After successfully upgrading my Apex cluster to 2411. I have successfully enabled guest management on a migrated Virtual Machine from VMware to Azure Local 2411.
Below is a test machine replicating on Azure Migrate starting its migration process.
This screenshot below shows the test VM migrated from Vmware to Azure Local
This is the VM migrated I am showing this VM in the Azure Portal.
Now I have clicked enable guest management on the VM and brings me to this screen where next I will run the command on the VM in Powershell.
As you can see below the command has ran successfully. Now wait awhile before you can confirm guest management is running.
As you can see guest management has been enabled on the migrated VM.
If you experience an error like this the fix at least i ran into is rebooting all the nodes. Upgrading on Dell Apex Cloud Manager from 2408 to 10.2408.1.9 .
Migrating a Windows Server running on AHV Nutanix hypervisor to Azure VM and leveraging a Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL) model can be done, but there are specific licensing and technical considerations to keep in mind.
Licensing Considerations:
Without Software Assurance (SA), you typically cannot transfer an on-premises license to Azure due to license mobility restrictions. Microsoft’s License Mobility through Software Assurance benefit allows you to bring your existing licenses to the Azure cloud, but this is only available if you have SA.
If your Windows Server license does not have SA, you would generally need to procure new licensing through Azure. Azure VMs come with the option to include the OS licensing cost as part of the service (known as Azure Hybrid Benefit).
If you decide to acquire SA for your existing licenses, you can then use the Azure Hybrid Benefit to bring your own license to Azure.
Migration Process Using Azure Migrate:
Azure Migrate: This is a service provided by Azure to facilitate the migration of on-premises servers to Azure VMs. It supports various scenarios, including VMware, Hyper-V, and physical servers, but direct support for AHV Nutanix hypervisor might be limited.
Assessment and Planning: The first step is to assess and plan your migration using Azure Migrate. This will involve understanding the compatibility of your current Windows Server with Azure and any potential performance or configuration changes needed.
Replication and Migration: Once you’ve planned, you can begin the replication process. Azure Migrate can replicate your servers to Azure. Once replicated, you can test and then migrate the servers to Azure VMs.
Technical Considerations:
AHV Nutanix to Azure: Direct migration support from AHV Nutanix to Azure is not as straightforward as from VMware or Hyper-V. You might need to consider intermediary steps, such as converting to a supported format before migrating.
Testing: It is crucial to thoroughly test the migrated server in Azure to ensure that all applications and services are functioning as expected.
Alternatives and Tools:
If Azure Migrate does not support AHV Nutanix directly, you might need to use additional tools or services for conversion and migration. This could involve converting the AHV VMs to a compatible format (like VHD) and then using Azure Migrate or other tools for the actual migration.
For licensing queries and to ensure compliance, consult the Azure Hybrid Benefit documentation and potentially reach out to Microsoft support or a licensed Microsoft partner.
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After my first error that got resolved i ran into a second error upgrading at this step.
The cluster update failed. Type ‘UpdateArbAndExtensions’ of Role ‘MocArb’ raised an exception: [UpgradeArbAndExtensions :arcappliance upgrade] Failed with Error C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2\wbin\az.cmd arcappliance upgrade hci –config-file “C:\ClusterStorage\Infrastructure_1\Shares\SU1_Infrastructure_1\MocArb\WorkingDirectory\Appliance\hci-appliance.yaml” –only-show-errors returned a non empty error stream [ERROR: { “errorCode”: “InvalidEntityError”, “errorResponse”: “{\n\”message\”: \”the cloud fabric (MOC) is currently at version v0.13.1. A minimum version of 0.15.0 is required for compatibility\”\n}” }] at [at Invoke-ArcHciAzCommandLine, C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\ArcHci\0.2.50\archci.psm1: line 3134 at Invoke-ArcHciAzCommand, C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\ArcHci\0.2.50\archci.psm1: line 3010 at UpgradeArbAndExtensionsInternal, C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.MocArb.LifeCycle.1.2405.0.10\content\Scripts\MocArbHelper.psm1: line 2109 at UpdateArbAndExtensions, C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.MocArb.LifeCycle.1.2405.0.10\content\Scripts\MocArbLifeCycleManager.psm1: line 264 at , C:\Agents\Microsoft.AzureStack.Solution.ECEWinService.10.2405.0.348\content\ECEWinService\InvokeInterfaceInternal.psm1: line 134 at Invoke-EceInterfaceInternal, C:\Agents\Microsoft.AzureStack.Solution.ECEWinService.10.2405.0.348\content\ECEWinService\InvokeInterfaceInternal.psm1: line 130] Command Arguments ——- ——— UpgradeArbAndExtensionsInternal {Parameters=CloudEngine.Configurations.EceInterfaceParameters} {} {CloudEngine.Configurations.EceInterfaceParameters, MocArb, UpdateArbAndExtensions, C… Invoke-EceInterfaceInternal {CloudDeploymentModulePath=C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.Solution.Deploy.CloudDe… at at Trace-Error, C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.MocArb.LifeCycle.1.2405.0.10\content\Scripts\Common\Tracer.psm1: line 63 at UpgradeArbAndExtensionsInternal, C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.MocArb.LifeCycle.1.2405.0.10\content\Scripts\MocArbHelper.psm1: line 2112 at UpdateArbAndExtensions, C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.MocArb.LifeCycle.1.2405.0.10\content\Scripts\MocArbLifeCycleManager.psm1: line 264 at , C:\Agents\Microsoft.AzureStack.Solution.ECEWinService.10.2405.0.348\content\ECEWinService\InvokeInterfaceInternal.psm1: line 134 at Invoke-EceInterfaceInternal, C:\Agents\Microsoft.AzureStack.Solution.ECEWinService.10.2405.0.348\content\ECEWinService\InvokeInterfaceInternal.psm1: line 130 Command Arguments ——- ——— UpgradeArbAndExtensionsInternal {Parameters=CloudEngine.Configurations.EceInterfaceParameters} {} {CloudEngine.Configurations.EceInterfaceParameters, MocArb, UpdateArbAndExtensions, C… Invoke-EceInterfaceInternal {CloudDeploymentModulePath=C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.Solution.Deploy.CloudDe… at Trace-Error, C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.MocArb.LifeCycle.1.2405.0.10\content\Scripts\Common\Tracer.psm1: line 63 at UpgradeArbAndExtensionsInternal, C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.MocArb.LifeCycle.1.2405.0.10\content\Scripts\MocArbHelper.psm1: line 2351 at UpdateArbAndExtensions, C:\NugetStore\Microsoft.AzureStack.MocArb.LifeCycle.1.2405.0.10\content\Scripts\MocArbLifeCycleManager.psm1: line 264 at ,
Resolution was to go onto any Azure Stack HCI Node and run these commands. These commands update MOC to its latest version and then verify its on the latest version.
