6.0.1

Requirements for Migration Between vCenter Server Instances
To enable migration across vCenter Server instances, your system must meet certain requirements.
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The source and destination vCenter Server instances and ESXi hosts must be 6.0 or later.
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The cross vCenter Server and long distance vMotion features require an Enterprise Plus license. For
more information, see hp://www.vmware.com/uk/products/vsphere/compare.html.
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Both vCenter Server instances must be time-synchronized with each other for correct vCenter Single
Sign-On token verication.
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For migration of compute resources only, both vCenter Server instances must be connected to the
shared virtual machine storage.
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When using the vSphere Web Client, both vCenter Server instances must be in Enhanced Linked Mode
and must be in the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain so that the source vCenter Server can
authenticate to the destination vCenter Server.
For information about installing vCenter Server in Enhanced Linked Mode, see the vSphere Installation
and Setup documentation.
If the vCenter Server instances exist in separate vSphere Single Sign-On domains, you can use vSphere
APIs/SDK to migrate virtual machines. For more information, see the VirtualMachineRelocateSpec data
object in the vSphere Management SDK Guide.
Network Compatibility Checks During vMotion Between vCenter Server Instances
Migration of VMs between vCenter Server instances moves VMs to new networks. The migration process
performs checks to verify that the source and destination networks are similar.
vCenter Server performs a number of network compatibility checks to prevent the following conguration
problems:
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MAC address compatibility on the destination host
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vMotion from a distributed switch to a standard switch
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vMotion between distributed switches of dierent versions
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vMotion to an internal network, for example, a network without a physical NIC
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vMotion to a distributed switch that is not working properly
vCenter Server does not perform checks for and notify you about the following problems:
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If the source and destination distributed switches are not in the same broadcast domain, virtual
machines lose network connectivity after migration.
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If the source and destination distributed switches do not have the same services congured, virtual
machines might lose network connectivity after migration.
MAC Address Management During Migration Between vCenter Server Systems
When you move a virtual machine between vCenter Server instances, the environment specically handles
MAC address migration to avoid address duplication and loss of data in the network.
In an environment with multiple vCenter Server instances, when a virtual machine is migrated, its MAC
addresses are transferred to the target vCenter Server. The source vCenter Server adds the MAC addresses
to a black list so that it does not assign them to newly created virtual machines.
To reclaim unused MAC addresses from the black list, contact VMware Technical Support for assistance.
vCenter Server and Host Management
126 VMware, Inc.