{"id":10308,"date":"2025-12-19T11:24:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/migration-from-vmware-to-proxmox-ve\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T09:52:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T07:52:57","slug":"migration-from-vmware-to-proxmox-ve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/migration-from-vmware-to-proxmox-ve\/","title":{"rendered":"Migration from VMware to Proxmox VE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are a systems engineer or IT manager who has decided to migrate from VMware to Proxmox VE, you are well aware of the ever-increasing costs following the Broadcom acquisition and the vendor lock-in that keeps you tied to a single vendor. In this article, we<strong> address the most common concerns<\/strong> our customers raise when they need to simplify the transition from their VMware IT infrastructure to Proxmox: <\/p>\n\n<ul>\r\n<li>How do I <strong>import a VM<\/strong> into Proxmox?<\/li>\r\n<li>How do I <strong>move <\/strong>a VMware virtual machine?<\/li>\r\n<li>How do I <strong>back up<\/strong> VMware virtual machines?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul><p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For any technical questions, our AXOL Server systems engineers are always available to help.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Common technical challenges when migrating from a hypervisor<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before moving on to the practical roadmap, let\u2019s clarify the real issues that arise in many managed migrations:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\r\n<li>Proxmox does not import <strong>encrypted<\/strong> VMware disks with TPM enabled. TPM must first be disabled in vSphere;<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>multiple snapshots<\/strong> can significantly slow down the migration, so consolidate them beforehand;<\/li>\r\n<li>VMs on <strong>vSAN storage<\/strong> are not compatible with direct migration, while, after import, virtual machines often lose network connectivity, requiring the installation of VirtIO drivers;<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>special characters <\/strong>in VMware datastore names block the entire import process.<\/li><\/ul><br>\n\n<p>A preliminary assessment and a full backup resolve 80% of these issues.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step 1: tailored assessment and planning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first essential step is a tailored assessment of your <strong>current environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Map your entire VM inventory, analyze storage, and check the networking configuration, including VLANs and SDN. Define the precise scope of the project and<strong> prioritize mission-critical workloads<\/strong> that require immediate attention.<\/p><br>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step 2: setting up the Proxmox VE infrastructure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Set up a test cluster with<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/proxmox-server-virtualization\/\"> at least three nodes<\/a><\/strong> on high-performance hardware; if you wish to select and simulate the use of components, you can use our <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/configurator\/\">online configurator<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Configure the Ceph distributed storage, the built-in firewall and automated backups using Proxmox Backup Server. If you are using specific features such as GPU passthrough or LXC containers, test them at this stage to ensure compatibility. <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step 3: preparing for a secure VM migration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How do I move a VMware VM and import it into Proxmox?<\/strong><br\/>Export the VMs in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Open_Virtualization_Format\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">OVF <\/a><\/strong>format, convert the VMDK disks to QCOW2 using qemu-img, then import them into Proxmox storage by creating a new VM and attaching the converted disks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>How do I back up VMware VMs before migration?<\/strong><br\/>Perform full backups using Proxmox Backup Server or VMware\u2019s native tools, including snapshots of the network configuration (ipconfig \/all on Windows). Use cold migration for test VMs and live migration over a dedicated 1Gbps+ network. Always remember to disable TPM and <strong>consolidate snapshots<\/strong> before proceeding.  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step 4: migration completion and optimization<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After import, install VirtIO drivers for networking and disks to ensure optimal performance. Reconfigure IP addresses, DNS, and gateways, then check networking and security using Proxmox\u2019s advanced ACLs. Run <strong>stress tests<\/strong> with real workloads and verify that everything is working correctly.  <\/p>\n\n<p>By following these steps, you can <strong>significantly reduce the risks associated with migration<\/strong>. If you would rather not manage everything in-house or on your own, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/contact-us\/\">AXOL Server\u2019s systems engineers<\/a><\/strong> are your ideal partners.<br>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A real-world VMware migration case<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>success of a migration<\/strong> depends both on careful planning and on choosing the right approach, whether manual or automated. One example is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/from-vmware-to-proxmox-the-silga-case-illustrates-a-choice-that-is-becoming-increasingly-relevant\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"10745\">SILGA Industries<\/a><\/strong>, a migration project also covered by Edge9, the Hardware Upgrade publication. It is a real-world example of how the goal was not simply to \u201cchange hypervisors,\u201d but to build a more modern and coherent infrastructure: a foundation capable of supporting business workloads, simplifying management, strengthening business continuity, and giving the company greater control over how it manages its IT in the years ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are a systems engineer or IT manager who has decided to migrate from VMware to Proxmox VE, you are well aware of the ever-increasing costs following the Broadcom acquisition and the vendor lock-in that keeps you tied to a single vendor. In this article, we address the most common concerns our customers raise [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_nfpndx_meta_title":"How to migrate from VMware to Proxmox VE","_nfpndx_meta_description":"Guide to migrating from VMware to Proxmox VE: how to import VMs, back up VMware virtual machines, and move workloads with no downtime.","_nfpndx_meta_title_blogname":"1"},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-proxmox-and-ceph"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axolserver.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}