I ran into an error when running the upgrade precheck in Windows Admin Center Dell Apex Cloud Manager from the latest version of Azure Stack HCI to Microsoft Azure Stack HCI version 10.2405.0.23 . These are the errors and this is how we resolved the issue.
Critical[Node Power State Check][AZ300HOSTPOWER0002] Check Failed: Host power status error on host ‘xxxxxxx’. Critical[Node Power State Check][AZ300HOSTPOWER0002] Check Failed: Host power status error on host ‘xxxxxxx’.
[Pending Job Check of IDrac][AZ304IDRACJOB0003] Check Failed: Failed to check idrac pending jobs on host ‘xxxxxxx’. Error[Pending Job Check of IDrac][AZ304IDRACJOB0003] Check Failed: Failed to check idrac pending jobs on host ‘xxxxxxx’. Error[Compatibility Check for LCM][AZ304COMEX0002] Check Skipped: status of host xxxxxxx is unknown Error[Compatibility Check for LCM][AZ304COMEX0002] Check Skipped: status of host xxxxxxx is unknown Error[Compatibility Check for supported-platform][AZ304COMEX0002] Check Skipped: status of host xxxxxxx is unknown Error[Compatibility Check for supported-platform][AZ304COMEX0002] Check Skipped: status of host xxxxxxx is unknown ErrorPrecheck detects some errors as listed. Fix them before upgrading the cluster. Refer to KB000215152.
At first we went to reset IDRAC that didnt fix the issue . Then we connect to Apex Cloud Manager via SSH to run these commands which resolved the issue now our Azure Stack HCI cluster is upgrading just fine.
We had to rebuild the linzhi pod that resolved the issue.
Microsoft is set to release guidance on support for Stretched Clustering in late 2024. As of right now Microsoft does not support Stretched Clustering in version 23H2 but in the new version of Windows there is a roadmap to release the feature.
Azure Stack HCI feature part of Azure Migrate is private preview until summer of 2024. Microsoft’s goal is to go public preview in summer of 2024 with the end goal of GA in fall of 2024. One great feature coming in GA is the ability to retain source IP Address.
Microsoft recently released Azure Migrate preview feature to migrate from VMware and Hyper V to Azure Stack HCI version 23H2. This blog covers some of the information required to migrate a Windows Virtual Machine from VMWare to Azure Stack HCI 23H2. At this point in private preview version 23H2 is the only supported Azure Stack HCI Operating System. Permissions and requirements to come soon after public preview release in summer of 2024.
There are two appliances required. Private preview link must be used to enable the preview feature and ability to download the zip file required for the source and destination appliances https://aka.ms/HCIMigratePPVMW .
VMware source appliance
Windows Server 2022 8 CPU 80 GB disk 16 GB Memmory
Azure Stack HCI 23H2 Appliance
This appliance must be built on the Azure Stack HCI cluster. It requires the same specifications as the VMWare Server 2022 Azure Migrate appliance.
Windows Preparation
Windows virtual machines you need to configure disk part SAN policy to online all. Here are the commands.
Next steps is to select the virtualization platform and your source VMWare Azure Migrate appliance to setup to migrate the VMWare Windows Server to Azure Stack HCI 23H2.
Select the correct subscription and resource group the cluster resides in. Then select the correct Azure Stack HCI 23H2 Cluster.
Next select the target Azure Migrate Appliance.
Next select the Virtual Machine and click next.
Next select the staged storage account or create a new cache storage account. Then select the target resource group, logical network and storage path.
Next select the Operating System Disk and click next.
Next select the Disks if needed and confirm then click next.
Finally click replicate to start replication.
Now that the Virtual Machine is replicated we can migrate the server.
The migration has been complete.
After successful migration of the Virtual Machine it will show up in Azure Arc inside the Azure Stack HCI Cluster.
Stay tune for additional details around migrating from Hyper V and VMWare to Azure Stack HCI 23H2.
