issue. Thanks

Answer 2

Sharing the log for your reference actually somehow mobility agent is sensing that the environment is under Azure already

2026-02-02T07:42:53.4127191+00:00 Always: Trace Session Started

2026-02-02T07:42:53:

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Application Started

2026-02-02T07:42:53: OpLogger intialized with Installation type Configuration and Adapter InMageAdapter.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Machine identifier value in registry : 149e7736-9cfa-49a9-903d-9feaff450cdb

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Fetching platform details from DrScout config.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Reading agent install location using MSI native methods

2026-02-02T07:42:53: INSTALLPROPERTY_INSTALLLOCATION buffer Content:

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Unable to get product information (InstallPath) from Windows Installer.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Reading value InstallDirectory from key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\InMage Systems\Installed Products\5

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Agent install location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery\agent

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Readering from INI file Section 'vxagent', Key 'VmPlatform'. File Path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery\agent\Application Data\etc\drscout.conf'

2026-02-02T07:42:53: platform in DRScout config is set to : VmWare

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Platform is set to : VmWare

2026-02-02T07:42:53: CX is NOT installed on this machine

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Begin GetHostId

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Fetching HostID from DrScout config

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Reading agent install location using MSI native methods

2026-02-02T07:42:53: INSTALLPROPERTY_INSTALLLOCATION buffer Content:

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Unable to get product information (InstallPath) from Windows Installer.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Reading value InstallDirectory from key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\InMage Systems\Installed Products\5

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Agent install location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery\agent

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Readering from INI file Section 'vxagent', Key 'HostId'. File Path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery\agent\Application Data\etc\drscout.conf'

2026-02-02T07:42:53: HostId value in DRScout config is :

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Generating new hostId.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: hostId value: 14df06f3-00a5-421d-9699-e76d479a0577

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Checking DrScout config to get proxy path.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Reading agent install location using MSI native methods

2026-02-02T07:42:53: INSTALLPROPERTY_INSTALLLOCATION buffer Content:

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Unable to get product information (InstallPath) from Windows Installer.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Reading value InstallDirectory from key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\InMage Systems\Installed Products\5

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Agent install location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery\agent

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Readering from INI file Section 'vxagent', Key 'ProxySettingsPath'. File Path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery\agent\Application Data\etc\drscout.conf'

2026-02-02T07:42:53: No proxy settings found.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Parse argument /SourceConfigFilePath

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for Help

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for LogFilePath

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for CSEndPoint

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for CSPort

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for PassphraseFilePath

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for SourceConfigFilePath

2026-02-02T07:42:53: SourceConfigFilePath received

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : The argument was parsed, move to next one.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Parse argument /CSType

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for Help

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for LogFilePath

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for CSEndPoint

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for CSPort

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for PassphraseFilePath

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for SourceConfigFilePath

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for CredentialLessDiscovery

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for ExternalIP

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for Unconfigure

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for Operation

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for Credentials

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for ConfigureProxy

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for ProxyAddress

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for ProxyPort

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for Invoker

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for SummaryFilePath

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : Calling parse function for CSType

2026-02-02T07:42:53: CSType received

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Main : The argument was parsed, move to next one.

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Initialising output json file

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Output json file name C:\ProgramData\ASRSetupLogs\InstallerErrors.json taken as default filename

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Output error json filename: C:\ProgramData\ASRSetupLogs\InstallerErrors.json

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Successfully initialised the output json file C:\ProgramData\ASRSetupLogs\InstallerErrors.json

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Readering from INI file Section 'vxagent', Key 'CSType'. File Path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Azure Site Recovery\agent\Application Data\etc\drscout.conf'

2026-02-02T07:42:53: Checking for virtual machine platform.